Growing up in Saigon—now Ho Chi Minh City—Vinh G. Nguyen was the kid who preferred to be alone. He cherished his time painting with watercolors and oils and sketching fashion ideas. When he was 10, he immigrated with his parents to the United States. Despite the challenge of learning English late in elementary school, his daily routines were sweetened by afternoons at the library, where he gathered books on arts and crafts. In the evenings, while his cousins played video games, Vinh drew deeper into his inner world, making sense of it with just a pencil and paper. The desire to develop his artistry was instinctual.
In high school, he participated in choir and drama for the first time. That’s where he found friends—some of whom he stays in touch with to this day. Yet while at San José State University, Vinh found he was a late bloomer in the world of theater.
He remembered talking to a friend and sharing, “I always felt like I’m one step behind all of my peers in the audition room who had been training since they were like two.” But Vinh’s friend pointed out that his passion to catch up was what drove Vinh’s career forward.
And his friend’s words were true. Vinh took enough classes in the musical theater department that he was only a few upper-division courses from majoring in it. So, along with his major in hospitality, Vinh graduated with a BA in musical theater.
“I feel like my cultural identity is now my superpower.” -Vinh G. Nguyen
For a few years afterward, Vinh worked as a freelance actor and an elementary school drama teacher. His discovery of theater informed his approach. Growing up in an Asian household, making a living as an artist had never been in the picture. But his goal was clear. He stated: “Number one, do more of this art stuff, and then two, share it with the world.”
He continued to share that he wanted to do whatever he could “to spread that joy with the next generation.”
He wanted to take his passion further. Showing his family that he could make a living while also making a big impact, he pursued an MFA in musical theater at San Diego State University and then taught collegiate-level drama. When the pandemic pushed everyone online, his unique pathway became vital.
In 2020, as the world contended with injustice and change, the theater community pushed for better practices as well. “The We See You White American Theater movement came out of the Black Lives Matter [movement],” Vinh explained. “We called out all the white theater companies that [were] not doing the work.”
To support the changes for anti-racist theater systems, Vinh became an equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) consultant and helped local theaters rebuild from the ground up. These initiatives informed how companies should treat actors, pay their staff, and facilitate conflicts.
Vinh also worked as a casting director. “That’s where I felt I was able to go in and make a direct impact in my community,” he emphasized. He sat on plenty of boards and EDI committees, but casting allowed him to influence the process directly. “Instead of bringing in what the director [wanted], I would also present three other actors whom they wouldn’t even think of,” he explained. “You challenge the director with, ‘Well, they did great. Why didn’t you pick them?’ ” He set specific goals for each show, aiming to have a certain percentage of the cast be from marginalized communities.
As live theater returned, Vinh continued his EDI consulting work, which was in high demand. But the downside was being pigeonholed and losing out on work as an artist. So Vinh adjusted his strategy. He marketed himself as a director with EDI experience. “If you want me for my EDI [experience], then just hire me as a director and everything will come with it,” he said.
Leading with that intention, Vinh began to direct for local theaters. Directing was as fulfilling as he had hoped, because it was relational and relied on a clear vision. He shared, “All the theaters that I have directed for are theaters that I have acted for. And it has to be a show that I have a very strong artistic vision for, where I come in and say, ‘This is why I want to do the show now and at your theater.’ ”
In 2023, Vinh became the managing director of Chopsticks Alley Art, which is a southeast Asian arts organization that commissioned him for the play Tales of Ancient Vietnam. This play examines the ideal of cultural authenticity through the lens of a second-generation Vietnamese American and debuted as a staged reading in 2024.
This was not just about his success as a playwright, but also as an artist taking power in his identity. As a young actor, he used to intentionally stray away from “cultural” work such as this play. “I wanted to prove that I could do the ‘normal work,’ ” he remembered. “I had to fight to be in the same room as five other white actors to read for a role that I didn’t even care much for.” The stories he did care about were being told by the wrong people in the American theater landscape, well-intentioned as they may have been.
At this point in his career and life, Vinh has the triplethreat ability to tell these stories himself through his vision as the director or through his own creation as a playwright. In his own words: “I feel like my cultural identity is now my superpower.”
Elena Sharkova balances her baton deftly on the tip of her finger, demonstrating the balancing act that is her life. “I consider myself fearless,” she says. “I’m not aggressive, I just roll my ‘R’s.”
Ever since she emigrated to the U.S. from her hometown of St. Petersburg, Sharkova has been learning how to juggle her expectations and her enthusiasm. Coming from a world of subsidized art performed only by highly educated professionals, she needed to learn to temper her approach to suit American choruses. Sharkova felt that she had lost that balance when she taught at San Jose State. Telling students that they could teach orchestra, band, and choir simultaneously felt disingenuous—quality demands time.
As she explains to her singers at Symphony Silicon Valley Chorale, where she serves as Chorale Director, “Mozart did not write one requiem for amateurs and another for professionals. There is only one.” Sharkova knows that her singers have families and demanding jobs, “but half of them sing 90 minutes of Verdi by heart. Can you imagine how much they practice?”
Breaking through the glass ceiling as a female conductor was not easy, especially behind the Iron Curtain. Because her career options were so limited in Russia, Sharkova now feels compelled to talk with children, their parents, and teachers about music and reaching their potential. As an inspirational speaker, she tells people not to “just marinate in your own mediocrity.” Too many of her audiences consider the arts to be just the ‘cherry on the top’ of an education.
Sharkova is also artistic director for Cantabile Singers of Silicon Valley, a youth chorus with 300 singers aged four to eighteen. Although it is challenging to accomplish her goals in just one rehearsal per week, the children rise to the level of her high expectations, despite their heavy academic schedules.
Curiosity drives each facet of her life and she has no patience for singers that do not share her thirst for knowledge. In Russia, “you took a train to the public library and you dared to ask for a dictionary. The librarian would follow you and ask what you are translating.” She gestures at her phone and says,” Now it takes 0.2 seconds on Google. I timed it.”
Ultimately, Sharkova admits, her balance is found in the music. “Musicians are explorers of the human heart. Nobody cares what you do from 9 to 5. You have a two-minute chance for the audience to fall in love.”
What led you to pursue a career in theater? I totally fell into theater by accident. I wanted to go to school to be a surgeon, but during my senior year of high school, I was bribed to choreograph for a musical. I was already a part of the marching band, a dance team, and color guard. The drama teacher approached me and said, “You’re a really strong dancer, you come highly recommended and we just lost a choreographer. Would you be interested in choreographing for a musical?” And I said, “I’m sorry. Theater’s not really my thing. I’m not interested.” And he said, “Well, I’ll pay you.”
And I go, “Okay. I’ll do it.” I had watched performances and opera singers, but I had never thought I’d be into theater for some reason. I had never sung a note in my life! Even though I come from a very musical family, I never thought it would be the road I would follow. But sure enough, it has turned into a dream that I have pursued into reality.
“You work so hard, so hard, so hard at memorizing, learning, making sure the notes and dialogue are correct. Then once you get up on stage, you have to let it go and trust that you know it—that you have it in your body.”
What is the most rewarding aspect of being a performer? The most rewarding aspect of this industry is how it touches people’s lives and brings them joy. They get the chance to escape their world and their reality, even if it’s just for a few hours. When they smile or hug me or shake my hand afterwards, it makes me feel like I’m able to do something good for someone. Even if it’s not open heart surgery, I’m touching a life in a way that not everyone gets to do. I also think being creative, thinking on your feet, and having the opportunity to do justice to a text—to make it come to life in your own adaptation—is an amazing opportunity.
What have you learned from your different projects? The number one thing that I have learned is that you really can’t give a shit about what negative people have to say about you and what makes you happy. [Laughs] You have to work very hard at your craft…and then you have to let it go. It’s a
complete juxtaposition in a way. You work so hard, so hard, so hard at memorizing, learning, making sure the notes and dialogue are correct. Then once you get up on stage, you have to let it go and trust that you know it—that you have it in your body.
Do you have a favorite role you’ve played and why? My favorite role I’ve ever done—the role I could continue doing the rest of my life and never get sick of—is the role of Franca in the musical The Light in the Piazza. She’s a hot-headed Italian, which for me comes very naturally because I grew up with a hot-headed Italian mother from New York. Franca is such a complex character. She’s spicy and sweet, exotic and nurturing. She’s all over the map. Not only does she have a kickass singing role, but her dialogue is so dramatic, funny, and powerful.
What has been the most challenging role you’ve played and how did you grow from it? I would have to say the role I just did in Hawaii: Contessa Almaviva in the opera Le nozze di Figaro. I don’t typically sing Mozart, but rather Romantic period music (like Puccini and Verdi), so this was a more “conservative” part for me, both vocally and in terms of character development. It’s very much about being contained—being poised and proper, singing clean and precise.
In rehearsal, because so often you work with fellow artists at different stages in their careers or training, you’re challenged to really know your part backwards and forwards in case others drop the ball. Despite this added pressure, you always have to maintain your professionalism and confidence so others can learn and pass that energy on to others in the cast.
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Featured in issue 8.3 “Show,” Fall 2016
If your Christmas season has become packed with tinsel-clogged, holly-infested Hallmark films, it’s time to shake things up with a good murder. A holiday whodunit at the City Lights Theater Company seems suitable for the season. After all, what December is truly disaster free?
The Game’s Afoot (also known as Holmes for the Holidays) written by playwright Ken Ludwig and directed by Mark Anderson Phillips, shows at the theater from November 16th to December 17th. City Lights invites theatergoers to a Connecticut castle in the ’30s—home to American actor William Gillette who garnered fame playing the character of Sherlock Holmes. While entertaining his theater friends on a rainy December night, William discovers one of his guests fatally stabbed. He must channel his role as Holmes to crack the case. Hazardous and hilarious circumstances ensue.
William is played winningly by Actor Damian Vega who brings candor and heart to his performance. This marks Damian’s 8th time working with the theater company. “My favorite productions to date are all with City Lights,” asserts Damian, who has been acting ever since he scored the lead in a vegetable-themed play in the 4th grade—and has since gone on to perform in not only a number of theatrical productions but also in commercials and independent films. “I keep coming back because they really treat you like a family member while you are working there—and once you’re initiated into the family, it’s always a wonderful feeling of homecoming every time you get a chance to come back.”
Damian is joined by a strong cast. Standout performances include Alycia Adame (who thrives in the role of eager and eccentric Inspector Goring) as well as Gabriella Goldstein (who takes the role of Daria and embraces the character’s fatal dramatic bent with such evident delight that her energy is contagious). There’s also Tom Gough who plays our hero’s roguish best friend Felix. Tom’s flustered reactions and impeccable comedic timing are sure to amuse. “[Tom] teaches acting for a living, so he’s definitely a mentor that I study while I’m working on my own character,” Damian says. “Plus, Tom has an extensive background in improv so watching him bring that out in his work has given me the courage to try it in my own.” And the two actors do a great job feeding off each other on stage. “[Director] Mark mentioned that William and Felix have an Abbott and Costello vibe to their relationship,” Damian chuckles.
You’ll enjoy not just the cast, but the castle. This glamorous old-world manor house will make you feel like you’ve stepped into a game of Clue (it even features a secret passageway)! What’s more, there’s a foreboding wall bristling with weapons. It calls to mind those familiar questions: Was it Miss Scarlett with the revolver in the dining room? Mr. Green with the knife in the study? “Oh, we’re nice and cozy in here, but we’re cut off from the world in this horrible storm, and it’s not really that cozy because there’s a dead person in here,” Director Mark comments mischievously.
Set designer Ron Gasparinetti’s attention to detail is also remarkable—from the textured stonework and old-timey radio, right on down to the glowing embers in the fireplace. The extended wood ceiling beams seem to draw you into the stage world. Also take a moment to appreciate the collection of black-and-white photos on the wall—which on closer inspection, you’ll find aren’t family portraits, but the faces of the many actors who’ve played Sherlock over the years (from Basil to Benedict).
Which brings up another point. This play is wonderfully meta—meaning it’s a story that emphasizes the devices used in storytelling. And it does this from scene one: the production opens with a play within a play. You also have a City Lights actor (Damian) who performs the character of William—an actor known for his character Sherlock. What’s more, Director Mark has also played the role of Sherlock in a previous play. This blurs the line between reality and fiction. And the intimacy of this 100-seat theater takes it a step further. The audience’s closeness to the characters makes us feel like we’ve joined them in the room.
Though The Game’s Afoot is a fairly recent script, it’s one we hope to see circulating for years to come.“Many theaters tend to stay with ‘safe and proven’ shows because they know that they’ll get a built-in audience,” notes Damian. “City Lights is willing to take a chance on new work or controversial topics. They know the value of sharing those stories with the audience. Those of us lucky enough to witness that or be a part of that are changed for the better.”
Ready for a glittering comedy mystery during this season of twinkling lights?
Treat yourself to City Lights’ little crime before Christmas.
As a boy, Rodrigo García was told that performing arts made a good hobby, not a career. This assumption was flipped on its head, however, after he moved from Mexico City to the States and encountered Teatro Visión, a theater that inspires, empowers, and dignifies Latino voices while also exploring the social and psychological experiences of Latinos. As its current artistic director, García oversees the development of works performed by the theater, including original pieces developed with community feedback, and ensures that artistic excellence is brought to the stage. He is captivated by the directing process—of taking a plain paper script and raising the words off the page.
“Little by little, I start imagining the possibilities, the color, the forms, the movement,” he explains, using words like “magical” and “spiritual” to describe the end product.
García’s project—focusing on theater, possibly expanding into spoken word, music, and dance—is still in its developmental stage, but he knows it will allow LGBTQ artists of color the opportunity to share through performance. He doesn’t necessarily expect viewers to agree with voices different than their own, but he does hope it will result in deeper compassion for other points of view.
“We need to have spaces where we’re able to hear each other,” he observes, “where we’re able to share our stories to create mutual understanding.” Not only does this honor the ambassadorship, but it exemplifies Teatro Visión as a place seeking to replace passive contemplation with “sparkling conversations between people.”
With 20 years under his belt as the San Jose Children’s Musical Theater (CMT) Artistic Director, Kevin Hauge can boast a host of accomplishments, including 10 consecutive National Endowment for the Arts artistic excellence awards and exclusive rights to produce and premiere shows like Miss Saigon, Aida, American Idiot, and Billy Elliot before other companies. Most recently, he was named Silicon Valley Creates 2016 Legacy Laureate. One might assume Kevin would be content to sit back and enjoy the ride. While he’s proud of all his theater has accomplished, Hauge’s creative spirit is a restless one, and he no sooner scales one artistic summit than he’s off to the next. It’s a small wonder he was able to squeeze out some time to sit down for a chat and a glimpse into what makes him tick.
Did you follow the normal career progression from performer to director to producer, or did you take another path? In a way I did, though I believe the way to the top is never a straight path. My eye was never on an ultimate job: I really just rolled from position to position, filling a need. I did start as a performer and something might come up in rehearsals that threatened to stall the production, and the director saw something in me that made him think, “Well, this kid can keep us running.” Maybe I became a dance captain or stepped in as assistant choreographer. Later I was asked to choreograph and then direct. And I had a mentor. Gene Patrick was with the Marriott Corporation and had theme parks with shows he needed produced, and he brought me in as part of the team. He also had connections with CMT—ultimately, it’s how I wound up here.
Was it then, or beforehand, that you discovered your focus would be working with young performers? Well, my parents both were teachers, so of course I never wanted to be one. [Laughs] But the opportunity at CMT, with the wide variety of talent and expertise of the kids, was something that really excited me.
Let’s talk a little about that. One of things that makes CMT so unique is its commitment to cast every child who auditions. Was that your concept, or was it in place when you came on in ’96? It was there when I came on. John Healy, CMT’s founder, started it. And I embraced it. Casting everyone really shaped my perspective on believing there’s a way to stretch every kid. Learning how they can become successful, you find ways to play to their strengths.
Often your shows include 70 to 100 kids or more. How does it work logistically, and more importantly, how does it work artistically? We use multiple casts, and scheduling is a major challenge. But once the structure is in place, what you realize artistically is that it’s possible to be inclusive and exceptional. We can and do serve the kids as well as the audience.
Another aspect that’s a big part of CMT is the family buy-in. Seems everyone’s involved in one way or another. Right. Even though it’s the Children’s Theater, we’re really a family theater. The shared experience between the children and adults involved is really a powerful one. And in a way, CMT is a family of its own.
And the parents are involved not only front of house, with ushering and concessions, but backstage as well. Stage managing, costumes, sets, run crew…everything, really. And the expectations are high. With proper support, volunteerism and professionalism aren’t mutually exclusive.
You don’t compromise either in selecting the show or in the way you produce it because of the age and experience of the performers. Dumbing it down is not in us.
Take your recent production of Billy Elliot. It requires a special set of skills and talent for the lead. And you went into it without knowing who would play that part. You must’ve been confident you could somehow pull it off. It’s not ego. It’s faith. Faith in the young performers out there and in our ability to bring them in and work with them toward success.
That was a Marquee Show, right? Right, we have three performance divisions at CMT: Rising Stars is for ages 6 to 14; Mainstage, for 14 to 20; and the Marquee Production, which uses CMT alumna as well as other working actors.
The quality of the shows is amazing. It’s literally some of the best theater in the Bay Area. There’s so much out there. We’re just happy to be a part of it.
And many have gone on to have successful careers in theater. There are so many ways to measure success, but it’s gratifying to know that any night in New York, there are CMT alums performing in Broadway productions. In Manhattan, when my wife, Kris, and I let folks know on social media that we’ve made our way to town, to see a gaggle of them here and there with some of them getting up for show call…so fun!
After 20 years, what’s something you most love seeing or doing at CMT? Oh, I think it would be witnessing the kids finding their own individual way through the process.
Meaning? I like to think of stepping stones. From performance division to division, sure, but even from someone who may start in the ensemble, then move to getting to wear a mic pack (meaning their voice will be part of the reinforced chorus), to maybe getting a line or two and ultimately a role. They grow in self-confidence and ability. It’s really rewarding to see.
Do you find screens, cameras, social media, and the like to be in competition for theater’s focus and attention? Do you have any rules or limitations? On the contrary, we embrace it. I’m looking for opportunities around creation and media. An idea I’ve had for three years is coming to fruition this summer with our production of Rent. We’re calling it Second Screen. On two special performances, the audience will be encouraged to bring their smartphones and tablets. In the back three rows of the theater, they’ll download an app that will allow them “backstage access” as well as special features that will play simultaneously as the production is performed.
But the whole vibe, the dynamic of that performance, will be affected. Hope it will. Young people are 10 steps ahead of any of us in all of this, and rather than feel threatened or mourn the past, let’s be part of something new and exciting. This isn’t for every performance, but it is something to try and [it’s worth exploring] what works. We want to make a performance an event.
Just the back three rows of the audience will be involved? No, we’re going to have a backstage element as well.
Cameras backstage during the show? Why not? And the stage manager may record some things during rehearsal to be incorporated. The actors may use devices during the performance. We have a unique art form. Let’s see what happens when we integrate art and technology…in real time.
CMT is the largest theatrical performing and training organization of its kind in the nation and the oldest performing arts organization in San Jose. Its variety of programs—classes, summer camps, audition workshops, productions, and school shows—reach over 40,000 youth and their families each year.
Jeffrey Lo’s high school crush wanted him to audition for a show. He had no fear of speaking in front of others, and he enjoyed making people laugh. So at 16, he walked into his first theatre. His confidence and willingness to learn on his feet have helped him succeed there ever since: acting, directing, and writing plays.
While Lo was a senior at Evergreen Valley High School, the class was given an assignment to write and direct their own shows using the Drama 1 students as their cast. Lo wrote a 30-minute play called “All I Have.”
Describing himself as a “smug 17-year-old,” he decided to write and direct a full two-hour play. Banding together with a close group of friends, they managed to nab the high school’s theatre for the summer before college, washing cars to raise funds. His play was about a psychologist and a troubled teenager whose mother is dating a drug addict. It nearly sold out its one-night run. Admitting the play had its imperfections, Lo said, “It was one of those things where we just didn’t know any better. We were going off pure adrenalin and emotion – all twelve of us.”
Lo still returns to Evergreen Valley High every other year to write and direct a show with high school students. He enjoys finding kids that are not too sure about performing. He said, “They don’t take it super-seriously, but they have that raw skill there that is not disrespectful, but ‘Oh yeah, I’ll do it – which is kind of like I was.” The last show he did there was about a Filipino high school basketball star. Although audiences enjoyed the play, “they laughed about the fact that there was an Asian American high school basketball star that was going to play in the NBA,” said Lo. “Six months later, Jeremy Lin proved me right – a Palo Alto boy.”
The wry humor that naturally flavors his work comes in part from his upbringing. “I’m Filipino, right? So my mom is a nurse.” As the only member of his immediate family born in the U.S., he admits to a childhood that involved not knowing much about his hometown of San Jose beyond the “coffee shop down the street.” His parents emigrated 25 years ago, and except for the occasional trips downtown for Christmas in the Park, his world was fairly insulated. With two older sisters, Lo is relieved that one of his siblings will be going to medical school, which “makes my mom happy.”
Receiving the Arts Council’s 2012 Laureate Emerging Artist Award also pleased his mother. The $5,000 award is not tied to any specific project and doesn’t require any reports, it is just intended to help an artist live. “None of my family is really involved in the arts,” he said. “So it was at least one gauge to let them know I wasn’t completely wasting my time.”
It is difficult to see where Lo could have wasted any time. He went straight to UC Irvine as a journalism major, but he then doubled and added theatre because he found that he “couldn’t escape it.” However, he still did theatre on his own terms, founding his own company, the Pipeline Players, rather than participating in University productions. “We did our shows the way we did it that one summer, and we did it for three years.” Fascinated by the craft, Lo also continued to read all the plays he could get his hands on.
At first, he was intimidated by the length of experience of most people working in the theatre department. So he quietly soaked up knowledge while beginning to embrace his own identity. “I came to realize that it was a huge advantage coming from a very different background. There’s a certain perspective that I come from that not a lot of people can write [about].”
Despite finding success down south, Lo came straight back home. He knew early on, although he wanted to go somewhere different for college, “San Jose was where I wanted to be.”
But college really paid off for Lo, especially his love of reading. A week after returning to San Jose, he was working as a soundboard operator at TheatreWorks. He was eating dinner in the green room when he overheard the director, Leslie Martenson, talking to some of the actors about her next show, “Superior Donuts” by Tracy Letts. As luck would have it, Lo had read every one of Letts’ plays because his college professor had compared the playwright’s style to his own.
As soon as that evening’s show was over, Lo ran up to Martenson and introduced himself, saying, “Hi, I’m Jeffrey. I overheard that you are directing “Superior Donuts” by Tracy Letts – I love his work, and I have read all his stuff. If there’s any way I can be of any help or be involved or assist you in any way, I would love the opportunity.”
So she said, “Go ahead and email me your resume and stuff and we’ll see if I can contact you.” Thinking fast, Lo said, “Well, actually, I have my resume in my backpack – give me one second.” He ran back to the soundboard and grabbed a copy of his resume and handed it to her. Ever since reading about Eugene O’Neill running away from home with a suitcase full of clothes and a suitcase full of scripts, Lo has always walked around with a backpack full of scripts and resumes. Hitting the books paid off for him again.
Martenson, who is now Lo’s mentor and number one champion, later told Lo it was the fact that he mentioned specific works by Tracy Letts that made it click for her that he really knows his stuff. He credits her as a “most remarkable woman who has done everything” for him, including nominating him for the Arts Council Laureate.
Although he is only 24, Lo has already written three plays – eight actually, counting his early stuff. But, like some of his favorite playwrights, he prefers to determine where we start counting. Lo explained that in Edward Albee’s foreword to one of Eugene O’Neill’s lost plays, he described his first play as “Zoo Story.” “The thing is,” Lo continued, “he wrote six plays before that. But he considers “Zoo Story” his first play. So I would say, for myself, I’ve written three plays.”
Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to see Lo at work in the Bay Area. He just directed a world premiere called “The Strange Case of Citizen De La Cruz” at San Francisco’s Bindlestiff Studio – where his play, “A Kind of Sad Love Story,” will have a month-long run in March. His newest play, “Angel in a Red Dress,” just had a staged reading at the Impact Theatre in Berkeley. Lo said, somewhat sheepishly, “It all kind of came all at once.”
In December, the ’06 Ensemble, where Lo serves as artistic director, will return with a second installment of the Bench Project. The first one was a series of four short plays that were all set on a bench. The one-night-only event packed the Dragon Theatre in Palo Alto. This December, the Bench Project 2 will feature seven plays. The venue will be the Pear Avenue Theatre in Mountain View, and admission will be warm jackets for the homeless.
Some major Asian American playwrights are participating in Bench Project 2. Philip Kan Gotanda and Julia Cho both wrote for the project. How did he manage to get them to donate their time? Having worked with Cho and Gotanda before, Lo simply sent an email saying, “Hey, we’re doing this project, and we are trying to get ten-minute plays set on benches – are you able to write one? I am upfront with them. I say we have no money.”
Eager to help others make their work known, Lo is willing to read scripts from anyone who is interested. “I am always looking for new people to do readings or workshops. The point of the ’06 Ensemble is to give people an opportunity to express their voice.”
No longer a smug teenager, Jeffery Lo has indeed begun to develop his own voice. Playwright Philip Kan Gotanda once sat down for coffee with Lo, and they talked about the Filipino American story. “In terms of theatre and poetry, it is one of the Asian American stories that hasn’t been explored a whole lot. My generation of people is starting that. We are starting to build a voice and tell our story.”
Falling in love with theatre has given Lo a powerful platform to tell that story. Perhaps he owes that girl a cup of coffee.
The Bellarmine High and Santa Clara University grad returns home from New York to star on The Stage.
The acting profession is a rewarding and trying one. The joy of being an integral part of the storytelling process is peppered with the continual fear of having to audition for your next job. And how many of us feel the need to list Burp on Command, Double-Jointed Shoulder Blades, or Possessing a Driver’s License as skills on our LinkedIn profile? For actor Jeffrey Adams, such is life. Adams recently returned home to the Bay Area from The New School for Drama in New York to appear in the productions of Death of a Salesman and The Addams Family at The Stage.
How did you get into acting and performing?
It started out when I was eight years old, doing children’s theater at this summer camp, at Milpitas Rainbow Theater. My brother and I both sang. Growing up, we were in choirs and stuff like that. It was something we enjoyed doing. We thought, “All right. We’ll sign up for this.”
The first play we did was Music Man. It was something to do during the summer and to make friends. But it was really fun, and it developed into a passion. I kept going back every summer.
As I got older, I started to appreciate the technique of taking on different characters and the academic side of it as well. And once I got into high school, really studying plays and digging deeper into what it means…from there, it just took off.
You chose to pursue this path pretty early on.
I did. Definitely in high school, I really, really fell in love with it. Obviously, you’re in an academic setting where you’re constantly reading different plays and literature. That was a big focus for me in high school. In my senior year, I was taking four English electives. My passion was there.
Was there somewhat of a defining moment where you said, “Yeah, I’m going to pursue this along the way.”
There was, actually. I was a sophomore in high school in 2003. I was fifteen years old. I had the opportunity, at the Milpitas Rainbow Theater, to play Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha.
Which is really [a role] for a man of 50 to 60 years old, but being in a children’s theater, I was able to portray this guy. I think that was really it for me. I was able to not only transform into a 50-, 60-year-old man, but also [the character’s] story is one that is incredible.
Being able to transform into another person and take on these characteristics and be a man who’s full of hope and tragedy and sorrow, and has this whole mantra of dreaming the impossible dream, it was a metaphor for acting as well.
It was the first time I got lost in a character. Jeffrey was gone. I was able to fuse everything I knew as an actor into just totally being this other person, which for me was fascinating and really wonderful. To be able to share that with an audience is always just incredible. I think that was probably the moment.
So, when I applied to different colleges, I absolutely looked at the theater programs, that was important. I knew that was the path I was going to take. It’s a whole different process. You have to go on college auditions, as well as the application process and all that.
What is it you like about acting?
Two of my passions are acting and teaching. I taught for a year after Santa Clara. I think both of those professions are admirable and very important. I think that acting, at its finest, is also teaching. I think that’s part of why I enjoy it so much. I think there are so many important stories, about just the human experience, that are out there.
Being able to share that in a creative, artistic way is something I love. I think if it’s done well, audiences and people who see your performance will learn something from it, want to talk about it. It will either make them feel in some way or bring awareness to something that is important on a larger level. I really love that.
What have you learned from some of those characters you portrayed that has affected your personal life?
I think that’s also one of the reasons I love acting. I get to learn more about myself through the characters I play. Aldous Huxley has this great quotation that I use all the time. It’s “The more you know, the more you see.” The more I know about these characters, the more I see in myself and the world around me.
In order to play somebody else, you have to ask yourself, “What would you do in this situation?” or “If you were to be this person, how would you go through what they’re going through?”
Those are questions that not everybody gets to ask themselves a lot in their profession. I get to do that every day, which is great. I’m constantly searching myself and finding out who I am and what I would do in certain situations.
I think acting, at its finest, is self-discovery. It’s finding out who you are by being these other people. Every character does that on some level. You could be playing a clown, or you could be playing a murderer. I’m not going to be a clown. I’m not going to kill anybody. But you have to ask some pretty human questions, in terms of finding out how you would play those people.
It must be difficult, too, because in some ways, you can’t help being yourself. You need to bring that in order to inform the character, but at the same time, you’re not playing yourself. You never really can not bring yourself in some way.
I think that’s the beauty of it, too. I think that’s why people respond to certain actors. It’s because there always has to be a little bit of yourself. That’s what makes you unique. Stella Adler, this wonderful acting teacher, always said, “Your talent is in your choices.”
Any actor can take on a role, but what makes it unique is what you, yourself, the actor, bring to the table. That’s important.
You’re going to see tons of Happys if you watch Death of a Salesman over the course of however many years. Every Happy is going to be different, which is also exciting too.
I think the perfect fusion is a little bit of you, a little bit of the character, and always the story overriding all of that.
Long-term for you, what’s the vision? What’s the goal? What’s the North Star?
The political answer to that is working regularly. Buy a house, have a family, things like that.
In terms of my career, I would love to get involved in film and TV more, absolutely. I’m looking at, potentially, a move down to LA at some point and just pursuing that and auditioning for things out there.
If I got a regular TV show, it’d be great. That is probably the closest thing, on camera, to the theater experience, as opposed to film, because there is an audience component. It’s a play that’s being filmed.
You get to work on a character for an extended period of time. That would be a dream come true. It is more regular work for an industry that doesn’t really thrive on job stability. I would love to pursue that.
What’s it like then to go on a casting call, sit there with 50 other people who resemble you in many ways?
It’s miserable. It’s terrible. You sometimes drive for an hour, two hours to be seen for a two-minute period of time. You never know. You can go in and feel like you nailed the audition and never hear back. You can go in and feel like you did a terrible job and you get the part. You never know. The more you do it, obviously, the more it becomes part of the job.
I tell people all the time. It’s like I’m an actor, but I’m really a professional auditioner. You’re constantly lining up the next gig. You have to get over yourself and sweep your pride under the rug and just do your work. You have to go in and say, “Today, this is about this goal. I’m going to go in and accomplish that.”
You have to be going in for you and your work. You can’t be going in to get the job, if that makes sense. You can’t be going in for the people on the other side of the table. You have to be going in for you and say, “You know what? Regardless of the choice they make, I’m doing this today. I’m going to do my work, and then I’m going to leave the room.”
What you’re doing is, you’re bringing your professionalism, in that, whatever it is that you’re doing, even if it’s for the audition, you’re going to do it to the best of your ability, rather than “What can I do to make them want to hire me.”
Right, I think if you go in the room with that mentality of “I want to please you,” number one, they’re not going to see the best version of yourself. You’re probably not going to be doing the work you should be doing. Your intention should be the task at hand and not necessarily getting the job. Nine times out of ten, you’re not going to.
[laughs] Not good odds...
It’s not based on talent a lot of the times. A lot of the times, it’s just based on, you’re not tall enough or we want somebody blonde because we have… Or it’s already been cast and you’re just filling some space in the room.
If you were not to pursue acting, what do you think you would be doing?
I think I would be teaching, for sure. From elementary school to the collegiate level or beyond, I would absolutely love to go back to that at some point. There’s no question. At some point, I will go back to that.
Both my parents have been teachers. My dad actually taught at Santa Clara University. My mom taught me and my brother at St. John Vianney in San Jose as our music teacher and coach for years.
There’s a lot of history…
Lot of education in my family.
What subject do you think? Would it probably be literature or acting?
Yeah, it would probably be. If it wasn’t in the acting world, it would probably be in the English or literature side of things. I would love to do that.
I talked about being a doctor for a long time because I enjoyed that or thought I was going to go down that path. Pediatrician. I enjoyed working with kids and stuff like that. The math and science that it involves is just not…it’s not me.
Rather than be a real one, it’s better to just play one on TV.
Like locking puzzle pieces, Scott and Shannon Guggenheim—or “Stannon” as their staff fittingly knows them—are the producing entity and owners of 3Below, the new home of Guggenheim Entertainment since the closing of the Retro Dome, San Jose’s previous realm of movie and sing-along fun. 3Below delivers top-quality surround sound as you view an indie film or enjoy a classic flick in the cozy Theater 2.
3Below is also the home of the ComedySportz show and provides acting classes, sing-along to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and theater productions. No matter what you come for, your experience is curated by creators driven by the need to provide entertainment that promotes joy. In our conversation, Shannon was sure about the journey to opening, the road they have been on through COV-19, and the spark of hope they feel as they can see the light at the end of the tunnel as they slow to reopen.
Shannon shares her own experiences through SIP and announces a new production series they are dreaming about called “San Jose Stories.” The series will consist of interviews with locals that are then developed into an improv interpretation.
Social Media: 3belowtheaters 3below if featured in issue 11.0 “Discover” 2019. ________________ This episode’s music is “Tang” by Chris Emond. Follow Chris on Spotify, http://bit.ly/ChrisEmond.
