For the ISAASE Be Inspired project, I interviewed Vishal Vaidya, who you might know from his recent run as Larry the Cameraman on Broadway’s Groundhog Day (or from #Rifftober). I’ve also known Vishal for over 20 years (we even performed a duet version of Christina Aguilera’s I Turn To You in our middle school talent show together, and acted in plays together in middle and high school)! In the interview, he chatted about how he got into performing on Broadway, what it was like for him growing up in Burtonsville (my home town), what’s next in his career (and the need for stability in performers’ careers), and the importance of diversity and representation for South Asians in performance spaces. ALSO, he chatted about why he hopes Monsoon Wedding the Musical or Bend it Like Beckham the Musical become big hits.

If you’re interested, you can read the full interview now over at ISAASE.org/inspired, or ISAASE.org/vishal-vaidya.

P.S. – More about ISAASE’s Be Inspired project, and a chat with Natasha Sumant of Gundi Studios.