East Side Story

Each week, Cheeyang sits down with an Asian or Asian-American artist working in the New York Theatre scene and excavates their life story — how they grew up, how they got their start in theatre, as well as projects they've worked on and upcoming work that we should anticipate.

Episodes

  1. 4: Cynthia Meng // From Moulin Rouge to Hadestown

    09/09/2019

    4: Cynthia Meng // From Moulin Rouge to Hadestown

    Grappling with Otherness "Don't ever forget, you will be thought of as an other." - Cynthia Meng Within a year of freelancing, Cynthia has worked in rooms for musicals in-development on Broadway, Off-Broadway and out-of-town tryouts. What is her secret? Does it only have to do with luck, like she puts it? Or is it more? I believe there's certainly more to that and we investigate that in the episode. In This Episode, You Will Learn: What Cynthia thought of playing classical piano (3:05) What Cynthia studied at Harvard (13:45) How Cynthia got to work on Hadestown (21:19) The difference between Broadway and Off-Broadway for Cynthia's jobscope (29:12) How has Cynthia conquered being Asian and Female in this industry (34:03) And so much more… Some Questions We Discuss: What was classical piano competitions like? (3:52) Was musical theater part of family tradition? (8:41) Did she actively run away from what her parents associated with? (12:40) What was it like to work on a Tony Award winning musical? (23:37) Does seeing yourself represented on stage makes a difference in your career choices? (37:30) Links and Resources: Follow Cynthia on Instagram Follow Listening Party on Instagram Follow Canal Street Market on Instagram Harvard University - Computer Science Moulin Rouge (Musical) Lempicka (Musical) Hadestown (Musical) Follow East Side Story on Instagram Follow Cheeyang on Instagram Did You Enjoy the Podcast? If you did, please leave a review on iTunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    51 min
  2. 09/02/2019

    1: Kuhoo Verma // Racial Awakening

    Embracing Her Indianness "It was a huge transition going from hating myself and hating my Indianness and finding out that in the process of white-washing myself, I was erasing my parents' existence in my life." - Kuhoo Verma From graduating NYU, to booking a movie, to starring Off-Broadway and working on multiple Broadway-bound workshops, Kuhoo Verma is a force to be reckoned with. There is an energy about her that is pure and open, and the perfect embodiment of light. In This Episode, You Will Learn: Why Kuhoo never really talked about her family growing up (4:06) Kuhoo's relationship with colorism within her community (7:53) What the name 'Kuhoo' means (9:52) Kuhoo's relationship with 'diverse casting' (11:49) How an education at NYU shaped Kuhoo (18:32) If anyone mentored Kuhoo in her first professional theatre experience (26:05) Kuhoo's experience working with Dave Malloy and Annie Tippe on Signature Theatre's Octet (33:08) How Kuhoo handles playing Indian characters (41:20) And so much more… Some Questions We Discuss: Was it kind of permission or racial awakening to start discussing her own relationship with race? (4:50) Was performing always in the plan? (15:59) How was the experience doing Monsoon Wedding at Berkeley Rep? (22:23) How was time on set of The Big Sick? (28:51) What advice would you give yourself? (44:36) Links and Resources: Follow Kuhoo on Instagram NYU Tisch - Graduate Musical Theatre Writing NYU Steinhardt - Vocal Performance Signature Theatre Dave Malloy Annie Tippe The Big Sick Shaina Taub Follow East Side Story on Instagram Follow Cheeyang on Instagram Did You Enjoy the Podcast? If you did, please leave a review on iTunes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    57 min
5
out of 5
23 Ratings

About

Each week, Cheeyang sits down with an Asian or Asian-American artist working in the New York Theatre scene and excavates their life story — how they grew up, how they got their start in theatre, as well as projects they've worked on and upcoming work that we should anticipate.

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