Latest / The Vietnamese with Kenneth Nguyen / 515 - Why Are There So Few Vietnamese Performers on Broadway? - Evelyn Mê-Linh

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515 - Why Are There So Few Vietnamese Performers on Broadway? - Evelyn Mê-Linh · The Vietnamese with Kenneth Nguyen

• 0:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: Hi, welcome to the Vietnamese podcast.
• 0:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today I have Evelyn Medellin.
• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: She is a friend that I've known a few, four, a few years now.
• 0:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: And your journey is really unbelievable.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: And here we are in the studio in LA.
• 0:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm welcome to the podcast.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 0:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for having me.
• 0:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: You're very welcome.
• 0:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want a good...
• 0:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: through a few things your life up until this moment, the big thing is you are in the production of Phantom of the Opera.
• 0:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to talk about how you got there.
• 0:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: There is very, very few Vietnamese people who's made it to Broadway.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: So this is a big deal.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: I want to take us back to
• 0:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: your parents and how they thought of music in your journey.
• 0:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, yeah, my parents actually always loved music.
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like growing up, I was always surrounded by music.
• 1:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, my dad would play guitar and sing, and my mom would sing along with him.
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they would have these singing parties at my house where they would bring a bunch of their friends over, and they would just sing a bunch of Vietnamese songs.
• 1:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So growing up, I was always surrounded by music, but none of them like followed it as a career.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, so when I told them that, like, I wanted to major in music and college, like, they were definitely shocked for sure, but, um, okay, before you even get to that, them being shocked.
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: When you were in their living room listening to them playing, um, did it come naturally to you?
• 1:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly, I was a really shy kid growing up.
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I never would have saw myself singing or being a performer in any way.
• 1:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought I was just going to be like a doctor of some sort, but I actually watched Phantom of the Opera, like the movie, Phantom of the Opera, the 2004 movie, the Drag Butler.
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: and Emmy Rossum when I was like 12 or 13 and I just got hooked and I asked my mom to take singing lessons and from then I was just like it became like a huge passion of mine and I couldn't think of anything else.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh my god really?
• 2:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Wait real quick random question.
• 2:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: Did you remember about the five-layers sing?
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, you never watched them.
• 2:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: No.
• 2:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, wow.
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: That should be on your list then.
• 2:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: So he does see?
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: He sings in the movie.
• 2:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't imagine you're watching.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: No.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, okay.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't do a little, right?
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: No.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: He was a fan to him.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was a fan to him.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Honestly.
• 2:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: It did the job.
• 2:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: It got me hooked to the story and the music.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of people complain about singing quality.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
• 2:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe you're Jack Lane, my like drug butler, all right.
• 2:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a different.
• 2:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: He has like a husky, more of like a rock, rock sound, I'd say.
• 3:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then like a more, he's not, he doesn't, he doesn't sound trained or operatic at all.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't imagine drawing that letter, yeah.
• 3:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: No, draw it, butler, he learned how to sing for this role.
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, he didn't really sing before.
• 3:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: God, I've got to go.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but I think, I think it worked.
• 3:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, it had like a raw, a rawness to it.
• 3:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And it just, you know, it worked on me.
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I, and here I am, right?
• 3:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, you were, you were in that young and thinking and obsessing about it at that time.
• 3:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Did you turn it on?
• 3:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she knew.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I tried to sing the songs and then I asked my mom to take voice lessons and... You were 12?
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, 12.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then my mom was ecstatic at first because I was super shy and she was like, oh, finally, something to get her out of her shell.
• 3:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And my mom loves singing too.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So she thought it would just be a great hobby and she actually got me into singing Vietnamese songs too.
• 4:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I started singing Vietnamese songs in the community like on like small stages.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: My mom would like host concerts a lot like she she's a leader.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you know you got.
• 4:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she's leader scouts, but also like a singing group called You Guys.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you sing, you got?
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, no.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, it's like, like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like, do like,
• 4:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, I don't know why I thought you're a nom.
• 4:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just assumed that you're a nom.
• 4:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: And you know, yeah, yeah, I mean, my most of my family speak, you know, a southern, okay.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: My mom's family originally from the north.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 4:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, so she, um, your mom was like really into music and scouts.
• 4:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, scouts, um,
• 5:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so I grew up in scouts because my parents like led a whole scout troop and yeah, they would always like have scout songs, you know, during the camps or just like in meetings, they would like force us to learn these like Vietnamese scouting songs.
• 5:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: But did you, did you sing and perform at the, they have like this talent shows like when you go camping, right?
• 5:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: So many talents.
• 5:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, I would.
• 5:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: After I started taking voice lessons, actually, you know, there's this one time when I was a kid like elementary school, still shy, my mom forced me to like do a duet with her.
• 5:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember being on stage and I like would not make a sound.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I was just standing there in my mom was singing.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, I was just so shy, you know, like that's why like people were so surprised that like I'm a singer now or for former because like if they knew me as a kid, like they're like they saw like how shy it was, but Do you just froze?
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and nothing would come out.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 5:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Are you getting a second hand of various births of it?
• 5:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, no, no, okay.
• 6:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, no, no, no.
• 6:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Actually, actually, I'm not, and actually, what it triggers memories of so many comedians that I study.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, just say.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: And comedians are shy.
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, it's interesting.
• 6:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: comedians have, like, I'm not saying everybody.
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: But generally, like, I've heard so many comedians stories and actors.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: All become, more, become from shy places.
• 6:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hmm, I think when artists are really sensitive, you know, to emotions, we tend to like keep it to ourselves and we might feel like it's too much for people.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that's what causes our shyness.
• 6:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: and so you had to work it out over the years.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think seeing was a great outlet for that, for sure.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, but yeah, I took voice lessons when I was 12, and then I started getting like lead roles in my musical, my school musicals like in my middle school, I got like a lead role in my musical, which you know, never would have thought to do that, but and then I started getting like solos and my choirs when I go to high school and like lead roles in my musicals and high school.
• 7:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, like I said, it was the only thing I could think about.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I was sitting in my, I just remember sitting my biology classes and like I would not be paying attention at all.
• 7:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I knew at that moment that like that wasn't going to be the right path for me.
• 7:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: So.
• 7:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: And did your mom and dad pressure you or.
• 7:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, honestly.
• 7:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh.
• 7:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think they accepted it after the initial shock.
• 7:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: They were just shocked because they don't really have examples of people succeeding in that going forward.
• 7:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they were definitely worried about my future.
• 7:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's why my mom got me.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So she became my momager in a way.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: She would just find every opportunity for me to perform in the Vietnamese community
• 8:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Give me any chance, you know?
• 8:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: So... God, you really have to like, I mean, you know, you brought up something earlier about being feeling embarrassed for you.
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: No, I actually feel the exact opposite.
• 8:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: I feel the gratitude
• 8:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: that your mother was in your life to kind of like, give you that sort of opportunity, you know, as a momager and somebody who could see that her involvement will really transform your life, you know.
• 8:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: And as a parent myself, I kind of just feel as so much love for her, you know?
• 8:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 8:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, she's a super mom.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like she has four kids.
• 8:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: I have three older brothers.
• 8:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: And she does like her, she owns her own business as an optometrist.
• 8:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And she like has her scout, like she leads a whole scout troop.
• 8:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: And she's my mom a jerk.
• 8:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like she, she's never not busy.
• 8:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, she's amazing.
• 9:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And now, I mean, she's in the medical, you said she's in the medical field, right?
• 9:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: And do they ever give you any heat for, you know, not pursuing a medical path anymore?
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Is it, are they pretty settled with more year?
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think they're pretty settled with it.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think they ever wanted me to necessarily go in a medical path.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: That was just the one thing that I knew because I grew up around it.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But they were just worried that because I chose a path that was unstable and that was very uncertain.
• 9:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: If I chose, I don't know, being a business person, they would've been okay with that too, you know?
• 9:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but do you still think it's unstable?
• 9:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean it looks like you're pretty stable.
• 9:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Uh, no, it's definitely unstable, uh, you know, if I lose this job, like, I mean, I don't want to put that out there, but like, you know, it'd be hard for me to, to find stable work outside of this, you know, yeah.
• 10:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, I'd say it's still pretty unstable.
• 10:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: But do you think that, like, I, I've heard you sing, and I know what it means, and it's
• 10:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: to be in the production of Phantom of the Opera here, as it's moving around the country.
• 10:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know the kind of talent it takes to be a part of that.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: But don't you think, like, if you have enough talent that you'll always be employed in the business,
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hope so, right, like I'll never know until I get out there again, but I would hope so.
• 10:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I feel very secure in my talent, but there's so many other elements like what.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's pretty amazing that they casted me like as an Asian person to play this iconic role, but like what if another production doesn't want to do that, you know, or I brought this up to you personally, but like my dancing skills aren't as strong as my singing skills, so like what if they want someone who's like a stronger dancer?
• 11:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So if
• 11:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's always, you know, there's so many different elements and and being somebody who comes in the creative world, do you think that your dancing side can ever be improved to match your singing side or is that really talent based I think it can with time for sure yeah time and time and effort really, but you know it took me 10 years.
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: to get to where I am here in Phantom.
• 11:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: So for my dancing skills to match that, I would have to, you know, like really put an extra effort.
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think, like, I mean, I can do enough to be in Phantom.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like, I'm sure, like, I think I do have the capability to do it.
• 11:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just, I just need to do it, yeah, really.
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have to say with this idea of talent, you know?
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: I shared it with you years ago, I, you know, my 20s, right after 9-11.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I dropped, I kind of had the film business, and I pursued, you know, singing.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, it was funny because we were talking about your laughing about it.
• 12:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: But at the time, I knew that whatever I was doing would never be even anything near the Evelyn's of my class, right?
• 12:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because I just know, like, when you have it, now I'm living life and I'm interviewing a lot of creatives.
• 12:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: I know when you have it, you have it.
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then you just got to work at it and then polish it and get like really like you, you need to master the technical side of things.
• 12:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: But what do you say to people who are coming up who don't have it?
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's this saying like hard work beats talent.
• 13:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think.
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you definitely do still have a chance if you really want it.
• 13:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, if you really want it.
• 13:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it's just obviously going to be harder than if you have talent already.
• 13:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, for example, some people are tone deaf.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's just something that they're born with.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: They can't hear that they're not singing the right pitch.
• 13:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I did teach voice before, but there's no getting over that, right?
• 13:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you cannot.
• 13:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like slowly, slowly, like I mean,
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: It could get better, like, I don't know if you'll be like Beyonce, you know?
• 13:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you can't prove.
• 13:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you can improve.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, with the right guidance, you can improve.
• 13:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: This will just be slower.
• 13:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 13:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think in the journey of improving, there's a beauty to that too, right?
• 13:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it doesn't always have to end in like you being a superstar.
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 13:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: I felt like me.
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, a case in point, I went through it.
• 14:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: And whatever six years that I went through it, you know, I got a little bit better.
• 14:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: But oh my god, I never like look back on that part of my life and go, why didn't I do it?
• 14:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know?
• 14:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that it has helped me understand other people a lot more, you know, when you don't have it, but you have the passion for it, you incrementally get better and better, but but you won't be the Beyonce, you know, you can't, but there's other beautiful things that come out of it, you know.
• 14:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think whenever I teach voice, I always make sure to.
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: highlight the joy of music and how it makes my student feel and make sure that they never lose their spark or their love for music.
• 14:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's the most important thing about learning, taking voice lessons, it's just learning how to fall in love with music, I guess.
• 15:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: I wanted to track your progression to go from high school to Chapman, Chapman, NYU and NYU to Phanam.
• 15:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: If we can go through that process of going, I want to do this for life or no, it did not start out that way.
• 15:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, like from high school.
• 15:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: High school.
• 15:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I thought I wanted to be an optometrist or a dermatologist or something in early high school.
• 15:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Once I realize that like
• 15:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: this was the only like music was the only thing I was thinking about and I would go home and all I would be doing was practicing my songs and singing in my room all night for hours like then I realized like oh I can actually do this.
• 15:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think I was like winning competitions and stuff too so like I was like okay I'm just gonna go for it.
• 15:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think there's like a part of me that is very like if I feel like really strongly about something I'll go for it
• 16:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: at the time.
• 16:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I just decided to go for it.
• 16:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, and then Chapman, I was really focused on opera training, so didn't take any dance or acting classes, like I really strictly focused on my voice, and I learned like how to sing different languages, like Italian, French, German, and like the whole technique, my vocal technique was just really polished at Chapman.
• 16:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Then after Chapman I had like a gap year and I was just singing gigs around California like in the Vietnamese community or like at you know churches here and there.
• 16:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I would fly like around the country for for it too, but you know, it's still like small gigs and.
• 16:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: I decided I wanted to pursue musical theater.
• 16:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: I wanted to be in New York.
• 16:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's the main reason why I chose NYU.
• 16:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was like, I wanted to be in New York.
• 17:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I applied.
• 17:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I sent my application in literally the day that it was due.
• 17:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it was like really last minute.
• 17:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Kind of last minute.
• 17:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I remember calling people up and being like, I'm not sure if I'm going to actually go for it or not.
• 17:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, it's really expensive.
• 17:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if I should do it or not.
• 17:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: But then they were like, you know, I just just apply and see what happens.
• 17:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I applied and then I think like two weeks later I got like an acceptance letter.
• 17:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, oh shit, I got some actually going there.
• 17:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like this is like, it's happening.
• 17:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm moving my whole life to New York.
• 17:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that was so instrumental in my like, I think in my career building just like being,
• 17:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: where all the energy is like, there's I love California for the weather and it's beautiful, but there's just not as active of a like a life performance industry.
• 17:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I wanted to be where it was all happening, you know, where I could just like go to see a life performance any night of the week.
• 18:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: and just being like the energy.
• 18:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: How did you know about that?
• 18:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: New York?
• 18:05
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 18:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was growing up here in March County.
• 18:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, okay, so I actually funny enough, I saw a Facebook post, like a random, so I joined, like, I was a huge fandom fan, right?
• 18:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I joined like a Facebook Phantom fan group.
• 18:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then like randomly one day, I think this is during COVID.
• 18:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: I saw a post from she plays Carlotta in the Broadway or she played Carlotta in the Broadway production of Phantom.
• 18:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: She was saying like, oh, I'm hosting a summer intensive on Zoom.
• 18:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I applied to that is like a Phantom themed summer intensive where like we would take master classes with
• 18:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: people from phantom Broadway and like learn more about phantom.
• 18:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I took that of course because I was a huge phantom fan.
• 18:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this was during and why you were during Chapman actually like during COVID and yeah so I took that zoom thing and then the next year after I graduated Chapman there was an in-person one in New York.
• 19:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So she was hosting the same thing but in New York like in
• 19:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I signed up for that as well.
• 19:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, oh my gosh, that would be a dream come true to like, actually meet the Phantom cast like in person and work with them.
• 19:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: and be in New York, and I had the greatest time there.
• 19:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I remember just feeling at home when I was there.
• 19:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: I remember like when I had to leave, like I think on the last day of the intensive, I like filmed myself, and I was like, I know I'm gonna be back here.
• 19:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like I literally like told myself that, like I'm gonna be back here.
• 19:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I guess like that's what prompted me to apply it to NYU after graduating Chapman.
• 19:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: It was like going there for the intensive
• 19:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: and being around people who like we're going for the same thing that I was, yeah, and
• 19:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, as I'm hearing your story and you know, I, I mean, obviously we share a dear friend in our in our life when and I remember hearing you going through the the decision to go to NYU from when.
• 20:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you're serious?
• 20:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's crazy.
• 20:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: He would share it with me because you know, he's like losing, right?
• 20:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, you're, you know, he would share that and I remember thinking,
• 20:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: what a huge decision for a young person to go from Orange County to New York.
• 20:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, how do people even understand the mag that massive decision in their life?
• 20:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because I remember, he didn't go in the details, when he was like, yeah, you're considering it.
• 20:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: When you just got in and you know, remember, because I remember when he met you at the Hammer Museum, you know, I got to hear it from the community, right?
• 20:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like we were all in the same community.
• 20:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember, and I always said,
• 21:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: thinking about going to NYU and you applied.
• 21:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I remember thinking what a big decision that was and not everybody has that resolve to move to NYU or to New York and to, that's a huge step, how do we know?
• 21:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: How do we know that?
• 21:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: those kinds of things or the right things to do.
• 21:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of like, okay.
• 21:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: We were wanting to know.
• 21:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, like I said, like ever since the beginning, it was just like a strong feeling that I had, you know, ever since I like decided to major in it in college it's like a really strong feeling and same thing with for New York, I think I had that really strong feeling when I was there for the intensive and I told myself what's gonna be back.
• 21:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: So,
• 21:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I really just just following that.
• 21:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that call.
• 21:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, a lot of people say it.
• 21:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, a lot of these successful people are like, you got to like really see yourself already in it.
• 22:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you can already imagine you being in that position already, you know, like Jim Carey wrote a check out himself for 10 million.
• 22:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you're serious.
• 22:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay.
• 22:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: I should do that too.
• 22:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then, yeah, that's what you did.
• 22:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: And he's like, I felt it.
• 22:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: I knew that my acting and my work validated this check and that's what I'm saying.
• 22:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
• 22:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: In your journey to get to New York.
• 22:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: And now, what does it look like after Phantom?
• 22:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: One day, what happens, you know, in the year or two, I don't know how long this is gonna go on for you, but I mean, what is it that you wanna do after this journey?
• 22:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's been the hardest question for me because Phantom, like, obviously, has been the biggest goal in my life.
• 22:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ever since I was a kid, I was like, oh my God, I wanna have the privilege to be in this world and to sing this music and I've since I've gotten that.
• 23:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, like, what do I do after I, but I do hope that I will be able to like write my own musical one day.
• 23:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is something that like I've wanted to do for a bit, but like I just haven't really sat down and
• 23:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: and gone for it.
• 23:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: So hopefully I can write my own musical or just like my own music maybe.
• 23:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we'll see.
• 23:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: If not, like I am open to doing other shows as well.
• 23:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: But of course like Spantam just had that like really special place in my heart.
• 23:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 23:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, being in this world.
• 23:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: When I think about
• 23:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think about the two Filipino singers like Eva.
• 23:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no bizarre.
• 23:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: No bizarre.
• 23:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: And Lasela and I don't see other Vietnamese Broadway singers in the last, I don't know, 20, 30 years of anybody pursuing us.
• 24:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Why do you think that there's not a lot of Vietnamese people in the space?
• 24:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's a good question.
• 24:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we
• 24:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'd say we're general, like, I think we're kind of new in this, I don't know, like, I think because of war too, we had to rebuild a lot and like go through a lot of trauma.
• 24:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, or he'll heal a lot of our trauma and a lot of that comes with like, uh, uh, the survival mindset that a lot of our parents had, you know, um, and I think that's why a lot of them didn't choose to go for a risky career.
• 24:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 24:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I, you know, my generation is like the next generation after my parents.
• 24:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: But do you see a lot of people your age pursuing it?
• 24:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not a lot, definitely not a lot, yeah.
• 24:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I'm sure their parents are still in the same mindset.
• 25:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: So like, I'm sure they, yeah.
• 25:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: So they're being blocked.
• 25:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, or it's just like maybe they're not exposed to it or yeah, but I'm sure a huge part of it is like the survival mindset of their parents, yeah.
• 25:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: So going back to like performers and I'm asking like,
• 25:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: from my own soul's purpose, but also because young people listen to this podcast, I want to know, like, how do you know if you're good?
• 25:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: How do you know if you have it?
• 25:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: How do you know, if you're at Chapman and you're going, I really got it.
• 25:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: But then how do you know how do you judge how good things are?
• 25:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: For me, it's a feeling thing as well.
• 25:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, for Boba will take me, they always say that, like, it shouldn't feel hard.
• 25:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think a lot of people, like, when they first start to sing and like, they try to stretch their voice, like, to sing high or loud or like, belt, a lot of them, like, a lot of people will tend to like, wanna strain or like, you know, force it out.
• 26:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think singing should feel like a release,
• 26:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, and I think it just kind of came naturally to me or maybe maybe I just like put in that that many hours because I was like so passionate about it where like I felt very natural to me like it doesn't feel forced like I can
• 26:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it doesn't hurt or anything so that was like the first kind of feeling is like physical feeling it feels very comfortable, but also like emotionally.
• 26:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: You kind of get into like, uh, the flow.
• 26:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, zone or like a flow.
• 26:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're like, you're just, I don't even know how to describe it.
• 26:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's just like you're.
• 26:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're just, you don't really, you're not really thinking about how you're being perceived.
• 27:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're just thinking about, you're just like releasing an emotion or a sound or like a feeling.
• 27:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: You're just, yeah, you're just kind of like, you feel like a vessel almost.
• 27:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 27:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's another like layer of it and then also seeing how it affects other people.
• 27:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Of course, like people are like yawning, like checking their phone or like,
• 27:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: leaving the room, you know, like you're probably not that good.
• 27:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if people like get quiet or like want to stay and like, yeah, you can, I think you could kind of just like tell when people are being genuine or not.
• 27:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 27:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 27:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's such interesting replies.
• 27:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 27:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: The zone one is something I, I never thought of.
• 27:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever, like, because I know you like singing to like,
• 27:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: definitely not what you just described.
• 27:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Definitely not.
• 27:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the zone one is difficult because I'm always paying attention to what other people are thinking during.
• 28:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: And so I'm not able to be in the zone.
• 28:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think the hours that you've spent, if you're really good, if you're smart at what you do from a physical level and you just get it, then the more hours you put into it, the better you get, right?
• 28:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: But if you're not really good at it,
• 28:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: No matter how much you train, you just don't get good at it, right?
• 28:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you can definitely get better.
• 28:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, it'll just be slower, but I think you can get better.
• 28:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 28:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's the level of stall of it.
• 28:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I think I love to sing.
• 28:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then now that I'm singing just a handful of songs and I've done it thousands of times, then I know now what you're talking about.
• 28:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
• 28:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: We're just a handful of songs that I sing.
• 28:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't have the bandwidth to go beyond that anymore, but those are enough to show off, right?
• 29:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, the songs to be in the zone and for people who put their phones down and stuff like that.
• 29:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 29:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, for me it's like, I'm, I try to, I try to think that I'm like sending a message to people like I'm trying to move people like I'm not I guess I try not to be like oh look at me like when I'm singing I'm trying to like actually like say something.
• 29:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, even if I'm singing in a different language or like, you know, I sing opera a lot and like a lot of people don't get it at first but they could still like feel something.
• 29:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 29:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, just like being very intentional about like what message I'm trying to get across.
• 29:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm singing.
• 29:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 29:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, opera is the exact opposite of AI.
• 29:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's the exact opposite.
• 29:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's like physical.
• 29:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of a kind.
• 29:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: throat.
• 29:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: The ability to do that in real time is something that AI will never replace.
• 30:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's like bulletproof.
• 30:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: If you can't swap out a human being, that's like train at your level to, um, with an AI.
• 30:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: But do you ever consider, like, how it's changing the musical landscape?
• 30:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: AI?
• 30:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 30:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, so far, I feel like it's
• 30:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's been kind of cool to see like all these new tools to be able to help people.
• 30:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I know a lot of producers use AI to like make their process a lot faster.
• 30:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, like, I don't think you could ever replace that like live experience.
• 30:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't feel threatened by AI at all to be honest.
• 30:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there's, yeah.
• 30:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not paying for a robot to perform what you do.
• 30:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: I never do that, right?
• 30:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's just not.
• 30:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's just not something I'm going to do.
• 30:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Because the whole point of having my ears receive your physical production, right?
• 31:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's why I would pay.
• 31:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: And nowadays, there's no way that that is going to be replaced by robot.
• 31:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think it'll try to for sure and we'll see how good it is, but I don't it'll I don't think it'll get there.
• 31:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 31:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, you're relatively brand new to the scene professionally, but I know that the next few years
• 31:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: But whatever you journey you take, this is like the beginning of the first episode that we get to sit here and talk about.
• 31:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: But I want to kind of wrap up this episode with maybe perhaps, we talked a little bit about it, but is there like sort of like any primal direction, deep down urge that you have to take a path
• 32:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Hmm.
• 32:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm...
• 32:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I guess I hope I can become a principal Christine one day like in a like whether it's this production or another production.
• 32:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's honestly a lot of productions of Phantom going on at the same time.
• 32:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's like the western production international production, you know, the US tour.
• 32:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, hopefully one day like a spot will open up at the right time when I'm like ready to be a principal.
• 32:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's a fantastic answer.
• 32:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
• 32:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: So you do there's a long runway.
• 32:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: for you, within Phantom.
• 32:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, they told me ever since the beginning of me joining, like, it would be a long process for me.
• 32:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I, I think like, it could be, it could feel a little disheartening sometimes, because it's like, oh, how long is it going to take?
• 33:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it's also like, you just have to have a lot of faith.
• 33:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: And if you just, if you really love it, and keep working on it, I'm sure, like,
• 33:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: How many crisp things are there in the world today that are singing in productions?
• 33:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: A lot.
• 33:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, really?
• 33:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 33:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because there was one in Australia that closed recently, too.
• 33:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: There was one in Mexico City as well.
• 33:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: And there's one in Vienna happening as well.
• 33:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah, that's a lot.
• 33:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, so there's a lot.
• 33:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: And there's one in the US that you were going to love, and that that's a lot, that's a lot of productions.
• 33:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: And they don't just like stop, right?
• 33:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: They pick up year after year, mm-hmm.
• 33:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, Phantom, I don't think we'll die any time soon.
• 33:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 33:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: What other musicals do you really like?
• 33:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I like it.
• 33:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, controversy will take, I like the songs in Miss Saigon and there's something about Miss Saigon that's like intriguing to me because it's controversial and because it's never been he like headed by like Vietnamese cast, you know, it's always been like Filipino, Filipino women.
• 34:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, so I think that would be kind of interesting if I could get into that.
• 34:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, what else?
• 34:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think anything like Golden Age musical theater, which is like Rogers and Hammerstein, yeah.
• 34:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: That kind of era.
• 34:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Um, yeah.
• 34:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know that, Miss Saigon one is, God, it is such a,
• 34:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: It is such a, like, unlucky.
• 34:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: because it's good, right?
• 34:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I love it.
• 34:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I wanted to say it.
• 34:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 34:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: I saw it.
• 34:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, oh, God, the music is good, but the premise, especially for us, didn't mean it.
• 34:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's really bad, right?
• 35:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's so bad.
• 35:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: But Tammy, just like my buff, a whole musical at that level, completely off the map.
• 35:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: But we have a problem with it, because we are the,
• 35:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: the characters who are not being portrayed in a, in a, in a just light, right?
• 35:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: But do you know, if other people beyond the Asian community feel the same way we do?
• 35:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think so.
• 35:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I think that's why it's still going on, right?
• 35:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like they don't really care.
• 35:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: They don't care.
• 35:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: They, yeah, I don't think they can hear.
• 35:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: I genuinely don't think people even know what, like the difference between Vietnamese people and Filipino people are.
• 35:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: I've gotten that a lot, like in the musical theater community.
• 35:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: They're like, oh, you're Filipino, right?
• 35:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Like, or like, oh, like, um, or, um, I was doing another interview with, with, uh, Johnny from Vietchimedia.
• 35:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And he was asking me like, oh, how does it feel to be like, uh, you know, one of the few Vietnamese Americans in musical theater.
• 36:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: One of the monitors that we're just sitting next to us, like publicity monitors in Fanton, like she jumps in and she's like, oh, actually, there's Asian people that have played cosette and like Ms.
• 36:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think she's like Chinese or something.
• 36:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we're like, okay, that has nothing to do with them.
• 36:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I know what we're talking about.
• 36:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: She jumped in the conversation.
• 36:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 36:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if we could actually add this on to the video, but yeah, yeah, but like my professors at NYU too, like, they just don't know, you know, there's just so little Asian representation that it doesn't matter to them, like Filipino Vietnamese it is like the same thing, you know, yeah.
• 36:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, but ultimately, it doesn't matter to the big world, right?
• 36:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: It matters to us, but it doesn't matter to the big world.
• 37:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.
• 37:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I'm glad that you're representing us.
• 37:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I look forward to the next few years.
• 37:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I'm truly excited to see where you, you have such a long run way, and so talented.
• 37:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: How can people see this production?
• 37:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, yeah, we're going to be everywhere in the U.S.
• 37:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: So there's so many opportunities to see this.
• 37:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you're based in California, we'll be in California for a while.
• 37:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: LA for a couple more weeks and then Costa Mesa for three weeks and San Diego for two weeks and San Jose for two weeks.
• 37:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's the end of our California tour.
• 37:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: But
• 37:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we're going to be in Texas area in December.
• 37:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if there's a lot of Vietnamese community like in other states, we're going to a lot of Midwest or we're going to a lot of Midwest or southern or East Coast states.
• 37:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: And during these months, you can't perform gigs.
• 38:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: If your mom had a big gig for you, could you perform?
• 38:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: I guess technically I could.
• 38:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would just have to take a personal day.
• 38:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 38:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: So call off or as like a sick day if I really wanted to.
• 38:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: Unless it falls on a Monday, you know, yeah.
• 38:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
• 38:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Mendes are only days off, so yeah.
• 38:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a busy schedule.
• 38:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Evelyn, thank you so much for coming out of podcasts.
• 38:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 38:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for having me.
• 38:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you're very welcome.
• 38:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: I was an honor and a privilege.
• 38:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
• 38:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 38:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 38:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for listening to the Vietnamese with Kenneth Wynne.
• 38:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Special thanks to Brittany Tran, to Jane Wynne, Catherine Wynne, Tina Fam, Sydney Jamie, and Crystal Tran.
• 38:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Please find us on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at the Vietnamese podcast.