Interview: Gabrielle Ruiz Chats Moving from Broadway to The CW's CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND

It's been a busy year for triple-threat Gabrielle Ruiz. After being a part of the closing cast of Broadway's IF/THEN, she then starred opposite Justin Guarini in Bucks County Playhouse's production of COMPANY, before appearing in the new Off-Broadway musical PIECE OF MY HEART: THE BERT BERNS STORY. Having been a working actress in New York and on National Tours for nearly a decade, as exciting as those shows were, Ruiz new what to expect from the experiences. However, starting tonight, she is in for something completely new. At 8/7 CT, Ruiz makes her debut on The CW's musical comedy CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND as Valenica, the long-term girlfriend of Josh, whom the show's titular ex moves cross country to be near. If you saw last week's premiere, you know that this can only lead to neurotic, slightly unhinged fun.

"Finishing in New York with IF/THEN this past spring, then to have this is just a dream come true," Ruiz said. "It's really really been fun so far."

While she has appeared on screen before, CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND marks Ruiz's first on-screen big break, after spending most of her career thus far on the stage. "It is so much fun to be able to bring what I've been doing for almost a decade in New York to a different medium," she said. "I've done some television, but (this is) my first, big recurring role with a new, exciting show."

(Check out my review of CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND's premiere episode here.)

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND is a one-of-a-kind television musical from Rachel Bloom, who also stars, and Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the screenplays for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, 27 DRESSES, and the recent ANNIE remake. Bloom plays lawyer Rebecca Bunch who gives up her successful career in New York to move to West Covina, California in hopes of reuniting with Josh, whom she dated at summer camp a decade before. At the end of last week's episode, Rebecca learns that, despite what his Facebook profile says, Josh has a girlfriend, and in tonight's episode, she meets her rival.

"Valencia is the opposite of Rebecca Bunch, when it comes to her energy, her character, her way of thinking," Ruiz said. "Everyone knows a version of Valencia, who was probably Queen Bee in her high school."

While this sounds like the set-up for a stock sitcom villain, that wouldn't fit with how CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND approaches its story. Instead of playing to the familiar TV comedy tropes, Bloom and McKenna want realistic characters to populate the bizarre world that they are creating.

"I had conversations with Alin and also Rachel, especially the first episode that I was filming," Ruiz explained. "I said, 'I just don't want her to be a mean girl,' and they said, "No, no, she's not. She's just had a lot of history with women.'

"Sometimes women are competitive. They think, 'Oh, she's so pretty, I should not like her.' The writing in the show is so intelligent with what they're doing, they are completely commenting on real situations girls go through."

In tonight's episode, Rebecca sees Valencia's outward perfection, and wants to get close enough to understand how she does it. "She places Valencia on a pedestal that she's just the perfect person, and she needs to become part of her life," Ruiz said.

However, despite what Rebecca thinks, Valencia has issues of her own, both personally and in her relationship with Josh. "She's also insecure, and always trying to rebuild her own confidence," Ruiz said. "She's got a long-term relationship with Josh, but it's been "arranged" in the sense that they should stick together because, 'They look so good together,' but people grow and grow up. People who look like they have it all together, sometimes don't.

"Rebecca meets Valencia and Josh in that part of their relationship, where they are like, 'Ok, now we're older, now what? What's the next step? We have other things to do than just be together.'"

Having been in the Broadway productions of IN THE HEIGHTS and EVITA, and on the road as Diana in the Broadway National Tour of A CHORUS LINE, Ruiz was no stranger to singing and dancing, but she found that CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND has given her, and the rest of the musical theatre vets in the cast, the chance to do many unique types things that they would never have the opportunity to do while performing a show eight times a week on Broadway. In addition to Ruiz, the cast features Tony-nominee Santino Fontana, Obie-winner Donna Lynne Champlin, and HERE LIES LOVE's Vincent Rodriguez III.

"Every number is going to be very different," she said. "It's not all just musical theatre, it's not just hip-hop. We have a huge spectrum of styles. That's the fun of putting together these people, because we can sing and dance a lot of different styles."

Ruiz and the rest of the cast and crew are currently shooting the season's eighth episode, and she says that what makes CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND different from other shows that have attempted to bring musical theatre-style content to TV is in the writing.

"It's written by women who are really gutsy and aren't afraid to talk about the truth in a topic, and also create a satire behind it," she said. "What separates CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND from other approaches to (TV) musical comedy is the dark comedy behind the musical numbers, as well as what we are addressing when it comes to storylines."

She said that the show's musical numbers, written primarily by Bloom, are often the button to the greater point that the episode is attempting to make.

"I love the angles they take in the writing, especially through the music, in both the song and dance," Ruiz said. "It's not just a production number for fun, although it can look that way. That's a really intelligent way to be current with what is going on in society today."

While the first episode of CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND had to contend with a number of production issues as a result of moving from a 30-minute slot on Showtime to an hour-long slot on The CW, the show begins to figure out its new situation with tonight's "Josh's Girlfriend is Really Cool!" The episode features the song "I'm So Good at Yoga," that promises to let Ruiz show off all of her triple-threat talents.

"I'm just sitting and waiting for them to create magic," she said, "and I get to just play and be a part of it. It's a really special time."

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Check out the teaser for tonight's episode:

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Who are you hoping ends up with Josh, Rebecca or Valencia? Let me know in the comments below, or on Twitter @BWWMatt. If you want to follow along with my "366 in 366" articles, you can check out #BWW366in366 on Twitter. Also, don't forget to follow @BWWTVWorld on Twitter and Like us on Facebook for all of the latest TV news, reviews, and recaps.

Photo Credit:
1) Rachel Bloom, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Vincent Rodriguez III: Eddy Chen | The CW