To get into character as the feller-crazy frontier gal Ado Annie in the production of “Oklahoma!” that arrives at the Kennedy Center on April 5, the actress Sis has a backstage ritual.
“I listen to Megan Thee Stallion’s catalogue,” the Houston native says. “It puts me in the mind-set of being a hot girl — a woman of my time — giving me the confidence I need to remember who I am.”
Her hot-girl spin on the role potentially expands the perspective of this classic musical, says Sis, who is trans. When she channels Ado Annie, she says, “We’re getting to see this story and this character through a completely different lens.”
“Different lens” might be the mantra of director Daniel Fish’s “Oklahoma!,” which won the Tony Award for best musical revival in 2019. The production has generated major buzz with its tradition-defying touches, such as a radically reconceptualized dream ballet, as well as with its unusually intense embrace of the darkness inherent to Rodgers and Hammerstein’s seminal 1943 work.
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When it was time for the tour, Fish says, there was no question that Sis was the right Ado Annie. “Why do you fall in love with someone? Why does a Rothko painting cut through my soul? These are questions that I don’t even know if I could answer,” the director says. “Sis came into the room and auditioned and sang, and we all knew pretty quickly that this was the right person.”
It didn’t hurt that "she’s fearless,” he says, adding an unprintable word for emphasis.
In a Zoom interview, the 24-year-old Sis discussed her history with “Oklahoma!,” her social justice work and how she copes with the stresses of touring. She spoke from a Philadelphia Airbnb as she prepared to tuck into a meal of Beijing beef and honey walnut shrimp from Panda Express. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: What attracted you to playing Ado Annie?
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A: I think her ferocity and tenacious spirit.
Q: Do you remember the first time you encountered her?
A: I was at my friend’s high school production of “Oklahoma!” in Texas, and I just fell in love with the character Ado Annie, and fell in love with “I Cain’t Say No” [the character’s signature song, about dallying with multiple suitors]. It is an anthem for allowing yourself to experience what life brings you, and allowing yourself to indulge in what you want. That’s very powerful for women, and just for humans. In my senior year of college [at Sam Houston State University], I decided to add it to my repertoire. [In Fish’s production,] I wanted to really make this song my own. I wanted to own this song in my Blackness, in my femininity, in my existence.
Q: You are founder of the Next Generation Project, whose mission is to distribute resources to Black and Brown trans people in need. Do you see continuity between that aspect of your life and performing?
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A: Everything that I do is all one. I contain multitudes.
Q: Was it intimidating to take on Ado Annie after Ali Stroker won a Tony Award for the role [when Fish’s production ran on Broadway]?
A: Not at all. My interpretation of this character, and this role, is in relation to how I live and exist. There’s no way to ever compare or compete with someone who has lived a completely different life than you. I didn’t feel any kind of fear. I wanted to do the role justice.
Q: Do you have a memory from your childhood of seeing theater or performance and saying, “I want to do that”?
A: I love “Barney [& Friends].” That was what ushered me into everything. But also, I remember I used to watch this DVD of Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan all the time. I was always so invested in the story, in the music. I think that was my first piece of theater that I was exposed to.
Q: You played a member of the ballroom community in the FX series “Pose.” Did you learn anything from that experience that has been helpful in “Oklahoma!”?
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A: Yeah. I learned to take up space, and that there was a place for me wherever I am. And to be present and willing to tell your story.
Q: I imagine the experience of touring is exhausting.
A: I keep on going because I know what I’m trying to accomplish. I’m existing as a Black person in America, as a Black woman, as a Black trans woman, so I have a lot on my plate. [As a coping strategy,] I take a lot of trips to Disney World. I went four times last year.
Q: What’s on your career bucket list now?
A: I want to do things where I am able to tell my story. I feel like in 2020, there was a big push for the centering of Black voices, and that’s lulled. I’d love for the message to be to continue amplifying marginalized voices and marginalized bodies, pushing for change, and aiding us in this fight to have true equity.
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Q: Why should people see this production?
A: This production is a representation of the fact that people need to be ready and willing for change. People of all shapes, sizes, genders, sexualities have the ability to do great things. If we embraced that, we would be a much better society.
If you go
Oklahoma
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. 202-467-4600. kennedy-center.org.
Dates: April 5-10.
Prices: $69-$159.
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