The Stars Of Paranormal Activity Love “Scaring The Sh*t Out Of People”

Broadway’s new thriller Paranormal Activity is the rare theatrical experience in which being surrounded by an audience that shrieks, gasps, and jumps in the middle of a scene doesn’t annoy — it adds to the fun. And its stars, Travis A. Knight and Cher Álvarez, love it. “I fear for my next theater contract because I’m going to be like, ‘Why aren’t you guys reacting?’” says Álvarez. “We love scaring the sh*t out of people.”

“When I put the flashlight on the shower curtain… some guy yelled, ‘Do it,’ as I was about to pull it open,” adds Knight of a recent show. “I was like, ‘I got you, bro. I’m about to do it.’”

Though it lives within the Paranormal Activity universe, Levi Holloway’s play, recently extended through Feb. 28 at the August Wilson Theatre, follows an entirely original plot: A young American couple, Jimmy and Lou (Knight and Álvarez, who shine in their Broadway debuts), have moved to London from Chicago in an effort to put some unsettling experiences behind them. But they, and the audience, soon discover the terror has followed them and is more intense than ever. As the show’s tagline goes, “Places aren’t haunted; people are.”

The excellent performances, sharp writing, inventive direction, and spooky sound and lighting add up to compelling theater, but the production’s unique — and jolting — dimension is the collective reaction of the audience. Along with 1,200 other people, you’ll find yourself gripped by fear one minute, laughing with relief the next. But don’t get too comfortable; the jump scares keep coming.

“It’s a f*cking riot,” says Álvarez. “It’s so dope that horror actually works onstage.”

On their theater rituals:

Álvarez: You’ve got to keep it light. Our dressing rooms are on the same floor, so we’re f*cking with each other all the time, trying to scare each other. Music is also such a way in for me. I think what gets the most exciting is wondering, “What is going to be the personality of this audience that we have?” And that’s really where we go off.

But for me, the signing out is way more crucial — leaving all that stuff at the theater, not taking my work home. There have been times when Travis and I will go out onstage when everyone’s left the theater, and you’re just left with the ghost light. We just thank the space because you never know what kind of portal is out there. We had [famous paranormal investigator] Adam Berry come in and do a ghost tour — that theater’s very haunted, and I don’t need any of those ghosts coming home with me. It’s not what I’m into. But we keep it fun.

Knight: Agreed. As the whole opening monologue is being said into the audience and the curtain is coming up, I’m standing on the other side of the front door waiting for my cue light to turn off. Everything up to that moment is exactly what Cher said — it’s light, there’s a lot of joking around. But the moment I’m putting that key in the door, it’s like all systems go. Especially in that first scene, because you see this couple at their best, and this is the only time in this play that you see them like that. So if I can enter that space with a sense of play, with a sense of wonder, with the goal of trying to make Cher laugh onstage — not Lou — or to surprise her in some way, that to me is so fun.

On their own feelings about horror:

Álvarez: It’s just not for me at all. If I’m going to watch a scary movie, it has to be at, like, 9 a.m. I still have time to recover. Being in it and acting in it is so different from actually watching it and choosing to be scared. I just am a naturally stressed person and have very high cortisol levels, and I would just prefer to stress out with my own thoughts.

Knight: I love horror. I’m a thrill-seeker in that regard.

Álvarez: He wanted to be a ghost hunter — like a legit ghost hunter.

Knight: I was obsessed with ghosts in my late teens, early 20s. We found this old home video, one of the last times I was at my parents’ house in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a video of me, and I had gotten this ghost book on Christmas morning. We were at my grandparents’ house, and I’m sitting next to my sister, and my grandma’s there, and I am explaining the difference between demons and ghosts and all these things as my sister just thousand-yard stares off into the distance — so annoyed that I’m talking about it.

Anyway, I love horror, and especially in October, it’s my jam to get on the streaming services and look at the horror section. I love that feeling of pressure in the chest, chill down the spine, wondering what’s going to happen next. There was a French television series called Marianne that scared the hell out of me last year when I watched it. I also did one of Levi Holloway’s first plays called Grey House in Chicago, and that was my first experience doing a horror stage play. During the whole rehearsal process, I was like, “What the hell are people going to think about this play?” That was my first taste of, like, “Oh, there’s an appetite for this thing.”

On memorable stage-door interactions:

Álvarez: To have two people with no names starring, headlining a show like this on Broadway has been really cool. People are seeing themselves represented onstage, which is really f*cking awesome and dope. Hearing young Latina women who are also in this industry say, “You’ve given me a dream role” — that’s a huge feat for me. That feels like I can die tomorrow, and I’m very happy with that.

Knight: I always get a kick when people are like, “I kept turning to my husband saying, ‘That’s how we talk to each other. That’s how we talk at home.’”

I’ve only had one sort of out-in-the-ether experience that I still think about. This person came to me and said, “This show deeply affected me. Could you sign this box?” And they handed me a small gift box that was empty. It was like a little cube, and I had the Sharpie that they give us at the stage door to sign Playbills. I was going to use that, and then they were like, “No, no, no, use mine.” I was about to write something, and then they said, “Can you write to Jimmy, and then something about demons or heroin?” I said, “Something about demons or heroin? What do you mean?” “Just anything, like bad things,” they said. So I wrote, “To Jimmy, demons, and heroin,” on this box, and I handed it back to them and they said, “Now I need you to sign your name.” So I took it back and kind of scribbled my name — but it wasn’t really my name because I was like, “What in the black magic is this?”

On unwinding postshow:

Álvarez: I just started watching New Girl again as a comfort show. You have to be so mindful of how you truly are using your energy when you’re doing a show — any show, but specifically this kind of show, eight times a week, is incredibly demanding. And we’ve all been sick this past week, so you just have to lock in and really take care of you.

It’s also when I feel like I can actually eat. We’ve just ran a marathon, so you feed yourself. And cereal is such a comfort food for me — you get the crunch, you get the sweet milk at the end. Ooh-wee. It’s a whole vibe, specifically the healthy version of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I’m sure Travis is pounding back 39 grams of protein or something, I don’t know.

Knight: No, usually 60 to 70 grams.

Álvarez: My bad.

Knight: That’s the time of day I am eating half of my daily calories. I come home and eat and will watch something or play a video game called Helldivers 2 with two of my friends. And I try to be asleep before 1 a.m., but sometimes it’s tough.

On off-day rituals:

Álvarez: I’m all about self-care, so I’m like, “Where can I get a massage? Who can touch my head? I need my pressure points.” And honestly, watching a movie on a Monday is like, the best for me. God, it restores my faith in humanity. The last thing I saw was that super crazy film with Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. I loved it. It was so f*cking weird. The simpler my Mondays are, the better, but you very rarely get that.

Knight: Laundry, grocery shopping. I mean, that’s just it. You pack it all in one day. The number of times I’m like, “It’s 4 o’clock already? F*ck.” I freak out about the time, because how does it go so fast?

On lessons learned from playing a married couple:

Knight: Jimmy has taught me that if you just stop and think for five seconds of your life before you speak, you could save yourself a tremendous amount of problems.

Álvarez: Have you applied it?

Knight: Not once.

Álvarez: Oh. Well, let us know how it goes.

Knight: But truly, there is something to that. I don’t know, be more mindful, bro.

Álvarez: For me, it’s to be honest with the person who you’re going to share your life with. And also finding play, finding laughter within a relationship — that’s absolutely crucial.