I know what it's like as a mother and want to protect my child more than anything in this world. It’s hard because Raq is a heavyweight and so full, so I just try to find joy where I can and within the character. How do you work on these two shows and then go home to your family and protect yourself from the emotional weight the characters can leave behind? The Witch and Raq are both mothers longing for something and dealing with immense grief in their own ways. To have met him at 21 and have him be proud of the work we’d done and to then now be in this place just makes me want to do a good job. One of the glorious things about his material and why it lives on is that it can be interpreted time and time again. Sondheim is someone you want to live up to. When I graduated from college, my mentor Billy Porter hired me for B eing Alive, a Sondheim revue show infused with Neo Soul and R&B. How is your approach to the character in conversation with Sondheim’s legacy? You played The Witch in 2019 at the Hollywood Bowl. Having the responsibility to ensure you get the message across the way Stephen intended while doing this interpretation scares me. When you take on this highly-regarded material, first with Bernadette Peters, then with Vanessa Williams, and now the New York City Center Encores version, and consider the current climate, it’ll touch more people. Sondheim is, to me, the best composer and lyricist, and we’re also talking about some intense topics. Who can forget the Pippin trapeze where you were 20 feet in the air! It scared and excited me, and that was something I needed. Jumping into Whoopi Goldberg's shoes in Sister Act was a big deal, then tackling the Leading Player from a woman’s point of view. You’re hypersensitive to everything while being focused on telling the story, and that's exciting. The collaborative process of theater requires so much of you. I try to see how I can connect my life to the material. If I wasn’t scared, I knew that it wasn’t the right thing for me. I love taking chances, and even early in my career, I always wanted to do things that scared me. You’re doing something that’s a holy experience and audience feedback, and it’s so special because the audience tomorrow will be very different.Ĭourtesy Patina Miller How has that informed the projects you take on? It has made me a better actor in the TV and film realm, and you never want to stop learning. There are many things that I’ve learned by being in the theater, whether it’s instincts or being with an audience or the listening aspect of it. You work with artists on a piece, rehearse it, and finally put it up for people to come in fellowship and see your work. Having my start in Sister Act and then Pippin, I’ve always enjoyed creating a show and the camaraderie in the community. My training is in the theater, where I learned to be the artist I am. The theater has always been a holy space for me. I first learned about you through Pippin, and you’ve found great success in TV and film, but what drew your attention to the theater first? Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to playĭuring a break from rehearsals, Miller spoke with about returning to Broadway after nearly a decade, the beauty and uncertainty of motherhood, Sondheim's legacy, and embracing projects that scare her. To that end, she plays into The Witch and Raq's fallibility knowing very well that such nuanced roles still aren't the norm for non-white female actors. It’s also what helped her win a Tony for her performance in the 2013 revival of Pippin. Her ability to teeter between fearlessness and fear has made her a compelling entertainer on-screen with roles in Madam Secretary, The Many Saints of Newark, and The Hunger Games. Miller accepts fright with aplomb, letting it invigorate her work. The same is true for Raquel “Raq” Thomas, the resilient matriarch and drug dealer she plays in STARZ's Power Book III: Raising Kanan. Perhaps it’s a reminder that leaning into the discomfort of the unknown can be freeing, especially right now. Even if she is playing a so-called “villain,” Miller asks audiences to resist the desire to immediately judge her character. In the famous musical-which dissects the morality and uncertainty of fairy tale classics like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding Hood-she plays The Witch, a role based on Rapunzel’s Mother Gothel and previously made famous by Vanessa Williams and Bernadette Peters. When we speak for our interview, the stage and screen actress is days away from her grand return to Broadway, for the first time in almost 10 years, in Stephen Sondheim’s third revival of Into the Woods. Tony winner Patina Miller is terrified, and that's just how she likes it.
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