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MARINA KONDO

UCHIDA (1) edited.jpg

December 3rd is Giving Tuesday!
In our current world and now the upcoming presidency, education and the arts are considered merely an optional waste. These are the first departments to get budget cuts federally, especially not-for-profit companies made to serve our communities. Unfortunately, we are more than ever in a dire position to fund and protect programs that KEEP ART ALIVE. I watch the landscape of the Arts in New York trying to adapt to this quickly shifting economy artistically, commercially, financially… I can’t help but wonder where that has left the artists themselves.

We have to start locally from where our voices are heard. And I’ve never felt that power so deeply than working at @ootbtheatrics. These are incredibly dedicated people wanting to prioritize your safety and voice and they hold a very special place in my heart.
I am so grateful for our production of SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE, translating and performing among hungry creatives who are so respected and believed in for what they contribute to our industry. It was life changing to witness what it’s actually like to do theatre supported by the people who believe in the ground work that makes New York City Theatre!
Please consider donating tomorrow to our beloved theatre community and perhaps you’ll have the chance to see what kind of magic we can make with the uphill climbs that lay ahead.

December 3rd is Giving Tuesday!
In our current world and now the upcoming presidency, education and the arts are considered merely an optional waste. These are the first departments to get budget cuts federally, especially not-for-profit companies made to serve our communities. Unfortunately, we are more than ever in a dire position to fund and protect programs that KEEP ART ALIVE. I watch the landscape of the Arts in New York trying to adapt to this quickly shifting economy artistically, commercially, financially… I can’t help but wonder where that has left the artists themselves.

We have to start locally from where our voices are heard. And I’ve never felt that power so deeply than working at @ootbtheatrics. These are incredibly dedicated people wanting to prioritize your safety and voice and they hold a very special place in my heart.
I am so grateful for our production of SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE, translating and performing among hungry creatives who are so respected and believed in for what they contribute to our industry. It was life changing to witness what it’s actually like to do theatre supported by the people who believe in the ground work that makes New York City Theatre!
Please consider donating tomorrow to our beloved theatre community and perhaps you’ll have the chance to see what kind of magic we can make with the uphill climbs that lay ahead.

It’s been a real slice!!!! My 🤍 @annika_ey 🫨🥗⚱️🇬🇷✨🥝🧿🪞🐈

It’s been a real slice!!!! My 🤍 @annika_ey 🫨🥗⚱️🇬🇷✨🥝🧿🪞🐈

This was a dream @nycitycenter ♡♪… until next time 🩶Captured by @jennyandersonphoto & @joanmarcus

This was a dream @nycitycenter ♡♪… until next time 🩶Captured by @jennyandersonphoto & @joanmarcus

I never thought I could be in this room.
So I was filled with deep gratitude to really contemplate my actual whole person in this space and time. Watching this company power through the impossible resistance of life and our current world right now overwhelmed me with tears every day this month. I am forever changed by their persistence no matter the mountain -still bravery, still joy, still hope, still faith…
Thank you to Lear, @jennygersten, @mrmikerosenberg, @helloellenore, @maestromoore, Lynn, Stephen, the late Terrence McNally, & @nycitycenter for this timely gift. Thank you to @npclaridad for your shoulder, and the many people in the room who dove into challenging discourse on how our differences actually bring us together throughout this process. I am feeling especially lucky and thankful to have chosen the path of being an artist at this moment. 🖤
📸: @jennyandersonphoto
📖: “The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans” by Claire Jean Kim

I never thought I could be in this room.
So I was filled with deep gratitude to really contemplate my actual whole person in this space and time. Watching this company power through the impossible resistance of life and our current world right now overwhelmed me with tears every day this month. I am forever changed by their persistence no matter the mountain -still bravery, still joy, still hope, still faith…
Thank you to Lear, @jennygersten, @mrmikerosenberg, @helloellenore, @maestromoore, Lynn, Stephen, the late Terrence McNally, & @nycitycenter for this timely gift. Thank you to @npclaridad for your shoulder, and the many people in the room who dove into challenging discourse on how our differences actually bring us together throughout this process. I am feeling especially lucky and thankful to have chosen the path of being an artist at this moment. 🖤
📸: @jennyandersonphoto
📖: “The Racial Triangulation of Asian Americans” by Claire Jean Kim

Today is for @companybway: happy closing to the home we created and to the joy and laughter we shared to keep us brimming with life.
Act 2, Scene 5-
my favorite scene for many reasons but for this company in particular, loaded with memories, happy/sad tears 🎁, cue #teamunderstudy, or a reassuring nod from Sondheim himself 💜🥂“Or… maybe the surprise is on us” 🎈

Today is for @companybway: happy closing to the home we created and to the joy and laughter we shared to keep us brimming with life.
Act 2, Scene 5-
my favorite scene for many reasons but for this company in particular, loaded with memories, happy/sad tears 🎁, cue #teamunderstudy, or a reassuring nod from Sondheim himself 💜🥂“Or… maybe the surprise is on us” 🎈

This timeless masterpiece is no doubt one of the greatest of the theatre canon. I am so excited to represent our existence in the world and history of Ragtime. What an honor to be wailing these powerful anthems along side the best of the best at @nycitycenter 🗽🪽

This timeless masterpiece is no doubt one of the greatest of the theatre canon. I am so excited to represent our existence in the world and history of Ragtime. What an honor to be wailing these powerful anthems along side the best of the best at @nycitycenter 🗽🪽

Red Carpet of “See What I Wanna See”

It is wildly surreal to work on something that chews you out through the bone, only to realize that you have more to chew through the very next day. I challenge our audience to move past understanding, and look to accepting, and only then can you start to see glimmers of the truth. “Believe and be free”, indeed.

I am, and I say this with my entire being, SO grateful for this experience and to connect with every vein of what made this show possible. I will hold this experience close to my heart forever.

📸 by the one and only @rebeccajmichelson
Styled by: @yung_perrier w/ @dynamiteclothing @jimmychoo

Red Carpet of “See What I Wanna See”

It is wildly surreal to work on something that chews you out through the bone, only to realize that you have more to chew through the very next day. I challenge our audience to move past understanding, and look to accepting, and only then can you start to see glimmers of the truth. “Believe and be free”, indeed.

I am, and I say this with my entire being, SO grateful for this experience and to connect with every vein of what made this show possible. I will hold this experience close to my heart forever.

📸 by the one and only @rebeccajmichelson
Styled by: @yung_perrier w/ @dynamiteclothing @jimmychoo

… 時間だ！⏳⌛️
Trying to get my heart, my brain down to my toes, all my senses come together to really remember this. All my praise to @lilporkbunz @adam_rothenberg @paul_mcgill_ @littlelizzybiz @ootbtheatrics, company and crew for this treasure. Happy Opening 🖤
📸: @thomasbrunot

… 時間だ！⏳⌛️
Trying to get my heart, my brain down to my toes, all my senses come together to really remember this. All my praise to @lilporkbunz @adam_rothenberg @paul_mcgill_ @littlelizzybiz @ootbtheatrics, company and crew for this treasure. Happy Opening 🖤
📸: @thomasbrunot

The Company
“SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE”

[Previews: September 4 ~ 16, 2024]
[Performances: Sept 18 ~ 29, 2024]
Ticket Link in Bio 🎟️

📸 beautiful portraits by @thomasbrunot & @whoismattrodin

The Company
“SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE”

[Previews: September 4 ~ 16, 2024]
[Performances: Sept 18 ~ 29, 2024]
Ticket Link in Bio 🎟️

📸 beautiful portraits by @thomasbrunot & @whoismattrodin

A week into this process and I can barely wrap my head around the fact that I’m working with this particular group, much less believe the amount of sheer passion painted through the space of @theatre_154 with flying colors.
Downtown New York Off-Broadway Not-for-Profit theatre is definitely where creativity bubbles. It is frightening, and it takes guts.
Looking forward to seeing you at @ootbtheatrics debut big musical production this fall. What they stand for and what they represent is quite literally out of the box and I think this is where I find hope this season. 🕰️📿

A week into this process and I can barely wrap my head around the fact that I’m working with this particular group, much less believe the amount of sheer passion painted through the space of @theatre_154 with flying colors.
Downtown New York Off-Broadway Not-for-Profit theatre is definitely where creativity bubbles. It is frightening, and it takes guts.
Looking forward to seeing you at @ootbtheatrics debut big musical production this fall. What they stand for and what they represent is quite literally out of the box and I think this is where I find hope this season. 🕰️📿

Pardon me as I nostalgically go through my entire year of @companybway. I loved this show and all the people who got me through it 🫂4 more:)

Pardon me as I nostalgically go through my entire year of @companybway. I loved this show and all the people who got me through it 🫂4 more:)

🏹🎂🤍Married/Divorced🖤🪽🚬
@hollywoodpantagestheatre @companybway
Photos by: @eclipticphoto
Styled by: @yung_perrier

🏹🎂🤍Married/Divorced🖤🪽🚬
@hollywoodpantagestheatre @companybway
Photos by: @eclipticphoto
Styled by: @yung_perrier

🗡️🚬🎞️🗽🪞🎋🐉🪭🪑I’m finally coming home to New York this fall to this all-star team of creatives and artists ♡
I’m passionate about Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s canon and Michael John LaChuisa’s inspired adaptation, weaving puppetry and Japanese Translations to this much awaited revival!
Honored & grateful. See you very, very soon :)) @ootbtheatrics
📸: Ryan Krukowski

🗡️🚬🎞️🗽🪞🎋🐉🪭🪑I’m finally coming home to New York this fall to this all-star team of creatives and artists ♡
I’m passionate about Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s canon and Michael John LaChuisa’s inspired adaptation, weaving puppetry and Japanese Translations to this much awaited revival!
Honored & grateful. See you very, very soon :)) @ootbtheatrics
📸: Ryan Krukowski

on the road scramble!!! 🍳⏲️

on the road scramble!!! 🍳⏲️

🧺🌳re: fav views

🧺🌳re: fav views

Two good pals & not enough hands! ⛵️🦆🧡

Two good pals & not enough hands! ⛵️🦆🧡

snacks and other little merriments

snacks and other little merriments

For me, this job has been about refinement.
Who am I on stage when Bobbie is a version of myself? What are my lived experiences and when that is the very thing in question, how do I show up?
This was an experience of giving an Asian woman the rare chance to discover who they are without any of the confines usually placed on them.
This was the challenge of not allowing a second of hesitation to creep in when given the very same playground originally made for a white hetero cis male protagonist created 50+ years ago. How far can I go if I would just allow myself that same sense of belonging where, in this version of the world, my instincts and attitude will always be the right one.

Thank you to @companybway for providing me the space to redefine what diversity and inclusion means to me. To the unwavering team from production, crew, and creatives for their support to get me here and the greatest understudy team in the business.

To this family of friends I’ve bonded with on the road. What an honor to get to do this with this adoring group, where every single person is undoubtedly magnetic and special in their very own way. I feel so lucky that the stars aligned and we all somehow ended up together. After all, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

And with the greatest pride - to Asian Bobbie, with love.

For me, this job has been about refinement.
Who am I on stage when Bobbie is a version of myself? What are my lived experiences and when that is the very thing in question, how do I show up?
This was an experience of giving an Asian woman the rare chance to discover who they are without any of the confines usually placed on them.
This was the challenge of not allowing a second of hesitation to creep in when given the very same playground originally made for a white hetero cis male protagonist created 50+ years ago. How far can I go if I would just allow myself that same sense of belonging where, in this version of the world, my instincts and attitude will always be the right one.

Thank you to @companybway for providing me the space to redefine what diversity and inclusion means to me. To the unwavering team from production, crew, and creatives for their support to get me here and the greatest understudy team in the business.

To this family of friends I’ve bonded with on the road. What an honor to get to do this with this adoring group, where every single person is undoubtedly magnetic and special in their very own way. I feel so lucky that the stars aligned and we all somehow ended up together. After all, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

And with the greatest pride - to Asian Bobbie, with love.

A Bobbie Bubi

A Bobbie Bubi

I still can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m in the original cast of my favorite Sondheim musical and this poster just makes it all seem so real. Incredibly grateful for this phenomenal cast on and off stage, the entire traveling team of @companybway, and everyone who’s come to see us and sat through all the laughter/tears/challenging feelings that this show brings. I love doing this show and speaking this poetry every day. In and out of boxes, the drama, and cities near you!
Shots by: @murphymade & @evzmm & @whoismattrodin

I still can’t believe I’m saying this but I’m in the original cast of my favorite Sondheim musical and this poster just makes it all seem so real. Incredibly grateful for this phenomenal cast on and off stage, the entire traveling team of @companybway, and everyone who’s come to see us and sat through all the laughter/tears/challenging feelings that this show brings. I love doing this show and speaking this poetry every day. In and out of boxes, the drama, and cities near you!
Shots by: @murphymade & @evzmm & @whoismattrodin

Back to business!! 🛩️🌂🧳 #tourtourtour @companybway

Back to business!! 🛩️🌂🧳 #tourtourtour @companybway

Shoutout my therapist, the hair chop, and that goooood company I call my friends

Shoutout my therapist, the hair chop, and that goooood company I call my friends

On holiday (Drew’s edit) 🇵🇷🪩 #elafters

On holiday (Drew’s edit) 🇵🇷🪩 #elafters

SPF2000 🌞🐠🏝️📖🐚🫶🏼

SPF2000 🌞🐠🏝️📖🐚🫶🏼

Cosplayed as a business woman at the Black Theatre United Inaugural Gala and my god! I’m! Inspired!! Thank you @michaelmichaeltheartist, the Vice President of the Executive Leadership committee of @blacktheatreunited and the Arison Foundation for inviting me to sit with other incredible @youngarts Alums to celebrate the wonderful work you are doing for the theatre community and the continued commitment for a more diverse and equitable space. “I am because we are” 🗣️ (phew!)
Dressed by: @luisaetlaluna
Styled by: @yung_perrier
Hair: @annika_ey

Cosplayed as a business woman at the Black Theatre United Inaugural Gala and my god! I’m! Inspired!! Thank you @michaelmichaeltheartist, the Vice President of the Executive Leadership committee of @blacktheatreunited and the Arison Foundation for inviting me to sit with other incredible @youngarts Alums to celebrate the wonderful work you are doing for the theatre community and the continued commitment for a more diverse and equitable space. “I am because we are” 🗣️ (phew!)
Dressed by: @luisaetlaluna
Styled by: @yung_perrier
Hair: @annika_ey

Phew!! We are officially open ❤️

This is a dream show. Brilliantly designed, meticulously, and exceptionally written - an ingenious creation that is deeply funny and what feels like an urgently warm wave of sorrow. I love this piece so much.

What an honor to have been a part of this creative process and to have the experience of receiving space to be genuinely heard and listened to.
Maybe not perfect, but this was the result of a swift and care-filled push for change. Now, this will be a permanent edit in our version of Company - approved by the Sondheim Estate.

With that, please believe in your intuition, first and foremost, and speak up. Creating out of love and abundance is all that I had to do.
This small victory was a lesson on how I can show up for myself.

This production was particularly keen on making the show as current as possible to reflect the world we live in today. What a privilege to represent that and bring visibility across the country proudly with gay marriages, interracial relationships, and diversity of all shapes, including a black Bobbie with her beautiful natural hair.

Many, many congratulations to this beautiful company - cast, crew, creatives, and designers!
I am particularly proud of this one.

Meet Susan with the blue-ish hair 💙

Phew!! We are officially open ❤️

This is a dream show. Brilliantly designed, meticulously, and exceptionally written - an ingenious creation that is deeply funny and what feels like an urgently warm wave of sorrow. I love this piece so much.

What an honor to have been a part of this creative process and to have the experience of receiving space to be genuinely heard and listened to.
Maybe not perfect, but this was the result of a swift and care-filled push for change. Now, this will be a permanent edit in our version of Company - approved by the Sondheim Estate.

With that, please believe in your intuition, first and foremost, and speak up. Creating out of love and abundance is all that I had to do.
This small victory was a lesson on how I can show up for myself.

This production was particularly keen on making the show as current as possible to reflect the world we live in today. What a privilege to represent that and bring visibility across the country proudly with gay marriages, interracial relationships, and diversity of all shapes, including a black Bobbie with her beautiful natural hair.

Many, many congratulations to this beautiful company - cast, crew, creatives, and designers!
I am particularly proud of this one.

Meet Susan with the blue-ish hair 💙

Had the chance to collaborate with some incredibly talented students at @umichmusicaltheatre - @alyssasunew & @oluchinwaokorie on a song they wrote together called “In Another World”.
Singing with @robertariza who has the dreamiest of dreamy voices.
This song got me in my FEELINGS! I remember getting goosebumps hearing this aching and hauntingly beautiful melody alone for the first time. I am so amazed at what Alyssa and Oluchi have created and am so inspired by their work. Please enjoy :)

Extra thank you’s to @shanktunes and @michaelmichaeltheartist who led this incredible project and invited me to be a part of this.

Director of MT Composition Minor: Lynne Shankel
Video: Christian Kassab
Recorded @powerstationatberkleenyc
Mixed by: #TomGardner
Musicians: Isaac Harlan (MD/Orchestration/Piano)
@maryannmcsweeney (Bass)
jreinhardtmusic (Guitar)
joemowatt (Drums)

Had the chance to collaborate with some incredibly talented students at @umichmusicaltheatre - @alyssasunew & @oluchinwaokorie on a song they wrote together called “In Another World”.
Singing with @robertariza who has the dreamiest of dreamy voices.
This song got me in my FEELINGS! I remember getting goosebumps hearing this aching and hauntingly beautiful melody alone for the first time. I am so amazed at what Alyssa and Oluchi have created and am so inspired by their work. Please enjoy :)

Extra thank you’s to @shanktunes and @michaelmichaeltheartist who led this incredible project and invited me to be a part of this.

Director of MT Composition Minor: Lynne Shankel
Video: Christian Kassab
Recorded @powerstationatberkleenyc
Mixed by: #TomGardner
Musicians: Isaac Harlan (MD/Orchestration/Piano)
@maryannmcsweeney (Bass)
jreinhardtmusic (Guitar)
joemowatt (Drums)

This year was a year of so many personal challenges and changes. For the first time in my life I felt like everything was unfamiliar. I had crossed my fingers and hoped that my next adventure will have me reaching new heights… and then 6 months ago my phone rings, door chimes, and finally, in comes @companybway 🎂💃🏻🎈

Hope Mr. Sondheim is still chuckling and smiling over this “Boca Girl”

First stop, my home state, Detroit, Michigan.
Come say hi 🥳

This year was a year of so many personal challenges and changes. For the first time in my life I felt like everything was unfamiliar. I had crossed my fingers and hoped that my next adventure will have me reaching new heights… and then 6 months ago my phone rings, door chimes, and finally, in comes @companybway 🎂💃🏻🎈

Hope Mr. Sondheim is still chuckling and smiling over this “Boca Girl”

First stop, my home state, Detroit, Michigan.
Come say hi 🥳

‘23 sweet summer postcards around the world 🥥🌾🎞️🤎

‘23 sweet summer postcards around the world 🥥🌾🎞️🤎

entering my ~soft era~ :)

entering my ~soft era~ :)

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© 2017 by Marina Kondo

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