At the tender age of six I made the permanent move to the United States. Back then, I couldn’t fathom how we’d make it across an entire ocean. Would the McDonald’s there have spaghetti like they did back home? I watched Mr. Bean on a plane ride that seemed to last weeks before landing in the shadow of the nation’s capital.

I was relieved to find America had Mr. Bean, too. After living in this strange, new land for three years, my sister joined her middle school production of Into the Woods as the Narrator. A wordy part. In preparation she pored over a recording of the original Broadway cast on YouTube. I watched over her shoulder, transfixed. The musical stage was also a strange, new land. Joanna Gleason, who appeared to be this country’s answer to Lea Salonga, held my heart in the palm of her hand. That giant stepped on her and my life hasn’t been the same since.

In the intervening years my preoccupation with showtunes led me to perform on stages across the nation. I’m now based in Brooklyn and living a version of the American Dream thanks to the friends, artists, and family I’ve found along the way. At times I feel like I’m still on that plane riding across the ocean and I savor finding new ways to bridge that gap between away and home.