Seeing Yourself

Melody Her’s passion for arts and theater, and how it got her to Theater Mu’s “Again”

By M Yeager

If you are involved with Economics, Political Science, the Office of Scholarly Engagement or the various other circles that Melody Her ‘24 (Economics and Political Science) frequents, you may have heard about her most recent endeavor: playing Quest in Theater Mu’s production of Katie Ka Vang’s “Again.” If you are involved in these circles, you have also probably been invited to a group trip to go see and support Her in “Again.”

The cast of “Again.” Credit: Theater Mu

“Again” is Her’s first professional production. She has been in theater since first grade and has performed in productions such as “Macbeth,” “The Lion King Jr.” and “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon.” Initially, Her wished to be a screen actor, but found that theater is more where her passion lies. “Watching those [musicals], the dancing, the music, it just brings me so much joy and it’s very powerful to see all of those talented people on one stage,” Her said. “I want people to feel like that when they watch me.” 

Last summer, Her was accepted into The Ordway’s GreenRoom musical theater training fellowship. Her thought was, “There is no better time to devote time to my hobbies.” The fellowship was six weeks long, and at the closing session, numerous playwrights and recruiters were present. One of Her’s friends from the fellowship, Pagnia Xiong, was already involved in the process of “Again” with Theater Mu and encouraged Her to audition for the production. After Xiong had put Her’s name out at Theater Mu, Her received an email from Theater Mu inviting her to audition. 

Melody Her at a table reading. Credit: Theater Mu

Her was not initially planning on being a part of “Again” because of her responsibilities as a full-time student and the fact that she still had some stage fright. However, Her sent in an audition video, primarily for the experience. “[It was] the first time auditioning out of high school, and for a professional production,” Her said.

A couple of weeks later, she was asked to be in a workshop for “Again.” Her thought that since she was there filling in for the person who was cast as Quest, she did not get the part. A few days after the workshop finished, Theater Mu emailed Her and offered her the understudy position for Quest. Her accepted, thinking, “It’s not too big of a commitment; I can still be a student and be a part of Theater Mu at the same time.” A few days after accepting the understudy position, Theater Mu reached out and offered Her the role of Quest, which she accepted. 

Working with Theater Mu has been amazing for Her. All of the people at Theater Mu are “there with intention,” Her said. “Giving space to Asian-American stories, background and history. They pride themselves on that kind of work.” A lot of the work that Theater Mu does is progressive, and behind the scenes, they offer the space for those involved to be human. They recognize the work that they do is heavy and allow actors to tend to their own needs. 

Her and her castmates. Credit: Melody Her

Her has tried to implement a few things from her experiences in theater during high school, such as allowing herself as much grace as she did then. “I’ve learned a lot about myself since then,” Her said. “It’s about switching the mindset of ‘You deserve to be here.’” Her also talked about the difference between high school theater, in which people participated because the other alternative was art and clay, versus professional theater, where everyone there is going to give one-hundred and ten percent and want to do it with you. “In high school, [being a part of productions] helped me realize that I have a passion for theater and I have a passion for arts,” Her said. “Without those experiences, I wouldn’t have ever thought of going into the Ordway and now being in ‘Again.’” 

Her is very excited for others to see “Again,” especially because of the importance that it holds for Hmong-American representation: 

One of the sayings at Theater Mu is “seeing yourself,” and I think that’s really important for a lot of Asian-Americans, especially Hmong-Americans because in film or in productions, a lot of the representation is mainly Chinese. Not a lot of people know what Hmong is and being able to show that we’re here too, and this is our story. It is a Hmong-American story, and people being able to relate to that is important.

Go see Theater Mu and Melody Her in their production of “Again” between March 29 and April 16 at the Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis! Tickets are “pay as you are,” which means you are free to pay as little as $10 or as much as $60. There are also several special performances, which include an American Sign Language interpretation performance, audio description performances, captioned performances, Thursday actor talkbacks and an Asian-American Pacific Islander Affinity Night. 

To check out the schedule and buy tickets, please visit their website.