Auli'i Cravalho Left Her 'Comfort Zone' for Broadway's "Cabaret". How the "Moana" Star Found Her Sally Bowles (Exclusive)

11/18/2024 09:00 AM

PEOPLE caught up with the actress between performances of 'Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club'

Auliʻi Cravalho became a household name in 2016 when she voiced the title character in Disney's animated hit Moana. And while the 23-year-old actress is reprising the role later this month in the film's sequel, fans can see a completely different side of her talents eight shows a week on Broadway, where she's earning rave reviews as the irreverent nightclub singer Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club.

It's a role that not only required the Hawaiian-born star to try things she's never done before, but also fulfilled a career itch she's been looking to scratch.

"I'm always looking to challenge myself, and I've been really looking for a role that I can sink my teeth into," Cravalho tells PEOPLE. "It's part of the reason I buzzed my head a few months ago; because I wanted to play people different from me. So when I first auditioned for Sally, I bought an Elmer's glue stick [and] blocked out my brows. And I remember being like, 'Okay, I'm really out of my comfort zone, but if I'm scared, I know I'm heading in the right direction."

Related: See Adam Lambert and Auli'i Cravalho Prepare for Broadway's Cabaret in First-Look Rehearsal Photos (Exclusive)

Cravalho has headed in the right direction, alright. She portrays Sally Bowles with the confidence, skill and depth of an actress twice her age, moving between the singer's joy, pain and manic madness with ease.

"I love that I get to lose my mind every night with Sally, it's so fun," she says. "I love this material. I'm never bored, because Sally plays so many different people. She's the manic pixie dream girl. She is the eroticism of virginity. She is edgy, she is helpless in love; wants stability, but also loves all of her vices. She's just such a beautiful woman to play."

"I've also really made her my own," Cravalho says. "When I was digging into it, I found myself asking, 'When is Sally telling the truth and when is she lying?' Because there are so many things about her in the text that's not explicitly stated. So I was really able to make the decision, 'Okay, who is my Sally?' And that's the great thing also of this production and the state of Cabaret is that they allow ownership over Sally for every new person that comes along and steps into her boots."

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It's especially impressive seeing as Cravalho is making her Broadway debut with the role.

She tells PEOPLE Broadway has been on her bucket list for quite some time.

"You know what's funny, I think of myself as a theater kid and yet I've also kind of just been theater-kid adjacent," she says. "Between Rise, and Mean Girls, and Moana, I funnily enough come up on the Musicals Spotify playlist often even though I've never been in a Broadway musical. So this is some big wish fulfillment."

She adds, "I've always wanted to be this person that I am now."

Leaving the film and TV industry for six months to go do Broadway can be a "scary thing," Cravalho admits. But Cabaret eased that pain.

"When I thought about what show I wanted to make my debut with, I couldn't think of any show better than Cabaret," she says. "I had watched that film growing up with Queen Liza Minnelli, and then saw this production in London with my good friend Mason Alexander Park and Maude Apatow. And I remember saying to myself, 'I think I can do that. It would kill me, but I could do that.' "

Before her call back audition, Cravalho saw the Broadway transfer with Gayle Rankin and Eddie Redmayne. She instantly fell in love with Rankin's performance.

"I watched Gayle perform with pen and paper in hand, marking all the scenes that I knew I would have to audition with. And I learned so much from her," Cravalho shares. "I ended up watching the show in total, I think, five times, just to try and get a better sense of the character. And then the week our director Rebecca Frecknall came in, I had to throw it all away because I realized I loved Gayle's performance so much and respected her commitment to the character, I was almost trying to pay homage to her Sally rather than find my own Sally."

Rankin, who received a Tony Award nomination for her role, did give Cravalho plenty of helpful advice. One of the first things she asked the star? "Do you have an ENT in the city?"

"I went, 'You know what? No, I don't.' She was like, 'Let's get you one,' " Cravalho notes to PEOPLE. "And I'm so grateful for that because Sally is a taxing vocal role. You're singing and crying every night. I mean, Gayle had an ENT on speed dial. So for her to look out for me and say, 'Let's take care of vocal health?' I'm very, very appreciative."

Staying healthy while doing eight shows a week can be its own full-time job. "Oh, you live like a nun," Cravalho jokes. "If you're going to have a glass of wine, you have one. You don't drink the bottle, you know what I mean? You have to be very disciplined."

Related: Eddie Redmayne Admits He Lives 'Like a Monk' Despite Playing Emcee in Cabaret's 'Hedonistic' World

Luckily, Cravalho has a sea of support helping her along.

"I really felt held by my company," she says. "The first time that I met everyone, we got into this big round circle and we all could say a single word or a single sound or a body movement of how we felt for the day. Now, weird, wacky things came out of that circle. But by the end of it, when we were all in our hugs, everyone held me that extra second."

"The Broadway community is so special. Everybody talks about it, but I did not truly know just how strong it was until I was in it," Cravalho continues. "And it's everyone, not just your fellow actors. I've bonded with members of the orchestra, the backstage departments. My stage manager checks in with me before every show and after every show saying, 'How are you? How's your voice feeling? How's your body feeling? How's your personal life?' Just the 'whole body, whole spirit' kind of wellness that I didn't expect to get from the people I worked."

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That love carries over to Adam Lambert, too, who joined Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club with Cravalho.

"He's a dream to work with," she gushes. "First of all, he's just an absolute vocal god. He adds something to every single song — be it optioning up or bringing out the jazziness — that just makes it so interesting. And truly, I think one of his greatest strengths is that he is a host. He loves that the audience is there. He plays off of them so naturally and easily. He's so funny that he keeps making things up on the fly every night. And at the end of the day, you are completely transported into his world, and Adam's world is tawdry and sensual and sexy. It's just a world that I would love to live in."

"Everyone truly brings their best every single night," Cravalho says. "And that's also what holds me to my standard. As one of the newest cast members, I'm one of the last pieces that gets put into this. I sat one night with my stage manager calling the cues and you can't believe how many things there is to manage. Lighting, sets, costumes, music, — I mean, this is a well-oiled machine! So I'm just grateful to be a part of it."

Tickets for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club are now on sale.