Maggie Interviews Roxana Ortega about AM I ROXIE?

KTWV-FM / 94.7 The WAVE

AM I ROXIE is coming to the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood September 3rd -October 5th. It's a one show written and performed by Roxana Ortega. AM I ROXIE is based on her life as a writer and actor and her mom's mental decline from Alzheimer's. She joins us to tell us more.

Transcript

00:00Maggie McKay, and I am so excited because today we're going to be talking to the performer of

00:07M.I. Roxy. It's going to be at the Geffen Theater, the Gil Cates Theater, to be specific,

00:12from September 3rd through October 5th. It's a one-woman show written and performed by Roxana

00:19Ortega. Welcome, Roxana. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. I can't wait to see this. It

00:26sounds intriguing. It's based on your life. You're a writer and an actor, and as they say,

00:32write about what you know. So tell us about M.I. Roxy. Well, yes, it's an autobiographical piece

00:40inspired by my time taking care of my mother when she was going through Alzheimer's,

00:45which I know sounds like, oh my God, who would want to see this? But I think that's part of why

00:53I wrote it. Look, I come from a sketch comedy background, and as I was going through this

00:58world, I was discovering so much, not only about my mom and the caregiving world, our system that we

01:07have here, but also just about myself and my own brain. And what a nightmare that can be sometimes.

01:17Yeah. So you talk about your mom's mental decline, if that's what we can call it, with humor and

01:25spirit. It's being called heartfelt and hilarious. How did you manage to balance the seriousness of

01:34this topic with humor? You know, I think my brain works this way. Naturally, it finds humor in the

01:46darkest of places. And I think maybe it's a survival instinct that I have, or all those hours of

01:54improv and sketch, I'm sure, influence it. But in the writing of it, there were certain times when I

02:01thought, no, no, no, we're not going to break this with a joke. This is a tender moment, or this is,

02:07I don't want to cheapen the gravity of this moment. I want the audience to be with me in the heart-wrenching

02:15moment of it. And then don't worry, because we're going someplace really fun after this.

02:20So the show is a, it's a wild ride. You know, we go through the decision to, you know, take on

02:27helping care for my mom. We go through all the torture that I put myself through and that the

02:35circumstance puts me through. We end up, we go to Africa on a, to Kilimanjaro at one point. We go all

02:43over the place. So it's, it's a real fun, funny, raw ride through something like this.

02:52It's got to be so relatable to so many people, children of parents with Alzheimer's. I mean,

02:59when you look at the numbers, it's staggering. Do you have siblings?

03:03Yes.

03:04So what, first of all, what did they think of it? And how is it that you became the caretaker,

03:11or did you all share in that?

03:14Well, only one of them has seen a reading of it. Okay. So, and she was very moved by it

03:25and excited, you know, that, you know, it's, it's fun to, I guess, to see her sister on stage doing

03:32her thing, but the other siblings will see. But part of the show addresses this, like, well,

03:39who's going to care for mom now that dad is gone. So we've had this sudden heart attack of my father

03:45and now it's like, uh-oh, we didn't have a plan, which I think a lot of people will relate to or

03:53will fear, right? Whether or not they're going through it, you start fearing about what's going

03:58to happen to my parents. Who's going to die first? What's going to happen if this one died? Then who's

04:01going to die? You know, it's like our brains start. So, um, so it's a real moment in the show

04:09when I decide I go to my spiritual healer in LA, who's also a producer and a bunch of other things

04:16as what happens in LA, as you know, she takes me on this guided journey where I discover what my soul

04:26contract is, which is to be with my mother. And so I say, all right, it's gotta be me, but

04:32I have no idea what that means at that point. And then it's the journey to, well, I can't do this

04:38alone. And how am I, am I going to put her in a home as a Latina? Oh my God. That's it. So it's

04:44that whole wild ride, um, through, through the show. Uh, there's a lot of comedy in it and there's a

04:52lot of, um, you know, there's a lot of feels throughout it. Did you get any pushback from

04:57anyone in your family thinking they didn't want you to do it because it's so personal? No. Um,

05:04everyone's names are changed and my T.S. are in the show. You know, my mom's sisters, she has many,

05:10but three of them are in the show. And after the reading that we did once, one was in the bathroom

05:15saying, Oh, I'm the champagne and bragging about it. She's very proud.

05:22Was she accurate? Was that her? Oh yeah. Oh, she is champagne. I've got a champagne and I've got

05:30a worried mermaid and, and I have a wise fashionista. So they're all there. You know, I,

05:37I get to bring all these wonderful, funny characters, uh, to life from my family who are my

05:44comedic inspirations. Uh, everybody's been happy about it, you know? Good. And I mean,

05:51I just have to ask you, are you going to show it to your mom? Well, um, I believe she'll be there

05:58with me in spirit because she passed on some time ago from Alzheimer's. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah,

06:05that's okay. I mean, there's no cure for Alzheimer's and, um, Oh yeah, there's, you know, that's,

06:12and that's all of our ends, right? That's where we're all going. And so she will not, but part of

06:20what this show, I always feel like it's a resuscitation, you know, in some ways I, I'm

06:26playing my mother, you know, which is wild to be playing your mother as she's declining,

06:32right? Not for the faint of heart. I'll tell you that I'm discovering more and more, but it's also

06:38like, wow, she's really, I feel her presence so much. So this show is bringing her closer to me

06:49and I'm also going, Oh man, I miss her. You know? Yeah.

06:54My gosh, it's gotta be a little gut wrenching. Every time you do it, you mentioned being Latina.

06:58Um, I noticed that they're going to be Spanish captions. How does that work? Is that a first

07:03during a live show? I believe, and I could be misquoting, but I, I believe

07:10it might be the first time that we're doing it. I know they had their first Spanish language show

07:20last year. One of their performers did a whole show in Spanish and it was not his first language.

07:26Um, and so we are rewriting, you know, we're translating the script into Spanish and we're

07:33going to have two Spanish, uh, captioned performances of the show. And we'll have, you know,

07:40a screen up there, uh, for people. That's a great idea. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That'll be special.

07:48Yeah. And Roxanne, I have to ask you, um, why is there a 12 plus age recommendation?

07:55Um, because there are some references like length. Well, there's language in it that may not be

08:02appropriate. There's some reference to like sex and, um, um, and then maybe, uh, the gravity of the

08:13topic of someone, you know, dying in our mortality, like, uh, things like that. So I love that there

08:20is an age recommendation. Cause I can't tell you how many things I went to and took my son when he

08:25was younger. And I thought, Oh, they should have warned us. They should have told us. I mean,

08:30nothing's so outrageous, but still it's nice to know and have that information. So you can make

08:37an informed choice. Um, what was the toughest part about doing a one person show?

08:46Well, you're alone up there by nature. I think for me, you know, in this show, I do like 20

08:56plus characters. Wow. And what's challenging is, um, switching so quickly in a believable way.

09:07Um, and seeing things through so many people's eyes so quickly, you know, uh, that is challenging

09:18and, and just the, the physical, uh, nature and vocally, it's like a vocal Olympics because I'm,

09:27you know, if you know about voice, you know, I'm, my larynx is going up and down in order to make

09:33really high characters sound like this. And then, you know, dropping down and doing something like

09:38this. Like you're, it's a lot on your voice more than singing. You're, you're, you're doing a lot.

09:45So I've been training to get my, uh, voice in shape to be able to do something. Yes. Yeah.

09:55You're using it that much every night. I mean, that's a lot of shows. What was the most fun thing

10:00about doing this performance or will it be, do you think, or prepping for it?

10:05The same thing. I think it's like doing all those characters and, and doing, uh,

10:11I was in the Groundlings Sunday company. Yeah. And I teach, uh, improv there and voiceover

10:19for animation there now. I mean, whenever you're having a bad day, people, if you have never been,

10:26you should check it out. You can not leave there cranky or unhappy. I, I believe that

10:33wholeheartedly. Don't, do you agree, Roxanna? Oh yes. What a gift. Sometimes when I'm in shows,

10:38I still do improv there. I'm sit, what we call the pit, which is right below the stage as you're

10:43waiting to be called up into the, your next, you know, scene. And I'm just watching people laughing

10:49and going, God, I'm so, I feel so grateful to be able to laugh like this. I do believe laughter

10:56is medicine and, um, go out and see shows. I mean, go out and LA is just full of, you know,

11:06places to laugh with other people. Gosh, we need it so much. Isn't that the truth? I was, um, at the

11:12Almondson the other night at Ann Juliet, um, was fantastic. And I was thinking, um, since, you know,

11:19COVID, since we know the difference, it is such a different experience to see something with a huge

11:26amount of people. Same with concerts, you know, you can watch it on TV, but there's, there's just

11:30nothing like it, the shared experience. Um, well, it seems so long overdue that this topic be handled

11:37on stage. Um, and I think it is a great idea. I can't wait to see it. Is there anything else you'd

11:42like to add that we didn't cover? I'll just say that, you know, some people think that Alzheimer's

11:48is a disease where, you know, oh my gosh, that's where they forget you, isn't it? And that's what

11:55strikes people. But I think that one of the things that has struck me going through it is it's the

12:02disease like where they forget themselves. And so part of my job as a daughter and through this play

12:11was to remind my mom, not in a remember, remember way, but to try to keep her soul alive, you know?

12:21And I think it's important for all of us because we forget in our own lives to keep our souls,

12:27you know, alive and awake. So this play is really a call to the soul to, for everyone who comes into

12:36that theater. I hope that they leave feeling awakened and wanting to move closer to what

12:43they truly love and who they truly are at their core. I love it. And you have put a lot of your

12:49heart and soul and years into this. How long, when did you start working on it? I've been over 10 years.

12:55Oh my goodness. Yes. To be able to share. I say this baby is breaching. She is ready to be born.

13:01Please get her out of me.

13:05Well, I know it's going to be a huge success. Good luck. Can't wait to see it again.

13:10M.I. Roxy at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, September 3rd through October 5th.

13:16Thank you so much. Thank you.

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