Interview: Alexia Acebo of WICKED at Straz Center

On stage now through March 26 is the Broadway sensation Wicked, a 2003 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. The story is long before Dorothy crash-landed in Oz. It tells of a rivalry and an unlikely friendship between Elphaba, an emerald-green-skinned newcomer witch, and Galinda, a popular, bubbly blonde witch. The bond lasted until the world decided to call one good and the other wicked.

Despite friends and family being confident that Tampa native Academy of Holy Names alums Wicked cast member Alexia Acebo would get that critical phone call, she was unsure. Would the musical she watched as a young person in the audience at Straz become part of her story? Alexia grew up dancing in her mom's studio, Rising Stars, and discovered her love of musical theatre while attending the University of Alabama.

Six months passed from the first audition before a second audition tape was requested. At 3 am on a Tuesday, Alexia was recording Wicked's "Last" with her supportive boyfriend, now fiance, behind the video camera. When the phone rang on Friday, Alexia's life changed.

And now, she is back performing in the ensemble for those same family, friends, and thousands of other patrons in Wicked on the stage at the Straz Center, where a young girl's dream was born.

"I had told myself I would never do that job; it's never going to happen. It's out of my league. I'm not good enough for that. I recorded the audition tape on Tuesday and found out that I booked the tour on Friday. I'm coming up on my year anniversary next week," she said. "It feels so surreal. I don't think it hit me until today. I've been dreaming about this my whole life. Wicked is the first musical that I ever saw at the Straz. It's crazy."

Her first phone call was to her family, who responded while the news was fantastic, they were not surprised.

What Alexia loves most about the musical is the people she calls family on tour.

"You really live where you work, and you work where you live. The people are your family because you are together all the time. One is my favorite things about touring has been creating relationships that I know will be there until the end of time, no matter whether we are working together or not. It's a unique experience that I think you really only get on the road because you go through so much together."

In Tampa, Alexia is proud to serve as a tour guide, recommending what to do and eat to her fellow cast members, especially Cuban sandwiches. While in Miami, the cast wanted to get Cubans. Of Cuban descent herself, Alexia responded, "Over my dead body; that is not where they are from."

She even created a Tampa itinerary for the cast's Mondays off including the best places to go for regular Cubans, Media Noches, and Cuban bread.

"I said don't feel any pressure, but this is what everyone needs to do," she joked. "We're a huge company, so I don't know if tour guide is right, but I will definitely supply the place, the party, and the people. I have a huge family here, and it feels good to welcome everybody home."

Alexia offered advice to youngsters in the Wicked audience, hoping to be in her shoes one day.

"Keep going no matter how hard it is or how many people tell you no. There's always going to be someone that does say yes. All you can do is work, work, work, work, and work. Show up, and keep showing up. My biggest thing is just to keep going, and eventually, someone will see that."

She hopes, after the curtain closes, that the audience brings the story home with them.

"Wicked is a universal story of overcoming differences, of seeing the truth of what good really is. It's a story that applies to so many situations in our lives, over the course of history, and in our every day. On another level, I hope they see how much we, as a company and a cast, care for the work, how much we want to tell the story well, how much we're a part of the story, and how much we love our jobs. I hope that because of that, they're transported into another world."

Wicked is now through March 26 at Carol Morsani Hall at Straz Center. Sign language interpretation will be provided at the 7:30 PM performance on Thursday, March 9, and the 2 PM performance on Saturday, March 18. Audio Description will be provided at the 2 PM performance on Saturday, March 11, and the 7:30 PM performance on Thursday, March 16. Learn more and buy tickets at https://www.strazcenter.org/events/2223-season/broadway/wicked

On March 13 at 7 pm, Alexia and her Wicked castmates will be in "There's No Place Like Home- A Wicked Cabaret" at Wine and Wood, 614 S Howard Ave. They are performing to support NO MORE, Created, and V-DAY, to raise money for efforts to build safe houses and support human trafficking survivors. Tickets are $40 or VIP $100. Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/events/s/theres-no-place-like-home-a-wi/5964861043627691.

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