Interview: Ariana DeBose is Living 'Out Loud and on Purpose' in AUTHENTICITY at Lincoln Center

Oscar winner and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose is the ultimate triple-threat, best known for her performances on stage in Hamilton, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Bring It On: The Musical, Motown: The Musical, Pippin, and A Bronx Tale, and on screen in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story.

Now, DeBose is heading to David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center with her original solo concert Authenticity. Created wih longtime Musical Director Benjamin Rauhala, DeBose is bringing her signature flair to the stage through medleys, mashups, and storytelling.

BroadwayWorld spoke with DeBose about performing at Lincoln Center, what audiences can expect to see and hear, and what it means to be authentic.

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You are performing your first solo show at Lincoln Center next week. The show is called Authenticity. Why did you decide to call the show Authenticity, and what does that mean to you as a person and as a performer to be authentic?

Authenticity is sort of the name of my game. I made a promise to myself a long, long time ago to live out loud and on purpose, and that is essentially how I strive to walk through the world. I strive to put good energy into the world, and I try to let that mission statement be reflected in everything that I do, in my work, in my concerts, in every appearance that I make. So, with this show, I decided to bring that very concept to the stage. So, what you see is really what you get, and you get literally all the colors of Ariana DeBose [laughs]. I talk about identity, and I talk about parts of my journey that brought me to New York, I talk about different moments in my career, the lessons I've learned from them, and I do that through song and through storytelling. Because at the end of the day, that's what we do, whether you're doing it on camera, or you're doing it on a Broadway stage, or on a stage at Lincoln Center, we are storytelling.

Can you tell me a little bit about the process of putting this show together with Benjamin Rauhala?

Well, Ben and I have been working together for, gosh, going on a decade. I think we met, it feels so long ago, but it was my first Broadway show, Bring It On: The Musical. And he helped me prepare for my audition for my second Broadway musical, Motown, and I sort of fell in love with him and we've been besties ever since. We have such a unique friendship, and we have a very strange and fun sense of humor [laughs]. And I think you feel that within the songs that we've selected for this setlist. We've been creating mashups for literally years. We will do some of the first mashups we created. And some of those we also created with our friend Kurt Crowley, I worked with him on Hamilton, and we also worked together on Bring It On.

We're like bosom buddies, we just sit in a room and see what sounds good together, or what are the most random things that we could possibly put together. For example Katy Perry and Chicago the musical, Beyonce and Evita. We even go so far as to say Alan Menken and The Little Mermaid with Sondheim's Company. We love to take things that seemingly have nothing to do with each other and see where they can live together, and what stories we can tell with them.

Is there a song that you've always wanted to sing and now you're getting the opportunity?

Honestly, just in general I am really psyched about this setlist. We go through moments in my career, and I will be singing from some things that you know and love, albeit they may not be the songs you expect! [laughs] But I'm really excited to highlight these big career moments. I do sing from West Side Story, but when it first begins you may not recognize it as West Side Story. And that just goes to show that I love to put my own thing on something that you either associate with me, or a song that's so iconic and classic, but I love to try and do it in a new way, to give it new life and new meaning. Or at least new meaning as it pertains to my journey.

We teased a little clip of Hand in My Pocket by Alanis Morrisette. We were inspired by this really cool version of the song that Rozzi did, and I heard the song in a different way, and I wanted to use it to talk about some of my feelings that I've experienced over the last couple of years. One of the lessons, and one of the things I'm using the show to talk about is that you can experience some of the most glorious, wonderful things that may ever happen to you in your life, and you will still feel a myriad of other emotions that go along with it, and all of that is really good. So, I'm really excited about that moment in the show, Hand in My Pocket.

What are you most looking forward to with performing at the reimagined David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center?

First and foremost, David Geffen Hall... it's David Geffen Hall! It's at Lincoln Center, it's iconic! Oddly enough I made my New York City debut at Alice Tully Hall, now renamed David Geffen Hall. And that was in Stephen Sondheim's Company. That starred Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone, Stephen Colbert was in that production, Martha Plimpton. I was in the ensemble, and I literally pushed people around on couches, and I danced the dream ballet as an ensemble member while the great Chryssie Whitehead was headlining at that moment. So, I think it's a really cool full circle moment for me, having come from the ensemble, because in my roots, and my bones, and my heart I am an ensemblist. To be able to come back now and play this hall, this iconic space, as myself, under my own name, I think it's really sublime, I treasure being given this opportunity.

Do you have any final thoughts you'd like to share?

Part of me wanting to do this songbook series, initially titled the American Songbook Series, and now there's a secondary title, A Place You Belong, the entire series explores themes of identity, and belonging, and discovery. And going back to your first question, that's sort of where Authenticity came from for me. So much of my journey has been about discovering my own authenticity, and being able to be very honest and clear about that. And that I believe will be a lifelong journey. But what I think is so cool is that all the artists that are taking part in this series are doing that in their own way, we all are a reflection of what this city looks like today.

I find that really special, and I also really appreciate that this series at Lincoln Center has made it so that tickets, there's a price point for hopefully everyone. It can be so expensive to go out on an evening in New York these days, and I'm so aware that when people come and choose to spend their time with you, what they're going through... you've got to leave your house, you have to pay for parking sometimes, you may be going out to eat, it all adds up. And in this economy that we're living in, I think to choose to go and spend your time at the theater for a night of entertainment, it's very special and it's very sacred to me.

I grew up in a single parent household. We didn't always have a lot of money, but my mother was so wonderful about finding ways to expose me to the arts. So, I try to greet my audiences with that respect and that reverence because it's not an easy choice to choose, to go and have these moments out in the world today. Especially post-covid, I realize there are so many things people are still faced with. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm grateful to any and all people who choose to come out and spend an evening with me, and I and my team are so dedicated to bringing you a beautiful show, so I hope you all come out and enjoy it.

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