Anna Zavelson Thought Masquerade Was Challenging—Then Came Chinese Republicans

Anna Zavelson thought she was giving herself a break when she signed on to Chinese Republicans. After all, the actress had just performed every night in Masquerade—the guided and immersive take on The Phantom of the Opera. “I was running up the stairs and singing and dancing and doing all this crazy stuff,” she says. “I thought there was no way a 90-minute play would be nearly as exhausting.” She was wrong. As Zavelson notes, “We’re speaking so much and the play is so fast-paced, and we’re still running around. My expectations were far too low!”

A searing new comedy that takes on sexism, racism and corporate culture in New York City, Chinese Republicans—playing at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Laura Pels Theatre at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre through April 5—focuses on three high-powered Asian-American businesswomen (Jennifer Ikeda, Jully Lee and Jodi Long) who meet for lunch every month at a Chinese restaurant. Zavelson portrays Katie, the bright-eyed young newcomer who joins their group armed with her own views on money and power. As a result, everyone is forced to confront the sacrifices they’ve made to climb the ladder. “We touch on so many complex topics about this world,” she says.

The morning after two Wednesday performances, Zavelson sipped on peppermint tea (“I need to wake up!”) in her apartment and talked to Broadway.com.

You wrapped Masquerade in mid-January. What made you excited to jump right into a brand-new project?
I was excited to get to work with [director] Chay Yew again. We were together on The Light in the Piazza [the 2023 New York City Center Encores! production], but that was for maybe 10 days. And I had been doing Masquerade for about six months when I auditioned for Chinese Republicans. It had taken over my life because it was just such a huge undertaking. So I think I was ready to try something new for a little bit.

What were your first impressions when you read Alex Lin’s script?
I mean, the language is just so hard-hitting and so audacious and crazy. I was so, so taken by it. I also was excited to potentially be part of something that showcased Asian-American women in a completely different light because these are such multi-faceted characters. A lot of my roles have been the naive ingenue, and I was excited to take a shift and do a show that has nothing to do with romance.

Do you have a lot in common with Katie?
She starts off as an ingenue but then comes into her own. Yeah, so much. That’s why this is the perfect role for me. Katie does start off with so much energy and a naivete about the world. For me, being introduced to the world of professional musical theater at 19, I was like, “Oh my gosh, everything is great! Of course I should be in these rooms!” I had that same blind confidence. As I've grown and learned more about the nuances of the industry and the artistry... I don't think I've become jaded, but I’ve been following Katie's arc into learning more about herself. So it was easy to track those moments. I’m also a vegetarian just like Katie!

The play relies heavily on the chemistry between you and the other women. How did you develop that rapport so quickly?
Those three women are each giving a master class in acting. And they're all so lovely as humans, so that made it a lot easier for us to develop a chemistry. We want to run lines with each other. Like every day I’ll go into Jenny's room, and we'll run that last scene. It’s just a goofy little read-through to wrap our minds around the language.

Has it been a challenge to mentally and physically switch gears?
So in Masquerade, I would get to the building at 6:30 and do this entire show without a break. I think I had maybe two minutes to pee, and then I’d run back upstairs and change into another costume. I didn’t leave the building until 11 p.m. But this has been equally as much of a challenge, just in different ways. Because I had been doing immersive, it’s so weird to be in a play where there's an audience in the house having typical reactions. It’s a different exchange of energy.

What have the Chinese Republicans audiences been responding to so far?
Obviously the play is really funny and witty, so audiences are responding to the jokes that are more, let’s say, inappropriate. I think it's cool when we have Asian audiences and Mandarin speakers in the house because they'll laugh at the Mandarin-specific jokes. And I like when the audiences are quiet and paying so much attention—especially in the last scene when Ellen [played by Ikeda] and I are firing back at each other. We say some pretty loaded things, and the audiences will gasp. They’re so engaged.

Without giving away spoilers, what’s your takeaway from that loaded ending?
What’s so cool about the show is that it presents itself as a workplace satire and comedy, and then it devolves into something that feels really dark. And so many dark truths come up about what Ellen believes. But Katie’s arc does feel satisfying because she goes from this naive woman who believes in everything that Ellen says—she’s a sponge taking it in—and then sees the monster underneath.

Do you have your own mentors in the industry?
The play feels so full circle because Chay was the person who brought me into the professional industry. And when I got here, I had Ruthie Ann Miles and Andréa Burns and Shereen Ahmed. All three were my lifelines during Piazza, and then Ruthie and Andrea have continued to be my mentors. Andrea and I do girls nights. I'm texting her every day. She has really helped guide my career—and has been there for me as a mother and friend. So she’s not like Ellen in any way! Except in Katie’s happy-ending world.

This is a fairly short run for you. What’s next?
Well, I have a project coming up. I don't know when I'm allowed to say, but it’s a musical and I’m excited to go back to singing. I’m going to take all the lessons I've learned from doing a play and go back to familiar territory with new eyes. I think that will be really fun for me.

Chinese Republicans is set in 2019 but still feels current. Do you think it will stay relevant years from now?
The issues from 2019 do still seem relevant today. The way we talk about Asian hate was happening before Covid and exacerbated by Covid. And it’s a reminder that talking about immigration and how women are treated in the workforce has always been happening, too. So as much as I would love for things to be completely different in 10 years, these issues will be relevant for a long time. Unfortunately, there’s a pattern of Asian women growing up with trauma and passing it down to other women. We all have flaws, and nobody here is a complete hero. So the cycle is always going to continue.

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