Love at First Bite

"Motodop Cargo 1"

My first week in Cambodia was punctuated by some of the most amazing meals I’ve ever had in my life, as well as some eye-opening field trips to the markets and Phnom Penh’s infamous beer gardens that we’ll just classify as “research”. I’ve finally adjusted to the severe time zone flop as well as begun to venture out beyond a one block radius of my hotel.  My hair doesn’t quite understand how to deal with the heat and flash torrential storms, but I’m just about at the point where I happily look around me and comfortably call Phnom Penh home.

"Motodop Cargo 2"

But first things first:  My first day in Cambodia was relatively short-lived, as I was asleep by 4pm.  After a grueling 24 hours in the air, I was pretty happy to have the tropical humid air fill my lungs in a way that was viscerally reminiscent of the Philippines, where my Mother’s family is from.  There were, of course, soon the major indications that showed me I was indeed in Cambodia:  The golden-peaked Buddhist wats, the unmistakably Khmer script. But like Manila, the ever-present signs of teeming, chaotic, gritty, third-world city life make their mark.  The irreverent motodop drivers have very near misses with our van from the airport, carrying anything from mangos to piles of sugarcane to babies.  Yes, Babies.  Splayed out and asleep in the arms of their mother ( who at some times is also the driver), completely unaware and unphased by the heat and noise.  The faint smell of coconuts I had come to love in my Mother’s country was mixed in with something else, something pedestrian, yet intangible that goes into creating a smell of a place… the alchemy of which that is a repeated theme when our group assembles for our first Khmer meal.

Near collision... they didn't even flinch

With our castmate/local celebrity Tony as our guide (I think he’s the unofficial mayor here.  Really.) we find ourselves at Sweet Rice with a table on the patio for 11.  I was having a time with sleep deprivation, heat adjustment and the aftereffects of my hep B shot, but as soon as the first of the plates bearing stir-fried seafood with greens and rice came by, I perked right up.  The thing about Khmer cuisine, is that upon first glance, it’s reminiscent of some variation of the more popular asian cuisines: Thai, Vietnamese, even Chinese. And even the first landing on the palate there are the recognizable hints of garlic, sesame and soy.  What is completely unexpected however, is the extra dimensions of flavor that expand and explode in your mouth that has me befuddled and completely entranced. I have no idea what makes the ingredients pop the way they do, perhaps it’s because it’s so fresh, but I’m…entranced.  I’ve always believed that the way to really know a culture is through the soul of its food and its music.  I’m about to have the serendipitous opportunity to work with this country’s preeminent traditional and modern musicians.  If the music hooks me in any way like the food here has done, I may never come home again.

Our consummate host Tony and castmates

Cambodia, for starters.

TuK-tuk by the Tonle Sap

I’ve been a week now in Phnom Penh and finally starting this blog.  Finally!  I decided quite a while ago I wanted to write about the things I’ve seen and experienced in my happily extensive travels. I want to eventually backtrack and include entries and pictures from other adventures in Europe and Asia, but I’ll start from where I am currently.  I feel blessed and humbled to have the opportunity to experience other worlds that humble me even further… as an American, I have to admit I think there is a tendency to get a bit ethnocentric.  I think it happens to many landlocked folk who just haven’t had the opportunity to see otherwise.

Even though I’m a week in, I’d like to start at the beginning.  Many of my friends and family have asked me what exactly is this show that has brought me to Cambodia. Truthfully, I’ve had a hard time explaining, for A) It’s something very new that isn’t comparable to other musicals and shows I’ve done, and B) I’ve failed to find any summary that does this work justice.  So I’m going to attempt to talk about it here in addition to cataloging my unique experience traveling in Cambodia.  I also like to direct people to the website for the show:  www.whereelephantsweep.net  which describes this significant work much more eloquently than I could. The gist, however clipped and clumsy:  Where Elephants Weep is a modern (and first ever) Cambodian-American rock opera commissioned by Cambodian Living Arts, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) here in Phnom Penh, aimed at refurbishing the arts and culture in Cambodia that was practically annihilated by the Khmer Rouge not 3 decades ago.

As we delved into week one of rehearsals last week in New York, a lot of  stuff came up for me.  We spent a bit of time watching documentaries and sitting in round-table discussions with the director and writer to begin to create the world and lives of these characters we are to inhabit.  It was quite an intense realization for me as we embarked on that process, that we are literally telling a story that present-day Cambodians have lived.  It’s a bit daunting to take on:  The lives I am to reflect are ones that have included witnessing atrocities that I am quite reticent to mentally go through.  It’s been estimated that 2 million people were slaughtered under Pol Pot’s regime.  That’s 1 in every 4 people, no family had been untouched.  I struggled to fathom what that would feel like, translated into my world.  Needless to say, I spent the week pretty emotional.  On another level, I was surprised to see how similar Bopha (the name of my character) and I are.  As I spent the week tracking her emotional crossroads, I found they were many of the same inquiries I had personally. Though I really have to say it’s not that surprising:  Every show and role I’ve worked on has come into my life almost as an answer to the question of some emotional crossroad I had at that juncture.  The Universe never ceases to amaze me.

Despite my fears and slight anxiety about doing this character justice, I feel extremely safe in the hands of our director, producer and creative team.  These people have shown me another level of what being an artist can entail and I am humbled and excited by the prospects and process ahead of me.  Stay tuned for more…