Interview: Adrian Pang of THE KARATE KID at Princess Of Wales Theatre

Accomplished Singaporean actor Adrian Pang is bowing into the infamous role of Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid - The Musical, currently celebrating its Canadian premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre through November 1st. 

BroadwayWorld spoke with Pang to discuss the honour and challenges associated with 

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

---

Growing up in Singapore, were you exposed to a lot of theatre?

Actually, no. Growing up in Singapore in the early 70s into the 80s, there was practically no theatre to attend, let alone be part of. So, I was exposed to next to nothing in terms of theatre. My very first experience of the stage, ironically, was just being bored enough to audition for a school production of the musical Oliver when I was 15 years old. And, by some miracle, I was cast as Oliver's grandfather. So, I was a 15 year old grandfather to a 13 year old Oliver. We were a messed up family. And I was hooked. I thought, Oh my goodness, what portal has opened for me into this other world? And I was hooked, really. That was the end of me. And it was downhill from there.

Before your Canadian theatrical debut with Salesman in China at the Stratford Festival in 2024, you had about a 20-year stretch of performing in a lot of really well known, iconic shows in Singapore. What made you interested in performing in Canada?

Hey, you know, I'm a working actor. I take the work that would have me. The Salesman in China production was something that was thrown at me as an opportunity to be part of the world-premiere of this play. I was rehearsing for a production in Singapore at the time with the theatre company [Pangdemonium] that I've been running together with my wife since 2010, and all of a sudden I get this message asking if I'd like to audition for this production coming along at the Stratford Festival. I read the script and I thought, Yeah, I'd love to be part of this. So, I did my self-tape, sent it off, and then really didn't think very much more of it. And then, before I knew it, I was in Canada rehearsing for this brand new play and spent five months in Stratford.

In another interview I saw, you mentioned that you called Jovanni Sy, the director and co-writer of Salesman in China, who had played the role of Mr. Miyagi in the world premiere of The Karate Kid musical, when you were told the show’s creative team wanted to meet with you. Did Jovanni, whether before your audition or as rehearsals progressed, offer any advice about playing the role?

Yeah, well, I really have ironies. The director and co-writer of the play Salesmen in China had played the role of Mr. Miyagi in the St. Louis production of the Karate Kid musical in 2022. I kind of knew that as a fact, but Jovanni and I never really talked about it when we were worked together on Salesman. So, when the opportunity to audition for the Karate Kid musical came up late last year, I got in touch with Jovanni and said, "Hey, listen, am I kidding myself on? Did you play this role a few years ago?" And he said, oh, this seems to be happening in the UK and I've been asked to audition so any tips.

And he very kindly gave me his take on the whole experience, and I kind of infused that into my audition. But, to be perfectly honest, I always told myself that it was a bit of a long shot for me to be offered the role because I am as far removed from the very centered, wise persona of Mr. Miyagi as you could imagine. I'm very highly strong; I've got a terrible temper; I am a stress bucket, as my wife will say. So I do not exactly embody all the values and mystique that Mr. Miyagi has. But, hey, I'm an actor, so I just went for it. But I told myself, no pressure because you'll never get offered the job anyway, so just go and have fun. Which is what I did. And I had so much fun. I think the panel looked at me and got, let's have this guy on board and see what he can make of it. And so, you know, before I knew it, I was really sick for this show. And here we are. We toured the UK for four months, and then here we are in Toronto.

Had you seen the original Karate Kid movie before beginning on the project?

The Karate Kid movie from 1984 was one of those films that was such a touchstone for me as an 18 year-old, you know, feeling confused and angsty, and needing some kind of direction in my life. And I think what that film represented to me was that I needed some kind of a Miyagi figure in my life. I guess I've been looking for Miyagi figure all my life. But, you know, life will teach you lessons if you allow it to teach you lessons. I think, in a funny kind of way, in the last 40 over years, I've had to kind of become my own Miyagi, or try to, anyway. If you don't learn lessons from life, what's it all about?

What are some unique challenges you find that come with working with such famous and beloved existing source material like The Karate Kid?

That's obviously a huge pressure to live up to, people's memory of not just the story, but trying to honour and pay respectful homage to what the immortal Pat Morita had created in Mr. Miyagi, and making sure that the heart and the essence and the spirit of Mr. Miyagi is preserved and portrayed. It would be folly for me as an actor to try to replicate or imitate what Pat Marita did in the film. For one, this is theatre, and it's not just that, it's musical theatre. So, you know, the performances and the pitching of it has to be ever so carefully and lovingly heightened, you know, for the whole auditorium. I think it's also a chance to rediscover and to discover anew what I personally can bring to the character. I've actually really relished the opportunity and the privilege of stepping into these huge shoes and telling the story of Enai and just trying to give life to the character. Hopefully that comes across and we'll touch people in a special way.

You've touched on this a little bit already, but you've been a part of the Karate Kid through its UK tour and now Canadian premiere. What about this musical and the character Mr. Miyagi excites you?

I think the story is a classic; it's about right of passage, zero to hero, finding oneself. I think it's a story that everyone can identify with, to some extent, and it's a story that resonates with each one of us in a very personal way. I know it resonates with me. Many people I've spoken to, who love the film so much, have told me that watching this musical has reminded them all over again about the message of believing in oneself. At the core of the whole story is the lesson about finding balance in your life and within yourself, and that is something that I've been trying to find in my life in the last few years. I think it's a very potent anchor in the story as well, from the character of Daniel, the young boy, all the way through the generations, and to be something that's very real for the character of Miyagi, as well. At any time in one's life, you have to have some kind of an anchor and have a sense of balance. I think that's just a beautiful and a very tangible takeaway from this story, which I hope people will take away when they come, too.

How much of the show has changed since you began on the UK tour?

It has evolved ever so slightly. The more you do the show, night after night, audience after audience, you learn and you move the performance consciously, sometimes unconsciously. The audience every night is a new character in the production, and in the telling of the story every single night. The brand new audience is like the final character that you have never rehearsed with being invited into the retelling of this story. And you kind of work with them. An audience that really gives you a lot of love, whether audibly or not, gives you that kind of energy and really engages and connects with you. You can feel it. There's an energy that is intangible but also very real. An audience that is there to really want to engage, you really can feel it. And those nights are the most electric. That's the beauty of theatre. It's a bargain, a contract, a relationship that the storytellers have with the receivers. And, hopefully, the receivers are also giving back. If we have an indifferent audience then it's a little bit harder. But we'll give as much as we are able to. It's a conversation between us and us every night. There's nothing like it; there's nothing like live theatre.

There are some pretty heavy, emotional moments in this show as well that I feel would maybe take audiences by surprise. One of these moments, not to spoil anything, involves your character. 

The character on the surface, he's this very stoic, very implacable, very centered being who's able to impart these words of wisdom, these platitudes. But he really lives by them, and believes them, and he really has internalized it for himself. And this strange teenage boy from another world just collides into his life, and he takes him under his wing, almost like a surrogate son. And he finds that not only is he teaching this boy life lessons, but this boy also is teaching him lessons as well. One of these lessons is a slow kind of thawing of his shell, you know, this wall he's built around him, and just opening up to reveal his deep pain. He's had tragedy and hurt in his own life, and being able to share that with this young boy in a way is almost kind of exercising the ghost of his past. Whenever it gets to that part in the story, I think the audience genuinely is rather taken aback that this person who is quite enigmatic is revealing so much of himself, just a little glimpse of the human behind this karate master. That's actually one of my favourite scenes, because it's just a chance to humanize and a chance to move people. I think that today you just never know what anyone is carrying inside them. We meet strangers every day, and even our closest friends sometimes, you know, we might not know what a deep pain they might be carrying. It just kind of goes to show you cannot judge anyone, you know, by the cover and you just have to allow for one another's feelings and vulnerabilities. So, for myself, as an actor, I mean, I've been doing this for a while, so to be able to embody a character that has these different facets is a joy and a privilege, really. 

Most of your scenes in The Karate Kid are opposite Gino Ochello, who is making his professional stage debut as Daniel LaRusso. Reviewers have praised the on-stage relationship between your characters. Did you feel that you and Gino had an instant bond, or was that relationship something you had to work at?

To be perfectly honest, and I've told Gino this before, when I first met him at the photo shoot for the show, my first instinct after five minutes was, This kid could really start to annoy me very quickly. But, thankfully, he very quickly dispelled any concerns that I might have had about him, and he just endeared himself to me very easily. He is just the most lovely, the most charming, the most unassuming, the most hilarious young man that I've had the pleasure to meet and to work with. We have a really good laugh working together, especially since we started the run when we were on tour in the UK. The connection that we have on stage, I dare say, is very real. And there's a lot of love. There's a lot of cheeky, kind of unspoken connection between us. I love working with Gino. He's a pleasure. And he has a great career ahead of him. I have no doubt about that. 

As someone who's had extensive stage experience, was there any notable advice you gave to Gino or to other young performers in the cast?

My goodness. I never assumed that I have any worthwhile advice to give anybody. Really, it's just, on a daily basis, Gino and I giving each other a hug before the show, or even halfway through the show when we were backstage about to do a scene, just giving each other a little punch in the arm or hug. Just to give each other some energy. It's really cute because I open the show, and as part of the opening, I, as Miyagi, stand on the side of the stage to witness Gino coming on as Daniel. And I can see Gino at the side of the stage preparing to come on. Before he comes on, he always gives me this [holding up hands in the shape of a heart] sign and then he picks up his suitcase and comes on. So these unspoken little connections that the whole cast give each other, you know, and there's a lot of support and a lot of love amongst the whole cast. I adore every single one of my fellow cast members. I watch them on stage and from the side of the stage doing their thing every night in absolute awe and admiration. I say this with no sense of irony. I believe I have the easiest job in this whole show because I come on every once in a while and talk like that a little bit and then go off. Whereas every single one of them, they're practically on stage the whole time either as a spunky teenager or as a cobra in the cobra kai scenes. Or sometimes they'll be playing a mom or a tournament referee or a DJ and they're just on all the time. So they are working really, really hard and I think they should get a lot more credit than they really have been. 

---