Arturo Hilario
El Observador
On the Mean Girls stage, the clique known as The Plastics wear pink every show and are beloved by everyone at their high school. That is everyone except for Janis Sarkisian, the rebellious spitfire that was famously portrayed by Lizzy Caplan in the 2004 comedy which has had a remarkable legacy twenty years on.
Now for the touring production of the popular musical Mean Girls, which arrives in San Jose from March 19-24, actress Alexys Morera plays Janis and is excited to talk about her role and experience on her first professional project since graduating from a three-year conservatory.
From the catch phrases, pink attire and iconic scenes, Mean Girls has only gotten more popular with age, with the 2018 musical expanding to the current national tour and a more recent movie based on the musical itself and starring actor and musician Reneé Rapp.
Morera grew up watching the original film and having a desire to sing and dance, so now she is in the perfect mashup of her childhood dreams and a favorite of sleepover entertainment. You can see the show and Morera from March 19-24 at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.
To start off, I wanted to just kind of get to know where you’re from and how you got started in the performing arts. What were your inspirations to get into the performing arts and how did you get on that career path?
Yeah, I grew up in Florida, so music was just always kind of like a part of my life. I did, like, choir in middle school and high school and elementary. Even when it wasn’t like, a required thing, I always found myself, like, gravitating towards music. Even when my mom tried to put me in time out. That ended up not working, but I would just sit there and make up little songs or sing or blah, blah, blah.
It was always part of my life, but I didn’t really know it was what I wanted to do until I went to New York for my 15th birthday present, and I saw Wicked on stage. And the second that first act ended with the song “Defying Gravity”, I was like, I want to do that. And then ever since then, it’s been kind of like, “I want to make this my main hobby.”
But after high school, I decided to pursue it, and now I’m here. I’m on a national tour, doing what I love to do every day. It’s become my job, which is really such a blessing.
Nice. And how was that process, like, what happened throughout it and how did you feel once you finally booked it?
Being an actor is definitely difficult. It’s not for the weak minded, weak spirited, because it’s a lot of rejection that comes with it. But it’s so rewarding. Even when you don’t get the job, being in that room for ten minutes, getting to do what you love, it’s what keeps me going. But actually booking the job was insanity.
Ethan Jih-Cook (Damian Hubbard) and Alexys Morera (Janis Sarkisian) in Mean Girls. Photo Credit: Jenny Anderson, 2023
I found out at work, and I was running up the steps, I called my mom and my dad, and they were, like, crying because my parents also Hispanic, so they were pretty hesitant to let me do this. But with convincing, they finally accepted it, and they were over the moon to hear that I am finally able to pursue. I did what I set out to do.
What was your parents history with performing arts? Did they ever see a show before you showed interest in it?
My dad immigrated here from Cuba, so this kind of profession is not the norm, he still doesn’t really understand it much, but he definitely tries. My mom was first in her family from Peru, so she kind of knows a little bit more. She’s the one who would take me to shows growing up and stuff, but her dad was a musician back in Peru, so she understands the music thing a lot more than my father does. But now they’re both very supportive and my biggest cheerleaders.
What was your history with the show or the original movie? Were you a fan of it or how has that perspective changed working in the show now?
Yeah, I definitely watched it when I was younger, probably even when I shouldn’t have been. It came out in 2004, I was definitely too young for me to be watching it, but, yeah, it’s like one of those sleepover movies that you would watch or that I would watch with my friends and stuff like that.
So as a Hispanic person, I never thought that I would be able to play my role, Janice, because she’s typically a white character. So getting to step into that and being that kind of trail fire for that, it’s really nice to know that our industry is considering people of color for traditionally white roles.
Even our Damien is Asian, which is so great, because again, it’s also like a typically white character, so getting to do that is absolutely insane, especially with a movie that I grew up watching. Doing the show every night is what gets me through the hardships of touring.
That was a really great answer and a perfect segue into my next question, so thank you. Diversity in the arts has been expanding over the last couple of decades. You can finally see more varieties of people, more skin colors, more experiences on the stage. And I was wondering if you feel it’s important to be seen as an inspiration to other Latinos that might see you on stage and see themselves and see performing arts as a viable opportunity.
Yeah, it’s the best feeling in the world when I go after the show, go outside, and then I’ve had people message me as well, like, other Latinos. They come up to me being like, “it’s so nice to see myself on that stage.”
It really warms my heart and stuff, because growing up, I didn’t have anybody to really look up to see that, because I also grew up in a predominantly white area. So it was very much like, “how do I hide these aspects of myself to be able to [assimilate].”
But my journey in the past years, since getting out of adolescence has been, like, embracing that side of myself. So it’s really nice to get to be that person for someone and also, like, get to do that. Like I always say, it’s such a blessing, and I’m really happy that hopefully the tides are changing to where we get more opportunities, which it seems like it is. So I’m hoping that we stick on that role.
So you play Janice in the show. Can you talk about playing that role? What do you enjoy about it? And do you relate to her at all?
Yeah, she’s definitely, like, everything I wanted to be in middle school. Just, like, the cool rocker sort of chick that doesn’t care what anybody thinks. She’s just, like, a strong character, and it’s so nice being able to play someone who knows who they are.
She definitely still gets caught up in the drama, but she’s, like, the first to say, “we’re being so stupid right now. Why are we just being rude? Let’s just be who we are and just do what we want to do with respect towards others.” So it’s really nice getting to play her every night, and I’m definitely living out my middle school kid fantasy.
How has the tour been overall and what’s been your favorite part of it?
I never say it’s easy because it definitely isn’t, with the travel and I’m from Florida, so these different altitudes, like going to the mountain and the cold is very shocking to my mind and body. But like I said prior, doing the show every night really makes it worth it because I’m getting to do what I love and surrounded by such talented, incredible people.
I just have a really great support system like my mom and stuff like that back home too. So when it’s hard doing the show I have my castmates and just calling them on the phone really centers me. But yeah, I love getting to see new places. When we’re there for a couple of days, you get to travel a little bit, even just like going to a vintage store or eating some really good food.
I love when they have Cuban food around, which reminds me of home a little bit more. So yeah, I feel like the greatest thing to do is just hang out with my castmates when we can and get food and stuff like that.
It’s really just like the support system that gets me through the hardships of touring and doing the show every night.
Last question. For people that have maybe seen the movie, haven’t seen the show yet, why would you recommend them coming to see Mean Girls?
Yeah, I’d say it’s a familiar story. It stays true to what the Mean Girls franchise is. It’s just told on stage and has incredible songs and choreography. If you come see the show, it’ll definitely be reminiscent of what the movie or even the new movie is, just told in a little bit more of an updated perspective with dancing and singing.
For tickets and more information please visit broadwaysanjose.com.
