Cher Álvarez Found an Unexpected Home in Horror With Broadway’s Paranormal Activity

If Cher Álvarez ever finds herself in a real-life horror film, she's not sticking around. As she points out, even the final girl has to pay therapy bills. Seeing Álvarez's performance as Lou in Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Broadway, it's difficult to fathom that she's only willing to watch a scary movie first thing in the morning.

Sipping from a Wonder Woman mug—"It came with the place"—a few hours before going all in on a playful pre-show photo shoot, Álvarez explains why she loves scaring people. "I hope I get to do it for the rest of my life," she admits. She also delves into her creative process, speaks to the importance of representation on stage and pitches a few inspired ideas for the August Wilson Theatre's merch team.

How did you get into acting?
I was a competitive swimmer for 13 years. I wanted to stop because it was no longer fun, and my mom was like, "You can quit swimming, but you have to do something else." My mom forced me to audition for my high school musical, and I was hooked. This is the community that I've always been looking for. It was just a bunch of weirdos. I was like, "Yeah, this is home now." So that's really where it started. I went to Webster Conservatory (now Sargent Conservatory), did my undergrad in musical theater, and now I'm here all of these years later.

Were you doing musicals prior to Paranormal Activity?
God, no, not at all. Honestly, I very rarely have done musicals. I think I learned pretty early on that these people can sing. I can sing, but these people are belting their faces off. The first really meaty role that I took was Alice in the play Go Ask Alice. It's about a young woman who experiences drug addiction. And I just really locked into that. I'll never forget, it was the first standing ovation that I ever got, and I didn't even know that was possible. I was like, "What's this feeling? I want to chase this now all the time." It was such an out-of-body experience.

What was your initial reaction to the Paranormal Activity script?
I loved how it came off the page so easily. I think as an actor, you're always looking for language that just fits in your mouth, in your whole entity. So that came in and I played with it, and then I got the callback. I was having a meeting with [playwright] Levi [Holloway] and [director] Felix Barrett and it all just fell into place. We started rehearsals last year in Chicago, and what's been so great is it's such an incredibly collaborative team. It's been such a dope f**king experience spending so much time with one character and really getting into the meat of it. I feel very lucky that I was able to make a Broadway debut having spent so much time [with the show]. It's a massive luxury that I do not take for granted.

Did the show change significantly before it came to Broadway?
When we got to D.C.—because that's when Travis Knight stepped into the role of Jimmy—my Lou completely took a 180. That's where I got to explore a sense of culture within the role. I think that was really exciting for everyone in the room. You have two people of color headlining a piece like this, and it's very important, I think, for both of us that we see and offer a sense of representation on stage. I'll never forget the conversation that I had with Levi in a hallway; he was like, "Where's that been? I want more of those kinds of nuances." I got to really color it in a way that I didn't know was possible.

Was the Spanish something that was added?
Yeah, it wasn't in there at all, and I think that's a testament to the energy that [Travis] brings. There was a sense of camaraderie and trust. He has a very mischievous element to himself, so the Mexican side of me would pop off in rehearsals. They only gave him a week to learn the play, but I think that pressure served us, because you had to fully lean in and commit. Levi was like, "You have the agency to do whatever feels authentic to you in the moment. If you're responding from a place of love, of care, of curiosity, then by all means, find it and use it."

What does it mean to you to bring that representation to Broadway?
I love it because there's been so many people at the stage door being like, "It's so great to see ourselves on stage and to have a mixture of Spanglish." That's the kind of household that I grew up in, so why not have that be portrayed on stage? Everyone's not growing up the same. It's great to serve my stream of consciousness where it can just come out and I don't have to apologize for it. I love that I get to use my mother tongue, my native tongue. It's just so important to see culture, it really is. And I don't want to just reduce it to color. I was having an interview the other day and [the interviewer] was like, "It was so good to see a Latina woman portrayed on stage that didn't serve any kind of stereotype that we're so often put in boxes for." And that to me is a huge feat. That to me is, I don't know what I've won, but I could die tomorrow and be like, "I accomplished a goal." One of my favorite things that anyone has ever said to me at the stage door is, "I've never seen myself on stage and you've just given me a dream role." That's dope.

Did you ever imagine making your Broadway debut in a role like this?
Oh, man. That's why they say don't plan. What is that phrase? God will laugh, or whatever higher power you believe in. I never thought that horror would be a way in for me in my career. What's so funny is I grew up terrified of horror movies. Are you freaking kidding me? I don't like that shit. I was raised Catholic. I'm like, oh my God, Satan is real. Satan's coming. But what I really love about this genre is that you can reveal aspects of the truth. I think Levi's onto something. Yeah, places are haunted, but people do carry their secrets, and sometimes you marry into that. But it's huge. I will never forget the gala opening that we had. My family, just seeing their pride, it's so dope. I love being a Latina woman that gets to scare the shit out of people. I'm able to share a part of myself that I honestly grew up being a little bit ashamed of. I wanted the blonde hair and the blue eyes. But now, looking back at my younger self, it's like, "Girl, you good. You're going to show up in places that, yes, you have always dreamed about—and more."

How do you prepare for the show?
I light palo santo before and after, just a clearing of things. Music is definitely my way in. I always try to create a playlist for any character that I'm going to be playing. And I write a letter to myself, because sometimes the doubt and the self-sabotage can creep in. But it's really changed as more time has unfolded and I've trusted myself more within this play.

And how do you decompress after a performance?
It's heavy material, so you don't want it to stay with you. When I sign out, I wait until everyone leaves the theater and I have a moment on stage, sometimes with Travis, where we thank the space, thank the ghost light, thank the people who are cleaning up the space so we can leave this here and go on about our merry lives.

Do you believe the August Wilson Theatre is haunted?
We did a ghost hunting tour. I don't want to do that shit ever again in my life. Hell no. I didn't like it. You want to be skeptical, but I'm too afraid to be skeptical. Travis is fascinated with ghosts. I don't need to talk to them. I don't need to know if they're in the space or not. You can feel it. And sometimes I feel like they play tricks on us on stage, because things fall randomly all the time. You'll be in the middle of a scene having a conversation and something will fall and you're like, "This is haunted." There is no way that this isn't serving as a portal for some little entity out there wanting to f**k around. Because that's the kind of ghost I would be. Like, "I'm just going to mess with you guys all the time."

Falling objects aside, does the cast ever improv on stage?
All the time. Shannon Cochran, who plays my mother-in-law, calls it fresh terror. We're always like, "How do we keep this new?" I always have a curiosity, and I'm so grateful that Travis is the kind of actor that is always down to play, because it's basically me and him the entire show. When something goes wrong, we can recover from it and be silly. But scene one, where you're first meeting the couple, is where we can really play.

Do you have a favorite part of the show?
Lately, I've been really enjoying our second half of the show. I love watching Shannon do anything on stage. It's been a lot of fun when everything kind of gets revealed. I just love when they lose their shit. [The first big scare], I'm so nervous for that every night, truly every single night, because I feel like people are like, "Prove it" up until that point. All of the little tricks, it's like, "We've got this up our sleeve. Stay tuned." But the whole play just feels like a huge riot to do. And the thing is, it feels like a machine. Once you're on it, you're not going to get off until [the end]. The craft of building tension, it's really dope. And we're all involved—the audience, stagehands, the stage manager—everyone is pertinent to something like this and it feels earned. That's the most rewarding part. But scaring people, I hope I get to do it for the rest of my life.

What's your elevator pitch for someone on the fence about seeing a horror play?
Listen, if you have a significant other, bring them. But if not, what's really great about these audiences is that everyone's scared shitless and everyone's bonding over that. So you can squeeze your neighbor and it's okay. What a great way to meet someone. It's a really fun experience and it's not kitschy. It's a believable story about a couple that you are genuinely rooting for. Will you be scared? Yes, absolutely. But you're not alone. I think ultimately that's what this play is reminding us, is that we're not alone, in so many ways. So just put your big pants on and come get scared. I really think that we should start selling NeeDoh at the merch table, and it should be in the shape of a ghost. I feel like we need to send everyone into the theater with a survival kit. We've had people vomit on themselves. Isn't that awesome? [Laughs] I love it. But yeah, a fidget spinner and maybe a rosary for people who need that kind of stuff. Or we could just start offering confessions after the show.

Get tickets to Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Broadway!