If, like me, you grew up in the 2010s as a theatre kid, you are likely aware of how monolithic many of the leading ladies were at the time.
All immensely talented, pitch perfect but largely the same. White, thin, doll-like face, straight passing, all of these ladies could go from playing Cosette, to Glinda, to Sandy, to Elle. Even the more edgy roles like Elphaba and Veronica Sawyer were still largely interchangeable. The musical theatre landscape has long been stale and scared of change, not just in Australia but worldwide. There was also a very specific idea of what a “leading lady” was.
However, slowly but surely over the past few years, from the ladies of SIX the Musical, to the Schuyler Sisters, the definition of ‘leading ladies’ has been broadened, diversified and revitalised. In other words, the musical theatre industry started hiring more diverse performers and the industry is, in my view, doing better.
One of the main faces of this new generation of musical theatre girlies is Melbourne-based performer and Japanese-Australian queer woman, Karis Oka. She is a very beloved face within the online musical theatre community, with her performance as Katherine Howard in SIX the Musical being lauded by fans as one of the best portrayals of that role. She is an eclectic and talismanic performer, and an absolute force to be reckoned with. So when it was announced that she would be stepping into Lydia Deetz’s combat boots for the Australian run of Beetlejuice the Musical, it felt like the most natural and obvious choice to those who have followed her career (including myself).
The Age put it well, “If you’re only going to see one musical this season, let it be Beetlejuice”. The shows’ raw, poignant and witty lyrics, the dynamic staging, the beautiful cast chemistry and Karis’ star power – all of these are incredibly valid reasons to go and see the show. But I will add that there are very few things in life more special than seeing a star have their “I’ve made it” moment. Those who were lucky enough to attend the opening would have seen this slight flicker on Karis’ face at the end of Dead Mom – where she knew that she has crushed the number, and the audience was eating out of the palm of her hand. She, in that moment, realised that her dreams had come true. This was a magical moment to witness (there might have been a tear or two shed by myself) and makes me keen to see Karis inevitably go on to become one of the most important figures in the Australian musical theatre landscape.
We sat down with Karis ahead of her debut as Lydia in Beetlejuice to discuss all things theatre, representation, and queer! Here’s what she had to say.
Can you speak to the significance of Lydia being a woman of colour?
Woah, I feel like there’s so many things to be said about that. There’s I think something quite poignant in the fact that a lot of her storyline revolves around not quite feeling seen. I think there is a very obvious correlation there, not that I feel necessarily like I’m playing into that, making that a choice – but just on like a visual level, I know that that is there and that can represent that for anyone who needs to resonate with it.
But then also I think that it’s important in the way that representation is. I feel like it’s not something I’m working so much into her story because her story isn’t necessarily about her connection to culture, it’s very much family-related. But I can’t separate myself from where I’m from, and I don’t think that people watching should be able to either.
In which ways is your Lydia different from Winona or Sophia’s?
I’m bringing my own lived experience to Lydia and I am the age that I am, I’ve grown up where I have. I’ve also had some Lydia’s before me, in the way where I have seen these amazing portrayals of Lydia already – I have absorbed bits of them because I’ve been a fan of the show. But I also know I can’t emulate them, so I have definitely freed myself from the idea of having any sort of connection to those Lydia’s while still very much having them in my atmosphere, in my brain space, and in the energy around them. Honestly I am still, being in tech rehearsal I am still kinda working out my Lydia so I feel like it’s probably not up to me to say, so I feel like people who watch will probably have a better idea of how she’s different.
You are very beloved by theatre kids and everyone was absolutely obsessed with your casting. Do you feel pressure to live up to the expectations?
I totally could be overwhelmed by it, well I am overwhelmed by it in a good way. And I think there’s another side to that coin where I definitely could feel the pressure of it just in that I don’t wanna let a lot of people down. But I also know that I can’t think of that, and thinking of all of those people isn’t going to make my performance any better. Like I don’t find that helpful to be aware of while I’m on stage, I really have to lock in to scene partner and music and my take on the character and the story, and I kinda like save thinking about that stuff for stage door and in a funny way I think that my job becomes accepting love and stuff like that which is a really tricky lesson. I think people find accepting compliments very hard and it’s that dialled up to the max. But I do choose moments to let it fuel me and moments to block it out because I don’t think that it would be helpful to be aware of that type of pressure.
Is your Lydia queer?
I think she is but I also think she really isn’t thinking about it, she’s got some bigger fish to fry. I think maybe she would have an awareness of it – I actually always do think about any character I play and their relationship to love and sex and romance. I do also play a lot of teenagers and I think that there are some teenagers that are fully not even thinking about it yet. Whether that’s just where they’re at developmentally or socially, they are fully not aware of themselves.
Then there are those who are very aware but they won’t let it show. And then there are those who are aware and are really curious about that. I think my Lydia is absolutely queer but I don’t think it comes into what we see on stage at all because she really, really is consumed by the grief of her mum.
So, you’ve spoken about musical theatre being “the sickness”. When were you first infected?
I actually have a really beautiful story about this. I remember seeing Les Mis for the first time here in Melbourne when I was in high school, and I remember being like, “Wait this is the coolest thing ever”, and the person playing Eponine is in the cast her – name is Kerrie Anne Greenland, she was my Eponine. I saw Les Mis and was like sick, and then I went to my school and was like, “We need to do Les Mis” and in Year 12 I played Eponine in Les Mis.
What was the hardest part about playing Lydia?
In general I find it quite hard to be a normal human and do something as big as the role of Lydia. Even just being a part of this show is so huge and be a normal human like eat well, sleep well, have something of a social life, get your chores done, all of that stuff – I find it extremely hard and it kind of all feeds into itself.
On stage, in act two, there’s a really quick emotional turnaround from like, there’s this really climactic moment that’s quite heavy and you’ve just gotta bounce out of it and do a quick change and get into a slightly more goofy and upbeat song, kinda towards the end of the show, and I do find that is a bit of emotional whiplash. I am still working out how to do that in a way that doesn’t by the end of the show leave me feeling very dysregulated and kinda like I benched a very big cry. But that’s just a part of working out your track, you’ve got to navigate those things in a way that doesn’t wear you down over time.
Beetlejuice the Musical is running at Melbourne’s Regent Theatre. More information and ticket details are available here.
Top photo source: Supplied/Aaron Francis Photography
