GETTING TO KNOW YOU: Nate Braga
Artist Interviewed
Nathaniel Michael Braga (our very own Nate Braga!)
Libation Imbibed
Yellowtail Shiraz...very earthy.
Location
Nate's apartment, Lincoln Square
Nate graciously welcomed me into his lovely home so we could chat about his acting career and growing up in the Midwest, but first and most important, how he met meeeeeee...
Okay, backstory, I was hired to do M Butterfly - I played Song Liling. And I did the whole audition online. Doug Peck - our music director who we both love - I guess he threw my name into the mix because they were looking for someone.
And he knew you through...?
He music directed a couple of my shows when I used to live here at The Marriott. I think he did one of my kid shows and one of my night shows that he music directed. He said he threw my name in and they found me - the theater gods found me - Cree [Rankin, casting director at Court Theatre] found me -
Because they were looking for someone for about a year, for that role.
I mean it's kind of crazy because out of all the Chicago theater actors - I feel they could have found someone here.
But - and I'm curious to talk to Cree about it now, but I know that for that production because they had scored Jamie Guan [Peking Opera choreographer] before everything happened and choreography was really important to him, right? So I think they wanted someone who was definitely Asian, because --
Somewhat.
You are --! Okay, we'll circle back to that, but they wanted someone Asian, but movement was a major part and I think, also, height was a major issue. For those of you who don't know M Butterfly, [the character] Song Liling needs to pass as a woman. And they didn't know they were going to cast Sean [Fortunato] who is very tall, but they wanted an Asian wom - an Asian
Asian woman! That's meee!
Someone who could pass as an Asian woman in that role because gender and ethnicity are major major parts of the story. But what Court Theatre's production was asking for this role was a triple threat, because Doug Peck wanted someone who could sing Puccini's Madame Butterfly - which we did keep a little bit of, but I think they wanted the option of it. So then they're thinking - someone who can sing, someone who can dance really well, and someone who can act and then someone who's Asian...casting wise...That makes that list very short. So they did, they spent, I think a year.
That's crazy to me. So they contacted me and I did a couple scenes on tape and I sent them in. And Charlie [Newell] sent me modifications and adjustment and I sent that back in, and then I had a skype interview - It wasn't even an audition, we were just talked and it was great! I felt really comfortable with him and it was really fun and then he was like, "Well, I can't officially say this, but...you got this." So that was kind of cool.
And then we did one week of a movement workshop with Jamie who is...what is his resume?! He's done everything, well he's done every major production of M Butterfly, he went through the [Chinese] Cultural Revolution -
Peking Opera...
...he knows all the movements to all the things and I think he's going to outlive all of us. But that workshop was specifically - I think they got a grant for it - to work with him as much as we can. And also for all of us to read the script -
We had that table read.
Table read - yeah - and that is when we met each other. I think both of us were so scared though.
I was terrified. It was my first lead role I'd ever done.
Up until that point you'd just done...?
I had done ensemble work and bit parts and supporting -
Even in college? Really? Huh.
Yeah. I think in college...I only did one show at my college. I was very lucky, I worked professionally in college.
So you were getting paid for what you were going to school for?
Yeah, I was very lucky. And granted, my school didn't cast me in anything.
So you did try to get cast at school?
I did. My undergrad was in musical theater but I would audition for the plays and the musicals. I got cast in one musical my senior year.
I did Ragtime - I was in the immigrant chorus.
Oh my God.
I played a child, a little child. Like I had a Greek mother and then an Italian father and then they made a mixed Asian baby.
You went to Columbia?
I went to Columbia.
And you got cast in one play. Wow.
And hence me, going out and auditioning. Cuz it was like "You know what? If I'm not gonna get cast here, I'll just go out and do it professionally." And I booked professionally and that's how I started my career.
Circling back to that first movement rehearsal and we had that read through with all these Chicago celebrity stage actors, what were your thoughts?
I was so intimidated because coming back to Chicago - Chicago is an acting city. Everyone is first an actor here, which I love. Because that's what everyone should be - you have to be an actor first. No matter what kind of theater you do - if you're an actor or a singer you have to be able to act. The good ones can. So just knowing that and seeing all these very accomplished people surrounding me -
At a tiny table --
At a tiny table, and me, at my first big brawl...It was intimidating. And it took me a long time to feel comfortable, a long time during that rehearsal process.
I think I remember this - you did have a [Chinese] dialect to begin with, right? At that first read through you were kind of playing with it?
I was playing with it. I didn't know what I was doing, I was just kind of going with what I knew, which wasn't much...
Had you been ask to do a dialect previous to that?
In a show? I guess. Not at auditions. Not that many times. It's really interesting being a mixed race actor because I either get called in for very traditional shows, because mainly my background is musical theater and there are so many traditional theater shows, I don't get asked to do a lot of accents there, but then I get called in to do The King and I, and that's very specific. But also in those situations, I'm standing next to people - I did a production of the King and I and there was a guy who was actually Thai and I was like, "I feel a little uncomfortable..." kind of like, I don't really belong here. So it's very interesting, the more and more we do theater, I'm more aware of it, I guess.
What is your actual "mix"?
N: Okay, so my Dad was born in Tai Pei, Tai Wan, but he's technically only half Chinese, and my grandfather was Portuguese. And he worked for the American government. I think the CIA? He was a linguist, like he could speak 8 languages. His family moved around Asia a lot because he worked for the American government. So they ended up in Okinawa Japan and that's where my Dad grew up. And so he went to Catholic school so he spoke English and was fluent since he was a little kid and then at home they spoke Cantonese. So he immigrated here, and he was the first in his family to immigrate to the United States and he got his degree in social work and he met my mother in Minnesota. My Dad actually went to the seminary in Minnesota.
WHAT?!
And he met my mother while he was starting seminary.
What was he wanting to do?!
He wanted to be a priest!
Well clearly that did not happen.
No that did not happen. He met my mother.
Sorry, church! And what was your mom doing?
My mom was a visual artist. She played the piano and she was a visual artist. So she was very creative. But my dad is so theatrical. He is more theatrical than I am. As a person. He is the life of the party everyone loves him: Gus Gus.
So the role of Song is iconic, right? Did you know anything about it going in?
I mean I didn't know that much about it. I just knew it was based off the the opera Madam Butterfly. So when I started researching and really looking at it, I started to think "Oh, crap."
So you increasingly got scared?
The fact that it was my first starring role, then being surrounded by these Chicago celebrities, and then this iconic role...it was a lot of pressure. It freaked me out a little bit.
What did it take? Because you said that you eventually got to a place where you felt good doing it -- What did it take to get you there?
I think just getting to know everyone. That's a big part of it, being a part of a cast and a community. And I think we all bonded, we all got very close by the end of the show.
Well we were all doing something that we were scared of.
I think that was a huge thing. Sure, I don't think I was the only one -
Everyone was scared of something in that show. For those of you who didn't see it, and shame on you for not seeing it, but probably you saw it because you're a smart person -
Because we were in it!
We were in it and we're amazing...Every show has a journey. Did you find yourself during M Butterfly, going through personal things about ethnicity and gender? You had to live in it for a few months. What did you go through?
Well it's so funny because I grew up in Minnesota and I never really thought I was a minority, or maybe I was just oblivious to it. Because my Dad, granted he's from China, but he totally assimilated -
He's American.
He's American. He has a Minnesotan accent now. So I never really thought of it.
Because you identify as...what?
Midwestern! As I got older, when I went to college, I got scholarships for being a minority and then definitely in my career in theater, realizing that. Seeing people put you in these boxes. Just one of them. And I'm not just"that" I'm also all these other things, so I think...M Butterfly brought up a lot of those questions. So it's been more prevalent ever since, because of the script and my ethnicity.
I know you had issues with -- didn't an audience member come up to you after a show?
Yes. So an audience member came up to me after and he was Asian and he didn't even know I was Asian. He didn't even think I was Asian.
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What did he say?
...I think he said something like, "What ARE you? Are you even Asian?"
I think here's what I'm remembering and correct me if I'm wrong. I think there was a stupid newspaper who reviewed the show.
My dad told me about this --
A stupid Chicago periodical reviewed the play and said "they couldn't even get an Asian actor to play the role of Song" or something like that.
And I'm like, "Uhh, no. I am. I'm of Chinese descent."
I mean, what do you say to something like that?
I don't know -- it just really caught me off guard. And I got hired to play Song again at Indiana University and I went down there and it also happened to me down there because they have a big Asian population and there were all these Asian students that came and they were like "why did you cast someone that's not Asian?"
And what do you say in a large scale conversation like that?
I actually said - "This is exactly what our play is about. Perceptions of the East versus West and what you think is appropriate and what you think we should be. And it had to do with EVERYTHING we were talking about in the show.
And it stirred those things up...They were staring at you watching the play thinking you were not an Asian person. And to that weird man's (after our show) defense, he might have been basing that on this periodical that says - and if you read it in print it must be true - "this actor is not Asian." You can't tell by last names, by sight, you can't know what people's blood IS... Do you ever feel, especially since then, does the question of "Are you Asian enough?" come up?
Oh yeah, it comes up a lot. I remember one of my last auditions in New York, I went in for an Asian show and I was standing there and I went to the dance call and the choreographer was going through everyone and it came to me and I danced and then he just looked at me. He looked me up and down. And I knew exactly what he was thinking.
Did he say anything?
No. He just looked me up and down.
But he didn't say anything.
But he said everything.
What does it mean to be Asian? What is Asian enough?
That's a huge thing. My whole thing right now is in our country it's even more of a melting pot, everyone's mixing, so many people are mixed race now, which is so cool but everyone is seeing black and white.
If I don't recognize you as what I think of Chinese...
Right, you're not that. And that's not the truth of our country. And we should be able to
identify with different parts of our heritage. Doing that play really made me more educated about Chinese culture, theater and how to talk about it - I didn't know about Peking Opera.
Oh! Here's a question - to get less heavy and dramatic - What stereotypical Asian things are you?
Oh I have some stereotypes... I grew up playing the violin - that's pretty Asian. Even though it's a European instrument...
Did you do the Suzuki method?
I did Suzuki method. I did all of them, 1-8. I was good in school, I was a very good student, I played a lot of sports, but that's Midwestern.
Did you get Asian red face?
No, I didn't. That's the mix! Thank God for my mix.
But this is a podcast, so even if you did get Asian red face, we'll tell them that nothing happened.
Yeah, they won't know!
But there is that dual responsibility of doing a show that's set in Asia, and you look at that cast that does not look remotely close to it, what is your emotional reaction? Or do you have one?
With shows, if the story about ethnicity you should be casting in that ethnicity. Some shows require specific ethnicity. If I go to a show and see people playing not that and it's important to the story, that bugs me. If it's a show where ethnicity doesn't matter, it can be whatever. Even if it's a time period where that ethnicity wasn't popular, who cares? It's 2016! Suspension of disbelief, okay?
You've been seeing a lot of shows since you've come back to town, and you've seen a lot of shows in your travels, what do you think the state of representation is?
I think it's turning, we're at a turning point, which is great. I'm really excited about what's going to happen in the next five years in American theater because I think ethnicity is big right now in our country.
Do you think it's a trend?
I don't think it's a trend. Because it's so relevant to our society and our population and there's more and more of us with a voice. It's gonna be the status quo.
Have you seen more evidence of it? Is there more in one city than another?
I'm gonna use the obvious example -- Hamilton is HUGE and it's a story even though it could be an old white man show, that's the brilliance of it - it doesn't matter. It's a great story! And more and more writers are becoming more aware of that, so it can be produced because that's the other thing -- there needs to be the material...
Lin Manuel Miranda insisted on it.
Yeah, and there needs to be more people like that and thank God for him. So hopefully more people will follow.
People who create their own work can insist on things and that is something that we can be empowered by. So you are hopeful?
Totally hopeful!
What did you want to do when you first started performing? Like "Oh, I really wish I could do this part!"
Well it's funny because I didn't grow up doing theater. I grew up playing sports.
What did you grow up thinking you were going to do?
I thought I was going to be a gymnast. That was my life. I trained 3-4 hours a day after school, that's all I did. And I started in college as a biology pre-med major so that was what I was going into and then I fell into theater. I took an elective in acting and the acting professor was like "You're good at this, you have the skills. You should really try it."
So you went from biology to acting because of one teacher?
Sam Hall. He's amazing. He's still my friend today. We still talk. He was just such a good professor and he dug deep for each of us and we really created amazing work. I really haven't done a lot of theater, I always say "I really only know theater I've been in."
That's true of lots and lots of actors.
I feel like what I love about being in Chicago is I can see so much theater and there's so much new work and you can work and learn a lot by watching.
What excites you? In theater?
Good storytelling. IF it's not a good story, I'm out. I'm realizing now, you have to have a good script to keep the audience captivated. And also there's acting, that part of it. But it starts from captivating your audience with a good story, good arc. That's what I like in theater.
What was the last exciting thing you saw in theater?
I'd have to say Le Switch.
Le Switch was at AboutFace...what was it about LeSwitch that hooked you?
It was very contemporary, about New Yorkers, which I relate to, and just being and making good connections with people. And how messy it can get. And it was very real and relatable to everyone.
I think Philip Dawkins knows how to write a universal love story. It's something that everyone should be able to relate to.
I've seen some big stuff, but it's so not relatable. I'm focusing on more intimate stuff and finding that really good story and good acting and unique...I'd love to do more of that. It's funny because I'm on opposite sides, I like intimate small theater, or I like big blockbuster, spectacle stuff and that's the stuff I fit into with my abilities.
It's a good sign if that's what excites you as an audience member and you find yourself in one of those shows then that's where you're supposed to be.
Yes!
Okay. Where would the sorting hat place you in Harry Potter? What house would you be in?
I don't know Harry Potter!!!
I can't talk to you anymore. THIS PODCAST IS OVER.
I don't know...is Hogwart's a thing?
Over the next thirty podcasts we're going to teach Nate Braga about Harry Potter. I think you're Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw and that's a total compliment. What are you binge watching right now?
My boyfriend got me onto House of Cards. It's funny because he's seen all of them.
So he's re-watching it with you?
No, we just started watching season four so I don't really know what's happening.
Does it work?
I'm so into it, but I have no idea what's happening! It's a really good show. You have to pay attention and everything is boiling and then everything blows up!
What was your first binge watch? You can circle back to Blockbuster if you need to.
Will and Grace was my nap time show. I would just turn it on...
And fall asleep to it?
Yeah. I have the whole series on DVD.
I'm coming over to watch it. That's a different podcast. Okay. At a buffet, what is your strategy?
Growing up our family would do buffets and it was gross. There were just these really hungry people just eating their lives away and it just made me not that hungry.
So your strategy is to hide from the people?
My Dad loves buffets and my sister and I would be grossed out and my dad would be piling it on then he'd have to go to the bathroom and we called it "the refill break."
It's all you can eat! So you don't have strategy for a buffet because buffets gross you out?
It brings me back to my childhood psychological...
Well we'll talk about that on a different podcast - childhood trauma. I'm glad I asked that question. Well, I think we checked a lot of questions off this list but I can't read my writing now because I'm drunk, so maybe we should end here? But this was lovely!
Let's cheers!
Let's cheers to you! Cheers to Nate Braga! He's lovely and so bronze and not red faced! Good night everybody!
Good night. It's 2:00pm.
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