Character Breakdown: HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO Cast Unpacks Their Roles

Maybe we all have this in common, whatever kind of person you like

Certain that as soon as you tell them, disaster will strike. I play Dr. Emilio Amigo, who is the owner of the Amigo Family Counseling Center in Columbus, Ohio

And it's his idea to use a spring formal as a teaching moment for these young men and women

And I have not met Dr. Emilio Amigo just yet. We have definitely emailed. We have a Zoom date on the books

And I can't wait to get that relationship started. I play Terry, who is the mother of Jessica, nicknamed Ter-Bear

And I love Terry because her approach to parenthood is more of a friend relationship that she has with her daughter

And that's something that I definitely can relate to between mine and my mother's relationship as well

But I love Terry's warmth. I love Terry's ability to support her daughter in a way that feels like she's talking to a friend

And I play the character Johanna, and Johanna is the mother to Caroline

And it's a very interesting kind of relationship, whereas I still see her

And I'm probably infusing parts of myself. Like I can be a little bit of a mother bear

Right? And so I'm very protective of her. And she's so... Amelia plays Caroline

And Amelia is really just so beautiful and so wonderful and so smart

And everything that she brings to Caroline is so effective. I love the relationship that we've developed and that we are still developing on and off stage

I play Meredith, and she and I are very much like we love to research things

We love to learn new little facts. We use facts to cope with stressful situations that we're in

Yeah, I relate to her in a lot of different ways. And I think a lot of people in the audience will relate to her too

Talk about who you play and what you love about him. I play Drew

And I think something that I love a lot about Drew is our brains are very kind of wired similarly

in the fact that he thinks in lists and patterns and steps in order to achieve things

Before I enter most conversations, I'm like, okay, this is how this is going to go

This is how I'm going to navigate my way through this. And I think that is very similar in me and Drew both have a very similar way of thinking about situations like that

I also really like the way that Drew develops romantic feelings throughout the story

and tracking his arc for his feelings for Meredith is very exciting

It's very similar to how I have developed crushes on people in the past

and just the way it grows and ebbs and flows throughout all of that

So I think a lot of people are going to be able to relate to him and just the way his brain kind of operates and how that is shown on stage

Oh my gosh. I play Remy in the show. My character is like an avid cosplayer, artist, fashion designer

And obviously I love all of those things. But I'm actually a digital artist myself and I do a lot of fashion design

I do a lot of character design, stuff like that. So it's really nice to be able to connect to my character in such a way

and my character being an artist. I play Tommy who is basically a comic book person and a sci-fi fantasy person

but he's also a funny guy and I am also a few of those things

But there is one difference. He wants to be a licensed driver. I do not

I'm a city guy. I'm good with the subways. But you know, Tommy's a really fun person to play

I like to hang out with him one day. I play Ashley Amigo. She is the daughter of Dr. Amigo

the head clinician at the Amigo Family Counseling Center. I love her. I think she is so kind and charismatic and full of a quiet strength

I relate to her doubt, her fear, her anxiety, but also this responsibility that she feels for her family and the people who love her

Responsibility to them but also responsibility to be true to herself. So her journey of finding that and being true to that

I play Mel who is one of the seven autistic principals. What I really relate to is their desire for independence

They are the only one that we see in the workforce navigating that

As someone who, you know, I've worked all of my day jobs until this point

I've had similar experiences as them. I really connect to their fight and their drive

They're also really love of life. I play Caroline. I met her in person which is so magical

Jessica, her character too, also went to the opening in Syracuse. They honestly were fangirling over them. They were so sweet

My character is the sweetest, most bubbly person ever. I just get to honestly heal my inner child whenever I get to play her on stage

It's just such an honor. This character also shaped not just mine

I think all seven of our characters kind of formed into ourselves as well

There's so much us in those characters too. But we also honor the people who inspired these characters

It's very magical. It's such a Matrix moment to meet the character you're playing in real life

and they tell you that they love the show. And you get to text them. It's so cool

You get to text them. It was a truly beautiful experience getting to meet Caroline and Jessica

What I always have told people was I didn't watch the documentary

until after I got the part because I didn't want any imitations

to creep into my brain and affect my audition. But I remember watching the real Jessica on the documentary

and feeling really moved because I felt like I was watching an iteration of myself that was a lot more vulnerable

than I had ever dared to be in a public forum. And I just immediately felt a connection with her

and just so much respect for her and a deep sense of responsibility

to do justice to who these people are and who their stories are

and to bring ourselves into it as well. And I think the thing I was the most nervous about

was performing the show for the people who it was based on

and they responded so enthusiastically and it was just so wonderful meeting them

and getting to share this with them and getting their insight and their feedback

I mean, nothing can prepare you for that. Theater school doesn't prepare you for that

One day you're going to meet your character. You're going to act normal