Interview: Brian Kim McCormick Talks APPLAUSE! at The Broad Stage!

Brian Kim McCormick is Minnesota raised in the real St. Olaf but who adventurously relocated to California, Los Angeles during the pandemic.. His recent LA credits include LE SWITCH with Broken Token Productions, WEST SUDE STORY! with the LA OPERA, The SOUND OF MUSIC! and INTO THE WOODS! with Musical Theatre West, THE WINTER"S TALE with Antaeus,  YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN! LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS!, and THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY with the Tony awarding winning South Coast Repertory. Brian's remarkable voiceover work spans cartoons, video games, dubs, and audiobooks, including POKEMON, SQUID GAME, and STACEY LEE'S WINSTON CHU VERSUS THE WHIMSIES. 

Brian sat down with us and took TEN QUESTIONS IN TEN MINUTES to share his wonderful journey from Minnesota to California pursuing his dreams in live performance. 

Where were you engendered and what is your star sign?

I was born in Seoul, South Korea and adopted at 3 months old to MN where I lived until post-college. I am a September baby and a proud Virgo.

How old were you when you first discovered live performance, and who was performing on stage?

My family was fairly performance heavy growing up. My dad was a professional jazz musician turned band director turned high school principal by the time I arrived in MN. My older sister and brother were incredible saxophone and trombone players respectively and both played piano. I don't remember a specific performance that inspired me, but I do know that around age 3, I was begging my mother to be put in piano lessons. The local teacher usually didn't take kids until age 5, but she made an exception for me when I turned 4.

Did your family support your pursuit of a career on stage?

100000% and have continued to be my biggest cheerleaders through all the feasts and famines. I didn't really start performing until my junior year at St. Olaf College (yes, it is a real place... and not like what the Golden Girls depicts... that connection is another story for another time). Thanks to a flyer posted in our commons, I decided to audition for a student directed/produced production of BAT BOY THE MUSICAL! and the experience literally changed my life. My experience with Bat Boy led me to doing summer stock that same year in upstate NY. I was actually supposed to graduate early, but midway through the summer stock contract, I remember calling my parents and telling them I wanted to go back for my senior year and take nothing but theatre classes. Eventually, I told them I was going to pursue acting for a bit instead of medical school and while my parents may have been worried, their only real comment about it was, "make sure you can pay your bills."

How did you train professionally? Did you study in college, or did you learn by observing and adapting from the best in the industry?

I had a hodge-podge of experiences that built my early foundation in theatre. The most important piece was growing up playing about 13 instruments and listening to mostly classical, opera, and jazz music. This really taught me musicianship and musicality. I played in several pit orchestras for musicals, which made me familiar with the canon, but didn't really sing or do theatre onstage until college. As I started to develop my musical theatre voice, I sang along to every cast album I could get a hold of with LES MISERABLES! (MICHAEL BALLl), RENT! (Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal)), and the LAST FIVE YEARS (Norbert Leo Butz) being huge influences on my vocal style. My golden age sound was really formed from singing with the choirs at St. Olaf College. YouTube and bootleg videos of performances were also highly impactful for someone outside of NYC. My time at Forestburgh Playhouse and the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres put me alongside some of the most talented people whose craft definitely inspired me to continue to grow and learn.

Can you share with us first production which paid you a professional salary?

Forestburgh Playhouse took me on as a non-equity resident company member between my junior and senior years of college. My first show (of 5, plus kids shows and cabarets) was CAROUSEL with the great TRISTA MOLDAVAN as Julie Jordan. Fun fact, years later, I went back to Forestburgh to play Mr. Hawkins opposite Trista as Dee Dee Allen - a true full circle moment.

When did you first fully realize Brian could sustain himself as a full-time performer?

For most of my career, I have had odd survival jobs outside of the industry ranging from hospital work, accounting for a global hospitality group, poker, and even Goldman Sachs. Sometime around 2018, I decided to let all of that go and only pursue work within my field, the majority being performing. Happy to say I am still making it work in 2026 (with some help from poker).

How do you feel artistically about pop ballad performers who step into replacement roles but make them their own through riffing or changing the final notes?

I love vocal flare just as much as the next person, but at the end of the day, I want a storytelling performance. For me, this means the riffs and option ups must be in line with what the character is experiencing for it to really be a knockout.

As an accomplished live orchestra singer yourself, do you have any strong feelings about singing to mixed tracks in a show venue?

I love live orchestra!!! There is just so much freedom to create when the singers and musicians are in-synch as one. I have sung to tracks several times for various productions and while the recordings sound wonderful, I do feel limited, and, if there are multiple cues within a track, I always have a slight fear that a track will not progress as planned and a performer will have to scramble to figure out where they are in the music. I know this usually due to budget, but whenever possible, I hope venues continue to employ live musicians.

With the recent surge in weighty awards (Tonys, Emmys, Oscars) recognizing Asian American talent, what impact does this representation have on a theater kid who identifies as a Korean American from Minnesota? Also, is "Minnesota Nice" a real cultural mannerism?

 Oofda, that is a lot to unpack. Growing up as an adoptee in a white family, majority white community, in predominantly white MN, I didn't have the same experience of "not seeing myself" in entertainment because I never felt my ethnicity was limiting. It really wasn't until I became an actor that I had to confront being Asian because that was how the industry saw me. Before I added "Kim" to my professional name, I would often get called in for what would traditionally be cast as a white actor and sometimes it would work in my favor and others not. As my career progressed, I became more of an activist for representation in all mediums and a promoter of my fellow Asian artists. Until things become more equitable across the board for all voices, I think it is important to continue to lift up my community as well as my fellow minority communities.

Minnesota Nice is absolutely a real thing, however, it might be better described as Minnesota Ice. On the outside and in public, we are some of the kindest and most generous people you will ever meet - smiles and greetings abound for everyone, however, behind closed doors... we might not always have the greatest things to say about someone. But right now, with all of the recent events, I think we are best known as Minnesota Strong. You can take your bigotry and hate somewhere else because we will not stand for it.

You have toured many great theaters across this country; but what are your favorite venues in LA, and are there any specific stages you would like to perform on in the near future?

I am extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to perform all across the country and I truly believe some of the best and most progressive storytelling is happening regionally. When I moved to LA during the pandemic, I definitely had the notion that LA is not a theatre town in the back of my head, but I am happy to say that has not been my experience. SOUTH COAST REPRETORY was the first theatre to give me my post-pandemic break and continues to be an artistic home that I dearly love. And of course, the legendary EAST WEST PLAYERS with whom I got to do a once-in-a-lifetime production of Sondheim's PACIFIC OVERTURES that starred Jon Jon Briones and GEDDE WANTANABE. The people and artists that fill that building are my family and I am so proud to have worked there. But truly, every LA company that I have performed with (LA OPERA, LATINO THEATER COMPANY, AMMO THEATER, ANTEUS MUSICAL THEATER WEST, and BROKEN TOKEN) have given me cherished experiences.

Regarding upcoming projects, Brian will be performing in the bold new world premiere adaptation of LERNER & LOWES' much beloved classic, BRIGADOON!, at the famed Pasadena Playhouse this May 13-June 14. New stylings and interpretations by Alexandra Silber  however retaining the original memorable choreography by the incomparable Agnes De Mille.  

The Musical Theatre Guild is a non-profit membership theatre company founded in 1996 by a dedicated group of professional musical theatre artists. Beginning in living rooms, these artists were interested in exploring and preserving the unique American art form of musical theatre by presenting either forgotten, neglected, or unfairly dismissed Broadway musicals.

Through the years of presenting our unique concert format (books in hand) on stage, The Musical Theatre Guild has perfected bringing these rare and unsung Broadway gems such as the Tony winning APPLAUSE! to life Sunday February 15 at 7pm, while also offering unique educational opportunities for both the current and next generations of musical theatre audiences.