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
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