Abigail Barlow: Anna Grace, what is your favorite part of being in Ragtime?
Anna Grace Barlow: My favorite part of being in Ragtime is getting to listen to the people that I look up to so much—Joshua [Henry], Brandon [Uranowitz], and Caissie [Levy]. I get to observe them daily. As this run goes on, it’s a masterclass in resilience and consistency, and how they lead, not only on stage, but behind the scenes too. For them all to just be the kindest, most talented people ever, I’m just in student mode.
My favorite part on stage is specifically in Atlantic City. Caissie is there, Colin Donnell is there, and the three of us are in a line. Every time, it kind of hits me that I’m singing on stage with Caissie. Or after I leave “Crime of the Century,” she sings my melody line. Those kinds of things do not get old.
Abigail: Well, I’m a student in your class, truly. You’re so eloquent.
Anna Grace: And when I saw you in Six, I was like, “vocal masterclass.” I went into Six blind, and I had no idea that your song was the saddest. The journey that you took us on acting-wise? Phenomenal. Next question: Do you remember what made you fall in love with musical theatre or Broadway for the first time?
Abigail: Yeah, watching you. I was in competitive dance at the time, and I didn’t know if I wanted to do this into junior high and high school. But seeing y’all and seeing what I thought I was not capable of—singing, dancing, and acting all at the same time—I was like, “This is fun.” I think it was a Christmas show where you played a Kardashian that I was like, “This is what I want to do.” That was a big one.
Anna Grace: I’ve got to find the video for that. But honestly, the youth programs we did had musical numbers from Broadway shows, and I didn’t even realize the lore I was learning. I was singing “Turkey Lurkey Time” around Christmas, and everybody was like, “How do you know that?” And I was like, “I sang it every year growing up.” Our repertoire growing up gave us such a basis for Broadway.
Abigail: Anna Grace, you not only play Evelyn, but you also get to play ensemble parts and sort of disguise yourself for some of the show. Do those characters have names and backstories?
Anna Grace: It’s so funny you ask that, because I gave Evelyn a through-line, even if it’s nonlinear. I feel like I’m always Evelyn in the prologue when I’m in New Rochelle for those sweet four minutes or less, and I am imagining that that is Evelyn’s dream life. She has everything she wants, there’s no effort. In the novel, Emma Goldman and Evelyn have a relationship, and she’s very much awakened by Emma’s teachings and the counterculture of Emma, so I thought it would be funny that for my disguise in “Til We Reach That Day” at the funeral, I am dressed like Emma Goldman. I’m wearing little glasses, I look like her, I’m standing right behind her, so in my mind, Emma brought me to the funeral. It’s just another part of my, “I’m still me.” What is your favorite part of the K. Howard track in Six?
Abigail Barlow: There are so many. I do love the fact that I get to do a little monologue beforehand and connect with all the Queens before I sing my song. I love that I get a workout before I sing my song. I’m doing a backup dancer track for four numbers. I feel like I get everything I possibly could out of the show—the singing, the dancing, the acting. I’ve never thought of myself as an actress.
Anna Grace: You are. So there’s no favorite moment? Like your nose boops?
Abigail: I guess I like that. I do love a nose boop. If you could be one other role in Ragtime, who would it be, and why is it Mother, so I can hear you sing “Back to Before”?
Anna Grace: You would think it would be Mother, but honestly, I would want to perform with Caissie, so to answer that, if nothing else matters, I would be Tateh. I have my own versions of his songs, I’ve added riffs in different places. I tell Brandon all of this, and he’s like, “Cooooool.” What was your first reaction, alone, when you got the call that you’d be coming to Broadway in Six?
Abigail: I had to mute the phone call so that I could have a guttural scream. You know how it happens when you get really good news and you can’t feel anything? Just like buzzing through your body? I had that. And then I immediately called Mom, and she was busy, so I waited with bated breath for 20 minutes. But then I ran around my house and jumped up and down.
Anna Grace: I actually created a shorthand with our mom because she is a doctor and she’s frequently busy. So if it’s a unicorn emoji, it’s like, “You’re going to want to answer the phone.” So next time you get good news, just send her the unicorn emoji.
Abigail: I cannot believe you have a shorthand with our mother. That is so funny.
Anna Grace: Final question: Now that we both made our Broadway debuts, what dream feels next?
Abigail: That’s a really good one.
Anna Grace: Thanks.
Abigail: Realistically, the dream that comes next for me is writing a musical that I can cast all my friends in, and I can star in.
Anna Grace: And your sister!
Abigail: What about you?
Anna Grace: In terms of Broadway, I want to do a one-act play that’s a limited run over the holidays, 90 minutes, with Jeremy Strong, where we get to end up covered in paint or blood or something. That would be the onstage dream. I’d love to do more movies and TV shows and get closer to being like Abigail on the vocal front. But also, just to work together.
Listen to the whole conversation here:
