Hello! You there! Welcome to the first full episode of A Spoonful of Theatre!
I'm TJ, theatre practitioner, director and performer.
And I'm Sam Sam, a teacher of language, literature and self-proclaimed show business, luvvy!
This is our podcast where we spill the tea on all things Singapore theatre.
It's Tea Time!
And rather fittingly, today's episode is entitled Break a Leg!
Literally.
Uh oh, why like that TJ?
Well, because our guest is the one and only Andrew Marco, who quite literally broke his leg during Little Shop of Horrors,
and I had to learn the lead part in only three days and go on stage because...
Just a minute, just a minute! More on that later dear listeners.
But for now, pop the kettle on.
Grab a Bicky!
And let's add a spoonful of theatre to sweeten up your day.
Oh, we're here love!
We are here! It's our first full episode, Sam.
Our first full episode. Marvellous!
I am excited. I have loved the last few days looking at everybody.
We managed to get two episodes out already in our first month.
And it's been so lovely, hasn't it? Just all the responses and everyone engaging with it. It's been wonderful.
It's not just our mothers listening. It's quite a few of you.
It's great. Thank you for everyone who wants to listen to us ramble on.
Yes, I know the messages that we've been receiving on Instagram, on TocTik and all the...
Alright, uncle.
No, and a really big thank you to all. A lot of you have said you've wanted something like this.
You want the tea of Singapore theatre. So thank you so much for your support.
And of course, a big shout out to Zyrup Media as well, who is hosting us doing this podcast.
So a big thank you to you for helping us out with this. So yes, it's been fabulous.
It's been great. And you want the tea and we have got the kettle on and it is boiling and we are ready to spill it for you.
So we'll be going to all the shows, just like our Dear Evan Hansen Spill the Tea episode.
We'll be seeing lots of shows over the next few months.
So if you would like us to review a show, drop us a message and we will try and go view it.
And also we are going to be interviewing all the guests from Singapore Theatre.
So we'd like to know who you want us to have a conversation with.
Yes.
And speaking of, today is our first conversation.
It is our first guest.
And our first guest is on the way. He's stuck in traffic.
We've been receiving very, very interesting, very interesting voice messages from him on the way.
Oh, in different accents, which I'm going to ask him about. It's a big question of mine about his accents.
But it's going to be a very entertaining one. And I think for us, why are we doing these interviews?
We don't just want those kind of very typical corporate interviews where, you know, we're saying all the right things.
We want you guys to get to know the people. So I'm very lucky.
I've met most of the people we're going to be interviewing and work with them.
And you know, when you work with people, you talk in the changing rooms and in the rehearsal room and, you know, you get to know people on that level.
And I think it's fine time that we got to know all of our fantastic Singapore professionals, actors, directors, costume designers, backstage a little bit more personally.
And that's our aim for these interviews, isn't it, Sam Sam?
Yes, I completely agree. And for audience members, what we hope is that it makes them more accessible.
It's not like Hollywood or where they're up on a pedestal and you can't touch them or speak to them or anything like that.
As I've sort of been in your shadow meeting all these people, they're such wonderful, humble human beings and they have stories to tell.
And our hope is, is that you want to hear those stories as well. And we cannot wait for us and our guests to share those stories.
Absolutely. And our first guest, I think I just looked, he's pulling up now. So we are going to get ready.
And in a moment, dear listeners, we are coming back with our wonderful interview with the one and only Andrew Marko.
Stay tuned.
So, ladies and gentlemen, what a great introduction because our guest is in the room with us.
Sam, who is with us today? Two guests.
My sides have been splitting from the moment he's walked in the door. Ladies and gentlemen.
And he's discovered the sound effects button. It is chaos, ladies and gentlemen, already.
Oh dear Lord. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Andrew Marko.
Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. Hello. How are you, dear?
I'm doing very well indeed. How are the both of you?
All right. Yes.
We are good. We are good. But you know, I've got a bone to pick with you.
Oh dear.
Breaking, breaking bones.
I just want to say it's not my fault that it happened. OK, it's because too many people tell me to break a leg. And when it actually happens, it manifested.
Why, it wasn't your fault to jump on a platform and do a split leap onto the ground. Oh, she's not bitter, are you? I really are not bitter.
You were so happy to do it. You were happy to do it. It's your dream role. And you kept saying that was your dream role. And look, it manifests, right?
You know what? I genuinely, I do thank you. It was one of the best experiences. But at the same time, that was hell for three days to try and work out how to learn.
And anytime that you have to deal with hell, I think the best thing to do is have a drink. And today we've got ginca, Peruvian distilled gin, very small batch, handcrafted and distilled by Peru's first urban distillery, Berry's edition.
I'm going to have to put a sponsored link to this thing.
I know we are.
Oh, yes, there we are.
Oh, that sounded wonderful.
Okay, so when we say it's a tea, today is a slightly stronger tea than usual.
Okay, so Marco has brought us a lovely gin to have and he's pouring it now. So as you're doing that, Marco, why don't you tell us what possessed you to jump off a platform and break your leg?
Well, to be honest, I was born and then I was given this impression that I was cool and that I could be cool. And to be fair, the whole week I had been doing it perfectly fine.
You know, nothing ever went wrong. The final button of the song, I get up and go, boom, boom, da da da, boom. It was fine. It's fine. And then that one Saturday night, just, everything just gave way.
But just to clarify, no one asked you to do that.
No one asked me to do it, yes.
That was something added in.
Yes. And that's why the insurance just wasn't in my favor.
Otherwise, I would have single handedly bankrupted Sing’theatre. I'm still very sorry for almost doing that.
When it happened, did your life flash before your eyes?
To be honest, it was one of those moments where when I think back about it, I think that the trauma was just wild.
Because the moment I landed, I felt a crack on my knee. I felt something go off and I knew, I knew something bad had happened because then I couldn't feel my toes. I couldn't move my toes. I couldn't move my ankle.
And I thought, oh my God, I'm dead. I'm dead for life. I'm never going to walk again.
And then I hobbled off. And I remember when I hobbled off stage, everyone who was watching just went, oh, what a funny guy. Comedy, classic, Andrew.
Well, it's true. Show must go on.
Show must go on, yes. But then as I hobbled off stage, I tapped TJ on the shoulder and I went, TJ, TJ, no, no, no.
What I remember hearing was, oh, oh, oh, as we were hobbling off stage and I'm behind you going, oh, he's done something.
And then what I remember is I was right next to you and you got into the wing and you just collapsed in front of me right at my feet.
And all I did, I looked down and I went, I'm Seymour. That was literally, and I just, I stood there frozen for about three minutes as everyone else came to do first aid.
I was not helping you. I was stood absolutely paralysed in shock. Just looking down going, I'm Seymour.
I've got to memorize my lines now.
I'm Seymour. I was like, I'm Seymour. And then I remember telling, I was still in shock and Natalie came over and Natalie was like, he'll be fine.
He just needs to stretch out as you're laid there in utter pain. And I was like, no, Natalie, he's not coming back.
As we're calling an ambulance, I'm like, yeah, you're not coming back.
And then, yeah, the realization for us came in that we had to redo the show for Tuesday.
Bless you. You got yourself sorted, well, to a degree, you got yourself sorted. And then you came and watched the show.
And then I came and watched the show.
How did that feel?
It was, it was, I felt like I just wanted to jump on stage. And it was the first time in my life ever watching a show that I'm actually in.
Oh, yes. What is a real experience?
Yes. It's a strange feeling. I've never done that. I've never had an understudy. Go on.
Oh, that was a flex. Could you feel that? That was a flex then.
To be fair, there's not usually understudies. We were very lucky. We were very lucky.
So it was an incredible feeling. And I went, I remember I went with Eugenia and her mom and her two sisters.
And it was my first time meeting them. And it was supposed to be me performing on stage and going up to them going, oh, yeah, hi, I'm Andrew.
But no, it was just me sat in the audience with them going, that should have been me. I could have been doing that. But I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot.
And are you all healed now?
It's about 85 percent of the way healed. I'm still not allowed to run or jump, but I'm allowed to walk fast.
I'm allowed to do small tiny pivots, but I can't spin yet.
I'm sure your choreographers love you.
Oh, yeah. Gabby's having a wild time having to dumb everything down just for my leg.
Now then, Marco, darling, where did it? Oh, cheers, by the way.
Oh, cheers. Yes, yes. Cheers. We've got our drinks. Marco, thank you so much. Here we go.
Oh, that's lovely botanicals. Beautiful tea. Beautiful tea.
Well done, Peru.
Oh, wow. Oh, there we go.
Goodness. What am I in the middle of?
Marco, my darling, Marco, where did it all begin?
I think I was four years old and I played a cow in Milky Way.
No, I missed it by just that much.
No, it was a little school recital for Old MacDonald Had A Farm and I was the cow.
Oh, wow.
But then, of course, when I was in primary school and everything, I was in a lot of performance based stuff.
I was in a band. I played the tuba. I was also in the choir, which I hated because you had to sing like this all the time.
Very sound of music.
It was a nightmare. And then when I went to secondary school, I remember I joined the rugby team and the drama club at the same time.
And I went for a week's worth of rugby training and I thought, no, I'm not doing that. I'm not running out in the sun.
Drama clubs got aircon. I turned the other way and I went, I'm going to join the drama club.
But of course, I had terrible stage fright when I was a little kid because I've always been big.
I've always been really, really big since I was very young.
So the crippling anxiety of going on stage and having everyone laugh at me was just too much for me.
So I said, no, I am not going to perform. I am just going to be the backstage crew.
So that's why I started out. I started moving props, moving stuff around on stage.
And already that was like, I would get nervous. I would start sweating, you know, moving a chair on stage.
And I was like, oh, no, everyone's going to laugh at me. I can't do this.
And then I had this teacher. She passed away a couple of years ago.
Bless her soul. Her name's Sheila, Sheila Gregory.
And she was my lit teacher and also the head of the drama club.
And in lit class, for some reason, I was always a very strange kid.
So we were doing a reading of Animal Farm.
Oh, really?
And she was asking us to read out the book one by one.
And when it came to me, I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I started reading it like this.
And all the animals chorused all together. Four legs good, two legs bad.
I started reading it like that. And she went, what? Why? Why? OK.
And so she said, you can act. You can you can try acting. I think you'd be good at it.
And I went, oh, I'm not going to do that.
But still, she forced me on to stage. She said, I'm going to give you a small role. Just try it out.
And I did. I loved it. I just fell in love with the kind of applause that I got.
And I went, oh, I can do this. And then that rest is history.
I just started performing since then.
There's many a story where the literature teacher is involved.
Absolutely. I'm thinking of Patrick Stewart now.
No, you are. I need a Patrick Stewart button.
Have you read it? It's the best book I've read this year, Patrick Stewart's memoir.
And he had a mentor in his school that basically set him.
And they had with Brian Blessed, no less.
They had a little club. And yet it was it's the rest is history with that.
It's I mean, we're teachers.
It's nice to know that there's that they can be an inspiration.
Yeah, like that. Absolutely.
And I think, you know, I was exactly the same.
My drama teacher was was my absolute inspiration.
And I think, you know, when you have a good drama teacher or someone just that believes in you at that age,
it completely changes you in that one spark and just make a huge difference going forward.
So shout out to all the teachers.
Cheers to all the teachers.
Because you're teaching now as well.
How's that going?
I will say you're inspiring the next Marco.
That's what you're doing. That's what I'm doing.
And I've got I've got some one on one classes, which I love because it's just one on one.
And the kids are sometimes pretty enthusiastic.
But the group classes, I've got to deal with about 12, eight year olds.
That's one class and another class of 12, nine year olds.
And then on one class, my group classes, I've got two 14 year olds who, in contrast to the other two classes, are quiet.
They're just like getting them to speak is like trying to squeeze blood out of stones.
They just don't speak at all.
And the first two classes, they're just absolute chaos.
It takes me about 15 minutes to get them to sit in a circle and stay seated.
So that can be a bit terrifying.
But it's fun. It's fun. Honestly, I mean, I used to teach a few years ago.
And then I stopped because I said, I've had enough of children.
I can't do it. And then this year, my bank account said, well, maybe give that another shot because you hate it.
But look around you. Everyone hates their jobs.
But you know what? Those people have money.
So I said, oh, I've got to do that.
That does raise a very interesting question for the performers world in Singapore.
How hard can it get in terms of maintaining a living and as well as doing what you love?
Yeah, it can be really, really tough.
I think a lot of us struggle with that on a daily basis.
And a lot of us have to do all kinds of weird, random things to survive.
I know people who drive grab and people who do Lala move, stuff like that.
Oh, excuse me. The botanicals, the botanicals, the botanicals, lovely tea, the ghosts of the flowers just popping up to say hello.
So it can be it can be really tough.
I think what is always evident is that everyone always has a lot of passion about it.
And they carry on even though it's just so difficult.
And you go for like seven auditions and get one show, you know, or sometimes you don't even get any show.
And you have to settle for all these little tiny gigs that pay really, really little.
But you know, you always kind of do it with with the hope that someone's going to pick this up.
Someone's going to snowball my luck will snowball and everything will come true in the end.
But it's a tough it's a tough world out there.
Now, you see, that's very interesting as well, because I feel like most people that are listening to this probably have heard your name and see you in quite big shows.
Because I mean, you'd be very fortunate to have some amazing shows.
But yet we still talk like that even after all of those shows.
Absolutely. Because it's not guaranteed, right?
It's not no matter what you've achieved, the next job isn't guaranteed.
That's one thing that I would tell anyone listening out there who's who's like starting out.
And if you're if you're looking at me and going, oh, I know he must be he must be rolling in a lot of money.
It's not true. I'm still barely surviving.
And this will be next year will be my tenth year in this industry.
And even then, I'm uncle. I've reached that age.
I'm just old now. My back is hurting a little bit.
Everything's hurting. My knee is gone.
It's just as far as that.
All right. You are you are never going to let it go.
Maybe after this podcast. This is this is like therapy.
This is therapy. This is getting it out.
Sorry. Yeah, no. Yeah.
Yeah. But honestly, just keep doing what you're doing, I guess, I think.
So tell anyone. And it doesn't get any better or easier.
No matter how long that you've been doing this, it's still a struggle.
And it will always be one. I think that's just part and parcel of doing theatre in Singapore.
Has there been a moment where you thought I'm going to give it all up? I'm done.
Yeah. I mean, plenty. I mean, about twice a day.
And very often, like it usually happens around this time of year when when you realize,
oh, I don't have a lot of work for next year. Maybe I should just quit.
But everything always kind of sort of sorts itself out in the end.
I think COVID was a really tough time for a lot of us.
During COVID, I definitely wanted to just switch careers.
I wanted to move to Phuket, open up a bar or something, you know,
like just do a complete career switch or move to Tasmania, be a wildlife caretaker.
Because I love animals and I've always wanted to do that.
So I thought, I'll just do that.
Why am I stressing out about being a performer here and nobody really wants to watch anything?
But of course, that was COVID mindset.
And it's thankfully kind of eased off on my troubles.
You are not necessarily you've been in so many musicals,
but your training wasn't musical theatre and you just ended up in all of these musicals.
So actually going on to that, so like what was your background for training?
Those of you who don't know, how did you go from being a cow to the professional actor that we see today?
Well, it was in junior college. It was in JC that I took drama as a subject.
And I got some training for two years there. I learned ballet.
I was training ballet.
You've got very good splits, I'll tell you.
I do, yes.
Well, maybe before.
I'm not as stable now, but I'm training to get back in it.
So I did ballet there. We had like really good vocal coaches and acting teachers,
all of whom were teaching at Lasalle as well.
So I remember receiving all that and I thought,
well, this is basically like a condensed two-year version of Lasalle.
And that was it.
And then when I went to university, I did sociology and psychology.
Oh.
So nothing related to that.
Is that the proper job?
Yeah, exactly. That was the proper job.
And then I realised I'm just really bad at school.
I remember the first day of psychology lecture, there's a huge cohort.
I can't remember, at least a thousand of us.
My goodness.
Huge, huge cohort.
Which uni?
NUS.
Right, old.
Yeah, so in NUS, the guy walks in and he said,
OK, out of all of you here, only about four or five percent will become psychologists.
I was like, OK, should I go now? Should I walk out?
And it's true because you have to be the top, the top, top one, two percent of the cohort
in order to get anywhere.
And most of the time, the rest of us just go on to doing social policy making
or guidance counsellors and stuff, or therapists, you know.
Only a small handful become actual doctors of psychology.
So it's a tough field. And so I realised I'm not really good at it.
I did terribly throughout university.
What made you choose it in the first place?
Because I was always very fascinated with the human mind.
I've always, from a very young age, like philosophy and all these sort of thinkers of the great time.
I studied a lot of that even before going to uni.
I was very interested in Freud, Freud and Carl Jung.
That's about it, really, Freud and Freud.
I obsessed over those two for a long time.
I read a lot of their books and I thought, I can do this.
I'm smart enough.
Turns out I'm not that smart.
But let's face it, once we get into the rehearsal room,
that's a lot of an actor's job, is understanding the psychology of the character.
So I think it's maybe just a realigning of that interest to characters.
Exactly. And I think it carries on to the work that I do now,
because I'm really still very fascinated with the mind.
I'm very fascinated by different characters, different stories, different perspectives,
and how they can all be melded into one mind.
And how it's every time we are a certain thing, we are genuine about it,
even though sometimes we feel like we are acting.
But then acting is becoming because it's who we are.
So therefore, even if we're always acting, we're always true.
Therefore, is it acting at all?
Or is it just constantly different versions of truth?
Oh, how very philosophical.
It's the fucking gin talking.
I need some more Britannicals.
So how do you use that to inform your process?
I think it's one thing that I've always taken very seriously,
is the fact that your character can be anything.
It can have many different facets, many different shades, and they're all colorful.
I think all different perspectives and different shades of personality are very colorful.
It's so important to have that because there is no one who is just one-dimensional.
Nobody is just a boring one shade of something.
We're always a mix of everything.
And each mix has its own sort of color that relates to that mix,
and then they're all just intertwined.
So I love filling out details when I do characters.
I love creating very complex characters in my head.
And every little tiny little thing has so much motivation behind it,
so much sort of story and backstory and all the little quirks that a character has.
I just love filling them out and creating too much sometimes.
Do you take enough risks with it?
I do. I always... I mean, you can ask TJ as a director.
As a director of Marco several times, I can tell you.
This boy is always creating.
Exactly. I'm always playing around because I get bored very easily.
I hate doing the same thing over and over again, ironically.
So I love keeping things fresh.
I love throwing random new things into the mix,
speaking in a different way, delivering a line in a different way,
just for fun sometimes.
And my brain is constantly making stuff up.
It's constantly creating stuff as I'm performing different characters.
And yeah, I just love to do that in a rehearsal room.
That's why I need a director who will have the patience.
Thank you, TJ.
Patience to allow me to play and to do all these things,
and then will tell me, OK, read it back here, read it back there.
Has that always been successful, TJ?
No, so I tell you, OK, so I tell you with Marco,
I've been on a journey with you, and I think I've told you this already to your face,
but what I love about you in a rehearsal room is that you do play and you constantly play.
And that's really fun as a director.
Having options is really important, and I really value actors that come in and offer things.
And you also open to conversations afterwards and will say, no, that's not working,
and here's why, and we have a conversation.
But I do remember the very first show I worked on with you, it was Urinetown.
Oh, yeah.
And I remember coming into Urinetown as the vocal coach that was over at Pandemonium.
And after that show, I remembered going, I'm never working with this boy again.
And the reason was because on that show, I just felt like you were the Joker.
Yeah.
But you had also a character that was very playful.
And you were very playful in that rehearsal room.
And it was only by the time we got to Rainbow,
was I think the next time we worked together.
Actually, no, maybe just, no, it was Rainbow.
It was Rainbow.
And then I just grew up with completely different appreciations.
We were also fellow actors on that stage.
I mean, you had like three scenes.
He had his feet up the entire show.
I love that show so much.
Rainbow was when I first saw you.
And that I was really impressed because, and again, I've said this to you before,
your ability to turn an accent is incredible.
Well, thanks.
It was proper British, like that sort of Cockney accent.
There was a Cockney twinge to it.
And your accents, how are?
I don't know, really.
It's just one of those things that when I was very young,
I was very obsessed with accents, of course.
And I realized I could do that.
I could watch a TV show or a movie and sort of just take what I hear
and replicate it with my mouth.
And I thought, oh, that's pretty simple.
So when I was really young, I spoke with a really thick American accent.
And that was because it was like a defense mechanism.
I was made fun of a lot.
People bullied me a lot.
And so I was othered.
I was alienated.
And so I said, all right, how can I further alienate myself?
And it was speaking with an American accent.
And I started lying to people because I thought I had this kid in my class.
I remember his name was Keegan, right, when I was in primary four.
His name was Keegan.
Keegan was from Canada.
And he came in and everybody loved Keegan because he spoke like this.
And everyone was like, oh, he's so cool.
He's like from America.
So I started speaking like that and telling people that I was from America,
which is obviously a lie.
And then when the Harry Potter series came out,
I was obsessed with the British accent.
Every single British accent that was in that film, I was like,
oh, why does that British accent sound different from that one?
And what does she mean when she talks like this?
I need to know.
I need to understand this.
I need to know it.
I need to have it.
And so I did one by one, just slowly collecting accents through my life.
I must admit, I completely empathize with you with the othering.
I did the same thing at school because I was othered.
I am half Scottish.
But when I was at school, my Scottish pride suddenly came through
and I practically acted like a full Scot.
And my mom actually sold me out.
It was my mom who was the Scottish side of my family.
It was my mom that sold me out in front of my friends.
But it's interesting how that sort of othering and that want for acceptance
can influence your personality and your socialization in that respect.
I'm going very deep in academic here.
I think also, I think it's obvious, I was exactly the same.
But I think theater especially is a home for people that feel like that
because it gives you a chance to explore something else in a safe space.
And I think theater often does attract those that are maybe feeling a little bit left out
or needing to work through things, especially early in those kind of formative years.
Theatre was my favorite time of the week.
By the time I was 15, I was doing theater every night of the week.
I was working on different theater companies by the time I was 15.
So that to me was my escape.
And that's where I found my friends and my people and my family
and people that accepted you for everything that you are and who you are.
That's one of my biggest life regrets that I did not have that opportunity.
Speaking of that, so opportunity in Singapore,
I actually get quite frustrated when people say there's not the opportunity to do arts in Singapore
because there absolutely is. It's there.
I do believe that we can do better for different income levels
because I think it still can be quite expensive to train in the arts,
but I think that's the same around the world. That's a worldwide problem.
But how was your experience in gaining all of that kind of experience and training
after you finding me becoming a character helps me,
and then that goes to drama club and blah, blah, blah?
How did that part of your life kind of develop?
So I remember after I got out of school, I wasn't going to pursue acting, of course.
And I was like, in my head, I was like, oh, that's a hobby.
And I've been trained very well by Asian parents to think,
oh, this is not something that you should do as a main job.
And so I thought, yeah, I'm just going to have fun with it.
And the first show that I did outside of school was Lord of the Flies with SRT’s Young Co.
Now, I wasn't in Young Co, but my senior from school had given me a call and said,
look, I can't do this play. I'm dropping out.
But do you want to try it out? Do you want to audition?
So I went and Dan Jenkins was directing that show.
That was my first time working with and meeting Dan Jenkins.
Then doing that, I realized, oh, I really love this.
I'm just going to do this as a hobby. And so I kept doing that as a hobby.
I kept working. I worked with a lot of amateur theater companies
and stuff that just paid in experience.
This was like in 2012, 2013, so it was still very acceptable to do shows for free.
And so I did. Then I realized, oh, I kind of like this.
I think I can kind of sustain myself if I do this regularly enough.
And then in my final year of university, I did my first panto with Wild Race.
Oh.
And that was by complete chance too, because a very close friend of mine, Ben Kheng,
was in the show and he was like, oh, hey, Pam, the director,
is looking for actors who can play instruments and act.
Do you want to audition? So I said, OK, sure. I'll give it a shot.
And then Pam accepted me into the show and I was so happy.
I was like, yes, oh, it's cool. It's my first Wild Race panto. Whoa.
And then from there, I think Tracie and Adrian saw me
and then I was asked to audition for Rent.
And then after audition for Rent, they were like, hey, by the way,
we've got another show as well. It's about a kid with severe autism.
You want to try it out? And I went, oh, that's terrifying.
I'll give it a go. So I auditioned for that.
And I got Falling. And I remember getting Falling was my last year of uni.
And I was just about to graduate, you know, trying to get an internship somewhere.
And then after I'd closed Falling, I thought, oh, my, I think I can do this.
I think I can actually do this as a living. I can do this properly.
And if I get enough traction now, I can probably just keep doing shows.
I can sustain myself. And so I did.
And so I made the executive decision to say, well, screw this, screw school.
I'm going to just make it just the bare minimum to pass and to get my certificate.
And then I'm going to just throw myself into the industry.
And that's what I did. And I just never looked back since.
So you were in your final year of university when you did your first performance of Falling.
Yeah. My God. Yeah.
Because I, TJ very kindly took me to see Falling this year, your second round of Falling.
And I have to say, Andrew, what a performance. Thank you very much.
I was in your eyeline and you saw me sobbing like a girl. Yeah.
It was such a powerful play. And not just you to Karen and to Dwayne as well.
It was such a powerful story.
I think it's so lovely that we do have these sort of stories being shown in theatre.
I think Pangdemonium especially do always kind of champion that.
Yeah, absolutely. It's always nice to do shows that are rooted in that kind of realness.
Every time I get to do a show like that, I'm just so happy because mostly most things are like sunshine and rainbows.
And then you get stuff that's just hard hitting and it's like, ah, yes.
Because as an actor, there's this duality there.
This is light and dark that is always constantly fighting.
And I love to do comedy. I love to do the light stuff.
But I also love to do the dark stuff. And I love it when those two mix.
That's just my favorite kind of thing. That is very interesting.
I think most people see you as a comic actor. Yeah.
But I do know that for you, actually, that depth.
And even with comedy, I think one of the reasons you're such a good comedy actor is because you put that depth to that character.
It's not just bare bones.
Because I think good comedy is just as intense as a serious role.
Because you can't play that comedy just on surface level.
So I think that's really interesting.
I'm going to admit something here.
And I kind of alluded to this in the Dear Evan Hansen review is that I am the sunshine and rainbows kind of audience.
I prefer those kind of performances.
But TJ has dragged me out to and a lot of them happen, Pangdemonium, in fact.
Falling One Tango. That was Pangamonium, wasn't it?
Yes.
And I would go in with a wall and think, oh, God, this is going to be too serious.
You know, I like a laugh. I like a bit of frivolity and everything like that.
And they've actually all been very, I mean, as I say, I was sobbing like a girl, boy during Falling Tango as well,
which was one of my first serious plays in Singapore.
That was very empowering and very real.
And I don't expect to watch reality when I go to the theatre.
But when it's done so beautifully, it sticks in your memory.
Yes, sticks in your memory forever and ever.
OK, so for me, Marco, what is your what's next for you?
Like what's the next 10 years of Andrew Marco?
The next 10 years, well, hopefully, hopefully with more money in my bank account.
No, but I honestly, I'm at the point in my life now where next year will be my 10th year in the industry as an actor.
And I think I'm thinking I can't just be acting forever.
I can't just be, you know, a puppet forever.
I've got to surely I've got to do other things. I want to do other things.
I want to try directing. And I've always been a writer as well.
I've written a whole bunch of stupid stuff that I'd never really show anyone.
But I've got so much material somewhere.
Why sorry for interrupting. Why won't you show it?
You're willing to put yourself vulnerably as a person on the theatre.
But you won't show people your writing.
No, because my writing is so I'm so precious about it.
It's the I'm so precious about it because I think I'm the best writer in the world in my head.
So I if I show anyone my writing, I don't want you to tell me that this doesn't work.
It's mine. It's my therapy. I shall continue writing this scene.
That's what I used to do. I used to if I get frustrated or if I'm if I'm feeling frustrated with a friend, I would write a scene
with two of us and us resolving the conflict. I've done that on chat GPT.
It's fun. It's fun. Yeah, because you get you read it through and you go like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
They wouldn't say that. But yeah, it's yeah, it's therapy.
So hopefully more writing, more directing in the next couple of years for me,
probably more teaching as well, because that's that's where the money is.
Is there a dream role that you've never played that you hope to play one day?
Elder Cunningham Book of Mormon. That's my number one.
I would love to. I'd love to. 100 percent.
See you in that one. Yeah, that would be amazing if I could do that.
Hello. You know, that's just my favorite musical.
Again, I've not seen it. I know it's popularity, but I've not seen it.
Maybe we'll do that in London. We're going to London. Yes, please.
Maybe we can watch that. Yes. We'll have a look. Yeah, we have two nights, don't we?
Yeah. Yeah. OK. Anyway, do that. Yeah.
So I think for me, like everything you just said, and I also want to.
We've got a little bit of gossip just for this, just for this podcast,
because I don't I have a fact that most people don't know.
Andrew Marco found his name in a very interesting way, because it's not actually Andrew Marco.
And I've had permission to reveal this to the world. Yes.
OK, so Marco, please tell us the story. So my real name is Mabel Lee.
I'm kidding. No, I'm so so my and most people don't know this.
And that's fine. I don't I don't really explain this to many people all the time.
If you ask, I will tell. My full name is Andrew Mark Ong.
Andrew Mark Ong, that's my full name. I grew up Catholic.
So Mark is my middle name. And one of the first few shows that I did,
I don't remember what it was. It was just some some silly company.
I mean, not silly company. I love it. But I was doing a show and in the program booklet,
I put my name as Andrew Mark Ong, but it was really long.
And I didn't check the thing before it got sent to the printers.
And I didn't realize that the NG had gotten cut, not cut off.
And it just became Andrew Mark Ong.
And then the reviewers after that called me Marco.
So I thought, well, that's all right.
I guess I'll just be Marko. And the next show that I did, silly me.
I was thinking to myself, I don't want to put my name as Andrew Mark Ong,
because what if they they recognize me from the last play?
And you think, who the hell is this? Doesn't he look like Andrew Marko?
So I went, I'm just going to keep Andrew Marko.
And that was in 2013, 14. And it's been it's been ten years of a lie.
Now we know, ladies and gentlemen, it is revealed.
That's a lovely story. I absolutely love that.
That's fun. You heard?
There's many an actor or performer whose stage name came from from weird situations.
So, yeah, that's at least it's my name is rooted in something real.
It's reality. It's not 50 cent or something, you know.
But I just love the story. It's great. It's wonderful.
And you heard it here first, folks, on a Spoonful of Theatre podcast.
Well, our drinks are empty. And I think I think we have we have gotten everything out of you, Mr. Marko,
that we can get out of you in 40 minutes. But what's next for you?
What are you up to? It has been 40 minutes. So what is not what's next for you?
What can we see you in? Well, you can catch me in The Princess and the Pea.
Obviously, I'm playing the Pea. But not running, not running.
No, not running. It's a slow rolling.
That's pee. It's about the entire play is a lovely little children's play about the unary track infection.
I'm sure SRT will love that you said that.
No, it's the classic tale of the princess and the Pea told through the eyes of the Pea and a prince and a princess.
And I'm the prince. And that happens next week. We open Wednesday, which is the 23rd.
And we run all the way till the end of November.
We might be extending till the 1st of December. Oh, nice.
Fantastic. Good. Well, as always, it's always a pleasure, Marko.
And I can't wait to see you in the next thing and also work together again many times in the future, I'm sure.
And for Sam, I'm sure. Oh, thank you for coming, darling. This has been absolutely my I'm a massive fan of yours.
I've enjoyed every performance I've seen of yours. So thank you very much for coming. Loving your work.
Thank you very much for having me. Hope you guys enjoyed the.
Gin Cup, Peruvian distilled gin, very small batch, handcrafted and distilled by Peru's first urban distillery, Berry's edition.
And on that, we will see you later. Get out of our studio. Bye.
Marko has left the building. Oh, my God, my sides are split.
I love that man. I absolutely love that man.
He he's so humble. He's so personable.
And he oh, I just enjoy enjoy being in his company both on and off stage.
And I'm so grateful for him coming to to join us today.
Absolutely. What a great first episode. And I hope listeners, you enjoyed that just as much as we did.
And for me, because I've directed him, I've worked alongside him, I've acted with him as well.
Covered for him, understudied for him many times. Did I mention that?
Now, did the therapy work, dear? It did. I feel I feel very settled. I feel like we've settled.
Are you going to let it go now? Do you know what?
Genuinely, I'm joking about it, but I got to do my dream role.
Nobody should ever do their dream role with only three days practice and having to go on.
But it was a really great experience.
I hope it does go into the annals of Singapore theatre history that a director covered,
did the direction, vocal coaching and covered two, three of the main roles.
And I go on for two of them. Yes. Yes.
No, that was that was an experience. But enough about me.
But what I'm really happy about with that interview was I think we really got to see who Marco is.
And like you say, you know, he's a very genuine chap.
And I think he really cares about his craft. Yes.
You know, because I think he does.
You know, I think quite a lot of people see him as the Joker and they see that funny side of him.
But he's somebody who takes his craft very seriously and does put a lot of detail and a lot of work into his work.
And he he does that through play.
And, you know, actually, I talk about that all the time when I'm teaching and when I'm directing play is so important in theatre
because that's how we find things out and that's how we get all of these things.
So that came across, I think, into really well. I'm going to go one step further.
Play is important in anything. Absolutely. In mental health. I agree.
I think there's a lot of people out there that that haven't played for a long time and and maybe a bit down in the dumps.
And oh, go and be frivolous. Go and be silly.
And as you might find, you might find that you have a talent for it.
Absolutely. I'm working in industry for 10 years.
I'm still flabbergasted that he was in his final year of university when he did the first round of falling.
I'm still absolutely flabbergasted by that. Absolutely.
It's very lovely and I hope you enjoyed that listeners.
So to wrap up our episode every month, we are going to finish off with our hot sips, our show recommendations.
So here we go. Oh, there's a few things out there, TJ, isn't there?
So what do we have first? First of all, we have Checkpoint Theatre with their brand new show called Hard Mode.
This is a show, a brand new original show written by Faith Ng, which explores the in-between between teenage and adulthood.
That's playing at the Sota Drama Theatre from the 18th to the 26th of October. Tickets are on Sistic.
Now, we also have, as the lovely Marco told us, is The Princess and the Pea with SRT Little Company.
And it's for Three Years Old and Above, directed by the wonderful Daniel Jenkins.
And among the cast is Andrew Marco.
It is on from the 23rd of October to the 30th of November with hopefully an extension as Marco divulges to us at the KC Arts Centre.
And tickets are available on Sistic.
Absolutely. And our friends over at Gateway Arts are also putting out a brand new show called 12 going on 13.
Another Journey of Adolescence written by Michelle Tan with an amazing local cast as well.
That's on from the 27th of October to the 3rd of November over at Gateway Arts Black Box Theatre. Tickets are also on Sistic.
And of course, we have to give it a mention. Pangdemonium's Dear Evan Hansen. The reviews are out. Rave reviews.
And it's going on now till the 10th of November at the Victoria Theatre with Sistic.
Of course, if you want to know what we felt about it, you can go see it in our review.
But it is wonderful. We wish the cast and the production team a wonderful show with that one.
What else have we got on TJ?
Absolutely. So all of those four. Actually, there's a lot of teenage and child stories going on this month.
So if you want something a little bit different, Sightlines have got just the thing for you.
This is called Red, an artful murder. And Sightlines have been doing a lot of murder mysteries.
And you kind of watch the show, get involved. If you get certain ticket prices, you get a drink as well, which is really good.
So you actually get to solve the murder, interact with the cast. It's really interesting.
This is on from the 30th of October to the 1st of December. And the location is secret. It's to be revealed, which is very exciting.
It's a mystery before you even go. Hopefully it's not out in Malaysia and you have to take 20 cabs.
So we'll see when that location is revealed. But the location is, the tickets are over on Sistic.
So go catch Red, an artful murder now. And that is our hot sips for the month.
Now, dear, my Peruvian gin flavoured tea has gone cold. So I think we'll leave it there, shall we?
I think we should. And if you have made it this far in the podcast, thank you so much for supporting us.
And that means that you probably enjoyed yourself. So please do shout about it.
Follow us on whatever podcast streaming service you've listened to this on and also share a lovely story and tell your friends.
Because we want to make this podcast for everyone and support the local Singapore theatre scene.
But for that, it's for us to say cheerio. We'll be back soon.
And a ta-ra from me.
And to anybody and everybody working in Singapore theatre for the next month.
Break a leg.