Eyes on Broadway
> This drama queen talks about surviving and thriving in the performing arts
Initially I thought, ‘These kids are so stupid and unstable. Don’t kill yourself for love.’ But when I got more and more into the character, I thought she’s incredibly smart and brave. You have to try your best to understand them. I’m still in a stage where most characters I play are basically versions of myself – you see the same mind and mannerisms in most of them in varying degrees. Juliet is probably braver than I am, maybe a bit more impulsive and wilful, like an extreme teenage me.
Tell us about the television series you’re starring in. It’s an English long-form drama series in Singapore called The Faculty. It’s my first TV gig and I’m playing the lead, so I’m quite stoked. I’m trying really hard to move into the commercial side of things just because the prospects are so much better and it would help me further my dreams of starting a theatre company or arts school in KL.
Do you think digital trends are killing off the traditional form of performing arts? Technology always kills things! Live art will never enjoy the numbers it used to, but it will never completely go away. Live art is like church; it’s about real-time human connection and we need it, whether it’s Coldplay, Beckett, or belly dancing.
What qualities does a performer need to have in order to survive the industry? Any advice for the aspiring artiste? Resilience. My advice is to keep your standards as high as you possibly can, and a hunger to learn about the craft, yourself, and the world. If your objective is to constantly learn and not to succeed, it makes your life much more peaceful and often, successful. Broadway Parodies Lah, Six Characters in Search of an Author, An Enemy of the People,