Written by: Roseline Yang, Community Liaison Officer
In-between two drama performances and just half-an-hour before helping the students with their rehearsal for “Noises Off”, Brandi still calmly and happily took the time to give me an interview.
You recently finished the production of ‘Hoodies’, and you are now preparing the next production. How do you feel?
Busy but I love it (laughs). This is the life of working in the drama field, the life I have always dreamt of.
Why did you become a drama teacher? What inspired you to become a drama teacher?
Actually, my aim was not initially to become a drama teacher, but to work in the theatre on broadway. At the age of 15 I saw the rock musical RENT on Broadway, I knew right away that I wanted to be involved in theatre for the rest of my life.
Even if society was saying that this career brings “No money” I had to do Theatre no matter how I would be involved: work as a producer, teacher, even as a sweeper as long as I was in a theatre.
Wow…no matter how you would be involved…! What does a theatre encompass for you?
Theatre inspires me because it’s the place where everything is okay. Theatre can change the world. There’s excitement. You have to be at 100 % every time you’re on stage because with the audience in front of you, you cannot fake it. It’s happening here and now. Everything is real.
In Theatre Education, you teach how to be compassionate, to see the world from other people’s perspective. Think outside the box, be creative in the moment. You teach how to inspire change and how to see beautiful things in the smallest places. You teach students how to have empathy for another human being.
Most importantly, you teach students that they have great power for change. Even if the power is small because they are small, they have ability to do great things.
Alright…and how did you reach your dream?
Well, first of all I built on my music interest as a vocalist and performed at lots of events around my hometown. I had a stage mom who always pushed me to practice and came to every rehearsal and event. She really helped motivate me and always believed in me.
The biggest milestone was in my senior year of High School when I was selected for an intensive theatre education programme at the New York State Theatre Institute, which involved working for a professional theatre company. There, I learnt about costume design, set design & building, stage managing and performing on a professional level. It was a unique experience.
It was a New York State funded theatre programme, and it was the only programme that allowed high school seniors to work in the professional industry while receiving credit for school. The admission process was very difficult. You had to go through many interviews, auditions, recommendations, and show to the community that you were already involved. It was not possible to just apply without having already shown dedication to the arts.
I got to learn what it actually takes to be in the theatre, because I had to follow a schedule which was different from my high school friends. I was working from 9:00am to 10:00pm on weekends and my day off was on Monday. While friends would be on school holidays, I had productions to work on.
After that, I went to Long Island University where I gained my Bachelor diploma in Fine Arts and Acting.
Another milestone was when I decided to move to New York City. I was involved in so many unpaid shows and even started a theatre company with friends. It was not easy, but I was 21 and could pay for my rent and my food. Living there made me strong and believe that I could do anything. There’s a saying about New York that “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”.
So…did it work?
Well, not really at first. My “money” job was working as a waitress, and theatre was during free time. It was like working two full time jobs but with only one pay. I eventually became tired of being a waitress and started to work for a temp agency and interestingly, I was placed as a receptionist on Broadway, for a company called East of Doheny. They produced the Tony award winning production of Grey Gardens.
But having a foot in the door, I moved into different positions there and got to work as a producing assistant….I had an incredible boss who
became my mentor. She allowed me to see every show on Broadway and was always opening new doors for me to be more involved in becoming a producer. She is my mentor to this day and 
was a huge influence on me becoming a teacher.
So, in the end perseverance and hard work got me where I always wanted to be, on broadway. My parents who initially were worried about my choice of career path, were the ones later so proud of saying that their daughter was working in Broadway! (laughs)
The story continues…What brought you to Shanghai and YCIS?
My husband wanted to move to China and got a job in Shanghai. I wanted to discover new places so I hopped on the same train with him and we landed in Shanghai in January 2012.
Theatre offers so many possibilities: wherever you go, you find your people, because theatre is a close-knit community.
Before joining YCIS, I taught as a drama teacher in the same school as my husband. I also taught IB and then went to develop the drama department in the French school.
What brought me to YCIS is the well-rounded education philosophy of the school giving as much value to drama as other academic subjects.
Well, I’m happy that you joined YCIS and that you are also teaching our Year 6 students drama class!
So, what will be next on your agenda for the new semester?
I am continuing with the drama classes with all my students from Year 6 to IGCSE (Year 10&11)
I have my Year 8 students devising their own plays based on social change and exploring the different roles of a drama production– I’m eager to see the results and I’m inviting you to attend as well, of course!
There will be another big Secondary Drama Production in Spring although I am not sure of the dates yet – I have an idea in mind but let’s see where the winds (of Mary Poppins) take us.
One last question since our Staff In-Service is about caring about our Wellbeing and your job is supposedly in the field of leisure. What do you like to do in your free time (laughs)?
In order of preference:
- Travel with my family– Ireland is my favorite place in the world, because the people are the friendliest and the landscape is incredible and so peaceful
- Spend time with friends and family – Especially with my husband and baby boy, Asher.
- Listen to music – I like acoustic songs more specifically