Meet Vox Artist Lucy Weber

Q: The first version you performed of La voix humaine unfolds within your own home. How did performing in such a personal space shape your emotional and physical relationship to the character?

A: The first performance that was filmed in my home was actually really emotionally exhausting for me not only because of the way we chose to create the character but because there was no buffer of having it performed outside of my personal space. Normally, a set provides me with a boundary between reality and performance and not having that boundary was really taxing. It was a hot day when we filmed and the house was warm and full of equipment and we were all just in this intense situation but we all were extremely calm and just got down to work.

Q: Unlike a live audience, you performed for a camera and film crew. How did that change your sense of connection, pacing, or intimacy in the role?

A: I actually liked not having an audience. It was really freeing to just sing but with this new concept I think that having the audience to react to as another character will be fun for me.

Q: The camera captures even the smallest gesture or flicker of thought. How did that influence your vocal or dramatic choices compared to a stage performance?

A: I think with film I actually approached singing it in a more intimate way vocally. I did not feel as pressured to sing out on really intimate and quiet moments. Sometimes when you are singing on stage you are not able to really be as subtle or small as the moments Sometimes call for, and filming it allowed me to really be comfortable with intimate and small moments.

Q: This version of La voix humaine, The Hollow Between Them, explores absence and memory. How did filming within your familiar surroundings blur the line between personal and artistic experience?

A: The Hollow Between Them really did not leave any room for a boundary. Her story is not my story at all but I was very aware to try not to have any photos or references to my own family at all. It was really internally tense for me because I did feel like this was a blurred line between reality and the performance and I tried to keep it light and fun and not allow the weight of it to affect me.

Q: What did it feel like to inhabit Elle’s unraveling?

A: It felt really uncomfortable to inhabit Elle's unraveling. So I used that. It still is deeply uncomfortable for me.

Q: You worked closely with pianists Jay Rozendaal, Amy Boers, and director Julia Benzinger. What conversations or moments of collaboration most shaped the characterizations?

A: With Amy Boers, we had such a relatively long period of collaboration so we were able to work off one another. And her character in the film is actually a past iteration of the character that I'm playing so I reacted to her as if she was my internal compass. For the live performance at The Rabbit Box Theatre, Jay is an external entity so I react to him less as an inner presence.

With Julia it was a lot of fun to be flexible and explore different characters with her. She allowed me to come up with these creations based on the information she gave me and that let me draw from examples from film, television, books, and people I've met to create these more fleshed out characters.

In these moments and conversations we would talk about what it would be for for this person in the film to have been in a long-term relationship and to have isolated herself out of devotion to the idea of Family. In the second iteration, the conversations revolve around what it looks like to create isolation out of devotion to self-protection and control. Both of these characters isolate themselves for different reasons. One is for the belief that her husband and her children should be her primary concern and that is where she finds her value. The other is believing that career success will protect her from heartbreak and vulnerability.

Those conversations were diving off points for me in exploring these two characters.

Q: La voix humaine has been performed countless ways, but The Hollow Between Them invites audiences to witness an interior life almost documentary-style. What new truths did you discover about Elle in that format?

A: I have seen La voix humaine filmed in a few different ways but usually it's on a set where there's limited space. Filming it the way we did, in an actual home, felt more immersive to me. It feels like you're seeing the person in real time in their real space. I feel like when you see it produced as a stage performance, it doesn't always pull you in. But in a movie, or film, it pulls you in much more.

Q: You're also jumping into the version that will be performed live at the Rabbit Box Theatre in Pike Place Market which explores private crisis in public spaces. How has that preparation process been and what feels different about it than your first iteration?

A: I'm actually really grateful that I get a second shot at it - this different character in this different setting. It's kind of a relief in a way to perform this as a woman who has isolated herself through her drive for success. And I feel that.

I've sat with it longer and I feel that I am having more fun creating this character because this is my second time performing it and I can bring nuance from the first iteration. It will be interesting performing it with Jay this time since he recently performed it with Ibidunni Ojikutu and will be working on it with Adia Bowen for her performance at ArtLove Salon.

So in terms of preparation, I've been able to go a little deeper than the first iteration.

Q: Through this process, what have you learned about vulnerability both as an artist and as a person letting an audience into your private world?

A: Performing in my home was the most vulnerable thing I've done. I've always had a costume as part of the creation of the character and here, I was in my own clothes in my home, performing a piece about a woman who had been married for 25 years and whose marriage had fallen apart.

There was no separation between me and the set or me and the costume. Also, being filmed in my home and then releasing it out into the world is an incredibly scary thing. And putting my voice out on the interest for everybody. But I just kind of have to put that out of my mind.

Q: If you were to create a playlist inspired by your two iterations, what would be included?

A: This isn't a playlist, but artists I've been listening to alongside my process for The Rabbit Box. Tori Amos, Courtney Love, Alanis Morissette, The Cranberries, Sinead O'Connor, and Sarah McLaughlin. Those artists I've just kind of been looping through.