The crowd-pleasing Broadway revival of Terrence McNally's 1975 farce The Ritz (still running at Studio 54 during the stagehands strike) features a no-holds-barred comic performance by Rosie Perez as Googie Gomez, resident chanteuse at a gay bathhouse. The Oscar-nominated actress lets it rip in Googie's show-stopping musical number, a tour-de-force in which Perez's skills as a singer, dancer and comedienne are on full display—in spite of the challenge of portraying a character who has no discernable talent, only plenty of heart and chutzpah. En route to a session with famed vocal coach Joan Lader (who helped both Patti LuPone and Madonna get in shape for Evita), Perez made time for a quick chat with Broadway.com. In conversation, she's soft-spoken and thoughtful, bristling only at a mention of Googie's ethnic identity in a play filled with comic stereotypes of gay men, overweight people, Italians as Mafioso and more. Clearly, Perez loves Googie, The Ritz and being part of a big Broadway show.

This production of The Ritz was built around you. Did you feel any pressure?
I didn't really look at it that way, so no. The only pressure I put on myself was trying to step into [Tony winner] Rita Moreno's shoes, but [director] Joe Mantello was great about that. He said, "Who says you have to put her shoes on?" And I fell out laughing. He and Terrence kept saying, "We want you." Once I got over that, it was fine. I didn't even know how Rita did it, because I didn't see the play and I didn't see the movie.

That's probably a good thing.
That's what Joe Mantello told me. I said, "Should I see the movie?" And he said, "NO!"

What do you love about Googie? She doesn't realize that she's not particularly talented.
You know, [original Ritz star] Jerry Stiller came to see the show this weekend, and he said, "Your Googie has a lot more heart." No disrespect to Rita, but when you pump the heart in there, it becomes even funnier and more heartbreaking because she represents hundreds of millions of people who really believe they have talent and don't. But whether they have talent or not, everybody has a dream. And she represents that.

What's been the biggest challenge in playing the role?
The physicality of it. It's just really demanding. I have bruises all over. And because it's a farce, I spend the entire show running around in three-and-a-half to four-inch heels; I have four high heel changes. It's tough just to stand in high heels for two hours, but to have to run, walk, dance and sing is really taxing.

How did your big production number come together?
That was planned by Joe Mantello and [Ritz cast member] Seth Rudetsky. Joe called me and said, "In the original, she does a Broadway number but I think she should do as many show tunes as possible." And I said, "Oh, okay." Seth Rudetsky's first choice was "Shall We Dance," which he changed to "Should We Dance?" I couldn't stop laughing.

Did Seth build the number around your strengths?
All he heard was that I couldn't sing, and he knew I had a strong accent. That was it. Initially, he was planning it based on my Brooklyn accent rather than a Spanish accent. Then he struggled because he said, "You can sing, and it's irritating." [Laughs.]

How many different shows are referenced?
I don't really know. The intro is "I had a dream…" ["Rose's Turn," from Gypsy]

And Annie is in there, which was written after the play.
Seth Rudetsky says it's artistic license. That part was originally supposed to be "Bali Hai" from South Pacific, and then during one of the costume fittings, I walked onstage in the orange wig and started singing, "The sun will come out tomorrow," and Joe screamed. Seth came up with the idea of "The sun will come out mañana."

A movie clip on You Tube shows Rita Moreno doing a fairly straight rendition of "Everything's Coming Up Roses," singing on key. Your number is a lot more complicated.
Uh, yeah, thanks to Joe Mantello [laughs]. I didn't find out until people came to see the show during previews and were like, "Oh my god, this is so much more difficult than the original number." I didn't know.

You don't have a problem with seeing Googie as a stereotype, because the whole play…
…only people like you—no disrespect—and everyone else. I don't have a problem. It showcases people's prejudice because that question has not been presented to any other member of the cast except me.

I would ask the actors playing the gay characters about it.
I think it was asked once of Kevin Chamberlin and once of Terrence, but in reference to Googie. It just show's people's racism, and it's quite astounding because Vespucci's character is very much a stereotype. Vivian, the wife, is a stereotype of an Italian-American woman. It's ironic that I'm the only one who gets that.

People are interested in your take on the character because you directed a documentary on Puerto Rican pride [the award-winning Yo soy Boricua pa'que tu lo sepas!].
That has nothing to do with it. And when I bring it back to people, an interviewer or two has said to me, "You're right. I didn't think of it like that." To me, the play is about acceptance. It makes a huge statement about that.