Glass slippers and grad school

When did you first get involved in musical theater? How did it all begin for you?

Barcellos: I grew up performing and singing. I started in youth choir at a really young age. Then in middle school and all through high school, I got very involved in musical theater, both at school and through local youth and community theater groups.

When I got to college, I realized I didn’t want to pursue theater professionally. I wasn’t aiming for conservatory training or trying to “make it” in a traditional sense, but I still wanted it to be a big part of my life. So I got really involved in student-run theater at UC Berkeley, where I did both my undergrad and my master’s. I acted in a bunch of shows and later served on our board of directors.

That experience gave me the chance to work on both the performance and organizational sides, helping to shape how we operated as a company and making sure opportunities were accessible to students from all kinds of backgrounds. Since we were entirely student-run, it was really about creating a space for people who deeply loved theater, even if they weren’t pursuing it professionally.

What made you decide to follow a career in public health, rather than theater?

It was a mix of things. I’ve always loved science and eventually got really interested in public health, especially because my mom works in the field, so I had early exposure to it. For a while I even thought about medical school.

I was drawn to the structure, problem-solving and collaborative aspects of science and public health. I wanted a path that offered a bit more stability and connected more directly with some of my other intellectual interests. Theater is absolutely intellectually rich, too, but I felt myself pulled in a different direction. That said, I’ve always wanted theater to remain part of my life and I’m still figuring out how best to do that.

How do you balance the demands of performing and your academic work?

Yeah, that’s a great question. Honestly, it’s tough. The two ask very different things of you mentally, emotionally, even physically. School is challenging in its own right, and performing, especially something like Into the Woods, brings its own intense demands. The music is especially difficult; it’s intricate, fast and requires a lot of focused practice.

But I actually find the two to be a beautiful counterbalance. They challenge me in different ways and give me different forms of fulfillment. Having a creative outlet has always been essential to me, no matter what else I’m doing—school, work, anything. 

But during this most recent production, balancing both worlds was definitely difficult. It meant making the absolute most of every hour of the day. So yes, it’s challenging but also incredibly rewarding.

Can you name a few of your performances that were especially meaningful to you?

Most of my big performances were in college, between 2016 and 2020. One that stands out is The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown. It’s traditionally about a heterosexual couple, but we reimagined it with three different queer couples: two lesbian couples and one gay couple. I played Jamie, a role originally written for a man. It was such a rewarding experience to reinterpret the material from that lens and explore how the dynamics changed, or didn’t, in a queer context.

Another one that meant a lot was Carrie: The Musical. It’s kind of a cult favorite—not exactly critically acclaimed, but it was so fun to work on. I played Margaret, Carrie’s mom, who’s a very intense character.

Our productions were very hands-on. As students, we handled everything from building the sets and designing the costumes to developing the marketing. It was really a labor of love. We were all deeply invested in creating something meaningful and making sure the process was both fun and inclusive, while still aiming for a strong final performance.

You specialize in structural drivers of inequity in health care. Can you describe your work and research?

I wouldn’t say I specialize yet, but that’s definitely the space I’m hoping to grow into professionally. It’s what brought me back to school and what I want to build my career around.

I’m really focused on understanding the barriers within our health care system that prevent people, especially marginalized groups, from accessing the care they need. I’m particularly interested in cancer care, since I come from a background in cancer health services research.

I initially worked with electronic health records data, which gave me insight into the care people receive and their outcomes. But I started to realize I wanted to understand what happens before that, what shapes whether people can even access care in the first place. That includes factors like how insurance is structured, how health policy is written, how care is delivered and paid for—all those “upstream” elements that determine who gets care and who doesn’t, and what kind of outcomes they end up with.

This might be a bit of a stretch, but are there any ways in which your acting skills translate to your research?

No, not a stretch at all! One thing they share is the collaborative spirit: both research and theater rely deeply on learning from others and working as part of a team. Whether it’s fellow performers or academic colleagues, you really can’t do meaningful work in either space alone.

But I’d also add that performance builds this deep habit of paying attention to context and history. When you take on a new role or show, there’s this whole process of understanding the material: Who wrote it? When was it written? What was going on at that time? What did it mean then and what does it mean now? That kind of contextual awareness is really valuable when thinking about research, especially in public health.

The systems and structures I study didn’t come out of nowhere; they were created at specific moments, shaped by particular social, political and historical forces. So, I think that habit of asking where something came from, what assumptions it reflects, and what it meant in its time—that carries over directly into the way I approach research questions.

It might sound a little abstract, but I really do think the thoughtfulness you bring to interpreting a piece of art helps you interrogate the systems and knowledge frameworks we often take for granted in academic work.

What’s on the horizon for you academically and artistically?

Academically, I’m excited to head into my second year. This summer, I’ll be working on some research projects I mentioned earlier, focused on cancer care and Medicare. It’s work I’m really passionate about and I’m glad to be spending more time on it.

Artistically, I’m definitely keeping an eye out for new auditions and opportunities in Providence and the surrounding area. I’ll probably take a bit of a hiatus during the school year. Second year is demanding, and we have qualifying exams at the end, but I definitely plan to stay involved in theater as much as I can throughout the program.

Providence has such a rich and welcoming artistic community. There’s a real history of performance here and there are so many folks who’ve been involved in local theater for years. Into the Woods was at Barker Playhouse, which is a historic venue in the area, and it was such a gift to connect with that community.

So while I don’t have anything specific lined up at the moment, I fully plan to continue auditioning and staying connected to that part of my life for as long as I can.