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'Book of Mormon' actress Alexandra Ncube talks opportunity, challenges with ASU students

Alexandra Ncube engaging in a Q&A session with ASU Theatre and Music students on Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 at the ASU School of Music.
Alexandra Ncube engaging in a Q&A session with ASU Theatre and Music students on Wednesday, Nov 4, 2015 at the ASU School of Music.

Alexandra Ncube is no stranger to the Gammage Auditorium. She grew up attending shows there and graduated from ASU in 2012 with a degree in Theatre.

Now she has returned to her alma mater from Oct. 20 to Nov. 8, but she's not just here to visit. Ncube is back in Tempe as the female lead Nabulungi in the national tour of the acclaimed Broadway musical "The Book of Mormon."

Read More: Broadway’s 'Book of Mormon' premieres at ASU Gammage

Ncube sat down with a class of ASU theater students on Nov. 4 to talk about auditions, rehearsals, touring and what it's like to perform eight shows a week with one of the most popular musical productions in the country.

"We've been everywhere under the sun and more," she said. "It's a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week job. It's been crazy ... (but) the cast has been welcoming and incredibly supportive."

"The Book of Mormon" is a musical comedy that follows two young Mormon missionaries as they accept their assignment in Uganda and attempt to convert the locals in the midst of violence, poverty, disease and famine. The show opened on Broadway in March 2011 and was awarded nine Tony awards, including Best Musical. The first national tour began in August 2012 and Ncube joined its cast in February 2014.

"I have roots here in Tempe," Ncube said. "All of a sudden I'm in this really big show, and I didn't entirely process what was happening until like six months in. ... It took me about a year to get used to having that kind of life. It's completely different. You're leaving family and friends back home, and you have a lot of time to figure out who you are."

She said that, contrary to what many people believe, musical theater isn't always "breaking into song (while basking) in sunshine." It's a physically taxing job that involves a lot of traveling and working with a large team to make the production a success.

While much of Ncube's "Book of Mormon" experience has been new, she says that her time spent doing theater in college helped prepare her for the national spotlight.

"If ASU taught me anything, it's that I have to be working constantly, auditioning and taking the initiative to improve myself," Ncube said.

Theater professor Oscar Giner was one of Ncube's instructors in her senior year at ASU, and she said that his class pushed her to grow and improve her acting ability. In his class, she took on the role of Cleopatra, based on works by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw.

Giner is happy to see his students succeed, though he believes it takes more than just talent to make it in theater.

"In Alex's case, it was always clear that she had the talent to go as far as she wanted to go," Giner said. "She still does. That's only part of the equation, you see. Now the question is, does that individual student want to work on that talent? Are they going to have the opportunity to showcase that talent? Fortune and luck play a part here too."

Fortune smiled on Ncube, and the ASU alumna is excited for the opportunity to continue touring with "The Book of Mormon." The company leaves Tempe next week to continue the national tour in El Paso, Texas.  For more information on the musical at Gammage, click here.

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