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[0:00] ♪ Musical number: "When Lightning Strikes" — performed by Tom McGovern ♪

[0:28] Jeryl Brunner: This is Jeryl Brunner, and you're listening to When Lightning Strikes.

[0:34] Hannah Cruz: Hannah Cruz currently stars opposite Aaron Tveit, Lea Michele, and Nicholas Christopher in Chess on Broadway. Her other credits include her Broadway debut in Suffs, standout roles in Only Gold and The Connector, the Peacock TV series The Copenhagen Test, and Richard Linklater's's upcoming film, Merrily We Roll Along.

[1:02] Jeryl Brunner: Well, welcome, Hannah.

[1:04] Hannah Cruz: Hi, Jeryl. Thanks for having me.

[1:06] Jeryl Brunner: Thank you so much for coming on. I'm so thrilled that you're here. Can we talk about when Chess first came into your life? Where were you? What were the circumstances? How did you hear about it?

[1:20] Hannah Cruz: Yeah, it's um, you know, I was talking to my husband about this recently. When I was on Broadway in Suffs making my debut, it was totally amazing. I'd been with that show for so long. There's an element of like, oh, is this ever gonna happen again? Because it's not guaranteed. Like one, your Broadway debut is never guaranteed, and second coming is not always guaranteed. And so that was like a big what if in my brain. And I was trying to steer more toward television and film and plays after Suffs. Um, and so right before I went on my honeymoon to Greece, my agent Katie called me and asked if I would be interested in going in for Svetlana and she was like, give it a look and see what you think.

And it was intriguing to me because I knew it wasn't like a big heavy sing. And I knew at that time that someone else's story was going to Lea. So I was like, okay, well, I could do this. Um, and so I came back from my honeymoon and I think went in almost immediately. Um, and so I was very refreshed and tan and then like in a very zen place that I'm not normally in New York City when I live here all the time. And the audience was great. It was like a super nice room. Lea was there. She was so, so kind. And Michael Mayer was, I love when a director will get up and like shake your hand and introduce everyone else in the room and I really like that. Um, because then I think we're on an even playing field and um we can actually like play.

Um, and that's what we did in that room. They gave me some notes on the scenes and we flipped it on its head which then kind of became what I do in the show nightly now is I change my intention night to night and that was kind of the birthplace of that. And I left feeling very confident and knowing that like I think we worked well together and so I wasn't really worried about whether or not I was gonna get the job. It felt very secure to me. And so when I did get the call I was like yes, like this feels right. This feels like the next like puzzle piece. Um, and so that doesn't happen a lot. Either you want something so bad it wrecks you that you don't get it, or you don't really care about something and then you book it and then you have to, you know what I mean? So there's like different variations of these things, but this always, Chess always kind of felt correct.

[3:47] Jeryl Brunner: Chess has such an iconic legacy. It's been in our consciousness, you know, since dare I say before you were born. Yes, you know, for people who might not know the story, do you mind because you know it so well, um yeah, at this point you know, tell us what Chess is about.

[4:08] Hannah Cruz: Yeah. So Chess takes place in the eighties, during the Cold War, and um it's a match between a Russian chess player and an American chess player in the first act, and they are in Italy, and they have this bitter rivalry, and there's a woman between them who is a chess strategist for the American. Her name is Florence, played by Lea Michele, and her and the Russian have great chemistry. We learn that they have some history together from a previous championship. Her and Freddie are very volatile and fight all the time. So eventually they break up and she gets with the Russian, who we kind of hear about tangentially in the first act, has a wife and children at home in Russia that he just doesn't care about.

Um, and says that it was like political theater and they aren't actually really married, and you know, that's just his side of the story. This is all taking place amidst negotiations between the USSR and America, and uh there's some nuclear war trials that are going on. Russia feels threatened by that, and so there's like the threat of nuclear Armageddon on top of everyone's heads on top of this chess match. And so like the political tendrils through these players and how they're being used as pawns in this like bigger political game is also going on. Um, it's all narrated very well by Bryce Pinkham who plays the arbiter, so he helps like keep you on track because there is like a lot of story to keep track of.

[5:42] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah.

[5:43] Hannah Cruz: And I think Dandy Strong, who wrote the book, did a really good job of like clearing this, clearing like the extra brush away from the story and letting it be like a super clear forest that we get to walk through. Um, it's a lot. There's like a lot of story to fit into this epic score. Um, so Bryce really helps keep everything in track.

[6:07] Jeryl Brunner: And then here you come in as Svetlana, and it's like you have an image or I had an image of who she is, and then you just blow it out of the water. And I love that people always say there's your side, my side, and the truth somewhere in that. And it really transforms everything when you come in. What do you love about her?

[6:34] Hannah Cruz: Oh, I mean, I talk about this often when people ask when you've been in a show for a bit, people are like, How are things at the theater? Like, are you happy? And I am so happy in this job because I get so much creative freedom to really like my show gets to be nothing is like really locked. Obviously, the words are really locked and the music is very locked, and you know, we'll all continue to get music notes. That's like that's a thing in life. But as far as intention and even like blocking and um, I'm on stage for 23 minutes, and all of those minutes get to be like quite free. I've never felt like so physically free on stage. Uh I've never felt so safe with my scene partners. Everyone's really down to clown and down to play, which I love.

Um, and so every night you never really know what your scene partner is gonna give you. And so six, seven months into the run like we are now, it's been great. And so I love that Svetlana is like malleable enough. Not every character you can switch their intention nightly that would change the story. But Svetlana is interesting to me because her objective remains the same, but the way that she gets there can change within the text, which is really cool. That's like not a normal thing.

[7:56] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah, and in those 23 minutes, wow. I mean, I just think of the songs you get to sing. You know, can you talk about that? I mean the canons of musical theater, I know him so well. Can you talk about that? Those epic beautiful songs that you, I mean the score is unmatched, truly.

[8:18] Hannah Cruz: Like I listen to our cast album for fun. That's not like a thing that happens a lot when you're in a show eight times a week. You don't want to listen to it outside of the theater, but this I like really do. Um, I get to sing I Know Him So Well with Lea, which is crazy to me. I love singing with her. Um, I've also listened to that song since I was a kid, so and it's such a nice song to sing. It's like in a great place, and it's vocally, and um I love singing that song, and then my solo when I first enter, He Is a Man, He Is a Child, has never been in like an American iteration of the show before. It was in the Swedish version, so uh there's a Swedish language version out there. Um, and when we were picking this it was like between this and a different song, I forget what it was called.

Um, and He Is a Man, He Is a Child really jumped out to all of us as like this is the one. I think it more so than Someone Else's Story. I think the lyrics just make a lot more sense for Svetlana and her relationship with Anatoly, and I think it really helps. I mean, it's a difficult thing to come in in the second act when the audience has all of these opinions already and their allegiances with the characters, and to come up and be like, uh, no, actually be on my side, this new girl you've never met before. Uh, it's also like the first time anyone is alone on stage, which um took me a really long time to like not be petrified of um because it's quite scary. Um, but it's a great introduction song because I think it gives everybody a lot of information, um, which you need.

Uh and then yeah, getting to sing like The Deal, there's a great part in The Deal with Erin, Nick, and Lea, and it's so fun to sing with all of them, and I it's the mix is so great, so I can hear everybody on stage every night, and then getting to sing Endgame with Nick is like otherworldly. I can't believe I get to stand behind him and scream at him. It's really fun.

[10:18] Jeryl Brunner: That's so great. How has the show changed you?

[10:22] Hannah Cruz: Oh, I really think it's made me a better actor. Like, I think especially because I didn't go to school for this. A lot of what I have learned as an actress has been self-taught, has been through watching others, um, and has been through experience. And I've never felt so physically free on stage, like I said before, and I think a lot of that is due to what this show has taught me is uh effective and okay. I think a lot like for a long time I was like, is this okay to do this? Is this okay to like follow this instinct or am I like way off base? I remember being like in school and like uh doing like in high school and doing like a math test and getting it graded after, and the teacher would be like, How did you get to this answer?

Like you think I was really bad at math. So you think you like know the equation and you're so far off that you're nowhere near the mark, and sometimes I get afraid of that in theater. And I think I've realized through this job that it's less like logistical than that, and your instincts are what make you unique and interesting to watch, and that's why like no actor will ever be the same as another actor. And so to be brave enough to follow your instincts and follow that thread and not be like not think that you're wrong. So Chess has like really helped me find that in myself a lot.

[11:52] Jeryl Brunner: That's really beautiful. So I want to know your lightning strikes moment when you knew you had to be an artist. I just saw this beautiful YouTube video of you singing Rose's Turn in high school. I love that. Epic, epic. Um, and I read that that got you in a national tour of Legally Blonde, but I'll let you tell it, you know, when you that was the earliest time when you knew this was my path.

[12:25] Hannah Cruz: Yeah, it was around the Rose's Turn time. I uh we went on like a school trip to go see Gypsy at the St. James with uh Patti LuPone and Boyd Gaines and Laura Benanti and oh my god. I remember sitting in the mezzanine. That's still my favorite theater to this day because I had such a religious experience in there that I'm not sure has been uh replicated. But um I remember sitting in the mezzanine and watching her do Rose's Turn and being like, I had no idea you could go to this place. I didn't know you could do this like that. And then I did Gypsy as my senior show and just copied everything Patti did because I was so, I can't explain how like lit up I was by what she did. Um, and I just I wanted to feel what she was feeling. And um yeah, I think about that time, because it's been brought up a couple of times recently, and it was the first time I like legitimately blacked out, I think, in a character.

[13:34] Hannah Cruz: And it has only happened a few times since 'cause it's a hard thing to have happen where you like you really go away for a sec and then you come back and it's like, whoa. I don't because I don't remember a lot of that time. Um and it only I think it's only ever happened with Eliza. Um because it's hard in like a show where you only have like twenty minutes on stage or more time on and off stage. When you're on stage a lot, it's easier to be like, this is real life. Um, and I remember experiencing something like that in high school and being like addicted to that feeling. And you know, here I am at thirty-four, still chasing that feeling. I love it.

[14:16] Jeryl Brunner: Well, and when you say Eliza, for people might let you Eliza in Hamilton. Um, and I want to know how you got to that place. I mean, you oh my God, when you watch that YouTube video and hear you say, I mean, the acting is miraculous, and the singing, the belting, how did you get to that place as a singer?

[14:40] Hannah Cruz: I am lucky in that, like, I think I had some natural ability at the jump. And so my mom loved to sing around the house. I have an uncle who's a bass player in a band in New Orleans, like it was a musical household in a lot of ways. Um, and I would sing a lot in the car, and I think my parents were like, Oh, I think she has a voice, so they put me in voice lessons, and it was just kind of there. Um, and I'm very grateful for that. I think like we're all born with like a skill set that we can nurture and hopefully cultivate. Um the acting part, I think just comes from being a very sensitive person and also very curious to understand all feelings and experiences. Um, but I took voice lessons, I did like every musical my town would do.

I was obsessed, it was like all I cared about. I can't believe I graduated high school because I feel like I never went to class. I was always like in the chorus room learning music and working on shows and stuff. Um so it's always just been like a very big path. There was never a question in my mind that there was I was gonna do anything else other than this.

[15:58] Jeryl Brunner: Do you remember one of the first songs that you loved to sing either around the house or...?

[15:58] Hannah Cruz: We sang a lot of Linda Eder in my voice lessons a ton. I think my first like vocal recital, I sang "This Time Around" from one of Linda's albums. I listened to her a lot. Um, this time around, oh in Vienna, oh Vienna. She's a beautiful song called "Vienna." Linda just like opens her mouth and this like crazy sound comes out. I was a big Jekyll and Hyde fan. We sang a lot of Jekyll and Hyde. Um, a lot of Frank Wildhorn and a lot of Scarlet Pimpernel, like that kind of vocal vibe. Um so it was all like kind of classical musical, like getting into the beginnings of the pop musical theater. Um, but not as poppy as it's become now. But yeah.

[16:54] Jeryl Brunner: And also to shift to Merrily. I love that you're in the film. Well, can you explain the film version of Merrily?

[17:03] Hannah Cruz: Richard Linklater's's film where you get to be, you film it every two years as you as everybody ages. But I'll let you uh how wild. So we're filming this over I think a 20-year period. Uh they've been filming, they filmed two sections without me. We filmed a section two years ago. We're gonna film again this coming December. Um, and then we'll take another two-year break, see each other in two years. It's a very singular experience. I've only filmed once, so it kind of feels like I just went and filmed this short film in Austin with some really cool people and never saw it. That's like kind of what it feels like. We had a meeting semi-recently about the next section because it's a big one, and I'm excited to start.

I've been like kind of working on it. It's hard to like this is the same thing for me, like with any kind of deadline. If it's really far out, you're like, oh, we're gonna lay it all, we're gonna later. But what I'm trying to do with Gussie is have dedicated time for her in my head and in my notebook, like once a month. It doesn't have to be crazy in depth, but if I can like take little things that I've thought about and put it down, um, then I can try and cultivate something that's like really lived in because no one will ever experience doing Merrily in this way. So it's such a singular experience. Um, it's gonna be incredibly emotional to watch. Um, like I think about where I was mentally when we were filming that last section.

I already feel two years later I was so young two years ago, and I was scared and I didn't know, you know, and I'm still scared in a lot of ways, but like I uh when I'm looking back at this when I'm in my 40s, like what am I gonna think of this like tiny little 32-year-old Hannah? Um, so it's gonna be really remarkable to watch.

[19:01] Jeryl Brunner: I love how you know it's gonna imitate life. Yes, and then I think about how life imitates art in your personal with your wonderful talented husband. Are you tired of talking about that?

[19:18] Hannah Cruz: That literally you're literally in the story and Broadway shows on the same street. You're the Imperial, he's at the Rogers playing Hamilton. It's remarkable. I mean, like, how lucky are we? I he covered a vacation this past July on Broadway and he did it for three weeks. And he was like, Man, this would have been so much more fun if you were here. And I was like, Well, you know, maybe they'll ask you back and we'll be there. And it just miraculously all worked out. This business is so insane. You can't predict literally anything or plan for literally anything. So we could have never planned for this, but it worked out perfectly. And it's been so special. We um we are parents to a new little eight-month-old kitten.

And I've been bringing her to work with me, and so she'll come visit me in between shows, and we'll get to be like our little family in my room between shows. And it's just really it couldn't be sweeter. It couldn't be sweeter. We get to go home together and unpack our days together, and um, and it's just very, very special. People have been coming into town and like seeing both of our shows. Chess we're calling it Chesleton. It's like a double duty thing.

[20:35] Jeryl Brunner: Um Svetlana is your kitten, right?

[20:41] Hannah Cruz: Yeah, Svetlana. And isn't there isn't it true that Lin-Manuel Miranda showed you how to do the there's a secret tunnel?

[20:52] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah, go back and forth.

[20:56] Hannah Cruz: But it is like this teeny tiny little tunnel that pops you out like right um from the Imperial. If you go to the Rogers, it pops you out right in the stage right wing. And um I think it was on a two-show day, so Edrid's show started at seven, and mine started at 7:30. And so Lin was like, let's go across. And so we walked across, and when we got there, they were doing "Skyler Sisters," and Edrid was just like standing there in the wing, and we just tapped him on the shoulder. Can you imagine you're doing your show and you turn around and it's your wife and Lin-Manuel Miranda? And that's wild. So it was like it was really it was a moment I will treasure forever. And then he showed Edrid like a couple days later, and he just sent me a picture of Edrid like in my room. And I was like, What are you doing there? Get out. No boys allowed.

[21:49] Hannah Cruz: And I love that you literally met on the Hamilton tour.

[21:53] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah.

[21:54] Hannah Cruz: You were playing, yeah, Eliza. He was playing Hamilton. I love that. Very cute. Very cute. What would you think you could wish you could say to that kid saying "Rose's Turn" that one day here you be, you know, on a stage, starring in Chess after, you know, after your second, you know, epic Broadway show after Suffs?

[22:20] Hannah Cruz: It makes me kind of emotional, honestly. Cause like I don't think I ever could have imagined. Um, and I'm very grateful. And I think little Hannah would be like overjoyed. Cause I used to like pray for this in my sleep, like before I would go to bed as a kid. So I'm just like, I'm very we my husband and I look at each other a lot, and we're just like, we love our life that we've built together. And I just feel very lucky to do what I love to do.

[22:52] Jeryl Brunner: That's really, really beautiful. And how does performing make you feel?

[22:56] Hannah Cruz: Oh my god. I mean, I'm very lucky that I've had a lot of moments alone on a stage because I think those are my favorite. I think back to like doing "Burn" in Hamilton or doing the campaign in Suffs, or doing "He Is a Man" in Chess, or in doing Cassandra in The Connector, like these moments alone, these like soliloquy moments on stage where I get to like look into the darkness of the theater and like feel alone, but feel supported, and I find such catharsis in theater, and it really is like my therapy, and I know when I'm not working, it's really hard for me to work through my emotions, so I like need it to like as a conduit to like understand what is happening in both in life outside of the theater and the world and in myself, and um so it means I think it means like it feels like a release to me in a lot of ways.

[23:55] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah, and I've heard you talk about rejections and really struggling and hearing the word no. How did you stay intrepid? You know, be on the marathon.

[24:06] Hannah Cruz: It's hard. I'm not gonna lie. I literally before this call just got a no, and it made me very sad. Sorry, but it's fine. I get to go to my show tonight and I get to do it, and I'm getting better at like crying about it and grieving what could like what I think I could have done with it, and then moving on because it's not it wasn't for me. That's the thing I like, and everyone has been saying this lately. I feel like I've heard it from everyone's mouth. Like what is for you is for you, and that can be a frustrating thing to hear, but also like you have to just let yourself be open to what's about to happen because you there's no way you can know like where you're gonna be in six months in this business.

You have no idea. Um this was a no, but it's opening the door to other possibilities and other experiences. And so it's definitely does not get easier, I will say that. Like you think I was just telling my husband, like I was in such a confident place, and then it just like cuts you right back. Then that's what this business is. It's like huge highs one day and then huge lows another. And um you can still like feel it and go through it and allow yourself to. You don't need to like try and be numb to it all because I don't think that's the answer. But I think like picking back up and keeping going. And I and that's why I'm grateful to be working because I get to go do my show tonight. Yeah. That's like that's a respite in a lot of ways. What a gift.

[25:42] Jeryl Brunner: Is there a dream role or role you're aching to play, or is it to be written?

[25:47] Hannah Cruz: I mean, I definitely think to be written. I think that's everybody who doesn't love to originate, that's a great thing to get to do. I, you know, I would love to take a crack at Blanche DuBois in Streetcar at some point in my life. I really I think I would have a really good time with that. It may kill me, but I think I would enjoy it.

[26:07] Jeryl Brunner: Why is that?

[26:08] Hannah Cruz: Just the range of it.

[26:09] Jeryl Brunner: Yeah.

[26:10] Hannah Cruz: Yeah. Yeah. And I would love to tackle a classic play. That's just something. And I just did um a reading of Two Gentlemen of Verona at Lincoln Center at the musicalized version that they did in the 70s. And uh that was a blast, but it was really fun to get my hands on some Shakespearean text and work my way through that and that I had such a good time doing that. Um that I would love to do some more Shakespeare as well.

[26:36] Jeryl Brunner: Oh, that'd be awesome. Well, Hannah, thank you so much for coming on. Such a joy to talk to you.

[26:37] Hannah Cruz: Thank you.

[26:44] Jeryl Brunner: Take good care.

[26:46] Hannah Cruz: Thank you.

[26:49] Jeryl Brunner: It happened to the greats, it still happens every day. When lightning strikes is the moment you know, the theme song was written by Tom McGovern. This episode was produced by Anna Strout.