I loved playing a very pregnant Mina Harker in “Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy” at Actors Theatre of Louisville the past 3 years. Photo: Jon Cherry

You know how life imitates art sometimes?

Well, turns out playing a pregnant Mina Harker the last 3 years was kind of like training for the real thing: I’m pregnant!

I’m due in September, and my partner Eric and I are thrilled and terrified, which seems right. We’re figuring out what parenthood will look like for two artists who care deeply for our careers and independence and were child-free by choice until relatively recently, and we’re grateful for all the advice and support from artist parents in our community.

One thing I’m coming to terms with is preparing to step away from theatre for a little while. I have been so fortunate to have built a career in regional theatre, but that kind of short term relocation will be challenging with a new kid. I have deep hope that this pause is only temporary and that I’ll be able to continue participating in local new play development (my great love!), workshops, and productions while navigating new parent life. And after discovering that audiobook narration feeds my creative soul in a similar way to theatre, I’ve spent the last year or so building a network in that arena. I’m therefore also hopeful that I’ll be able to record books from home while continuing to build my dubbing career once we have our new parent legs under us. 

Until there IS a newborn, I’ve been on a pregnancy journey, and the learning curve has been STEEP! I’ve been consistently surprised at how ill-prepared I was to contend with my changing body, hormones, and emotions, and I won’t lie – it’s been kicking my ass. I wonder daily about how conversations around reproductive rights in this country seem to skip over the 9 months of pregnancy (which challenge every woman differently) and instead focus on what happens after birth (which is itself quite a dangerous situation for many women!). The entire process is truly grueling, and I believe now more than ever that no one should do this unless they’re sure they want to be a parent; no one should be forced to be pregnant. I shall step off my soapbox now. Despite this thought plaguing me daily, it has been wonderful to have a source of joy amidst all the darkness in the news.

Another piece of joy is that I’m in a show!

I arrived in Dayton, Ohio a few days ago to begin rehearsals for Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance at Human Race Theatre Company. The play is about a close-knit group of former classmates – who called themselves the “Multi-Ethnic Reject Group” – who reunite to pre-game on the night of their 20th high school reunion. Bonded in their youth as outsiders, they now navigate the complexities of adulthood with humor, heart, and a hint of nostalgia. The Comeuppance focuses on millennials reckoning with the world they will soon inherit and is a toast to the ties that bind us, the past that shapes us, and the future we step into together. I play Kristina, a woman who spent her entire life doing the right thing, the things she is *supposed* to do, only to find herself feeling…not how she thought she would feel when she imagined her perfect life 20 years ago. I think we can all identify with the feeling that – for better and worse – we are not who we imagined we would be when we were kids.

Not only does this play resonate with me deeply, it’s also giving me the union contract weeks I’ll need to maintain health insurance beyond giving birth. (I’ll refrain from getting on another soapbox about how it is criminal that this country does not consider healthcare a right for all – message me and we can rant about it.) Plus, it makes me all verklempt to think of my fetus making their stage debut – I’ll be 6 months pregnant when we open! – and giving me one last theatrical hurrah. If you’re in or near Dayton, please join us! More details about the play, including how to get tickets, is below.

Below are also some fun updates about upcoming audiobooks, where you can currently hear my anime voice, and what’s going on right now with my advocacy work with 1497 and AAPAC (right on time for AAPI Heritage Month)! 

Come See The Comeuppance!

What’s happening at: 1497