Video: Eva Noblezada Talks Wedding Planning With Reeve Carney and How Her Sally Bowles Is 'a Hot Mess Wrapped Up in Charm'

When Eva Noblezada isn’t painting with watercolors, trying her hand at mosaic tiling, or performing eight shows a week as the toast of Broadway in Cabaret, she’s wedding planning. Noblezada and Reeve Carney announced their engagement at a sold-out Green Room 42 show last spring (they met when they played the tragic lovers Eurydice and Orpheus in Hadestown on Broadway).

“There is nothing that man can’t do,” Noblezada gushes when speaking of her fiancé. “He’s a musical genius. I want to be like [him] more and more every day.”

Noblezada enthused about Carney while putting on her make-up for Cabaret with Playbill (where she's performing until July 20). To learn which Chappell Roan-approved glitter Noblezada applies to her top-of-show eyes and which pieces of musical theatre history are part of Noblezada and Carney’s at-home “museum," watch the video above.

In addition to trying to harness her partner’s “intellect, musicality” and “deep spiritual connection to himself and [music],” Noblezada is finding a balance in setting boundaries. In 2013, Noblezada became one of five finalists at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (colloquially known as The Jimmy Awards). After casting director Tara Rubin took note of her talent and fire, Noblezada was cast in the West End Revival of Miss Saigon at just 17.

“I used to really take myself very seriously,” Noblezada reflects. “That limited my reach as an artist, as a woman. Now, I want to take my work ethic seriously. I want to take my health seriously. I want to take my life seriously.”

Proclaiming an “attitude of gratitude,” Noblezada says the deep love she has for her job has helped her find herself and find pride in all she’s accomplished at a young age. She is quick to remind herself that “we’re on a floating rock” and that she is in a privileged position to work within her passion. At the same time, she has no hesitancy about checking in with herself, asking if she feels physically, or even vocally, okay to meet the demands of a Broadway schedule.

“It took me years to learn,” Noblezada admits. “And I’m still learning. Sacrificing your body and your mental health for [work] is not worth it, ever. You learn those lessons and you create strong boundaries. Then you have a better life because you know what your limits are.”

There is seemingly no limit to Noblezada’s artistic energy and fervor. In the span of a year, she performed on Broadway as Daisy in The Great Gatsby, on the West End reprising the role of Eurydice in Hadestown, and the immediately back on Broadway in Cabaret. To counter this whirlwind of a schedule, Noblezada has carefully cultivated a morning meditation ritual that has helped to turn the volume down on her often-distracted mind. That, coupled with the cleanse of a pre-show ginger and cayenne shot, gives her the energetic kick to play on stage.

“The cool thing about Cabaret...is this allowance for us to discover our [own] interpretations,” Noblezada explains. This trust has extended to her and co-star Orville Peck (who plays the Emcee). “When you’re asking someone to fit into a mold, there’s a discomfort there. You can’t really breathe and expand into a character the way that you’d like to.”

READ: Orville Peck Is Baring His Soul, and His Face, in Cabaret on Broadway

Noblezada has expanded into a Sally that is, as she describes, “a hot mess wrapped up in charm.” Adds Noblezada: “She wants to love people. But I don’t think she knows how to because she [doesn’t] really understand what it means to love herself.”

Director Rebecca Frecknall told Noblezada that the key to Sally is her (albeit delusional belief) that she will be a star. “She’s always reaching for that thing that’s always going to be moving further from her,” Noblezada says, adding that she’s found catharsis in playing someone so fiercely confident, someone determined to keep climbing through an avalanche.

Though Noblezada smiles fondly when remembering her childhood nickname, Eva the Diva, she is hopeful both she and her peers can bring a positive connotation to the polarizing d-word. Citing Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald, and Lea Salonga as her career inspirations, Noblezada is hoping to be known for being kind, generous, and supportive to her contemporaries.

“I love my job,” Noblezada says emphatically. “You always hope you do a good job and you leave a good legacy [of] not being an asshole. I really can’t stand it when you hear [negative] stories from wardrobe or stage crew. [They are] what keep Broadway going. Everyone deserves the same amount of respect.”