Interview: Andrew Seok & Chilina Kennedy of PUNCH: A NEW MUSICAL at Factory Theatre

PUNCH - A New Musical: Presented in Concert is inspired by the true story of Punch, an abandoned Japanese macaque (a type of monkey described as being highly social and intelligent) who became famous for his bond with a large stuffed orangutan toy. 

I spoke with Andrew Seok, who wrote and directed the new musical while also performing the role of “Akira,” and Chilina Kennedy (“Narrator”), a Canadian actress/composer/lyricist with a resume that includes Broadway, Mirvish and touring credits, on the Sunday before the world premiere. We discussed PUNCH, Seok and Kennedy’s frequent collaboration, making new (Canadian) musicals, and their upcoming projects. 

For those who are not familiar with the true story of Punch, what would you want them to know going into this production?  

Andrew Seok: I want people to know that this is a sincere, heartfelt, meaningful story.

Chilina Kennedy: Andrew's such a beautiful songwriter and it's such a gorgeous story and I didn't really know it [the story of Punch] until he was like, "Hey, do you want to do this musical?” It's based on a true story but he writes such a hopeful, emotional version and he does this very well. It's something that you can bring the whole family to, it's really for everybody.

Andrew, what made you want to tell this particular story?

AS: I wanted to tell it because I was fascinated and intrigued by why Punch had captured so many hearts around the world, including mine, and it was interesting to observe. I thought, let's write a couple songs about this, let's write a story about it and let's explore that and get to the root of why so many people are drawn to this adorable little monkey. There are millions of adorable little animals out there, but what was it that made this one so special and ultimately what made us all relate to him so much? So that was the main inspiration behind all of this.

Chilina, you’re playing the narrator in this production. What drew you to this piece as a performer, and what do you find special about what Andrew has created? 

CK: Well, first of all, I would do anything that Andrew asked me to do because I respect him so much. He's a really wonderful composer. Well, he's a wonderful so many things and I love working with him. Sometimes you say yes to a project because of the project and sometimes you say yes because of the people involved, or the creative team, or the writer. In this case, it was sort of like a perfect marriage of all of those things. I obviously love working with Andrew; he's put together a phenomenal cast and the material is beautiful. I also didn't really know the story very well. It's funny, I just watched a video today [of Punch] but I had to stop a couple minutes before the interview because I was tearing up. It really is incredibly sweet and vulnerable and it's a story about hope, and I love stories that are uplifting, as well as emotional. I love this character of the narrator because I sort of see her as a bit of a guardian angel. It's a lovely role to play and I get a very nice song to sing.

Andrew, what was the biggest challenge you found with adapting a true story, and a viral story, into a musical?

AS: [Punch] is a baby or a toddler or a young boy, however you want to see it, so that was quite challenging. Trying to find a voice for Punch took a lot of experimentation. A lot of people have a lot of opinions and their own personal experience watching these videos. If this was a completely new show, they would know nothing of what to expect, but now there's background to it. It's very interesting to present a new work like this that so many people are already attached to emotionally. Obviously, this is my take on it, and my offering of how I experience watching Punch grow up, but everyone's kind of going to bring their own experiences to the theatre, and it's really interesting and exciting to explore that.

What do you both find most beneficial, or challenging, about presenting a new musical as a concert staging? 

CK: Well, actually, I don't think it's challenging. I think it's kind of a wonderful opportunity for people to hear this new work, to really listen to the music and listen to the story, to the words without too much distraction on other things, you know, scenery, the rest of it. We really get to hear what Andrew has written. So I think it's kind of the opposite of a challenge. It's a gift. I always think musicals in concert are fantastic and it helps people hear it with fresh ears and a fresh perspective.

AS: I also think that whatever medium you choose, the goal is always to make it as great as it can be for that medium; so it's not a challenge, it's an opportunity and find the creativity and define the magic in what we're presenting in the format we're presenting it in.

You’ve worked together before on projects and at Eclipse Theatre Company (Andrew as Artistic Director and Chilina as Artistic Producer). What do you like most about working together?

AS: The thing about Chilina that is just so great is that she's probably the easiest person to work with. It is always a matter of, "Hey, what's our goal? Let's work together to achieve that." It's not as common as you might think, especially for someone with Chilina’s career. I think that's -- aside from her immense talent -- another reason why people love working with her. 

CK: ​​Oh, I love Andrew. You know, it's so easy to work with Andrew as well. Andrew is great at so many things, and the great thing is, I could ask Andrew to learn to fly a plane and he'd be like, "Got it.” He would figure it out, he's so smart, he can do so many things. He does so many things really well. I could trust him with just about anything and I know that if he can't do it, he'll find somebody who can or he'll teach himself how to do it, but either way, he's gonna get it done and he's gonna get it done really well. We also share a bit of a brain and I feel this way since we started working together, that we'll sort of look at each other, we'll kind of know each other's thinking, and we just kind of know how to get it done and how to get it done quickly. I just appreciate that so much.

Andrew, you often perform in the musicals you create. What do you like (or dislike) about being on both sides of the table? 

CK: You said something funny yesterday, that–

AS: You know, I did. I did a show with AJ Bridel and Gabi Epstein a couple years ago called ROSAMUND and at the cast party we were all sitting around having drinks and I said something to the effect of, "You know, I'm not an actor..." and they're like, "What do you mean you're not an actor?" It's not in my heart, it's not my passion to be an actor. My passion is to create and part of that creation is me being in it. Because I'm not an actor -- and this is the funny thing I said to Chilina -- I get to be in my shows and because I'm the director, no one can tell me what to do, so that's a huge luxury. If you're asking what's good about it, that's great. What's not good about it is your focus gets split. When I was younger it was a bit easier but as I get older and more tired it's hard to give equal focus to everything all the time. There are times I'm taking notes on stage in my head during a performance that I'm like, "Okay, remember to tell Chilina to walk stage left a little bit more, so she's in the light." Sometimes you're not fully in the moment or you might miss a cue.

Chilina, you’ve performed on Broadway and in many North American cities on National Tours. What do you find excites you about the Toronto theatre scene and Toronto audiences?

CK: Well, it's great to come home, first of all and I think it's a very smart audience. There's been decades of creating theatre from scratch and seeing really world-class theatre in Toronto, I feel you get a very intelligent audience. They're not always the loudest or the most brazen, but you get a real sense of how your show is doing in Toronto. I respect the audiences in Toronto. They might be a bit quiet compared to some American cities, but they really know what they're seeing, and I think you get really good feedback with Toronto audiences and they're really very warm as well. 

How do you think audience members will feel when they leave the theatre after seeing PUNCH? What do you hope they will take away from the show?

AS: I don't like, in general, explaining my pieces. I don't like when people say, you know, "What does it mean?" or "What was the thesis of this piece?" A lot of times I just feel it and embrace it. I go in and that's my vision of it -- a feeling, not words. So, with this, I hope that everyone can feel what I felt while writing it and what I felt when I finished writing it, and I don't want to put words to it, but I think there's a huge amount of warmth, hope, love and light in what can sometimes be a very dark world.

CK: And I just want to add to that, too. Something that touches me about a story like The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter is that even the smallest person has something big that they can do or say that can change the world. I feel like Andrew's done a really beautiful thing of weaving in this bigger message with this small monkey and his little story that went viral. So, I feel like, even the smallest little monkey, we need his voice just as much as we need any other voice. And I think that's one of the beautiful messages about the opening song in the show: the world doesn't need something else, it needs you, it needs your voice. I think that's a really great message. I think we need it now more than ever. 

AS: I'll say one other thing on that note. So when I was in Stratford yesterday, we were filming rehearsal between Chilina and me of the opening number. I had a little clip I sent to a couple friends just to get their thoughts on it. One of the friends, our mutual friend, who I always go to Stratford to see, I sent it to him, and he just wrote: "It's so lovely. Heartfelt, optimistic. We're all craving this. I feel it at work all the time."  I think that's kind of the feeling that I'm hoping people will have when they leave the theatre.

Andrew, do you have any plans and goals for the future of PUNCH?

AS: I would love this to be an animated musical film. In many ways, I kind of wrote it as that, because, again, it's a monkey, so I'm not visualizing the costumes like the elaborate costumes of THE LION KING, for example. While I'm writing it, seeing it in my head, I'm seeing a little monkey run across the rocks or swinging from a tree. In my visual it was either the actual Punch YouTube videos or it was an animated film, because now Punch is talking and singing, so it was an animated monkey. So, if that can happen, which, you know, might be in the works... we'll see.

What advice would you give to aspiring Toronto theatre artists looking to create original work?

CK: It's complicated because it can be really challenging and I think that if you have an idea that you are passionate about and you have a story that you want to tell, go for it -- no matter what roadblocks may appear, what roadblocks you come across or what roadblocks you may think are ahead of you. I think that the world needs Canadian stories right now, and Canadian voices, so it's important for us to tell our stories and to keep infusing energy into those stories and keep sharing them with the world. What happens a lot of times with Canadian theatre is it stops at our borders and I think the more that we can share it with the global community, the better, because I think we have a lot of talent in this country. So, KEEP GOING!

AS: My girlfriend is not in the industry, she's in real estate but she's my biggest fan and supporter. She will say to me all the time, "If you want to be an artist, be an artist. Don't compromise that art and do what you do the way you want to do it. No one became renowned and recognized for copying other people."

CK: Yes. 

AS: So, that is my advice. Be unabashedly, confidently, brazenly you, which, linking back to PUNCH, is kind of the message.

Are either of you working on any other projects you’d like to discuss?

CK: Well, I've written a musical that's going to London in January called WILD ABOUT YOU. So, that's exciting. We're working on final rewrites so that we're ready to go, and–

AS: London, England. 

CK: London, England. Yes. So that's what I'm working on and a couple other writing projects which is fun. 

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