Enter the Backstage 'Harem' of Women on the Verge's de'Adre Aziza

“We’ve created a harem vibe in here,” de’Adre Aziza says of the dressing room she shares with Mary Beth Peil at the Belasco Theatre, home of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Onstage, Aziza is a buttoned-up lawyer, but offstage, the Passing Strange alum is charmingly bohemian, draping her dressing room with fabric and posters that reflect her taste and that of “kindred spirit” Peil. “Everybody thinks we’re angelic, but it’s really the opposite,” Aziza says with a laugh. For proof, just check out her favorite things!

Photo by Jenny Anderson for Broadway.com


“First up is our window seat, with a curtain in front. It’s very West Side Story outside [on the fire escape]—Mary Beth [Peil] and I always talk about how we’re going to re-enact scenes from West Side Story. We’re partners in crime!”


“Our lamp is [named] Esmeralda. She was in American Buffalo, and we had to have her. She’s not just any lamp; she’s extraordinary. These plumes! We wanted to warm up the lighting in here because these fluorescents are so gauche.”


“My five-year-old son, Chipego, writes me very sweet poetry. I tried to get him to audition for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, but the little kid in the show has a line that says, “Kill white people!” and my son said, “Mommy, I can’t find it in my heart to say this.” I said, “It’s acting,” and he said, “It just doesn’t feel right.”


“I've combined the dream catcher Mary Beth gave me and my pictures of Stew and Spike Lee, because they helped to make my dream come true. Corny but true! If it wasn’t for this guy [Stew, creator of Passing Strange], nobody would know who the hell I was, and this guy [Lee] put me in his movie [of the show]. They are very special men in my life.”


“Good old Rosie the Riveter is here because my character is a feminist and so is she. I tried to paint her black with my makeup, but it kind of got messed up. I didn’t do her face yet because her arm came out so jacked up. I’ll leave her face white and her arms black. This is in honor of feminists everywhere!”