“I came up in a time where people assumed music theater artists had one sound and they did one thing. We've shattered that illusion,” says Renée Elise Goldsberry. Case in point: the Tony and Grammy Award-winning actor and singer—who is perhaps best known for playing Angelica Schyuler in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton— is releasing a solo album, touring (including a May stop at Weston’s Lachat Farm), and starring in the Netflix series Girls5Eva, which released its third season in March. Westport Lifestyle spoke to Renée about the upcoming release of her new music, her authentic approach to performing, and getting a second chance at the funniest project of her career.
An album long in the making
Renée’s new record covers the past four years of her songwriting, beginning early in the pandemic. “We have felt so many things over the last four years,” she says. “We lost hope, and then our hope exceeded expectations, and then we got a little disillusioned again. But most importantly, we discovered that strength was being together, how resilient we are, and that joy is everywhere. And I think all of those things are somewhere in this music,” she says. The influences span Renée’s “wide taste in musical styles,” including gospel and R&B, but ultimately fit best in what she calls “pop, with no bubblegum.” “I’m not 25,” she says. “There’s so much life lived in these songs. There are songs that celebrate my children and my husband, songs that remind me of mistakes I’ve made, or breaking someone’s heart. But now I have the gift of writing about those experiences from the stage in my life where I know: everyone ends up OK.”
Renée also credits her 10-year-old daughter for helping her break from the idea an album had to have a cohesive sound or theme. “We were driving one day, and she asked me from the backseat: ‘What is an album?’” she says, laughing. “Before I could even answer, she said, ‘Is that when an artist decides to put out a bunch of songs at the same time?’ She was just trying to understand, because the way we consume music is so different now. It freed me from the idea that there are any rules at all.”
The thrill of a live show
Touring has been another source of joy for Renée—in recent months she’s been everywhere from Wheeling, West Virginia to the University of New Mexico. “When it came to creating my show, my biggest question was why. My album wasn’t out yet, I didn’t really have anything to promote, and they certainly don’t need me to sell Hamilton tickets!” she says. “So why should people come? What are they going to leave with? I created this set list that wasn’t based on genre—my friend called my show a ‘gumbo’ of genres—but based on songs that reminded us to love.” (She performed an abridged version of the set, which includes gospel, folk, and selections from Hamilton as well as her memorable Broadway runs in The Lion King and Rent, at the benefit for the Westport Country Playhouse in 2022.) Storytelling is a cornerstone of Renée’s performance style. “If you come to see me for a show, you should leave and feel like you spent a couple of hours just hanging out with me. I feel that, even more important than thinking, oh, she sings great is that you had some insight into my crazy mind!” she says with a laugh. “Experiences, life lessons, the things you believe in, the things you think are funny—that, to me, is the DNA of any great piece of art.”
Next up is an intimate performance at Lachat Town Farm in Weston—which will be totally different from the set she’s been doing on the road. “We created this great concert, and I want to break it so we can make something new,” she says. “My desire is to debut the songs I’ve written over the last four years” These songs, she says, take the experience of Renée’s onstage storytelling into the music itself, weaving her personal experiences, sense of humor, and values right in. Expect to see the original material alongside selections from Renée’s Broadway roles. (“I’m not delusional enough to think I’m going to get off any stage without performing songs from Hamilton!” she jokes.)
All about second chances
As if she wasn't busy enough, Renée stars in the series Girls5Eva, a musical-comedy about a one-hit wonder girl group from the ‘90s that stages a comeback after a TikTok-era rapper samples their big song, along with Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, and Paula Pell. Renée plays Wickie Roy, the glamorous diva of the group. Girls5Eva was nearly canceled after its second season, which aired on streamer Peacock, but the critically-adored show was rescued by Netflix (where you can now watch the entire series). “We are so excited that it’s on Netflix,” she says. “We want it on the biggest platform. It’s for everyone: there’s a lot of heart in the show, and it’s extremely funny. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever been in. Actually, it’s the funniest thing in the entire world.”
If that’s not endorsement enough, let Renée explain the hook: “In season one, [Girls5Eva] gets back together, in season two, they make an album, and in season three, they go on tour,” she says. “It’s a self-funded, janky tour, but they are on tour. And they are unapologetically ambitious. Wickie is the most delusionally ambitious one of them all!” Despite the zany universe Girls5Eva inhabits (its executive producers include 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt alums Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, alongside Meredith Scardino and Fey’s husband Jeff Richmond, the show’s composer), Renée says Wickie’s ambition is one of her favorite things about the character. “Even playing that role, I can forget that all of that dreaming? I deserve it too. [The show] reminds people: it’s not too late. There’s a lot of second chances. And that is a gift.”
Renée says it’s not lost on her that she’s playing this part while launching her album and the next phase of her career. “It hit me the other day that God could not be more helpful, putting me in a television show about a woman this age trying to make it in the music industry,” she says. “I think the fact that I’ve been playing this role for so many years now is really God saying: will you please just go for it!?”
Catch Renée Elise Goldsberry “going for it” at Lachat Town Farm this May (for more info, visit lachattownfarm.org), or on her upcoming solo album.
