Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Month to our queens!

In the US May is Asian-American and Pacific Islander month, so this month I'm spotlighting all the global Asian and Pacific Islander queens!

Pictured: Aragon: Nicole Kyoung-mi Lambert (Korean, pre-Broadway tour and Broadway), Jasmine Shen (Chinese/Hong Konger, Breakaway 1.0), Chloe Zuel (Mauritian, 2020 Sydney), Phoenix Jackson Mendoza (Filipino, 2021-23 Aus Tour), 이아름솔/Lee Arum-soul (Korean, South Korea), 손승연/Sonnet (Korean, South Korea) Boleyn: Andrea Macasaet (Filipino, pre-Broadway tour and Broadway), Amanda Lindgren (South Korean, West End), Danielle Mendoza (Filipino, Breakaway 3.0), Sunayna Smith (Indian, Breakaway 3.0 and 5.0), 김지우/Kim Ji-woo (Korean, South Korea), 배수정/Pae Su-jeong (Korean, South Korea) Seymour: Jasmine Forsberg (Filipino, Aragon Tour), Kristina Leopold (Chinese/Thai/Indian, Broadway), 박가람 /Park Ga-ram (Korean, South Korea), 박혜나/Park Hye-na (Korean, South Korea) Cleves: 김지선/Kim Ji-sun (Korean, South Korea), 최현선/Choi Hyun-sun (Korean, South Korea) Howard: Jaina Brock-Patel (Desi/Indian, 2nd UK Tour), Zoe Jensen (Filipino, Broadway), 김려원/Kim Ryeo-won (Korean, South Korea), 솔지/Solji (Korean, South Korea) Parr: Shimali de Silva (Hong Konger/Sri Lankan, original student cast), Vidya Makan (Desi/Indian heritage, 2020 and 2021-23 Australian Tours), Megan Leung (Chinese/Hong Konger, Bliss 2.0 and Breakaway 5.0), Joy N Woods (Southeast Asian and/or Pacific Islander, Broadway), Elena Breschi (Filipino, Breakaway 4.0), Roxanne Couch (Maori/New Zealander, West End), 홍지희/Hong Ji-hee (Korean, South Korea), 유주혜/Yoo Ju-hye (Korean, South Korea), Aoife Haakenson (Taiwanese and also lived in Jakarta and Hong Kong, UK Tour) Alts: Grace Mouat (Burmese, 1st UK Tour and West End), Cherelle Jay (West End and 2nd UK Tour), Karis Oka (2020 and 2021-23 Australian Tours), Shannen Alyce Quan (Eurasian, 2020 and 2021-23 Australian Tours), Alizé Ke'Aloha Cruz (Filipina, Bliss 3.0) Notes: All information is from this post. There may be additional info or queens missing, as it's only information I specifically have been able to verify. This list also doesn't encompass the full breadth of many queens' identities; many of them are of mixed race and ethnicity, or of several nationalities. For more information on any given queen, check that same post. Also note that Izi Maxwell (alt, 2nd UK Tour) was born in Hong Kong. However, she lists herself as British and white on her Spotlight. Additionally, Fia Houston-Hamilton (Cleves, original Breakaway 2.0) is Indian but was never officially announced. Credits below.

-------------------- Aragon: Lloyd Bishop; _jasmine_shen_; jamesmorganphoto; sixthemusicalau, unsure of origin; ymduck_pic; _young_img Boleyn: Sara Crulwich; Pamela Raith; raisaroni10; sunaynasmith; _young_img; _shannon1025_, unsure of origin Seymour: Joan Marcus; Joan Marcus; hbiiii._.iin; jjang_beautiful Cleves: hbiiii._.iin; gren_pic Howard: Pamela Raith, Joan Marcus, day_star_._, 890110kr Parr: sixthemusical, unsure of origin; sixthemusicalau, unsure of origin; meganswleung; michaelah.jpg; elenabreschi; Pamela Raith; jjang_beautiful; yoozuyoozu, unsure of origin; emilyshows Alts: anniekwithacamera; jonalderson_; daynaransleyphoto; daynaransleyphoto; alize.kealoha

@/abbihodgson on Instagram, 2 May 2023

sunny boleyn loml

Breakaway 5.0 <3

Okay, so of course I'm probably wrong, but to me, it looks like Sunayna's skirt is very new. The only thing is the vinyl color. It's most likely not, but if Sunayna's new costume is gonna be the bliss 2.0 variant, I might cry myself happy tears after seeing some more individualism in SIX costuming.

It’s the old one, unfortunately :( A couple little oddities that identify it as the Lucy/Liv, definitely made by NCS and new costumes haven’t been made by them in a year now, yes materials, and they only use old skirts in rehearsals for NCL because the costumes aren’t ready in time for that and don’t want the show ones to get damaged.

That being said….I think we need a support group. That’s one of my favorites too and I’m always so sad about it

Day one hundred and twenty-nine of posting every six queen

DAY ONE TWENTY-NINE - SUNAYNA SMITH - ANNE BOLEYN

The end of an era: Six cruise productions have officially closed

13 productions (plus two cancelled ones), four and a half years and 103 queens later. A chaotic but iconic era in six history is over.

Candace Furbert, Hazel Karooma-Brooker, Caitlin Tipping, Sophie Golden, Alicia Corrales, Viquichele Cross, Natalie Pilkington, Bryony Duncan, Lori McLare, Jasmine Jia Yung Shen, Kelly Sweeney, Amy Bridges, Jessica Niles, Georgia Carr, Amelia Walker, Liv Alexander, Elizabeth Walker, Jade Marvin, Lucy Aiston, Gabriella Stylianou, Scarlet Gabriel, Rebecca Wickes, Megan Leung, Abbi Hodgson, Sophie-Rose Middleton, Artemis Chrisoulakis, Ellie Sharpe, Melinda Porto, L'Oréal Roaché, Wesley Carpenter, Maya Christian, Brianna Brito Mooney, Meghan Dawson, Marilyn Caserta, Ashlee Waldbauer, Lauren Irving, Danielle Mendoza, Shelby Griswold, Kennedy Monica Carstens, Abigail Sparrow, Jarynn Whitney, Madeline Fansler, Channing Weir, Gabbi Mack, Casey Esbin, Ellie Wyman, Sasha Renae Brown, Nicole Lamb, Aja Simone Baitey, Willow Dougherty, Kayla McSorley, Jessie Bodner, Jasmine Hackett, Janice Rijssel, Lucia Valentino, Elena Breschi, Princess Sasha Victomé, Rae Davenport, Gianna Grosso, Kathryn Kilger, Reca Oakley, Jillian Worthing, Bethany McDonald, Sunayna Smith, Hannah Taylor, Sarah McFarlane, Eden Holmes, Fiorella Bamba, Lucinda Wilson, Haley Izurieta, Caitlyn De Kuyper, Amanda Simone Lee, Gabriella Boumford, Meghan Corbett, Analise Rios, Ruby Gibbs, Cydney Clark, Caroline Siegrist, Eloise Lord, Deirdre Duncan, Audrey Fisher, Lorren Santo-Quinn, Billie Kerr Amelia Atherton, Giulia Marolda, Izzy Formby-Jackson, Laura Blair, Maddison Firth, Emily Harrigan, Kara-Ami McCreanor, Sadie Hurst, Adrianna Glover, Alizé Ke'Aloha Cruz, Kristina Walz, Chelsea Lorraine Wargo, Emily Rose Lyons, Meg Dixon-Brasil, Lois Ellise, Jasmine Smith, Jaelle Laguerre, Kate Zulauf, Brooke Aneece, Hannah Lawton

Plus Gabrielle Davina Smith, Melissa Ford, Kaylah Attard, Fia Houston- Hamilton, Rhiannon Bacchus and Rhiannon Doyle who were set to join Breakaway before lockdown.

A fond farewell to the lovely Breakaway 6.0 queens and to the Breakaway cruise production! To those we met onboard, those who went on to perform on land, and those who we never got to see perform at all, a heartfelt thank you from the queendom as a whole! ‘Til we meet again!

Breakaway 1.0: Jasmine Shen, Kelly Sweeney, Amy Bridges, Jessica Niles, Georgia Carr, Amelia Walker, Liv Alexander, and Elizabeth Walker Breakaway 2.0: Jade Marvin, Liv Alexander, Elizabeth Walker, Jessica Niles, Artemis Chrisoulakis, Amelia Walker, Abbi Hodgson, and Ellie Sharpe Breakaway 3.0: Lauren Irving, Danielle Mendoza, Shelby Griswold, Kennedy Carstens, Abigail Sparrow, Jarynn Whitney, Madeline Fansler, and Channing Weir Breakaway 4.0: Jade Marvin, Jessie Bodner, Jasmine Hackett, Janice Rijssel, Lucia Valentino, Elena Breschi, Princess Sasha Victime, and Ellie Sharpe Breakaway 5.0: Gabbi Mack, Sunayna Smith, Hannah Taylor, Sasha Renae Brown, Sarah McFarlane, Megan Leung, Abbi Hodgson, and Eden Holmes Breakaway 6.0: Meghan Corbett, Analise Rios, Ruby Gibbs, Cydney Clark, Caroline Siegrist, Eloise Lord, Deirdre Dunkin, and Audrey Fisher Undebuted Breakaway Queens: Gabrielle Davina Smith, Melissa J. Ford, Kaylah Attard, Fia Houston-Hamilton, Maddison Firth, Rhiannon Bacchus, Laura Blair, Rhiannon Doyle, Sadie Hurst, Reca Oakley, Meg Dixon-Brasil, Jaelle Laguerre, Kate Zulauf, and Giulia Marolda

where you might recognize the new breakaway 5.0 cast from!

Gabbi Mack (Aragon): Bliss 4.0 Aragon

Sunayna Smith (Boleyn): Breakaway 3.0 Rehearsal A/B/H

Hannah Taylor (Seymour): Bliss 4.0 Rehearsal B/S/C

Sasha Renae Brown (Cleves): Bliss 4.0 Cleves

Sarah McFarlane (Howard): Breakaway 4.0 Rehearsal S/H/P

Megan Leung (Parr): Bliss 2.0 Parr

Abbi Hodgson (Swing): Bliss 2.0/Breakaway 2.0 A/B/C

Eden Holmes (Swing), Jaelle Laguerre & Kate Zulauf (Rehearsal Swings) are the only new queens!

Elaborated Lives

Elaborated Lives

Photos courtesy Jonathan Tisevich

Sarah Marie Young

Brandon Michael and Joy Ellis

By Tom Wachunas

…Too many choices tear us apart / I don't want to live like that / Too many choices tear us apart / I don't want to love like that / I just want to touch your heart / May this confession be the start

- lyrics from “Elaborate Lives” by Tim Rice, from AIDA

     In the beginning of the Players Guild production of Aida, the Tony Award-winning musical by Elton John and Tim Rice, several people are strolling about the beautiful set designed by Joshua Erichsen in a convincing evocation of visiting an ancient Egypt exhibit in a museum. Emerging from a display niche, a statue of Amneris (Sarah Marie Young), daughter of a Pharoah, comes to life and intones the song, “Every Story is a Love Story.” It’s a richly sung summary of what will soon unfold, wherein we hear the solemn reminder, “…This is the story of a love that flourished in a time of hate.”

   In this highly moving chronicle of forbidden love, divided loyalties, and treachery in an era of tyranny and war, we meet Aida (Joy Ellis), a Nubian princess stolen from her country and enslaved in Egypt. There she struggles mightily to reconcile her growing love for Radames (Brandon Michael) – a imposing Egyptian soldier already betrothed (for nine years!) to Amneris – with the pressing burden of remaining a faithful leader to her own beleaguered people.  

   As he has done for so many past productions, director Jonathan Tisevich has assembled a wondrously gifted group of performers. Amid the ethereal lighting designed by Scott Sutton, the sonic magic from the live, 11-piece orchestra conducted by Steve Parsons, and further energized by Michael Lawrence Akers’ exotic, often sensual choreography, this 27-member cast effectively morphs the smallness of the Guild’s arena theater into a place of epic dimensionality.

    Tisevich has always been a thoughtful minister to his performers’ agency for articulating emotional and psychological authenticity in their characters. And nowhere does that agency have more depth than in the portrayals of Aida, Radames, and Amneris.

  In expressing, indeed exclaiming, all of Aida’s tortured heart and crisis of conscience, Joy Ellis is a thoroughly riveting presence. Her singing is a mesmerizing force in itself – plaintive and wounded when she sings the bitterly ironic “Easy as Life”; alternately fierce, plaintive, and tender elsewhere. Among of the evening’s most touching and powerful passages are her duets with Radames, such as “Enchantment Passing Through,” and the soaring “Elaborate Lives.” 

     It’s fascinating to watch Brandon Michael, a wholly compelling singer in his own right, as he navigates the changing tides in the heart of Ramades. The conquering soldier is conquered by Aida’s nobility and courage. He falls inexorably in love with a slave, though not without a price.  

   Speaking of changing hearts, an equally fascinating catharsis transpires as you watch Sarah Marie Young’s stunning portrayal of Amneris. Through half  of the story she’s a feckless, self-possessed, swaggering imp with an inflated sense of entitlement. In the hilarious “My Strongest Suit,” she and her women-in-waiting strut about the palace like so many fashionistas sporting ridiculously bizarre outfits and headwear (marvelous costumes by Stephen Ostertag). But as Ramades grows more distant and cold, the reality of her plight becomes all too clear. Now humbled and resolute, she pours out her woundedness, her surrender, in one of the show’s most heartrending songs, “I Know the Truth.”

   The evening flows fairly consistently with other memorable characters and interludes. David Everett plays Zoser, the stern and sinister father of Ramades, and who is slowly poisoning the Pharoah (Corey Paulus). Jeremy Clarke plays Mereb, a clever and tender-hearted Nubian servant who knows his way around the royal bureaucracy. He sings with palpable urgency in “How I Know You.” Aida pleaded with him to not reveal her true identity to the rest of the Nubians, but doesn’t keep her secret for very long. Destiny was calling.

   An electrifying choral high point comes at the end of Act I with “The Gods Love Nubia” – a thunderous cry for release from suffering, sung by Aida, her friend Nehebka (played by Sunayna Smith), and the Nubian captives. That anthemic single moment, replete with gravitas and grace, with its stratospheric harmonies gripping and soulful, embodied the entire spirit of this production. Call it a prayer of longing, love, and hope, and hauntingly relevant to our own time and circumstances. 

    AIDA, in the Canton Players Guild W.G. Fry Theater, 1001 Market Ave., N. Canton, Ohio /  THROUGH NOVEMBER 18, 2018 / Shows Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m. / additional performance at 8 p.m. on Nov. 18 /Single tickets $32, 17 an younger $25, Seniors $29 / www.playersguidtheatre.com / Box Office at 330.453.7617

Elaborated Lives syndicated post

Happy (belated) Pride Month 2023!

Made this graphic back during pride month but since I was on hiatus I just never posted it. But better late than never, so here’s the belated 2023 pride post from me. As always, this list is certainly not comprehensive. There are likely other closeted actors and/or actors who are out but may not have explicitly stated their queerness. As identity is a sensitive topic I always err on the side of caution when creating these. And just like in past years, this only includes current actors.

Pictured:

Claudia Kariuki (West End)

Willow Dougherty (Bliss 6.0)

Leah Vassell (West End)

Aryn Bohannon (Boleyn Tour)

Caitlyn De Kuyper (Bliss 6.0)

Aubrey Matalon (Broadway)

Dionne Ward-Anderson (West End)

Haley Izurieta (Bliss 6.0)

Kelsee Kimmel (Aragon Tour)

Hailee Kaleem-Wright (Broadway)

Laura Dawn Pyatt (UK Tour)

Sunny Smith (Breakaway 5.0)

Baylie Carson (West End)

Taylor Pearlstein (Boleyn Tour)

Gabriela Francesca Carrillo (Aragon Tour)

Taylor Iman Jones (Broadway)

———————————

Photos of Claudia, Dionne, Laura, and Baylie by Pamela Raith. Photos of Aryn, Aubrey, Hailee, Taylor P, Gabriela, and Taylor IJ by Joan Marcus. Others from personal accounts.

@/sunaynasmith and @/divorceddivas on Instagram, 6 July 2023

@/sunaynasmith on Instagram, 6 June 2023

@/korinachka on Instagram, 12 May 2023

@/jbods and @/sunaynasmith on Instagram, 1 May 2023

SIX BREAKAWAY 5.0 CAST!

Retun central, literally.

Gabbi Mack returning as ARAGON (previously played the role in Bliss 4.0)

Sunayna Smith returning as BOLEYN (previously was a rehearsal swing for A/B/H in Breakaway 3.0)

Hannah Taylor returning as SEYMOUR (previously was a rehearsal swing for B/S/C in Bliss 4.0)

Sasha Renae Brown returning as CLEVES (previously played the role in Bliss 4.0)

Sarah McFarlane returning as HOWARD (previously was a rehearsal swing for S/H/P in Breakaway 4.0)

Megan Leung returning as PARR (previously played the role in Bliss 2.0)

Completing the cast are our 4 swings!

Abbi Hodgson returning as ONBOARD SWING A/C/P (previously played A/B/C in Bliss 2.0 and Breakaway 2.0)

Eden Holmes as ONBOARD SWING B/S/H

Kate Zulauf as a rehearsal swing for B/S/H

Jaelle Laguerre as a rehearsal swing for A/C/P

FUN FACTS:

Principals are made up entirely of returning queens

Gabbi and Sasha actually got the offer 3 days before Bliss 4.0 closing due to their social media presence.

The only casts that aren’t included are Bliss 1.0, Breakaway 1.0, Bliss 3.0 and Bliss 5.0!