The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan is raising the curtain on a five-episode virtual health and wellness series, Broadway’s Best for Breast Cancer!, led by Hamilton star Mandy Gonzalez.
Caroline Kohles
The series is part of JCC’s cancer care partnership with Breastlink New York, an initiative that offers complementary care to those living with breast cancer.
This free series kicks off on Monday, June 1, and airs every Monday at 6:00 pm. It’s co-hosted by Caroline Kohles, senior director of health and wellness programming at the JCC.
“People living with cancer right now are anxious and afraid,” Kohles says. “They are going to be sheltering in place for much longer than the rest of us because their immune systems are so compromised. They need practices and tools to help with the fear and anxiety and a bit of entertainment to distract them and keep them focused and positive.”
“Together we will laugh, cry, and learn—while boosting our health,” says Gonzalez, who is currently battling breast cancer. “Along the way, I will share my personal journey with cancer. I will also share how my theater skills and loved ones got me through some tough times.”
Currently starring as Angelica Schuyler in the megahit Hamilton (until the Broadway shutdown in March), Gonzalez also originated and starred as Nina Rosario in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical In The Heights, for which she received a Drama Desk Award. She has starred as Elphaba in the Broadway production of Wicked, for which she was honored with a Broadway.com Award for Best Replacement. She also appeared on Broadway in Aida, Lennon, and Dance of the Vampires, and Off-Broadway in Eli’s Comin’.
Shows feature guest Broadway stars, who offer guidance to those facing health challenges during the pandemic.
Each is followed by a live Q&A on Facebook Live. You can register online in advance here.
The series will feature appearances by Dr. Alison Estabrook, renowned breast surgeon and co-founder of Breastlink New York. The June 1 episode will feature a conversation with Krysta Rodriguez (Spring Awakening, The Addams Family, In the Heights), and guidance from positive psychologist Maria Sirois, a master teacher, facilitator, author, and international consultant who focuses on the resilience of the human spirit when under pressure and/or during the significant transition.
Subsequent episodes of Broadway’s Best for Breast Cancer! will feature health and wellness experts, as well as Broadway stars:
Episode 2 (June 8): Kerry Butler, who delivered award-nominated and/or -winning performances in Broadway’s Mean Girls, Xanadu and Hairspray; and, international best-selling author and research psychologist Kelly McGonigal, discussing the joy of movement and the healing power of music.
Episode 3 (June 15): James Monroe Iglehart, best known for his Tony Award-winning performance as the Genie in Aladdin on Broadway; and, Kathy Washburn, founder of Carved by Cancer, a support network for cancer survivors, discussing the taboo topic of sexuality and cancer and how creativity can be unleashed with “masterdates.”
Episode 4 (June 22): Telly Leung, best known for appearances in Aladdin, Allegiance, and In-Transit on Broadway; and, a special guest to be announced at a later date.
Episode 5 (June 29): Javier Muñoz, best known for his performances in Hamilton and In the Heights; and, a special guest to be announced at a later date.
Broadway’s Best for Breast Cancer! is endorsed by JCC community partners Sharsheret, The Nia Technique, and The American Cancer Society. It’s just one part of the JCC’s robust array of health and wellness programs for cancer care, all of them free for those in treatment or at risk for breast cancer.
The Broadway’s Best for Breast Cancer! series is promoting the First Virtual Shirley Kohn JCC Spa Day for Women with Breast Cancer on June 28 (learn more information here). People can visit jccmanhattan.org/cancer-care for a complete schedule, course descriptions, and to register.
Jessica Camacho has always had an inclination towards justice. She even considered a career in law before becoming an actress. She enjoyed the idea of fighting for what is just, something larger than herself. That makes her new roles, as LA County Public Defender Emily Lopez in CBS‘s All Rise and Police Officer ‘Pirate Jenny’ in HBO‘s Watchmen, particularly compelling.
Both shows ask compelling questions about the criminal justice system, and about the responsibility each person has to do what is right–whether or not that thing is backed up by the law. Camacho herself holds strong convictions, though she doesn’t see those convictions as political. “There are things that I just know are right,” she tells me, “that is like the pursuit of freedom, the pursuit of fairness. We all want to be treated with respect. To have a shot at a life and providing for ourselves, for our family. We all want to be free from violence. That, to me, is the hard line.”
Downtown: What excited you about All Rise?
Jessica Camacho: I get to play this incredible human being who is committed to justice in a very clear and true way. I got to really understand and explore what it is to be a public defender. That particular line of work is so heavy and burdened by the knowledge that so many lives are reliant upon the public defender as their last line of defense. The clients often have nothing and are in situations that are so dire. They are trusting in this human being to help them have a shot at the rest of their lives. I get to play somebody who is committed to something so much greater than themselves. I was very honored.
DT: Did you have an interest in the legal system before this role?
JC: Before I became an actor, before I even knew that acting would be a part of my life, I thought about going into law. It’s something that always interested me. It fascinated me: fighting on the right side of things, fighting for something bigger than yourself. I was always moved by that.
The problem was that I could never decide if I wanted to be a prosecutor or a defense attorney. I was not very good at making decisions, so I’m like, I might not be the best lawyer. I see the gray a lot of times. I’m not a person that is more apt to see things in black and white. So it was just like, “I don’t know if this is the right pursuit for me.” And then pretty soon after that, I discovered acting.
Jessica Camacho
DT: Were there any issues in All Rise that were particularly close to you?
JC: I think the thing that’s closest to me in my personal life is Emily’s struggle with relationships. But also I know that the topics that we explore in All Rise–as a human being, as an American–a lot of those really resonate with me, hit home with me. So I often find myself being really, really stirred emotionally by the things that we’re exploring on the show.
DT: Did you read Watchmen or seen the movie before you, uh, audition to be part of Watchman?
JC: I had seen the movie. As I was auditioning, I started to read through the original graphic novel and I was blown away. It was dark and it was stirring and it was uncomfortable. It was talking about real fears and real anxieties, and the paranoia and the darkness within us.
So that’s when I kinda realized like, “Oh, this is special, this is really special. This is like a different kind of look at life through the lens of the comic filter. This is something different.” So, yeah, it was very exciting.
DT: In addition to Watchmen, you were also on The Flash. Why do you think superhero shows are so popular right now?
JC: (Superheroes) speak to the possibility, the potential within us. I think as human beings, we feel limited in our lives. We feel the separation between how we want to see ourselves and how we actually see ourselves. I think the fascination with superheroes, it kind of picks up where our limitations leave us and there’s something beautiful and there’s something freeing about that.
But I think in terms of Watchman, I think this is the perfect time for Watchman because, with the constant stream of news and updates that technology brings us, we’re blown away by how much war, darkness, fighting, racism, and fear there is in the world. I think we want even our fantasies, even our heroes, to reflect what we’re experiencing as human beings.
I think people now want to see real. Yes, (Watchmen is) dealing with fantasy and yes, it’s dealing with heroes. Yes, it’s dealing with masks, but why the masks? What are the masks hiding? What are they disguising? I just think we’re just ready to delve in, even in our fantasy, to the darker nature of what is behind all of this.
When you see Watchman it’s like, Oh shit, this is not shying away from ugliness. This is not shying away from the horrible parts of American history. This is actually digging straight into that. Like, let’s address it so we can stop hating. Let’s address this. Then we can stop pretending that this is not at the core of us right now because we need to heal from it. And wounds need air to heal. I think it’s actually a really positive and beautiful thing that we’re starting to present things that are of the darker nature of us because I think it means that we want to heal.
Jessica Camacho
DM: What’s next?
JC: Right now, we just found out that uh, all rise is getting a full season, so we’ll be shooting until about March. I think we’re just all kind of like, “Cool, all right, let’s buckle down. Let’s make this, let’s combine our efforts and make a really beautiful piece of work.” So that’s what’s on my agenda. I’m excited to see what comes next. I’m bubbling over with passion and energy. I love what I do. I am so, so excited to show up for it, to show up for every project that I get to do, and I’m just excited to see what comes next.
Emergence is a new ABC show about a mysterious young girl. It’s also a supernatural sci-fi mystery thriller. Police officer Jo Evans (Allison Tolman) finds her at the site of a plane crash, untouched and unharmed. The girl, Piper, has no memory and no known identity, but she seems drawn to Evans. Plots thicken when a suspicious couple tries to claim the girl, who appears to have hidden powers. Who is she? What is her secret? That’s Emergence.
That’s also Alexa Swinton, the young actress who plays Piper. I mean, we know where she came from and–to my knowledge–isn’t being pursued by shadowy organizations. But, for a child, she seems to have hidden powers. In addition to acting, she’s a singer and a writer. Her first album is due to come out in January 2020, though you can hear her sing online. She’s also working on a book with her mom, “The Life of Skylie.” When she’s not doing that, she’s coding original computer games. At least one of those has gotten several thousand views.
Photo via IMDB
Swinton has been acting in film, television, and theater since the age of 1. Her first tv role was on the show Mythos in 2012. Before Emergence, her biggest credit was for her role in Billions as the daughter of the Attorney General of New York. She’s “uber excited” about her new role. “I can’t contain my feelings,” she tells Downtown, “(Piper is) totally a main character. I mean, she’s on the poster.”
Acting must be in the Swinton blood. Yes, she’s distantly related to Tilda Swinton, but her mother, Inna Swinton, is also an actor. So are her siblings, Maxim and Ava. The three kids have their own website, a collection of performances and accolades for the trio marking them as “Three Creators and Performers.”
Alexa Swinton is one of the youngest actors on the set of Emergence, but she’s having no trouble keeping up. She’s a big sci-fi and mystery fan and loves every aspect of playing Piper. “It’s always fun to play a really smart character,” she tells Downtown. “It’s so so cool that she doesn’t remember her past.”
Check out Alexa Swinton and the rest of the cast of Emergence, ABC’s new supernatural sci-fi mystery thriller, tonight at 10 pm/9c.
Actress Laura Gómez talks about her career, what’s next, and the art of bringing OITNB’s Blanca Flores to life for seven seasons.
For seven years, Laura Gómez transformed herself into the character of Blanca Flores on the hit show Orange Is the New Black. Blanca began the show as (so it appeared) a satanic bogart haunting the only stall in the prison with a working lock. Through Gómez’s empathetic performance, we watched as Blanca revealed the beautiful and tragic love story buried beneath her first impressions. A story finally concluded at the end of OITNB’s seventh season.
Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black may have introduced many viewers to Gómez, but it was far from the start of her career. She began acting in her native Dominican Republic, though she went to school for advertising. At 21, she moved to NYC to pursue acting as a career. She found a home with the Spanish Repertory Theater, participating in award-winning plays. From there, she branching out into television and movie work, as well as voiceovers. Fans may have seen her in the movie Exposed, opposite Keanu Reeves, in her recurring role in as Selena Cruz in Law & Order: SVU, or on HBO’s limited series Show Me A Hero.
1. How do you feel about how the show left Blanca at the end of season 7? Very satisfied to be honest. Blanca’s storyline in season 7 was very difficult to inhabit and to watch, because it’s such a close depiction of today’s sad reality in the United States. I believe it was somewhat necessary to give the audience some sort of comfort and relief at the end of a very hard season, and Blanca and Diablo’s unconventional love story provided precisely that.
2. What do you think (or hope) will happen to Blanca after the show ends? I hope she and Diablo live happily ever after.
3. How does it feel to leave Blanca Flores behind? I loved playing this character and her evolution on the show, but acting is one of those professions where you get used to things ending and new chapters beginning, whether it’s a play, at the show, or a movie. We actually had a pretty long run and I feel very grateful for it, but I’m also ready to move on onto a new horizon.
4. What have you learned during your seven years on the set of OITNB? I’ve learned a lot more than I already knew about our broken prison system. OITNB is a show that educated us all about difficult topics, bringing important conversations to the table. On season 7, we are exposing harsh realities about immigration and detention centers, and even though I’m well informed about the subject, there were new things I learned through Blanca and new character Karla’s stories. Plus, working with such amazing cast and writers, I definitely grew as an actor,
5. Was it a coincidence that Blanca was from Santo Domingo, or was that written in to match your life? It was described like that from the get-go. I brought my all to the audition and got the part that happened to fit me like a glove.
6. What is an important issue that you believe OITNB covered well during its run? Oh well, pretty much all of it, from the privatization of prisons to white privilege to Black Lives Matter to transgender issues (remember the beautiful backstory of Sophia -Laverne Cox’ character- on Season 1?) to opioids epidemic to the whole immigration issue around ICE on season 7. Not to mention the fact that it is a show created by a woman with a strong female presence all around. Meaning, it covered that in terms of a male-dominated industry.
7. What is an important issue that you wish OITNB addressed more, or better? I think we did pretty good overall, all things considered.
8. What is next for you? I just came back from shooting a film back in the Dominican Republic called Sunshine which will hit the festival circuit sometime next year, and right now I’m in the complex process of auditioning for new things. Not something that I can control, so in the meantime, I’m very focused on developing two screenplays -short and feature film- both based on plays that I wrote, which I also plan to direct.
It’s been a few weeks since the second season of On My Block premiered on Netflix, but we’re still basking in the glow of Monse, Ruby, Jamal, and Cesar and their ability to mix silly moments with serious social issues. We chatted with Sierra Capri, who plays Monse, about how her life has changed, how she relates to a character so much younger than her, and what she’s looking forward to.
Photo by Elisabeth Caren
Downtown: What was your life like before you got cast on On My Block?
Sierra Capri: I was in college studying biology. I thought I wanted to go into forensics because that was the career path that I had chosen, but other than that my life was pretty much how it is now.
Photo by Elisabeth Caren
Downtown: How did you pick biology? How does it help with acting?
SC: I always loved science for some reason. I contemplated becoming a police officer but there’s only so much I can handle at a crime scene, which is ironic because I was like “I guess I’m just going to go into forensics because I love studying the body.” So in a way, it taught me discipline, and I’ve carried that into acting and just staying focused.
Downtown: Who inspires you?
SC: My mother and my grandmother inspire me. All the people who love and support our show also inspire me as well.
Downtown: Is it hard to relate to a character so much younger than you really are?
SC: Sometimes, just because I never want to give off the vibe that being a teenager is easy, when it isn’t. And even though it was a while ago and I was once a teenager myself, I still can relate to a lot of things that teenager’s go through because it’s all part of growing up and finding yourself, which I feel like I am still doing.
Downtown: What are you most excited about in Season 2?
SC: All the developed story lines. I also feel like we have all settled in our characters by now, and we get to really learn about everyone’s personalities as individuals.
Downtown: How has being on On My Block changed your life?
SC: It honestly hasn’t changed much other than a few extra Instagram followers and being known more so than I was before. It’s changed in a sense that I gained new family members in the cast members – people I can’t imagine life without. I love all of them, we are a family!
Downtown: What’s next?
SC: I have a few projects in the works, nothing I can talk about now but I am super excited for what the future holds.
Meg Donnelly landed the part of Taylor Otto on American Housewife at age 16 and suddenly moved from New York City to Los Angeles. She was not cast in the pilot and was about to take a break from auditioning to be a normal teenager when she got the call that they wanted her for the series. Now in its third season, American Housewife is a hilarious look at suburban America and the families that do or don’t seem to “fit in” there. We chatted with the now 18 year old Donnelly about how her life has changed, her acting dreams, and her New York City favorites.
Photo by the Riker Brothers
Downtown: You grew up in NYC, are you an Uptown or Downtown person?
Meg Donnelly: Neither really! Sort of in the middle. I grew up on 56th and 10th so Hell’s Kitchen, a little bit more Uptown I guess. I’ve loved growing up here, and we are so close from the water, we’re only two blocks from the Hudson River so it’s really nice.
Downtown: What did you start first: dancing, acting, or singing?
MD: I started in theater so it’s kind of all three in one, but I fell in love with singing probably first. When I was about 11 I had my first agent/manager type thing and I went on theater auditions and then I started doing straight acting auditions and I fell in love with that too.
Downtown: When you were starting what was the dream?
MD: Ever since I was younger High School Musical was my thing, I was obsessed with it, it was such a big deal. Also Spongebob always had the musicals too and it is my all time favorite.
Downtown: Did you see the musical?
MD: Yes, I did! I see everything Spongebob, it’s the best, but my dream was to do a combo of theater and movies because I loved HSM so much. I think the things where you combine the two are the coolest, so when Zombies came around I was crying because that was my dream all my life.
Downtown: Do you have a favorite musical?
MD: I love Book of Mormon. I remember being 11 and listening to the soundtrack and thinking it’s so scandalous, I love this! I ended up seeing the show and it was so good. Also, of course Hamilton but that kind of goes without saying, it’s just kind of legendary. In The Heights is so good, “96,000” is one of my favorite songs, but my favorite of all time is Rent for sure.
Downtown: Would your dream role be in Rent?
MD: Mimi. It was kind of bad too because when I was like 7 or 8 I would say my dream role is Mimi, and people would say, “so your dream role is to be a stripper?” and I would say, “well kind of, but it was more dimensions to it.”
Downtown: What was your life like right before you booked American Housewife?
MD: I was just going to high school here in the city, it was pretty normal. I had been auditioning professionally since I was 11 and I did jobs here and there but nothing really big. In the pilot for American Housewife they cast another girl and then they recast it and I was picked up for the series. After the auditions for the pilot I thought to myself, I was really close and I really wanted this role so I think I’m just going to take a break and just be a normal kid and if stuff comes up that’s cool but I just want to take a break. Right when I said I was going to take a break American Housewife was like just kidding! It was kind of a weird coincidence, and I’m so glad.
Photo by the Riker Brothers
Downtown: What’s it like being in LA?
MD: Way different than here for sure. It was kind of a whirlwind because I was 16 and I was just going to high school like a normal kid and all the sudden it was like, “hey, you’re moving to LA tomorrow, congrats!” When I moved to, LA I didn’t know anyone out there. I slowly started connecting but I was also really shy because it was all so new to me and I didn’t know how long I was going to be there. When season two came around, and that was after Zombies, I knew more people, and they helped me so much to be more confident and outgoing.
Downtown: Does it feel like home there yet or are you still a real New Yorker?
MD: New York will always be home but LA is definitely homey. I love living there for sure, the weather’s really nice, the people are cool, but New York will always be home.
Downtown: Did you start shooting for the new Zombies yet?
MD: No, we start shooting in May and it’s in Toronto again in the same building that we stayed in last time. I am so excited because that was easily the best summer of my life. All the people are coming back, and there’s going to be new people so there’s going to be additional family members, which is going to be incredible, and they’re going to be awesome, and we’re going to have so much fun.
Downtown: Were you a Disney kid or Nickelodeon kid?
MD: I was both because Nickelodeon had some great shows like Drake and Josh, iCarly, Victorious, Ned’s Declassified, Zoey 101, that was my favorite, but then Disney Channel had like Wizards of Waverly Place, Zack and Cody, Hannah Montanna, High School Musical, it never gets old. There are shows on Disney Channel that I actually watch like Andi Mack, that show’s good.
Downtown: Do you think that if you weren’t in American Housewife you would watch it?
MD: I think so, I think I would watch it. I love watching ABC shows like Modern Family so i feel like I would stumble upon it. I feel like I would love the character Greg. Diedrich (Bader) is the best.
Downtown: What are some of the most memorable scenes or episodes that you’ve shot?
MD: The American Idol one was crazy. That one was so surreal because it was a normal day on set and then we went to American Idol to sing for the judges. We went to where the auditions were, but I just thought I was singing in front of my TV parents Katy (Mixon) and Diedrich at the set, and then we got to the set and they said, “oh, no, no, no, you’re singing in front of the actual judges,” and I was like, “Sorry, did I hear you right?” That was crazy.
Downtown: Was that a childhood dream?
MD: It was a childhood dream, and I was terrified because I’m on a TV show, if I mess up I can do it again, but these contestants have one shot and that’s it, the pressure is crazy.
Downtown: Do you have time to work on your music?
MD: Yeah, I’ve actually been recording music every day since I’ve been here in New York. The studio that I record at primarily is here, so every time I come here I’m in the studio every day. Sometimes people fly out to LA, and I’ll record there. I have an EP scheduled to come out in June while I’m filming Zombies, so that’s going to be crazy.
Downtown: Do you write or play instruments?
MD: I primarily write with this woman named Dahlia who is the best person ever, but I love writing. Every time I have an idea or a concept I’ll just write it down in my notes or a word will come up and I’ll write it down or text Dahlia and ask if it’s a good concept because she’s amazing. As for instruments, I play guitar and I dabble in piano, I never could really get the concept of piano but I’m working on it.
Photo by the Riker Brothers
Downtown: What are some of your favorite restaurants in New York City?
MD: There’s a place called Ivy on 5tth and 8th, and it’s really good, they have the best veggie burgers ever. I’m not a vegetarian anymore but I used to be, and their veggie burgers are insane and they have these polenta fries, it’s so good. Then mexican food, there’s this place called Los Tacos which is really good, their guacamole is insane. On 50th and 8th, Don Antonio has the best Italian food.
Downtown: What’s your favorite area to shop in the city?
MD: I go to SoHo every time I come here, I just want to be there the whole time because the shopping is amazing. There’s a place called Tokio 7 that’s really good, Kith is really good, it’s such a cool shop, Vintage Twin is good, I just went to the Glossier in that area and it’s so cool, it’s such a cool setup.
Downtown: Do you have a favorite museum?
MD: The Whitney, I love the Whitney. The ideal thing is to go take the subway to 23rd and 8th, and then just walk down. There’s this really good breakfast place that has amazing avocado toast, and then you walk, and underneath the Highline there’s all these mini museums and little galleries that you just go into for a second and walk out, and there’s always the craziest stuff in there, it’s so much fun. Then you go up to the Highline and then go to the Whitney and then walk to the village and see all of that and then to Washington Square Park and then to SoHo. Then they see the actual, real New York City because most people just see Times Square and Broadway and Rockefeller Center, which you have to do and it’s great, but if they want to see like the real sort of non-touristy stuff, if you’re coming to New York that’s what you should do.
Downtown: Do you have any one thing that has to be the first thing when you get back?
MD: The first thing, I have to eat pizza and bagels, that’s the number one thing, when I wake up I’m going to have a bagel and then for lunch I’m going to have pizza.
Photo by the Riker Brokers
Downtown: How did you learn to speak Japanese?
MD: This is a crazy story. Basically there was this Japanese boy band that came to my school as exchange students. It was insane everyone, they were amazing hip hop dancers but a lot of people were like, “Why don’t they speak English?” and I’m like, “because they’re from Japan, what do you mean?” They weren’t as nice to them and so they didn’t really get to learn English because they were just staying in their group the whole time. So I started hanging out with them, and my friends started hanging out with them as well, and I decided to learn Japanese even though I was going to make a fool of myself. I butchered it, and they laughed.
Downtown: Do you have the language skills to go there and have a conversation?
MD: Yeah, that’s what I did during the summer. I went there for two weeks with my family and I was my parents’ translator. I started learning from the guys and YouTube videos and now I actually take lessons because I didn’t know it was going to go this far.
Downtown: Now that you live in LA have you learned how to drive?
MD: No, I haven’t and I have no excuse! It’s on the list. I have the course and I’ve been studying it for the written test, but I just haven’t done it yet. They put it on the show, and the car was in neutral, and they pushed me, I swear, no joke, but I’ve been in LA for like two and a half years now, I have no excuse.
Downtown: What should viewers look for in the rest of the season?
MD: There’s this really great episode coming that actually was so much fun. I don’t want to spoil it but it has to do with Peyton Meyer (Trip) and Franklin (Evan O’Toole) who’s Anna-Kat’s best friend. It is the funniest episode, I think I laughed the whole time we were filming, oh my god it’s so funny.
American Housewife airs on Tuesdays at 8:00 PM on ABC.
