CALLBOARD: Interview with Marvelyn Ramirez

Marvelyn Ramirez is currently making her Off Broadway debut in Primary Stages' CALF SCRAMBLE, a fiercely original coming of age story about ambition, faith, and girlhood. A born-and-raised New Yorker, Marvelyn brings both personal history and professional dedication to this production, balancing her work on stage with her role as a box office supervisor at 59E59. In this conversation, she reflects on her journey into acting, the healing power of portraying a complex young woman, and what it means to create theater in the neighborhood she proudly calls home. 

Can you share a little about your journey into theater? Was there a specific moment or experience that made you realize acting was something you wanted to pursue professionally?

I started acting in my elementary school’s after school program when I was around ten years old. I was an academically driven kid at a Catholic school not too far from 59E59, and suddenly I felt proud of something creative that didn’t involve grades or rules. I can point to a very specific moment where acting shifted into something I wanted to do professionally. I played Mufasa in The Lion King Jr. in the eighth grade, and one of my classmates’ parents, who I knew were formerly daytime soap actors, sought me out to compliment my performance. They said I “really impacted them.” It was different from any other praise I’d received. I had never considered my acting to be something apart from fun, not something that could impact an individual. When I learned I had that ability from two people who had done the job, I knew I wanted to keep going.

You have a unique relationship with 59E59 Theaters as both a staff member and a performing artist. How did you first become connected to the theater?

When I’m not acting, I’m a box office supervisor at 59E59! I’ve worked in the box office for a little over a year. I was really excited to join the 59E59 staff after seeing The Immortal Jellyfish Girl in Theater A. 59E59 provides a rare chance to see a play actually uptown. As an East Harlem native, I’m proud to work at a theater so close to home.

It’s really important for an actor to find sustainable streams of income that don’t interfere with their creative pursuits, and I have found that at 59E59. My work in the box office even adds to my creative life because I get the chance to watch new plays and work with my coworkers who are almost all also actors or artists in their own right. We get to share opinions and resources and lean on each other for support on schedules and logistics because we come from a place of common understanding. Shoutout to Craig, Lloyd, and the whole box office staff for being so supportive of my work in CALF SCRAMBLE. It means the world!

What initially drew you to CALF SCRAMBLE, and what made you want to be part of this production?

I was pretty much instantly obsessed with CALF SCRAMBLE after reading the character breakdown and the first scene. I wanted to be in this play because it is entirely and unapologetically about young women, and more specifically young women in a wild, sweaty, and competitive context. I was excited about the play’s rural setting, and how foreign yet primal a story about girls raising cows was to me. Most of all, I craved the artistic community of being in an all female ensemble. It’s everything I dreamed of and more now that I’m here.

Can you talk about your audition experience and what resonated with you about the character you play?

I sent in a self tape for the role of Sofi, and wound up getting called back and cast as Vivvy. It felt significant and rare for there to be two complex and tough Latina roles that I could be considered for on the same project. I remember feeling really glad the play existed for this reason even if I didn’t get cast. Auditioning for Vivvy was surprisingly easy - it was like she was already inside me, and I don’t tend to think about characters in that way.

Vivvy reminds me of my teenage self but in wildly different circumstances. She moves with a guarded confidence, and draws her self worth from being a leader and high achiever in agriculture. The play tracks Vivvy wrestling with her queer identity, and trying to envision a future that feels off-limits within her Christian community. I’ve never worked on a farm, but I grew up a similarly high-achieving kid in Catholic school where coming out didn’t feel like an option. Playing this role now as a proudly out lesbian has been really healing. I wish I could go back in time, and tell my younger self just how much better it will get.

Without giving too much away, what themes or questions does the play explore that feel especially meaningful or timely to you?

The central motif that our playwright, Libby Carr, so skillfully sets up in CALF SCRAMBLE is that each actress has two roles. We play five teenage girls in Future Farmers of America and also play the calves they are raising as part of the program. You meet these characters at an age where feelings are huge and words often fail them, so the audience gets to watch them work out issues of love, judgement, and ambition in profound physical relation to each other. The play explores how to grow up in a culture that tells women exactly what they are made for and then punishes them for it at the same time. CALF SCRAMBLE is especially meaningful to me because it works from an understanding that teenage girls are incredibly wise and tough. We can all stand to learn a lot from them.

How has living and working in New York shaped you as an artist, both creatively and professionally?

I’m forever proud and grateful to be a born and raised native New Yorker. I learned at a young age that acting was an actual career and one that requires hard work to pursue. I believe New York is a city where your dreams come true because you work to make them true. I try not to subscribe to the idea that success in the entertainment industry comes from waiting for a lucky moment. I work to create my success in true New York fashion. This mindset is slightly unromantic, but I’m learning just how romantic it can get when that hard work pays off.

As a New York native, what role do you think spaces like 59E59 play in supporting artists and audiences outside of the traditional Broadway corridor?

59E59 Theaters attracts a loyal and local audience. I’m not sure I can name another New York theater that has managed to connect so directly with the neighborhood in which it's located. In the box office, I interact with so many regulars who live in the Upper East Side area. To me, this supports the idea that theater is more than just something we watch. It’s a gathering place and a public forum. I’m proud to be from the center of the theater industry, but I do crave a more personal approach to the way we interact with theater. I wish there were more Off Broadway theaters in residential neighborhoods and in the outer boroughs for residents to gather. As virtual content isolates us from each other and gentrification threatens the fabric of so many neighborhoods, theater is one of the remaining ways we can have a local, human, and cultural experience.

What continues to inspire you to stay in this field?

CALF SCRAMBLE is a huge career milestone as my Off Broadway debut, and an affirmation that success is inevitable when you chase the work you genuinely love. I’m endlessly inspired by the CALF SCRAMBLE company. They are ALL insanely talented, hard-working, and supportive. It’s a real full-circle moment to perform at the theater I started working at right when I graduated, and even more special since 59E59 is so close to where I grew up. This experience has shown me just how good it can get as an actor. I’ll be riding this artistic high, and chasing the level of community and rigor I found on this project for a while. 

CALF SCRAMBLE runs from February 28 - April 12, 2026. Buy tickets here.
This interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.