Victoria Omoregie and Ivan Cecil Walks play high school classmates in BUST. But their paths first crossed back in college. We caught up with Ivan and Victoria to hear all about their real-life friendship, and how it manifests onstage. BUST by Zora Howard runs through May 18th—don’t miss your chance to see this dynamic performance!
Goodman Theatre: How did the two of you meet, and what were your first impressions of each other?
Victoria Omoregie: We first met at Boston University; receiving a BFA in acting! My first impression of Ivan was that he was extremely goofy but also extremely talented and kind hearted.
Ivan Cecil Walks : My first thought was relief, my first impression was a subdued, observant talent. One that was truly driven and wanted to get better.
GT: Tell us about the characters you play in BUST and their dynamic. Does your real-life friendship play a part in that dynamic?
ICW: I play the character “Boobie” and it is an honor. Boobie is an intelligent, well-read, bold, loud, diligent, curious, rooted, loving, loyal, and especially passionate young Black student. It is such an honor to play such a young, and beautiful light. He contains multitudes, and is real. In many ways, the way he voices his passions and beliefs and maintains who he is unapologetically, he is who I wish I could have been in high school. He is beautiful. I believe most people have someone like Boobie very close to them in life, because he reminds you of its potential.
VO: Paige, in the fabulous words of Zora, is the life of the party! She is bold, fun, and brings forth a type of hype-man energy. Paige and Boobie kind of have a bickering, suck your teeth / roll your eyes at one another but still love each other kind of friendship…that’s Ivan & I in a nutshell I’d say.
ICW: The characters we play are classmates in high school, and are both in the same friend group. As you would assume, it is very easy to step into when rehearsing and working together. Our friendship, which has lasted over six years now, definitely lends a hand in our work. Actually, a way that our friendship plays a part in the work we do onstage is: despite training together for years and being close for a while, this show is the first time we had the chance to dance/move together. With both of us having different backgrounds in movement, we got a chance to see that side of each other up close in this process.
GT: What do you like about working with each other?
VO: It’s a dope experience to work with someone whose craft I respect, and have seen develop since college; especially because we never really had the opportunity to work together in school. It’s been FUN! There’s something special about being in a show with a true friend, playing friends!
ICW: Something I like about working with Victoria is her consistency. We have been working on this show for several months now, and this is also the first time we have been cast in the same project before. So while I know her talent and skill all too well, her process is what I am not as familiar with. That being said her ability to just hit marks, step in and out the work every show is a quality I have learned to appreciate and admire!
GT: How would you describe BUST in one word, and why?
VO: EUPHORIC; from the first scene everything that happens in the story is intensely exciting to me. Even in the moments of frustration or problem solving throughout the show; it’s all activated forward energy and that is euphoric. It makes me feel like, “what’s about to happen next?!?!”
ICW: In one word, I’m going with “Intricate”. Simply due to the experience of this show as a crew member, cast member, creative team, administrator, or audience. Across the board everyone has [things that they] notice and thoughts they yearn to voice. And they are never the same, or redundant. The show grabs your attention, but I feel it really hold on to your focus. With such precision, authenticity, and love coming from every aspect of this production the show is always more than it seems. This show is like an onion wearing a sweater, writing a spoken word piece in a submarine named after a poet… in search of a prophet. Its deep okay, that is my point damnit.
Cecil Blutcher, Victoria Omoregie, Bernard Gilbert and Ivan Cecil Walks in “BUST” at the Goodman Theatre. (Justin Barbin)
GT: What was your favorite memory from BUST rehearsals at the Goodman?
VO: My favorite memory is when we had our first run the first week of rehearsals; once Miss Caroline (who starts the play) said her first line–I smiled from ear to ear because I felt so grateful to know I’m about to tell THIS story all over again, and I LOVE IT.
ICW: While our rehearsal process at the Goodman was short, what we lost in a usual timeframe we made up for in efficiency. Everything about my time here has been about learning as much as I can as quickly as I can. One of my greatest lessons so far came when we had to cancel the show that was scheduled to be the first preview. At first, hearing the canceling of a show was concerning, frustrating, and shocking. I didn’t know that could happen, and didn’t know what it meant for the show both immediately and down the line. But as time went on, and as my questions became clearer, I learned that I was watching agency be claimed. Watching our team decide that the integrity of the story and its execution through this particular show was far more important that the urgency of scheduling was a big deal to me. Despite the pressures that the capitalistic machine theatre can often become, or present, watching the creative team make that decision and stand in it was inspiring. It was a beautiful and necessary decision/lesson that I got to witness from inside the kitchen. Moving forward I take my process, stories, and performances that much more carefully, and it’s because of them!
GT: How has the show evolved since its run at Alliance Theatre?
VO: It has gotten deeper, moments have gotten more specific, the show moves with more sprightlier momentum.
ICW: Quite literally the show is quicker, and I use the word quicker instead of shorter because the sense of momentum we build in the plot is clearer and has gotten stronger since we opened at Alliance Theatre. Also there was literally a car on stage at one point. And there is no more fake blood. Oh, and they cut the live animals on stage too. Just kidding about this last two…. or am I…?
GT: What’s coming up next for the both of you?
VO: Auditioning, networking, moving to NY!
ICW: For me, I am not sure what comes after BUST, but I know I am with it for as long as I can serve it! Quite literally after Chicago, I will probably get back to the DMV to see some family, I got a birthday coming up in June! Also, looking forward to hopefully stepping back into the dance side of my training back in NYC/LA!
Gabriella Bonamici is the Marketing Assistant at Goodman Theatre.
