Living a themed dream

cover story

A t first glance, it could be hard to pin down Danielle Chupak's ethnicity. Her twinkling round eyes looks Caucasian, but her glowing honey skin radiates Asian charm. When she wows the audience with perfect Cantonese dialogue, followed by flawless English when she sings, many in the audience begin to wonder where she is really from.

"I get that a lot. Sometimes when I'm doing the show and speaking Cantonese, I can hear some guests talking about me in Thai, wondering where I'm from. It's really distracting because I understand what they are saying and I want to answer but I can't!," said Danielle, who's half Thai and half British.

She is one of the very few Thais working as a Hong Kong Disneyland cast member. She ticks all the right boxes for the role as Bebe: a Caucasian hint in her enthusiastic brown eyes, gold streaked hair taken after her British mother, Asian shimmer and sunkissed skin from her southern Thai father, fluency in Cantonese from decades of living in Hong Kong, and her shining talent in the performing arts.

Danielle, who speaks fluent Thai, English and Cantonese, plays the lead role of Bebe in The Golden Mickeys, a 25-minute live stage show premiering inside the Storybook Theatre at Fantasyland, Hong Kong Disneyland. Bebe, an up-and-coming entertainment journalist, is swept up in Disney magic and the childlike fun of Disney characters. The role requires her to conduct live interviews and narration in Cantonese, as well as perform songs in English, both of which she excels in.

It is, literally, the job of her dreams, as she had long been mesmerised by the role when she first came to Hong Kong Disneyland when she was 14. "I studied in a school next station to Disneyland and I came after school one day and watched the shows and the parade. From then on, I really wanted to be a performer here. It was just amazing," said Danielle, who admitted that she had never imagined herself actually doing this as the dream had seemed so far-fetched for her 14-year-old self. "It's quite exciting that I'm doing this. It's like a dream come true. It's very fulfilling."

She landed this role in 2009, as if by magic, when the director of Hong Kong Disneyland went to her school, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, during the students' graduation performances. "He watched our performances and he enjoyed mine, so he invited me to audition the next day. That's how I got the job," she said with enthusiasm in her voice, still unable to believe how lucky she got, even after almost three years of working there.

Although she had been trained to dance, sing and perform when she was a student, nothing could have prepared her for the demanding nature and the high expectation that come with this job. It's not just about donning pretty outfits and looking gorgeous onstage - it has, in fact, been quite a laborous yet wondrous journey.

"I'd say it's really hard work. I was very lucky because I can speak Cantonese so as far as learning the lines goes, it was, to be honest, quite quick for me. The only problem is when I did training in school, I would train for two weeks for one show, and move on to the next. But here, I do the same show every day. So, to make it consistent and natural and fresh every day is very hard. I have to use different approaches, using a small different version of the character and that takes a lot of patience. But as far as hard work goes, I think it's very rewarding."

Not that she would deliver the same performance in every show - the very same song, to her, can be sung in hundreds of ways. Her highlight song is When You Wish Upon the Star, which the happy girl would sing as if her wish had come true, while a sadder Danielle would sing like she is looking for a glimmer of hope. These different flavours make her shows different and honest.

"For When You Wish Upon the Star, you can interpret that anyway you want and sing it the way you see it. You're a human being. You need to emote. It's natural to reflect your emotions in your craft. There has to be a reason when singing. In theatre we don't sing just because we're singing. We sing because speaking cannot describe the feelings that are so strong that we have to sing. That's what I love about theatre and the stage."

As much as she enjoys her role, she wishes she could explore other options, as well. However, it is a big challenge for her, as each role has a specific look and it is important that the person suits the character. "With my vocal range, I can probably sing Belle from Beauty and the Beast. However, because of my half-Asian skin tone, I can't because the role is Caucasian. That's been a challenge, so I haven't been able to realm out. But I just keep trying, show my interest and don't let it get me down just because I am different looking. It's just how it is. That's just life," said the exuberant performer with definite positivity in her voice.

Danielle is determined to become an international artist, and she has already written her own songs, which are about going great lengths to achieve dreams. While she knows that she has a long way to go, she is proud that she has already taken little steps.

"Just recording and producing my own songs, and putting them on a demo CD is definitely a start. One day I'll have my own album, hopefully soon. I want to reach the world. I always dream big - there is nothing wrong with that. You just never know. You can sit and ask yourself all day and think you're not this enough and you're not that enough. To be honest, you'll never be ready. You just have to go and just do it. So, yes, I want to reach the world."

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About the author

Writer: Napamon Roongwitoo
Position: Outlook Writer






Source: http://www.news.thethailandlinks.com/2012/09/22/living-a-themed-dream/