Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Diane Phelan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Diane, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I went to NYU and studied drama with a concentration in musical theater and film and TV. But I started learning elements of the craft much earlier! My parents and teachers started realizing I was musically inclined at age 5 and started me on piano and singing. In high school I started classical voice and on camera classes. NYU was instrumental in laying down a solid acting technique. I learned to take telling stories very seriously there, to really learn to excavate the humanity of my characters. I have a lot of amazing teachers I credit like my voice teacher Paul Elkin and so many amazing teachers at Cap21- but I was just thinking of Wendy Waterman who taught me how to ground my work. I think I grew up loving musicals because of the fun and the community and the music aspect. I came to theater with an emphasis on the music, but conservatory was where I found my love for the craft of acting and telling stories and finding what connects us as humans. It was grueling, but I loved being immersed in New York City. The essential skills I learned were how to master my body as the instrument and learn a process for how to create work.
But I do think when I was in school, the program was teaching me how to fit in to the boxes they thought would get me cast, especially racially, instead of teaching me to cultivate my individuality as a performer. I’ve had to do that on my own out in the world working through a lot of trial and error, and I’m still undoing some of the mental blocks that were given to me about what my individuality should look like in this business. I think on the inside, and I’ve never said this, but I wish I were given time to walk the world taking up more space physically. Truthfully. It is what it is. Identity was hard enough as a mixed race, third culture Filipina American human that accepting and feeling good about my racial identity took up a lot of bandwidth and it was less urgent to break down my gender identity. Peace is an inside job though and I love all manifestations of myself these days.
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’m an actor, director, producer, and activist. I’ve been on Broadway with 3 different productions and toured the world with 5 other ones including West Side Story as Maria. Most recently, I played Cinderella in the recent Broadway revival of Into the Woods, which was such an incredible experience. Getting to step into that role with such an amazing company was really a dream. I’ve I’ve played Belle in Beauty and the Beast directed by the Asian American Broadway royalty Baayork Lee. One of the things I’m really proud of is being the first Asian American actor to play Maria in The Sound of Music at a major American theater.
Outside of performing, activism has been a substantial part of my life. I co-founded the campaigns #RacismIsAVirus and #UnapologeticallyAsian during the rise of anti-Asian violence, and through that work, I’ve been able to build community and help push the industry toward real change. During the pandemic, I served as an executive producer of a benefit performance of A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and we ended up raising $25,000 for Stop AAPI Hate. That project even won a Telly Award, which was such an honor.
I also direct, produce, and teach, and I’m always trying to find ways to tell stories that haven’t been heard yet — and to make sure more people feel seen in the process. At the heart of everything I do is this belief that storytelling can heal and connect us — and that leading with joy and empathy is the best way to make real, lasting change.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I was deep in the middle of my Broadway career when I was dealing with long term Lyme and Mold Illness. I was so ill I didn’t think I was going to be able to get onstage again. I started working behind the table my mentor Baayork Lee was key in helping me discover I had a passion and talent for directing, I’m so grateful I’ve been able to get healthy and strong again and get back onstage but directing is now a part of what I do.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
At one point I had to leave my first Broadway show and I was bedbound. To think that I had gone from years of not being able to do much to getting back onstage to star in a show on Broadway is mind-blowing to me. I couldn’t have fathomed it at the time. I do hope to share this story so people can believe anything is possible. I worked diligently and steadily to heal and get strong again and a lot of that work is overcoming the mental hurdles. We all have those voices in our heads that tell us we can’t do something and I’m proof that the body is as strong as your mind allows it to be. You are meant to heal and thrive. That is something I am sure of.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.Dianephelan.com
- Instagram: @dianicaphelan
- Linkedin: @dianephelan
