SPOTLIGHT ON: Maya Boudreau

The Scientists Chicago guest star, Maya Boudreau, spills the "The Bean" on her hometown!

SCIENTISTS: First off, welcome aboard The Scientists! We're thrilled to have you! Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?
MAYA: I'm from Chicago, I'm half French, quarter Greek, quarter Irish. Most recently described as "swarthy" by a costar on a McDonald's commercial.

S: Woah McDonalds! You must be lovin' it! What else have you been up to? Any theatre?
M: I was in Measure for Measure at the Goodman last year and completed the School at Steppenwolf a few months later. 

S: Oh really? What upcoming project are you most excited about--besides The Scientists of course!
M: Shooting a movie called Sticks in October where I get to shoot my movie mom with a sawed off shot gun! 

S: Some of the Scientists have never been to Chicago (though we all love the movie). What should we not miss while we are in the Windy City?
M: My mom and dad because they are really cute and I guess the bean.

The Smallest Man and Woman in the World in the "Midget City" at the 1934 Chicago World's Fair. Source

S: The show centers around the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, but Chicago has hosted the fair a number of times as well. What's something we don't know about the World's Fair in Chicago?
M: The 1933-34 World's Fair had an exhibit called the "Midget City." Which is exactly what it sounds like.

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?
M: Marie Curie mixed business with pleasure and that should be not only admired but celebrated!!

S: If Maya Boudreau were a scientist, what would she invent?
M: I'd invent a version of Tom's deodorant that actually works and doesn't make me smell worse than I normally would.

S: Rumor has it that Marie does a bit of burlesque in the show. Have you ever done burlesque before?
M: WHO TOLD YOU THAT?

S: Uhhhhh... I think that's all the time we have... Gotta get back to the lab...

Catch Maya in The Scientists performing at The Chicago Fringe Festival (www.chicagofringe.org) September 4th at 8:30pm, September 6 at 10pm, and September 7th at 4pm on the Deep Dish Stage at the CCJP Meeting Hall (5320 W Giddings Street). Click here for more tickets and more info!