Interview: At Home With Jessica Vosk

Jessica Vosk has had an almost meteoric rise in show business, from her humble start on Broadway covering several roles in The Bridges of Madison County to her most well-known role as The Green Girl. Rarely has a young woman come onto the Broadway scene and so quickly become someone that everyone far and wide admires and adores. People who haven't seen Jessica Vosk perform hear her name spoken with reverence and admiration by the young people who follow musical theater and the cabaret/concert community and, before you know it, those people are fans, too. In just a few years, Jessica Vosk has become the new standard in performing, a role the singing actress takes very seriously. Using her visibility on stage and online as a beacon of light, she leads the way for performers and people of all demographics.

That is... when she's not busy with Fred.

This interview was conducted digitally and is published here in its entirety.

Name: Jessica Vosk
First Cabaret Show (Title, Year, Club): I Came From Jersey for This! 2015
Most Recent Cabaret Show: Wild & Free (touring)
Website or Social Media Handles: @jessicavosk www.jessicavosk.com

Jessica Vosk! Thanks for chatting with me today, I really appreciate it and I know the Broadway World Cabaret fans do, too. How's life in quarantine for your household?

Y'know...I'm sure I am reiterating what every other person thinks, which is that it's just WEIRD! It began with feeling completely out of control. The loss of Broadway was something I didn't expect (hell, who did?) so it has been a learning curve of how-to remain clever and busy without putting too much pressure on myself. I'm no stranger to pivoting careers, as I started in the financial sector years ago...but this is a different beast. Dare I say-don't cancel me, everyone-but I do believe 2020 is unfolding and happening this way for a reason. We have been forced to sit with our thoughts and inevitably wake up to what is happening in our nation. I have to admit that it has been an uncomfortable thing to deal with right now, but things like Black Lives Matter and getting a certain orange person out of the White House have risen to the top of my daily agenda, and I am really grateful I have the time to put massive efforts toward these things.

Now, let's get to the most important question - how's Fred?

MY GOD, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD NEVER ASK. Fred Vosk has really shown me just how independent he is. What I mean is that I think he prefers his alone time, and he would rather I leave the house and allow him to live as a bachelor. Otherwise, he really likes when I feed him his sassy quarantine dinners, which now involve fresh chicken and bone broth (WHO DO I THINK I AM), and he has come to expect them ay 7 pm. I have created a monster.

We could probably spend this entire interview talking about dogs. You are a serious dog person, aren't you? When did it start? Tell me about your life as a dog lover.

Been a dog lover since I could utter the word "dog", as a young babe. My family, immediate and extended, always had a dog around. Mac, my dog growing up, was the light of my life and I was there until he took his last breath. I still have his ashes in my apartment. They become your lifeline, really. Absolute unconditional love, which you really cannot find while dating, which I've done a lot of. To all the men I've dated: You are awesome, but dogs take the cake. I cannot tell a lie.

You've been making some appearances on some online programs and you've posted some at-home music creations - how are you adjusting to the current new normal in artistic expression?

As I mentioned earlier, I do not mind doing a good-old pivot if necessary. As humans, we may not like change, but we are highly adaptable to it when we need to be. I have the luxury of doing a lot of teaching right now, which I ADORE and never got to do much of while on Broadway. I've also learned a lot about sound and filming and proper lighting and how to schedule my belting around when my neighbors won't kill me. It's a real operation, over here. How many renditions of Defying Gravity in my living room is too many? Wait, don't answer that. Also, let me say this: To all of the people who say that arts education is not important and doesn't need funding...the arts are what is keeping America alive right now, and what millions of people look to while coping with our current situation. Let's not forget that, yall.

What have been the daily practices in your home that have kept you on the sanity track during the madness?

I have to have some kind of schedule. Having a dog helps that, quite frankly. We take a LOT of walks, which he's come to expect now. When I go back to work, Fred is gonna be so pissed. I also have to move my body. Especially because I am not on stage right now. Finally, I am taking care of tons of plants because I am now Mother of Plants. Yes, I talk to them. Yes, I am obsessed with gardening. It truly keeps me sane. Oh. And lots of cooking. It balances and relaxes me, and I can't get enough.

Many young women look to you as one of their role models in show business - what is your personal experience as a public figure setting the standard at a time when women are taking control of their destinies and their power?

I find this to be one of the honors of my life, and I take it very seriously. Mostly because we have the ability to really voice our opinions through all of these social platforms, which didn't exist until I was in college. Even then, it was barely accessible. My goal is to show my fanbase that it is a beautiful thing to be unapologetically who you are. That our superpower is vulnerability. I do not believe in showing life as sunshine and rainbows, because it isn't always that way. You want to follow me, you're gonna see it all. And it is ok to struggle to get to where we want to be. It is ok to feel like crap when you are overwhelmed. I would love to only show the highlight reel of my life to my followers, but I would be lying to you, and that ain't me kid! I'd also just like to thank all of the followers out there who try their best and live authentically. I see you and I am so proud.

I hear you are quite the cook - has the quarantine provided you with a lot of opportunities to try out new things, or are you just reveling in your favorite dishes?

Oh, hell yes! I rarely follow recipes, so I love to go shopping and really have an Iron Chef moment for myself. Grocery shopping is one of my only outings these days, so I go as far as dressing up for the occasion, cuz one needs to impress everyone at Trader Joe's.

You're an athlete, too - what kind of workouts are you getting in while in isolation?

Stephen, I must tell you, I never thought I'd be a Peloton convert, but I am OBSESSED. I love spinning, always have, so I bit the bullet and bought a bike, and I'm almost at 80 workouts and it is the best purchase I have made in a LONG TIME. Little did I know they also have workouts of every kind on their app, so I've been doing those too. Like I said, I need to move. Yes, I love the physical benefit, but it's the mental health benefit that is really important to me.

They are saying that performance venues won't reopen until the new year. If that is the case, what do you see as your next step in your work as an artist?

I have a few announcements I've been sitting on for next year, which I cannot wait to actually put out there. But, I really don't know. I am hoping we are able to see a reopening come Feb 2021...because theatre work is so beautifully important and integral to so many. I'd also love to continue touring around the US. I had three concerts planned for the UK this fall, so I am hoping to reschedule those as well. A live audience is like air to me. Things will look a lot different when we come back, but I am always up for the challenge.

Jessica, do you let Fred sleep up on the bed with you?

ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY.

Photo of Jessica in performance by Stephen Mosher; photo of Jessica with Fred courtesy of Jessica.

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