My mother says I started singing before I could talk, and would make up wordless songs with definitive endings. At the age of eight, after watching other little girls sing and dance in a touring production of the musical Annie, I knew singing on the stage was what I wanted to do for a living.

My immigrant parents, however, for whom English was a third language, steered me towards more standard pursuits, like Accounting or Engineering, as they had done in the Philippines. I rejected this nonsense and decided that if I couldn’t perform, I’d write.

Directly after graduating from High School with honors in English and a fire to stick with Literature and creative writing at the University of California, a casting office in New York City called our house asking if they could fly me into the big apple to audition for a musical seeking young Asian singers and dancers. My parents were game. I didn’t book that audition, but I booked the next one.