A Chorus Line: Spotlight on Karmen Cheung

Next we have the talented Karmen Cheung, who played saucy Sheila!

接著，我們請到飾演俏皮女角Sheila的張菀桐與我們閒談。

(scroll down for Chinese 下面附中文)

Moving A Chorus Linefrom the rehearsal room to the studio was…
Exciting. It didn’t really feel real until I was actually stepping onto the stage floor with the set and lighting and music all together. A lot of things are unpredictable like spacing and microphone feedbacks that would cause changes during the move because the environment is so different from the studio. Though we would have to do our best to prepare ourselves 150% before the move so that we don’t waste any precious time we do have on the stage before the show opens.

Things I learnt that I can use for life…
Showmanship. Participating in this musical has expanded my stage presence and helped to me learn the meaning of “GOING FOR IT” because, really, there is no “too much” at this stage for me. I am a beginner to musical theater, and working with YAF and with Lindsey in particular, really pushed me to be my BEST of the best. I let myself go, I tried and took the direction I am given, and it was great.

I have also learned the importance of diction. I am a singer-songwriter myself, getting clear on my diction definitely helps with the delivery of my performance.

I’m going to miss..
The time on stage. The actual performance. Singing and enacting a role. The ecstasy of performing—nothing beats the ecstasy of performing..

I’ll never forget…
David Allen putting both his legs into one side of the final red costume. I did that too. Funniest thing is, no one in the audience noticed.

Something you don’t know about me
Serendipity. The similarity between me and Sheila is somehow quite shocking. Sheila’s mother gave up dancing when she married her father, who made her give it up. I knew that my mom was a dancer, but i only learned that, around 2 weeks before the performance, that my dad made her give it up because he didn’t like her to. It was a shock to me. Me and my mom’s relationship is weird. We are never like ” best friends”– as in we don’t chat and I didn’t grow up sharing a lot about myself– though we both know we love each other. So when my mom told me that, I was astonished by the fact that how similar me and Sheila is. I am the the second oldest among the main cast, which makes me almost a decade older than most of the cast. I remember feeling so out of place the first day of rehearsal. I guess that is how Sheila feels most of the time among all these young kids dancers too. Though I am not a Leo, my MOM IS. I totally know what a Leo is like. She didn’t turn me into a dancer like Sheila’s mom did, somehow I wish she had… Haha.

The most difficult thing about being in A Chorus Line was…
To balance this project with all the other projects I have in my life. I had a full time job; I also had a part-time job teaching wellness in a big fashion corporation; my other performance as a singer/songwriter, such as performing at Clockenflap; organizing a peace festival; and I also started my 200-hour yoga teacher training. At one point, when I got home, I collapsed on the floor and started crying.. out of exhaustion and stress. What makes it worse, is that I have experienced difficulty in singing with my vocal cords hurting since the end of September, which made it unclear whether or not I could pull of this musical at all.

Fortunately, Lindsey stepped in. She arranged for me to see throat specialist. She offered me help, and her understanding, her kindness and most importantly, her love. I have received love from the rest of the cast as well, but I would never forget the way Lindsey had helped me and ease the stress off my shoulders. It is a wonderful and beautiful thing to witness some magnificent humanity when crisis arises.. what we would do each other, FOR LOVE. It means the world to me, and it is things like this that make life meaningful.

What’s next?
I am going to pursue my dream to becoming the best version of myself- to realize my dream as a professional performer. One thing I would do is to go for dance training! I felt I was missing out with all the dancing fun and I couldn’t stand it. I would also start taking singing lessons. I would keep looking for more theater performance to participate in, possibly the next YAF production :)

If I superpowers, I’d love it to be…
1) Flying. Oh my, the happiest dream that I ever remembered was playing Quitdditch, flying on my broom in the world of Harry Potter! I must have been a bird in one of my past lives.
2) Time travel. I want to visit Atlantis.

If I could meet an artist for a day…
Bobby McFerrin. They way he explores his voice is very inspiring to me, and he could create art that is timeless. I find it very powerful and I would want to be in his presence and aura hoping to learn a thing or two! :)

音樂劇從排練室搬到舞台上的時候…
很興奮。當我踏上舞台，看見舞台佈景、燈光和音樂都已在準備狀態的時候，我才有更真實的演出感。舞台上，很多事情是不能預計的，如對戲時的走位、米高峰的迴音，都與我們在排練室的位置有所不同，隨時要臨場變更。因此，我們在綵排時都發揮150%的力量，在正式公演前，絕不浪費台上的寶貴時間。

從今次音樂劇中所學到的東西是…
表演技巧。參加這個音樂劇擴闊我的舞台演出經驗，並令我了解到「全力以赴」的真正意義—真的，所有事情都是剛好匹配，沒想到多亦沒想到少。在音樂劇的舞台上，我是一個初學者，與香港青年藝術協會及麥蓮茜的合作，使我變得更好，成就更完美的我。我嘗試拋開過往的經驗，依隨他們給我的演繹方向，這使我有更好的表現。

我還學到措詞的重要性。作為一位唱作歌手，清晰的措詞有助演繹我的歌曲，讓觀眾有更清晰的了解。

我最想念的是…
在舞台上的每一刻、正式演出的情形、唱歌及演繹一個角色。表演的迷人之處，就是沒有任何事情可以為之取替。

我不會忘記…
在最後一幕所穿的紅色戲服，David Allen把他的雙腳都放進同一褲管中，而我亦是這樣。最有趣的是，竟然觀眾席上都沒有人發現。

告訴我們關於你的事吧
緣份。我和Sheila之間的相似度令我相當震撼。Sheila的母親因為要她的父親，所以放棄了跳舞。在演出前的兩週，我才駭然知道我的媽媽原是一名舞蹈員，而亦是因為爸爸不喜歡她去跳舞，所以便放棄了。我和媽媽的關係很奇怪，我們不像「朋友」—我們從不聊天，而我亦沒有與她分享很多關於我的事 — 雖然我們都愛護對方。所以，當媽媽跟我講述這事的時候，我感到十分驚訝，原來我和Sheila是如此相似。我是各演員中年紀第二大的一位，比最年輕的演員年長幾近十年。猶記得在綵排的第一天，我對其他演員感到很陌生及疏離，我想這正是劇中Sheila面對其他年輕舞者時的感受。雖然我不是獅子座，我的媽媽是獅子座，所以我完全了解獅子座的人的性格是如何。她並沒有像Sheila媽媽那樣強迫我成為舞蹈員，不過我還真希望她會這樣做呢…哈哈。

在綵排過程中有遇到的困難…
妥善安排音樂劇的綵排時間及其他日常工作的時間。我有一份全職工作、兼任時裝企業的健康訓練導師、我的唱作演出如Clockenflap、組織和平大會、更要修讀200小時的瑜伽導師培訓課程。有一次，當我回到家，我不禁倒在地上，更哭了起來……所有疲憊和壓力心情一發不可收執。更糟糕的是，在九月下旬時，我的聲帶受傷了，導致不能唱歌，令我質疑自己是否真的可以完成這齣音樂劇。

幸好，導演麥蓮茜轉介我到專科醫生就診。她給予我幫助、理解、體貼，最重要的是她所給予的愛。其他演員都很愛我，但我永遠不會忘記麥蓮茜給予的方支持和鼓勵，緩解了我的壓力，減輕了我的心理負擔。每當危機出現之時，總會看見壯麗的人性，是多麼美好的一件事。我們會因為愛，所以為對方做很多事。愛，在我的世界充斥著，亦使生活變得有意義。

往後的打算？
我要以最佳狀態，繼續追尋我的專業滇藝之夢。其中一件將要做的事，就是參與舞蹈訓練！我發現過去我錯失了很多的舞蹈樂趣，而我再也按捺不住了。我亦會開始參加歌唱訓練。我會繼續參與更多舞台表演，或許是YAF下一個音樂劇吧 :)

如果我有一種超能力，我希望…
1）飛行。以我記憶發及，我曾經在睡夢裡玩「魁地奇Quitdditch」，騎著掃帚，在哈利波特的世界飛行！從前，我一定是一隻鳥。

2）時間旅行。我想參觀亞特蘭蒂斯。

如果有機會與一位藝術家碰面…
巴比麥菲林。他的聲音變化啟發我很多，他更創造出流芳百世的藝術。我覺得他很厲害，我希望可以看見他，更奢望可從他身上學習！:)