Broadway Star Jessica Vosk in Town Valentine’s Day: Our Interview
By • February 8, 2023 One Comment 1450
Presented by Washington Performing Arts, Broadway star Jessica Vosk is returning to the area for a one-night-only, Cabaret-style show on Valentine’s Day at Sixth and I Synagogue at 600 I St. NW. Vosk, who’s had roles in Wicked, Fiddler on the Roof, Finding Neverland and The Bridges of Madison County, hasn’t been to Washington, D.C. since starring as Elphaba in the 2017 national tour of Wicked.
Being Valentine’s Day-based, Vosk’s show will have love songs, but many will be about all different types of love, encompassing the heartache and pain of love lost, best friend love and more. “There will also be dating stories sprinkled in on my part,” Vosk told The Georgetowner, calling herself a Jersey girl who has plenty of romantic tales.
Speaking of passion, Vosk left a career on Wall Street to pursue her true love: singing and acting on stage. “I tried the ‘real people’ job thing to impress friends and family,” she said. “I thought it was the right thing, but as I got further along and climbed the ladder, my body told me I was not at the place I was supposed to be.”
Anxious and stressed, Vosk left her job to take a risk. “My parents were thrilled,” she said sarcastically. “If you don’t take a chance on yourself, what’s the point? I had no idea what would happen.”
A decade later, Vosk is fresh off a sold-out Carnegie Hall debut in November 2021. She calls Tony Award-winner Kristin Chenoweth one of her closest friends and the woman who originated the role of Elphaba, Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel, one of her mentors. “Both women are great examples of resilience, who stuck with something that wound up becoming one of the biggest musical hits in the world,” Vosk said, recalling that Wicked was at first a “flop” before it became a phenomenon. Vosk often chats with Chenoweth when she’s feeling what she calls imposter syndrome, as Chenoweth has been in her spot and often finds what she has to say “relatable.”
As far as what she loves about playing Elphaba, Vosk said she didn’t quite understand the role until she started actually performing it. Soon, Elphaba was a “bucket list role” that changed her life. “Elphaba isn’t just an angry female character, she’s not ‘wicked’ because she’s angry,” Vosk said. The character is a passionate person, Volk described. Vosk relates to the character as she too is quite passionate, growing up with different dreams from most of her friends and family. “Many people growing up said ‘oh that’s cute,’ when I said I wanted to be in theater and a singer for a living,” she said. “They would [then] ask what I really wanted to do.”
Elphaba is proof that anyone can be a boss – though they can sometimes get misconstrued as being difficult — but she just knows what she wants. Vosk loves that the character lives life on her own terms.
As far as her musical tastes, Vosk is a self-professed chameleon, not doing all Broadway songs. She enjoys pop, rock and artists like Jillian Michaels, Elton John and Billy Joel. “I may do ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ from Funny Girl and follow it up with Dolly Parton’s ‘I Will Always Love You,’” she added.
Vosk’s debut Billboard charting solo album “Wild and Free” was released in 2018 and followed up by “A Very Coco Christmas” two years later.
Tickets to Vosk’s show at Sixth and I are $45 for general admission and can be purchased by visiting https://www.washingtonperformingarts.org/seasontickets/2022-23-season/a-broadway-valentine/.
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