Sophia Marcelle grew up in the Houston area, with hopes of becoming a pop star. She played the flute in the school band until finally her family asked her to pick something else, she says laughing.
That took her to theater and summer theater camps. In her first production, Wizard of Oz, she landed the lead role of Dorothy. She’s continued since then with a bio that includes acting in the Houston Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Stage theater and Rec Room Arts. Houston audiences saw her in the Body Snatcher at the Alley last fall.
Now, she’s Rosali in Real Women Have Curves, the play written by Josefina López about to open at Alley Theatre. The play (a successful movie was made later) tells the story of five Latina women working at a tiny sewing factory in East Los Angelos in 1987.
The women have not only to contend with a pressing deadline (100 dresses), but immigration, body image and cultural expectations. The mom of the owner comes in every day to check on them
“I wanted to be in the production because I felt the play was a good representation of the culture that I’m close to. I felt like I could be proud sharing a piece that was about dreaming and the joy of women coming together and what power that creates.”
Her grandmother came to Houston from Panama and Marcelle says it made her happy to do a play that she could understand – the majority is in English but Spanish phrases are interspersed throughout — that she knew could make her laugh. Her stepmother’s from Mexico and Marcelle thought she would enjoy the comedy as well. “It’s entertaining, it’s touching.
“My character is the fun one. She’s the one trying to make everyone smile and laugh. She’s trying to bring people together. She’s always positive, sometimes too positive and she acts that way to cover up her own insecurities about her weight and what she looks like.
“My character has an eating disorder and she’s taking diet pills because she wants to be skinny . I think society can tell women what to look like a lot of the time and my character’s a representation of that. Throughout the play she grows, learning that instead of being what other people want you to be, you can be what you want yourself to be.
“The owner of the factory is undocumented. The play is set in a time in the U.S. when people who were undocumented in the U.S. could apply for citizenship but the main chararater is afraid to do that. That’s one of the conflicts in the play. “
Others in the cast include Melinna Bobadilla as Estela, Angela Lanza as Carmen, Brenda Palestina as Ana and Gloria Vivica Benavides as Pancha. Lisa Portes directs.
To take on this character did involve learning an East LA accent. “I’m from Houston. Some very distinct sound changes,” says the graduate of Dulles High in the Fort Bend ISD. She got her BFA in acting from the University of Houston.
“ We are emphasizing the joy that happens when five women come together and dream. I’m hoping people see that and are comforted by that and are inspired by that.
By seeing the characters on stage, Marcelle hopes audiences will “recognize the humanity in every person no matter where they’re from. And take that into the real world.”
Performances are scheduled for January 23 through February 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays and 7 p.m. Sundays at Alley Theatre, 615 Texas. For more information, call 713-220-5700 or visit alleytheatre.org. $36-$108.