SPOTLIGHT ON: Eliza McCoy
We talk lobster, Beyonce, and burlesque with ELIZA MCCOY who will be guest starring as Marie Curie in the Portland, ME production of The Scientists.
Eliza McCoy as Marie Curie
SCIENTISTS: So Eliza, tell us a little about yourself.
ELIZA MCCOY: I am an NYU drama student going into my senior year, a Mainer at heart, and a lobster enthusiast!
S: Let's talk Maine. What was the last show you did there?
EM: I was in the company at The Arundel Barn Playhouse last summer. The season included Chicago, Shrek and All Shook Up!
S: Some of The Scientists crew have never been up to the Pine Tree State. What is the one thing we can't miss while visiting Portland?
EM: THE LOBSTER. It is truly all it is cracked up to be. Also...if anyone has a chance, the Portland Seadogs games are something to see. A lighthouse emerges from the field during the 7th inning stretch!
"Marie & Beyonce would've been friends"
S: In The Scientists, you play renowned physicist and chemist Marie Curie. Little known fact: Marie almost didn't receive a Nobel Prize because she was having an affair with a married man. What do you think about the real life Marie Curie and her Nobel Prize scandal?
EM: I think if Beyonce had been alive in the late 1800's, they would have been friends. She is a fierce lady. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only woman to win in two fields, and the only person to win in multiple sciences. She also was the first woman (in 1995!) to be placed in the Pantheon in Paris because of her own accomplishments. As far as the love affair scandal, I think it was fabulous. I mean, what else are you supposed to do after your husband is run over by a horse?
S: Someone tipped us off that Marie may do a bit of burlesque in the show. Have you ever done burlesque before?
EM: A radioactive woman never reveals her isotopes!
S: If Eliza McCoy were a scientist, what would she invent?
EM: This is a tough one. I think teleportation would be the handiest thing in the world.
Marie's Burlesque Act
S: The play is set at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, and you recently spent a semester there, what's your favorite thing about Paris?
EM: I loved how sometimes it felt like you could travel back in time just by turning down a new little street. There is something so preserved about life there. Of course, they do have all of the amenities of 2014...but at times I really did feel like Hemingway was going to pass me on the street! The jazz clubs were one of my highlights!
S: After The Scientists, do you have any other big plans for this summer?
EM: I will be performing in a brand new musical by two composers from the NYU Graduate Musical Theater Writing program in August!
Catch Eliza in The Scientists performing at PortFringe 2014 (www.portfringe.com) June 27th at 10pm and June 29th at 12pm in the Portland Stage Company Storefront Theater! Click here for more info!