Krysta Rodriguez Talks Deaf West's SPRING AWAKENING and 'Pushing Forward' Despite Cancer

Broadway and television performer Krysta Rodriguez may have been diagnosed with breast cancer in September, but that has not stopped her career. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

Rodriguez has been cast in the ABC show, CHASING LIFE, and she is currently playing Ilse in Deaf West's production of SPRING AWAKENING.

"Because of what she's going through, she brings a sense of urgency and knowledge to this role," director Michael Arden told the LA Times. "She's so alive onstage and so thrilling to watch. That's a direct result of her having to live in the moment in her life right now. She doesn't say, 'I'll do it later.' I've never once felt like she wasn't giving 100% of herself."

Rodriguez previously appeared in the original Broadway production of SPRING AWAKENING, in which she understudied every female role.

"Ilse is still one of my favorite characters to play, by far, and I just couldn't miss out on this," Rodriguez said. "But other than cramming in some doctor's appointments, it's fit into a perfect window for me."

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts ("The Wallis"), Deaf West Theatre and Cody Lassen present Deaf West Theatre's innovative new production of the eight-time, Tony Award-winning Best Musical Spring Awakening, opening tonight, May 28. This production is performed simultaneously in American Sign Language and spoken English by a cast of 27 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 7, 2015 in the Bram Goldsmith Theater.

The production enjoyed a sold-out engagement at downtown L.A.'s Rosenthal Theatre in the fall of 2014. Based onFrank Wedekind's controversial 1891 expressionist play and featuring an electrifying score by Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater, Spring Awakening follows the lives of a group of teenagers as they navigate their journey from adolescence to adulthood in a fusion of morality, sexuality and rock & roll.

An extraordinary creative team, headed by director Michael Arden, choreographer Spencer Liff, and musical directorJared Stein have reinvented the groundbreaking musical about lost innocence and the struggles of youth in true Deaf West style.

The cast features performers signing ASL and speaking roles including Joey Antonio, Hillary Baack, Miles Barbee, Sean Barna, Katie Boeck, Alex Boniello, Joshua Castille, Julian Comeau, Daniel N. Durant (ABC Family's "Switched at Birth"), Treshelle Edmond ("Glee," Super Bowl XLIX - signed National Anthem), Sandra Mae Frank, Kathryn Gallagher, Gabrielle Garza, Sean Grandillo (ABC "Secrets and Lies"), Karla Gutierrez ("Switched at Birth"), Amelia Hensley, Lauren M. Luiz, Daniel Marmion, Austin McKenzie, Andy Mientus (NBC "Smash," CW "The Flash," National Tour: Spring Awakening), Krysta Rodriguez ("Smash," Broadway: original Spring Awakening, The Addams Family, First Date), Natacha Roi ("ER"), Howie Seago (Wallis: Into the Woods; Oscar Nominated film,Beyond Silence), DanielDavid Stewart, Ali Stroker ("Glee"), Alexandra Winter and Alex Wyse (Showtime's "Masters of Sex").

Tickets are $29 - $99 and are available at www.thewallis.org or by calling 310-746-4000 or in person at The Wallis Ticket Services located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90210. There are two Open-Captioned Performances on Saturday, May 30 at 3 pm and Saturday, June 6 at 3 pm. There will be a post performance Talk-Back with the Cast on Tuesday, June 2.

Photo Credit: Kevin Parry