Carnegie Hall, Living Room Shakespeare, and Supporting Emerging Artists of the NY Theater Scene

Times Square billboards advertising the next season of Broadway shows, like pixels in a domino, and the procession of taxis lined up outside packed houses is an image etched into Cindy Xu’s imagination at the impressionable age of 16. She had just landed in New York City for her own performance at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Selected as the First Place winner in an international speech and drama festival, Cindy performed a monologue from Christopher Durang’s “Death Comes to Us All, Mary Agnes”. Acknowledged that night by New York Concert reviewer, Anthony Aibel, “Cindy is a talent to watch; she is graced with pure talent and she gave the most memorable performance of the evening.” She would grace the stage of this notable performance venue two more times before graduating high school.

From there, she dedicated herself to theater with notable acclaim to come. While studying at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts drama program, Cindy ventured into the New York theater scene, putting on shows and performing at Off-Broadway venues such as the American Theater for Actors, The Tank Theater, La MaMa Galleria, and honing her screen acting with short films written and directed by the new Karate Kid, Ben Wang.

When asked what projects artistically attracts her, she replies, “I try to find characters that contain a hint of whimsy. When things feel otherworldly, that means the rules of reality aren’t applicable to some degree. So when I get that sliver of unfamiliarity, that’s when I get to fill it with something unique of my own. It’s important for me to explore characters that break precedents and create possibilities.”

Some examples of these multifaceted roles include Goldie from the original play, “The Doom That Came To Burger Slime”, which premiered for a sold out house at The Tank NYC in September of 2022. Ms Xu’s leading role was a teenage girl with a striking pink bob, who was obsessed with a fast food restaurant worker and Barry Manilow. She might also be an oracle. Cindy Xu was “a powerhouse of insistent youthful charm and turbulent secret understanding”, as Adam McGovern of the “Off-Topic” publication notes.

Another role she originated was the Serene Storyteller/Hai-Tang in Tier5’s “Legend of the Chalk Circle” which played at the American Theater for Actors in March of 2023. Marking her Off-Broadway debut, Ms. Xu explored the traditions of classical Chinese mythology, weaving together her heritage with newly interpreted ways of telling classic stories through a queer lens. From classical Chinese dance to a Sailor Moon-inspired transformation, the show brought to life everything exciting about theater for her: an opportunity to bridge cultures and niches to uncover new possibilities.

“A lot of the casting calls I come across are very grounded in growing up Asian and reckoning with identity– which is something I can empathize with, having immigrated to Canada at the age of 5. However, I’d like to explore realities where that’s not the most interesting thing about me, and that’s where the land of experimental theatreworks draws me in.”

While chatting about her artistic inspirations, Ms. Xu’s eyes lit up as she recounted her time in Berlin, Germany, studying the influences of Stanislavski, Brecht, and Beyond under notable faculty from the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts and The Berlin University of the Arts. “The program helped push me to the direction of devised work, and how to incorporate the audience into the show.”

Back in New York, Cindy Xu reunited with Shakespeare after a year apart, and took nights of group readings of “Romeo and Juliet” and “Macbeth” in her friend’s apartment, to open stages at La MaMa Rehearsal Studios and The Connelly Theater NYC. Collaborating with her peers at The Fool Volk, an experimental theater group based in New York City, she played Tamora in the production of “Titus Andronicus”, who was unforgettable in her metaphorically blood-stained and literally whipped cream-covered glory.

“The theater that I get to do with Fool Volk asks a lot of questions regarding classic texts and audience-performer relationships. It’s interesting to learn the perceived boundaries between the two sides– which varies from person to person, for both performers and audience members.” Cindy’s artistic statement doesn’t exist only in a frontward-facing manner, as she shares the efforts she’s taken behind-the-scenes to encourage the vibrant growth of other artists in the local theater scene.

Ms. Xu is also the Co-Founder and Head of Theater Production at Lighthouse Ladies Co., LLC. The production company was started by four NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduates, and does notable work as an international women-founded business. Their productions have gone on to become official selections at Oscar-qualifying festivals (Tasveer Film Festival) and boast sold-out performances in both Brooklyn and Manhattan.

“A major focus of the projects we take on is to amplify minoritized voices in the industry by creating genre-bending works. It’s so important to us that we help broaden the scope of what people see themselves as. Some ideas we have helped realize include producing a South Asian dystopian film (“Alone, Alone, Alone, in a Wide, Wide Sea”) and an all-female LGBTQ+ sketch comedy series (“Odditudes”).”

Ms. Xu is also a trailblazer in creating performance opportunities for emerging artists. As the Head of Programming in the theater department, she sees the challenges presented to students and recent graduates who have ideas for shows they want to stage, but do not have the finances or space to make it happen. “Creating theater at Lighthouse Ladies means giving artists the resources they need to make their shows happen. This includes finding performance venues, taking charge of PR marketing and social media advertising, and providing financial stipends to artists who need an extra boost in support.”

The latest theatrical event Cindy Xu produced along with Melina Rabin is “A Night of Unstageable Works”, which entails an evening of curated experimental performance pieces inspired by a non-theatrical found object. One piece was inspired by the Instagram “For You Page”, where actors popped up behind a life-sized white frame with familiar scripts from all the trending reels. Another piece was a back and forth dialogue between two men during the war times, expressing their love and also hesitation through postcard etchings found in a thrift shop. The show took place in the performance area of Alphaville Brooklyn, a funky bar with weekly entertainment in the heart of Bushwick. The sold-out crowd was packed and teeming with enthusiasm for the performances– a testament to the demand of original and accessible theater in New York.

Looking into the future, Ms. Xu has a lot of hope for indie theater despite the recent onslaught of budget cuts. “I really believe in the community we’re building, and the desire to unplug for 2-3 hours and laugh amongst a crowd in a dark, disco-lit room.” It’s apparent that theatremakers like Cindy Xu are integral to the health and longevity of performance culture in New York City and the generations to come. Her producorial role at Lighthouse Ladies has led her to speak at a female entrepreneurship panel at NYU Tisch’s Femmes in Film event.

“It’s truly a blessing to be where I am and have the people surrounding me. While the theater scene may have shifted dramatically since the last few decades, the transgressive power of art hasn’t lost its place in the world, especially when responding to all that is happening around us. It’s not just a dead-end outlet for self-expression, but will spark dialogue, introspection, and ultimately, the action that’s required for change.”

Catch Cindy Xu performing as Virgilia in Hudson Classical Theatre Company’s summer production of “Coriolanus” from June 27th to July 21st at Central Park, New York.