Interview: Tessa Ferrer Makes the Screen-to-Stage Switch - From Checking Out of GREY'S ANATOMY & Into BUZZER at The Public

With television credits on two major networks to her name, Tessa Ferrer is now tackling the stage.

The up-and-coming actress, an alum of ABC's long-running medical drama GREY'S ANATOMY and CBS' EXTANT, has taken up residence at The Public Theater. Leading the charge in Tracey Scott Wilson's new play BUZZER as 'Suzy,' alongside Grantham Coleman and Michael Stahl-David, Ferrer is taking her screen-to-stage transfer in stride, bringing some starpower to The Public's Martinson Theater. Directed by Anne Kauffman, BUZZER began previews earlier this week on March 24 ahead of an official April 8 bow.

With opening night just a few weeks away, Ferrer exclusively spoke with BroadwayWorld about the "darkly funny, intensely gripping new play" BUZZER, making the big switch to the stage, how that transition has affected the way she works, and being one of the very "lucky few" to witness Lin-Manuel Miranda's new musical HAMILTON.

Impressive television credits aside (her first "real job" was 'GREY'S' - it's hard to imagine better,) her regional theatre credits in and around Los Angeles include BRILLIANT FACES, PROOF, and THE HOUSE IN ILLIUM VALLEY, among others.

BUZZER, according to press notes, is a three-character exploration of "love, fear and the high costs of choosing who we make a home with, and where. Jackson left his tough Brooklyn neighborhood by winning a scholarship to Exeter, where he met Don, a play-hard rich boy who became his unlikely best friend. Now a Harvard-educated lawyer, Jackson's bought a place in the newly gentrifying area he grew up in. But Jackson's white girlfriend, Suzy, isn't so sure she belongs in a community "on the verge." When Don comes to crash with his old buddy and stay clean, his stories of the neighborhood's dangerous past collide with the growing disconnect between Jackson and Suzy, and the treacherous sexual and racial tensions waiting just beyond the door and demanding to be let in."

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Congratulations on BUZZER's first performance! How did it go?
Well...(laughs) This is actually my first experience with this process. So I'm told that as far as first previews go, it went pretty well! We have lots of work to do, but we have plenty of time to do it.

How did you initially come to be involved with the production?
I got the script from my manager and put myself on tape in Los Angeles. I really connected with Suze and I wanted to have this conversation with Tracey and Annie [Kauffman], most particularly. I wanted to see what they had to say about it. [BUZZER] really stirs up a lot of feelings for everyone. I wanted to be a part of something like that.

What's the process been like so far to work with Tracey, Anne, and the rest of the cast at The Public?
I can't even express it. It's been such a gift and a joy, truly. We'd been rehearsing up at the Snapple Center. I don't think that I've ever worked with someone like Annie, who has such confidence and positivity. I never hear her say a negative thing, which allows the actors to be free and play and discover.

And Michael and Grantham are truly just wonderful human beings. Which really helps the process [laughs.]

That must make it feel fairly liberating.
Yeah, yeah! I've never worked on a play where you have the writer sitting in the room, where you can ask all of the questions that you have, and if she doesn't have an answer, you come up with an answer together. It's been such a fulfilling process, and I've learned so much.

BUZZER is obviously a very intimate, character-driven play. What are the relationships like between the characters?
Jackson (Coleman) and Suzy have been together for years and years and years, since college...they have a really strong bond. And truly love one another. And Don and Jackson (Stahl-David,) have been best friend since high school, they're an unlikely pairing. As best friends sometimes are [laughs.] There's this very interesting triangle [between the three characters.]

Getting into the meat of the play and official boilerplate description aside, what do you feel the play is really about?
You know, I grapple with this on a daily basis. Because, yes, there are things that say "this is what this is about," but over the course of the rehearsal process, there have been so many rewrites, and the focus has really shifted. I feel like this play is a shapeshifter. It becomes whatever the person who's attending brings to it. In the sense that if I, for example, came and saw this show, I would have a very different response than someone like Michael or Grantham would. For me, yes, it's about all of the buzz words - pardon my pun [laughs] - but also about communication in relationships. It's very much about honesty, the murky territory you get into when you decide to withhold something from your partner, and how your environment can really affect the inside of your home.

And this [evolved] version, I think, has much more to do more with gentrification and race that the first version that I read did.

What's the process of letting the piece grow and adapt, alongside the playwright, been like for you?
It really has been such a thrill. A real thrill. And I can say that honestly - until last night. [Laughs.] Through the rehearsal process you're like, "I love it, I love it, I love it!" It's very exciting. And then all of a sudden you have the audience, and you're like, "Oh my god, I don't know the words - because I just got them this morning." But even with that, it's been a thrill to feel like you've actually been a part of creating something. It feels unlike anything I've experienced before.

You've now transitioned from huge television projects - like GREY'S ANATOMY and CBS' EXTANT - to a smaller Off-Broadway theater, performing in a very intimate production. How does that differ?
It's been more of a challenge than I had anticipated. I haven't done very much theatre, but I did grow up in the theatre world, my mother and grandfather were both in the community. My family also did a traveling Christmas show when I was a young tot [laughs.] Growing up, I had a lot of experience on stage. I went to school for theatre, I've taken endless amounts of classes, but over the last couple of years I've absolutely been training myself more for film and television. And I sometimes feel that working against me in this process.

I've never had a problem projecting in the past [laughs] but so many of my notes are about volume! So really trying to find that balance between over-acting and just portraying it to that last row. I'm really trying to get my sea legs.

Projection woes aside, can you see yourself continuing in theatre throughout your career?
Absolutely! If I'm lucky enough. If people will have me, I will be there!

Have you seen any shows since being in New York?
I saw HAMILTON! I'm one of the lucky few. I loved it. Loved it. I saw it once, but I already feel like if I were asked, I could get up there and sing the entire thing. Minus the rapping. I could never do that. I just can't believe what [Lin-Manuel Miranda] has done. That man's brain is just beyond understanding. It's Incredible.

GREY'S ANATOMY is one of the biggest shows of the last decade. What was it like to be a part of something that loved?
That was my first television experience. And I went in not really knowing anything. They call for 'first team' on set and I'm just sitting there because I don't know what that means. [Laughs.] I went into such a well-oiled machine with all of these wonderful people who have been there for over 9 years. And you know what? The truth is, I got paid to go to school. I just got to watch and learn and pick up on the things that you don't learn anywhere else. The lingo on set, how to naturally hit a mark, what it's like to actually be a part of a cast, and just how many people it takes to keep that kind of ship alive - or, afloat, rather [laughs.] You don't really understand that until you live it.

With shows that have been around that long, it's probably slightly nerve-wracking to walk into that.
Yeah. Yes, yes. It is terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

And the cast. It's hard to imagine a show on network television with a better cast.
It was really magical! [Laughs.] It was so fun getting to know everyone. I had such a wonderful experience. I had the pleasure of being on the show when Sandra Oh was still on. Working with Sandra, Chandra [Wilson], and Jim Pickens - all of these people who just have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to generously share - I couldn't have asked for a better first job, let me tell you that.

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Tracey Scott Wilson's BUZZER, directed by Anne Kauffman, runs through Sunday, April 26 at The Public's Martinson Theater. For tickets, click here.