INTERVIEW: Broadway’s Telly Leung celebrates World Pride with dance remixes
Photo: Telly Leung has recently crafted multiple remixes of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind.” Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by Emily McGill Entertainment with permission.
Telly Leung is a performer well known to Broadway audiences. The singer has been seen in a number of high-profile musicals, including most recently Aladdin. Plus there was In Transit, Godpsell and Allegiance, among others.
If audiences didn’t catch him in any of these shows, perhaps they saw him on TV in Glee, Instinct, Odd Mom Out or Deadbeat. There’s also his first solo album, 2012’s {i’ll cover you}, and his most recent recording effort, 2016’s Songs for You.
He’s an actor who stays busy, and that continues into the month of June with the celebration of World Pride in New York City. Leung has recently released three dance mixes to Billy Joel’s popular song “New York State of Mind,” all with the intention of celebrating Pride and honoring the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. He is joined on the remixes by DRWM.
Recently Leung exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox. He opens up about the new remixes, his time in Aladdin and what’s coming up in his career. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What inspired you to release a dance mix of ‘New York State of Mind’?
I’m a native New Yorker. I’m also a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and I love dance music. This song has always meant a lot to me, and I consider it an anthem to the city I love. I sing it often in concerts, and I even recorded a jazzy version of it on my second album, Songs for You. But, I wanted to reimagine it again for World Pride in NYC and the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. I want it to be a dance anthem for everyone who’s gonna celebrate Pride in my beautiful city this summer.
Are you excited for World Pride in June?
Yes! Absolutely. Pride in New York is already a huge event. This year, it’s going to be massive! I’m thrilled that we are going to have so many folks from all over the world come to NY to celebrate Pride with us, as we honor those brave and courageous people who stood up for our rights 50 years ago that night at Stonewall Inn. It was the beginning of a movement. Pride is both an opportunity to celebrate how far our community has come and a chance for us to come together to raise our voices about how far we have yet to go.
How fulfilling and enjoyable was your run in Broadway’s Aladdin?
My two years of being Aladdin on Broadway was an absolute dream come-true. It is not often that a Chinese-American actor like me gets to lead a Broadway show like that, and that’s large in part due to Disney Theatrical’s commitment to diverse and inclusive casting. I relished the opportunity to do that show every night with that fantastic company.
I joined the company in June 2017. One of the first events I got to be a part of was a huge pre-Pride Parade gathering of all the Disney employees — ABC, Disney Store, ESPN, etc. — at the New Amsterdam Theatre, right before the Sunday matinee. We all got to wear rainbow Mickey Mouse shirts as we had lunch before the March, and I was so proud to work for a company that was just as excited (and supportive) about Pride as I was. I didn’t get to march because I had a show to do, but my husband and I had a great time meeting all of the Disney employees that day before the big parade.
When did you realize you had a talent for singing professionally?
As a little kid, I would listen to the radio, and I would copy and mimic pop singers. I was an ’80s / ’90s kid, so that meant Madonna, Michael (and Janet) Jackson, Elton John, Billy Joel, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey and, of course, my favorite singer of [all] time, Whitney Houston!
I would copy every riff and lick and phrase she did. I consider her my first ‘voice teacher’ in a lot of ways. I was pretty good at it, too — and then puberty happened, and my voice changed! My mom and dad immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong in the ’70s, so their music was also very influential on me: Donna Summer, KC & the Sunshine Band, Bee Gees, Simon and Garfunkel, Queen, Journey.
What’s on the horizon for you?
I have several concert dates coming up at NYC’s Feinstein’s / 54 Below in July with my amazing jazz trio. I am also excited to play Peter in an amazing concert production of Jesus Christ Superstar that will be happening in Tokyo this October. I love Tokyo. It’s one of my favorite cities. The first time I was there was with the tour of RENT, starring Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, and I fell in love with that city. They also have very appreciative music theatre fans there — and I can’t wait to perform for the Japanese audiences again in one of my favorite musicals, JCS!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Click here for more information on Telly Leung.
