TOO Episode 31- Conversation with Theatre Maker Chan Harris

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In this episode, Adam and Budi speak with Chan Harris a true renaissance man of the theatre about his career in the theatre and how life can be circuitous and fortuitous at the same time.

Chan Harris studied at the Juilliard School with classmates that included Renee Fleming, Audra MacDonald, and Laura Linney. He studied voice with Beverley Peck Johnson, graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Music.

After graduation, he worked for Theatre Under the Stars (West Side Story, La Cage Aux Folles, the world premiere of Kopitt & Yeston’s Phantom, Evita, the Merry Widow), the Alley (Forever Plaid, Robert Wilson's Danton's Death) and in Houston Grand Opera's historic production of Astor Piazzolla's Maria de Buenos Aires.  He has been cast in several national tours (Evita, Big River, Into the Woods) and worked in New York, both Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway,  and in regional theatres all over the country in Forever Plaid, Brigadoon, Old Wicked Songs, Beauty and the Beast, Godspell, and was a resident actor at the Mountain Playhouse (Don't Dress For Dinner, The Winslow Boy, Funny Money, Inherit the Wind, Broadway Bound, The Lion In Winter, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). 

Internationally, Chan was cast in a German-language tour of Phantom of the Opera, for which he toured Germany, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland.  In Berlin, he worked for the prestigious Theatre Des Westens and Berliner Ensemble. He also created the role of Young Kafka in Kafka: In the Penal Colony for the Polish National Opera.

In 1997 he was asked to play Jesus in the Korean-language Jesus Christ Superstar for the Hyundae Theatre Company in Seoul, South Korea.  For this role, he was the first foreigner to work as an actor in Korean-language theatre and the first foreigner to win a “best actor” award at the Korean Theatre Awards.

In 1999, he was asked to direct the national tour of Forever Plaid.  At the Mountain Playhouse, Chan has directed over 20 plays, including four world premieres, three of which were commissioned through a grant by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.  He has continued to direct in New York and for theatres all over the country.

During his career as a director, Chan has continued to study. He enrolled in The Actors Center conservatory program, studying under Ron van Lieu (acting), Earl Gister (acting), Felix Ivanov (stage combat), Grace Zandarski (voice), Per Brahe (mask), Katherine Fitzmaurice (voice), Christopher Bayes (clown) and Frank Deal (improv).  He spent time in Bali, Indonesia studying Balinese dance, mask work, and kecak, and in Korea studying Pansori. 

As a teacher, he has taught all over the world. In addition to teaching masterclasses in New York City, at the University of Alabama, the University of Montavallo, the Foxcroft School, Bowdoin College, and the University of Texas, he taught drama and theatre development as a “sustainable” resource in the Transvaal area of South Africa through a U.N. Sponsored program.

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Show Credits
Co-Hosts: Adam Marple & Budi Miller
Producer: Jack Burmeister
Music: https://www.purple-planet.com
Additional compositions by @jack_burmeister