We recently connected with Myka Cue and have shared our conversation below.

Myka, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to deepen my craft in a four-year conservatory training program at Brown/Trinity Rep in Providence, Rhode Island. There, we were nurtured as whole artists, taking classes in Acting, Directing, Movement, Playwriting, Dramaturgy, and more — all of which have shaped me as a proactive and collaborative actor. Our classes were generally structured from Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, followed by rehearsals from 6pm to 9pm. While it was an incredibly packed schedule, I was so happy to be acting and exercising my creative muscles every single day. The program offered me the tools to be able to comprehensively study a wide-range of texts from Shakespeare to contemporary to new plays, and to make specific, courageous choices. It taught me how to be a responsible storyteller, a playful collaborator, and a fearless orchestrator of dramatic action. I will forever be grateful to the teachers, students and guest artists I encountered there, who have so graciously offered their time and energy (even through a global pandemic!) to make me the artist I am today. I never felt forced into becoming the kind of actor someone else wanted me to be; rather, I was guided into becoming the artist and human I really aspired to be.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an actor, producer, and theatremaker committed to nurturing creative processes rooted in empathy, collaboration, and joy. I was born and raised in the Philippines, and from an early age, I found joy in entertaining others. When I was six years old, I played my older sister’s little counterpart in their high school musical production of Once On This Island. She was cast as the main character, Ti Moune, and I was going to play Little Ti Moune. It was through this experience that I fell deeply in love with the process of bringing characters and stories to life.

In 2014, after graduating from high school, I moved to New York City, where I studied Multimedia Storytelling at NYU Gallatin, and then on to pursue my MFA in Acting at Brown/Trinity Rep. Along the way, I got to play many characters. Some of my favorites include: the Wolf in Hansol Jung’s Wolf Play; the Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd; and Flora in Ana Caro’s Valor, where I even got to sing an original song I wrote as part of the character’s story. However, my proudest role was playing my dad in a solo performance piece entitled Chasing the Butterflies that brought to life my family’s core memories of him when he was still alive. It was a piece that I wrote, staged and performed; and it showed me how magical theatre can be in memorializing and honoring our ancestors.

Ultimately, I am passionate about playing characters who defy expectations; and who’ve had to persist against the most impossible of circumstances. It is also my mission to bring Filipino stories to the international stage. I’ve been able to do this in my most recent work last December playing Jesusa Espiritu in an off-off-Broadway play entitled Export Quality, a theatrical exploration based on true stories of mail-order brides from the Philippines. Through this show, I got to proudly demonstrate the resilience and power of Filipino women. I hope to be involved in more projects similar to this, in which I get to celebrate my identity and share it with the world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Two things: First, it’s the act of storytelling in itself that I find absolutely rewarding. To me, acting is my way of time traveling, hopping in and out of different eras, places, lives, realities… It’s how I get to explore the fullness of my imagination and the range of my expressivity. Second, it’s getting to share an experience together with an audience. The theater is now one of those few places where people can intentionally shut off their phones and focus on what’s right in front of them. That time becomes incredibly precious; and I feel responsible, as an actor, in holding that sacred space for all of us to just be present with each other. I find so much fulfillment in hearing people laugh, cry, and respond together; and if I can move people or make them feel something in some way through my work, that is enough.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

There are three memoirs displayed on my work desk — Cicely Tyson’s Just As I Am, Julie Andrews’ Homework, and Viola Davis’ Finding Me. I continuously find inspiration from the words of all three powerhouse artists, whose careers I deeply admire and aspire to have. Here are some of my favorite quotes from each that have impacted me significantly:

“Acting, at its core, is about surrendering to a moment and allowing it to give whatever it has. I get baffled about people who just won’t let things be, onstage and in life. Life is unfolding exactly as it is meant to, exactly as the Spirit intended. Leave it alone and let it play out.” — Cicely Tyson, Just As I Am

“Learn your craft. Do your homework. Opportunity will come along when you least expect it, as it did for me. You may not even recognize it at the time. Your job is to be as ready as possible when that good fortune comes your way.” — Julie Andrews, Homework

“I don’t know specifically how I came into my truth, but I’m pretty sure other caring people had a lot to do with it: counselors in the Upward Bound program and my sister Deloris who constantly asked me, “Why aren’t you acting?” Until finally, one day in my second year, I said, “You know what, I’m just going to do it.” That was when much of the depression fell away. The cure was courage. The courage to dare, risking failure. I decided I was going to be a theater major and I was going to be an actor.” — Viola Davis, Finding Me

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mykacue.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mykacue/

Image Credits
Russ Rowland, Mark Turek, Tom Wallace