by Kevin Russell Poole, Photos by Kevin Russell Poole
I sat down with Alex Church-Gonzales this week for a chat about her theatre artistry, her dream projects, and her favorite airplane movies. I have known Alex since 2018, when we worked together at New Dramatists, and I have been lucky enough to continue to work alongside her—from Breaking & Entering to King David Tacos, the breakfast taco cart that employs both of us, and occasionally, naively schedules us together. I’m so glad Alex made the time to hang out with me this week! This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Kevin Russell Poole: Hi Alex!
Alex Church-Gonzales: Hey!
Kevin: How are you doing?
Alex: I'm good! I feel like this question always expects a life update, and I do not have one, and that is bizarrely thrilling.
Kevin: Congratulations!
Alex: Thank you!
Kevin: Okay, how do you identify as an artist?
Alex: Director primarily, costumer secondarily, and then everything else.
Kevin: She does it all! You really do everything. You are always so busy, except for right now.
Alex: Except for right now!
Kevin: When did you know that you wanted to be a director?
Alex: Definitely after I got into college for it. Not before, that's for sure. But I grew up doing musical theatre and loving musical theatre, but I cannot sing, act, or dance, which is fine for being a person, but bad for being in musical theatre on Broadway. But I like being in charge of things, and I am good at leading group projects, so directing felt like a safe bet. I think it really probably clicked with my thesis, which was, terrifyingly, the first thing I directed on my own. It was just a fun little zany devised group, and it was nice and wonderful and repeatable and that was really cool!
Kevin: What was it called?
Alex: The show was called Everyone Hated Us and it was based off of a documentary about the Dana Carvey Show, which was a sketch comedy show in ‘96ish. It ran for one season; it did not run very long.
Kevin: And you went to school for directing?
Alex: Yeah.
Kevin: So that was a lucky guess?
Alex: I knew theater was right. I had done costume design at that point in my life, but I was scared of pigeonholing myself. I'm also not great at actually drawing, which is fine when you already are a costume designer, but much harder when you're trying to become one. So I did a Google search, and there are like 8 colleges in America that actually offer a directing degree, and not, like, a “Theater Arts Concentration.” And it does not matter! But it matters when you're 18 and stubborn. I think I made the right call. I don't know how, but I think it all worked out well.
Kevin: I love that you made the right call! How would you describe your aesthetic as a director?
Alex: Man, I love spectacular things. When things become spectacle, I think they need weight. If it's pretty, but it doesn't make you cry, then it's not doing anything. I think if you're coming to see an Alex play you're probably, statistically, going to get some teenage girls, you're going to get some sort of body gore– with a trigger warning! Hopefully you're not getting a lot of dramatic pauses.
Kevin: (Laughs)
Alex: Real quick, real snappy, no intermission, let’s go! I love magic. I don’t love a lot of realism. I always want to see something new. I think I always want to give people something new.
Kevin: I want to see an Alex show!
Alex: Me too, man.
Kevin: Okay, it would make more sense to ask this about directing, but I'm going to throw you a curveball and ask what is your dream show to costume?
Alex: Honestly, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought about it. I’m just going to rapid-fire. Guilty pleasure. I’d love to redesign Wicked.
Kevin: Oh yeah.
Alex: We know what it looks like, but I’d love my own take on Wicked. I don't know anything about ballet, but I've always loved the Nutcracker dress that opens up and all the people come out of. That’s just bonkers fun to me. I've always wanted to do–this is something that I think I'd direct and costume design–I’ve always wanted to take Cabaret, re-orchestrate it, make it more 80s synth, and do it somewhat immersive, and mashup 1940s Germany with 1980s London and somewhat contemporary America in a not-obnoxious way, and really hit all that weird, crazy punk stuff.
Kevin: Oh my god, that’s so fun and juicy! Okay is there a film or TV show that you think we would be surprised to hear that you love?
Alex: Oh I love the Kingsman movies with Colin Firth and Taron Egerton! I only watch them on airplanes, and I will watch them if they are an option. And sometimes I don't have my headphones, but those movies are so well-made that you can hear the sound effects just by the way that it’s shot because everything's so exaggerated. And they're stupid and gory and just great and dumb; they’re so good. Elton John is in the second one! Oh they’re bonkers.
Kevin: Are there any other things like that, or is that the only one that you've gotten into?
Alex: I always liked spy and superhero movies. I wasn't a huge comics kid, but I like the challenge of like “okay, how do we do this thing that we all know this actor can't do because they don't have superpowers? How do we fake all that?” It's just so fun. I love all the old X-Man movies for that reason. If I ever got into film I think I'd love to do a good old-fashioned coming-of-age superhero movie.
Kevin: Those are the best ones! That’s why I’m so into the Spider-Man movies. Have you seen Bumblebee? The Transformers prequel?
Alex: No I haven't.
Kevin: That's that's a really fun one that I was surprised to love.
Alex: I am writing it down! Because I’ve defended that movie at parties and gone, “no, it has to be the best Transformers movie because it's written by a woman or something! And I'm sure it has the most heart!” But I haven't seen it. (Laughs)
Kevin: (Laughs) Okay, what is one of your favorite shows you've ever worked on?
Alex: I loved Small Town Icons [by SMJ, produced by Breaking & Entering in PEA Fest 2019]. Small Town Icons was good. It all just fell into place, and I would have been pissed if I had to watch anyone else direct that piece.
Kevin: (Laughs) And, of course, we gave you one of the hardest jobs of the entire festival by giving you the longest play and asking you to costume all seven pieces.
Alex: Yeah! You did!
Kevin: And you really turned it out!
Alex: Yeah, no one was naked! Except for one actor that was almost naked.
Kevin: Except for Xander [Browne, in Sweet Shop by Tori Lassman]. And I feel like that is just the best example of Alex Church-Gonzales: the busiest person alive who still pulls it off no matter what. Because you were also in school!
Alex: And I also was working! I don't remember which night of tech it was, but I ran over from Macy's on my dinner break and threw costume pieces at people for 40 minutes and was like “Okay, I need to be back in costume at work in 20 minutes! Good bye! I love you! Great show!”
Kevin: As a Macy's elf!
Alex: Yeah I miss it so–I miss all of it so much!
Kevin: Okay, I only have one more question. Do you have anything coming up?
Alex: I don't!
Kevin: I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that from you.
Alex: Yeah, I’m thrilled! My mom keeps calling me like, “what are you doing?” and I'm like, “nothing and it's awesome!” And they're like “cool” and they’ll call me two weeks later and be like “what are you up to?” And I’m like, “I watched 11 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress this week!”
Kevin: Are there any projects that you want to manifest?
Alex: There's a piece about teenagers and the internet and camping and youth and embarrassment and all that juicy fun grossness that will come when it comes. I think I’ve burned out on Zoom theater, which is unfortunate. I need to be in a room! I had this revelation–oh god–watching this Peloton commercial. (Laughs) The trainers are crazy! They're so into it! If I was in person and anyone with a straight face told me, “All right! Get savage! Rip it up!” I'm getting off the bike and going home, but because you're in a screen, you need to deliver that so much more!
Kevin: It’s a performance the entire time as the director.
Alex: I am not a performer, I did not sign up for this!
Kevin: No you did not! Great, okay, we'll get this pandemic under control so we can get you back in the room!
Alex: I would love it.
Kevin: Tell me more about this teenage, camping, guts play that you’re manifesting!
Alex: I think it's a devised piece, I think it's linear and plot-based, which is not always a given with devised work. And I don't think it exists yet.
Kevin: We're going to have people reach out to you and say, “hello, I want to make that as well!”
Alex: Please! It’s fun, it’s gross, maybe it has puppets? Who knows?
Kevin: A perfect Alex Church-Gonzales piece! Thank you so much for talking to me. I cannot wait for theatre to get back to normal so that we can–“we” meaning Breaking & Entering, and also just me personally–can produce things that you direct and create because I am just completely obsessed with you as an artist!
Stay up-to-date with everything Alex is working on at her website, alexchurchgonzales.com. You can also watch the Virtual Rooftop Reading she directed, this world is for the frat bros by Chloe Xtina!