Hawk Liu has a dialogue with Broadway/West End star Stenphanie Reese ahead of her appearance in Sean Ghazi's upcoming concert on 13 and 14 December 2017. Find out how a college job led her into a full time career on the Great White Way!
The Mad Scene: Hi, Stephanie, welcome to Singapore! We can't wait to hear your lovely voice in the intimate Esplanade Recital Studio! I read in your bio that you performed in a solo concert in Carnegie Hall. How did you come about the opportunity?
Stephanie Reese: Yes it was amazing! I was asked by a producer if I would be interested in doing a concert there and of course I said yes! From there she worked with the Hall to produce it and it was a dream come true.
The Mad Scene: We would like to know about your early training in singing and performance. Do tell us your journey.
Stephanie Reese: I started off studying classical music even though I had a deep love for musical theater and pop music. My voice always had a classical tone to it but through training I was able to cross over into other genres too.
I studied privately (voice) and then I went to Indiana University for opera performance and realized fairly soon that I missed acting and I missed musical theater and transferred into Cincinnati Conservatory for musical theater. It was an exclusive and extremely competitive programme and I really thrived once I was there, so much so that I ended up landing a job in Miss Saigon where I got to play Kim while I was still in school. I left school early thinking I would come back to do the show but that job led to another and another and so I still haven't finished my formal education. But to me, the best education has been working in the field and learning from the mentors in the business I have met along the way. I still take classes though. I think it's important to always grow and learn and challenge yourself. It makes me a better teacher too, which I like to do for private coachings when I go to different cities.
The Mad Scene: You had a one-woman show, The Journey. Tell us about that journey too...and maybe where we can catch sneak clips of it anywhere?
Stephanie Reese: The journey was an amazing experience and project to create. It was the journey of my life and career and the challenges that came with it told through two characters - me and my voice. Sounds strange but the character of the voice was something I spoke to throughout the show signified by a single spot light on the stage that I would speak to throughout. It's a story of friendship and love between these two characters and the relationship between the singer and her voice. A metaphor for how our art or our talent is something that we have a relationship with outside ourselves that needs to be nurtured and loved and respected but ultimately (and the realization that happens in my show) is that the journey is the relationship you have with your own self to find self love and acceptance.
There are no clips posted but I hope to soon!
The Mad Scene: Thank you for your time, Stephanie, and I hope to meet you in person at the concert soon!
Excited to see Stephanie live in Singapore? Check out the Events Page for tickets!
Read our writeup of An Evening with Sean Ghazi here:
http://the-mad-scene.blogspot.com/2017/12/an-evening-with-sean-ghazi-13-and-14.html