SerpApi.Org
In the hubbub before the start of Every Brilliant Thing, you’d think it would be easy to miss Tracee Ellis Ross as she moves about the curtainless stage, peering into the audience and whispering with the production team. But even in her low key outfit of a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, it’s impossible not to see her. The Golden Globe-winning actress has a magnetism that makes it unthinkable to tear your eyes away. Watching her before the lights go down is almost as riveting as the show itself. Almost.
Yes, Every Brilliant Thing is technically a one-person show, but its true magic comes from audience participation. By asking members of the crowd at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre to engage in everything from reading cards aloud to actually performing characters, the play is transformed from a monologue into a community ritual, inviting the audience into a living, breathing story. The play centers around a growing list of brilliant things that the narrator begins to help navigate their mother's depression and suicide. Previously performed by Daniel Radcliffe and Mariska Hargitay, it is a heartfelt journey into exploring life's challenges yet never feels maudlin—a feat that depends on both the performer and the audience.
That is why the moments before the show even starts are some of the most important for Ross. “I’m welcoming everybody into the room, which is the beginning of establishing what kind of play this is,” she says. “It's very different than I've ever experienced, than I think most people have experienced. It's hard to understand what it's going to be.”
It’s difficult to believe that Ross has never been on a Broadway stage until now. Though she only began performing the Tony-nominated show on July 7 (and will be in it through August 9), she seems effortless and natural in the role. Ross has brought her own perspective, references, and personality to an evolving work of art, one that changes not just over years but every single time it’s performed. “That’s part of the magic,” she says, and part of why she was drawn to it in the first place. Ross sat down the Town & Country to talk about what inspired her about the play, how she made it her own and why we should do things that scare us.
Why did you choose this show for your Broadway debut?
In all honesty, I feel like the show chose me. It's been one of those divine moments. I have always wanted to do theater. I've always wanted to do a one-person show. When I was 40, I had written a one-woman show and I rented a theater in New York and in Los Angeles, invited all my friends to that instead of a birthday party, and made them sit and watch my show. But it got put on the back burner as I got busy. This came to me and the first moment I read it, I was in awe. It’s about something important and real—mental health. It is told through the lens of joy and a life affirming list that becomes a lifeline for this character. It was asking something of me that felt scary but also exciting and I knew that meant I should lean in. And then I just kind of went on this journey and it was a daunting idea, a daunting task to kind of lean in and do it so quickly.
How did you prepare?
Most Broadway plays have longer rehearsal times. I took about two and a half weeks prior to the rehearsal schedule to start learning the material. So, I came to rehearsal 90% off book. But I don't learn by just memorizing words and lines. I learn by learning this person's story and building a biography and filling in the blanks of everything that's not on the page. We had three weeks of rehearsal and the first week was rigorous. I felt like I was trying to swallow a whale. And it's just you, so it's not like doing a company show or even TV or film where you get to sit and let other people do things—it's just me in the rehearsal process. And then, by the end of week rwo, we started inviting people into the rehearsal space because so much of the play is discovered with an audience. Theater is always a shared experience, but in this it is taken to another level. And so starting to learn how to dance and play within that with the story was just exciting and exhilarating and a little scary, but great.
Did you add anything to make it more your own?
There are a couple of things that Duncan [Macmillan, the playwright] has built into the script. For example, the list [of brilliant things my character shares] started on November 9th, 1979. When I first got the script, it said 1960-something, and in order to orient the audience, and me, in the right place, [it’s] 1979. And then there are certain references—there’s always a song that can be personalized for the ease of the actor. Daniel [Radcliffe, who played the role previously] did it using a keyboard. I don't know how to play the piano, so I chose “Endless Love.” I wanted to find something that felt easy and comfortable for me, and that's a song I know really well.
I felt strongly about bringing Black culture into the material. I thought it was so interesting to tell this story through the beingness of a Black woman, especially with mental health as a topic that really needs to be destigmatized within the Black community. I wanted to do all that I could to make it as inclusive of an experience and a story that it could be.
Is there anything that surprised you about doing this show?
One was that I actually was capable of doing this. I said yes, and I say yes to big things all the time, but then I started to learn and dive in and I was like, “Oh, my God, can I do this?” I called Jesse Tyler Ferguson and one of my dear friends, Kelvin Harrison Jr., they were people who were with me along the way whenever I would get scared. I feel surprised and very proud of myself for trying something and not only feeling like I've learned it, but having fun doing it.
Then the second thing is that while I've always loved theater and I did theater all through college, this experience superseded any idea of what I could have imagined in terms of community. The way that this team has held me through the rehearsal process and the way we do it together is such an incredible experience.
Your Broadway debut is a one person show. You also have a TV show called Solo Traveling which just began its second season. Is there something that draws you to the solo element?
I like being the only person on the stage! Seriously, from a metaphoric standpoint, I'm a solo traveler. I always have been. And I don't mean getting on a plane and going on a trip. I mean that I am a person who has really cultivated a sense of my own life and curated it. I live a quite quiet and solitary life to a certain extent. What I've discovered as a solo traveler is that you don't do it alone. You never do. It just means that you have to be more purposeful about how you activate connection. You can't hide behind a relationship or a family. You have to actually make the choice to be in connection with people, and then it becomes a very intentional connection. That's one of the things I love about this play is that it is a solo play, but you can't do it alone.
Can we expect more live theater from you?
I would imagine so. I think I'm in love. I hope that my life and my career continues to bring beautiful projects like this into my experience.
