Jenna Ushkowitz is a true Broadway baby, having made her debut on the Great White Way at age 9 in the 1996 revival of The King and I, and having recently played IIlse, Martha, and Anna in the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening. After being in one of Broadway’s hottest shows, Ushkowitz is now part of the hottest cast on television, playing Tina Cohen-Chang on the hit FOX series Glee. TheaterMania spoke with Ushkowitz recently — as she was on her way to Philadelphia to sing in game 3 of the World Series — about the show, its soundtrack (being released on November 3), and her plans for the future.
THEATERMANIA: You’ve been friends with Lea Michele, who plays Rachel on the series, since you were eight years old. Did you two audition for Glee together?
JENNA USHKOWITZ: No, we did it on our own. Jim Carnahan, who did some of the casting for Glee, brought in pretty much everyone who appeared in Spring Awakening. For my first audition, I didn’t have to sing, and when I walked out of the room, I thought I didn’t get it.
TM: Is having a theater background proving helpful on the show?
JU: Definitely. It’s like summer stock. We’re either recording a song, rehearsing a new dance number, or shooting the show, sometimes all in the same day. It took us a day and a half to shoot the “Don’t Stop Believin'” number for the pilot — I think we did 75 takes.
TM: We haven’t learned that much about Tina. Is that going to change?
JU: Yes, on the next episode (airing November 11), I get a short-lasting fling. It’s something that’s been building up. I know some people think Tina’s a lesbian — and that’s fine with me because high school is all about sexual ambiguity. I also get a song, but I can’t tell you what it is.
TM: What song would you like Tina to sing? So far, her only solo was on “Tonight” (from West Side Story), and they made you not be able to hit the high note.
JU: I was okay with that, because Tina isn’t supposed to be as good a singer as Rachel or Mercedes. Anyway, I think Tina should do something harder-edged than a show tune — maybe something by Paramore or Evanescence. I’d love to do that.
TM: Have you created your own back-story for Tina?
JU: In my mind, I think she’s rebelling against her mother, who’s this Asian feminist. Tina’s almost always smiling, but I think she’s angry deep down. She’s also really shy, but the Glee Club is helping her slowly come out of her box.
TM: The soundtrack is amazing! What was your favorite number to record?
JU: I think the most rewarding has been “Somebody to Love,” because it’s the best one we’ve done in paying respect to the original (by Queen) and keeping the integrity, while making it our own. We went through a lot of different ideas for the choreography for that number, because we were trying to emphasize all the different relationships.
TM: You still have nine more episodes to shoot this season — and one of them is going to be all songs by Madonna. Are you psyched for that?
JU: Absolutely. We’ve all started to think about what songs we want to sing. I would love to do either “Frozen” or “Ray of Light.”
TM: Are you excited about working with Kristin Chenoweth again, who’s going to reprise her character of April Rhodes.
JU: Oh my god, yes! Kristin is so professional — she learned one of those songs in just 40 minutes. And she not only had us cracking up on the set, she even brought us cupcakes. I call her “wonder woman.”
TM: The cast is spending a lot of time together even though you’re not shooting again until January, doing promotional stuff and even singing in the World Series. Is that cool?
JU: We definitely like to hang out off the set; we have what we call Gleekends together. We also got to go to Australia together to promote the show in September and that really helped us bond. It’s a great group of people; everyone brings their own flair to the party.
TM: Do you want to return to the stage anytime soon?
JU: I am loving doing television, but theater is where my training is and I would love to come back. I am hoping they’ll do a Broadway revival of Miss Saigon — and I’ve been pushing and pushing to be seen for the film version. I actually finally got to meet Lea Salonga the other day and it turns out she loves Glee. That was so exciting.
