Actress/singer T.V. Carpio made her official Broadway debut in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which finally opened last month at the Foxwoods Theater in Times Square. Right beside her during this momentous event in her life was her mother, Hong Kong music legend Teresa Carpio who flew to the Big Apple to watch her daughter dazzle audiences in her starring role in the most expensive Broadway musical ever.
“I’m very happy to be here in New York. I’d like to congratulate my daughter, she’s a star on Broadway!” Teresa said as she chatted with a room full of Chinese and Filipino-American press.
The Chinese-Filipina showbiz veteran praised her daughter’s performance as Arachne, Spider-Man’s spiritual mentor, and cited the role as an example of the great strides that Asian artists have made in the United States in recent years. In addition to her mother’s positive review, T.V.’s performance is also receiving unanimous acclaim from leading theater critics and sold-out audiences.
“As a mother, words can hardly describe the pride and joy I feel seeing T.V. on the Broadway stage,” added Teresa, who recently served as head judge and vocal coach on the Chinese version of the international television singing competition, The Voice. “And as an artist, I realize what a remarkable achievement this is for T.V.—very few performers ever reach such heights in their careers. Also, the fact that she’s an Asian performer breaking through in the American entertainment industry makes her accomplishment even more significant.”
T.V. (which is short for Teresa Victoria) has been blazing her own trail on Broadway, which she started to pursue after her studies at the New School in New York City.
Deciding to focus on acting, she moved to Los Angeles, and within a few months she was cast as Prudence in Julie Taymor’s acclaimed feature film, Across The Universe. She was last seen in the role of Valerie in the Robert De Niro/ Bradley Cooper starrer Limitless and on ABC’s Body of Proof.
Because of her role in Taymor’s musical drama, getting into Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was almost expected.
Following the early departure of the actress originally cast as Arachne, T.V. was awarded the part after impressing Taymor and Spider-Man composers Bono and The Edge (of the multi-platinum selling rock band U2) with her powerful voice and unique interpretation of the character. The role, which features T.V. being suspended 50 feet above the stage in a harness, required her to draw on all of her training as a performer.
“As someone who has studied acting, singing and dance for many years, playing Arachne is truly the opportunity of a lifetime,” said T.V. “This role allows me to do new and exciting things that push the boundaries of what is possible in a Broadway show. It is an absolute honor to be part of such an innovative production.”
2011 has been a breakthrough year for T.V.
In addition to her starring role in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, she also co-starred in the hit Robert DeNiro/Bradley Cooper thriller Limitless, which was released in March. Since then, she has made numerous appearances on major television talk shows including Late Show with David Letterman and has been featured in leading magazines and newspapers. She is currently recording songs for a potential debut album.
T.V. is very thankful that her mother, and their entire family, is always behind her.
“My mother has been an inspiration to me my entire life both personally and professionally. It’s a big, surreal dream for me now and I’m just so excited to have her with me specially now,” she said. “Her love, guidance and support have given me the passion to pursue my dreams even when they seemed beyond impossible.”
Asked about how physically challenging her role is, T.V. replied, “It can be very uncomfortable. The harness is very tight around the waist. I try to breath well. I don’t even get to touch the stage the entire time.”
Despite their best efforts, critics have not been kind to them, particularly during the musical’s initial incarnation.
“The hardest part is getting all the technical aspects to mesh with the actual acting part,” admits T.V., adding, “The best part is doing it every single night in front of an appreciative audience.”
As a mother, Teresa said she is just to proud that her daughter is starring in a major musical on Broadway.
“I am very grateful that my daughter decided to sing and share her talent with a lot of people. She has been here 17 years. I’m very proud of her and all her achievements. Race is a very big issue everywhere, especially here in New York. It is the place to be,” Teresa said.
Teresa also recalled the days when her daughter was in between shows.
“Back then, when my friends ask me how T.V. is doing, I tell them that she is a professional auditionee. She would not give up and she would just go on and on. It is a very tough business and I am happy she has found her niche,” she said.
Teresa should know. She has been in the business for 42 years now.
“Unless you love it, I don’t think you’d be successful. I want her to be very successful in this field and I think she is. She’s very happy with what she’s doing and she shares her joy with everyone,” Teresa added.
Since winning Hong Kong’s First Talent Quest at the age of 6, Teresa was on a fast track to the top. By 11 she was hosting her own shows in Tahiti, at 14 she was the youngest performer ever on television in Japan, and at 18 she was a household name all over Asia. Her best known songs include We May Never Love Like This Again, Could We Start Please, and When Will I See You Again as well as the Chinese-language songs If, True Love, Sukiyaki, I Still Remember The Time and Why Give Up.
“My grandfather, my uncles, my dads, they were all very good jazz musicians, and I was the first female in the Carpio family. It was a very high standard to live up to,” Teresa admitted.
After hosting her own musical variety show for three years on HKTVB and starring in the award-winning original musical City Of Broken Promises, Teresa took time off to raise her children.
She gave birth to T.V. in Oklahoma City and brought her back to Hong Kong where she grew up. When T.V. was in junior high, her family had moved back to the States where her promising ice-skating career was curtailed by injury.
According to Teresa, T.V. would listen to everything, from jazz to pop to heavy metal.
“She was able to be free to decide what she wants to do with her life. She wanted to go to Costa Rica to learn Spanish. She wanted to go to Pampanga in the Philippines to learn Tagalog. She is better than me because she speaks Tagalog,” Teresa said laughing.
Upon graduation from high school, T.V. took time out to become fluent in Spanish before enrolling herself into the jazz program at the New School University in New York City.
She appeared as a dancer in music videos for Bruce Springsteen and Whitney Houston, among others, which led to small parts on television’s Law and Order and The Jury. As an alto soprano she sang with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in her mother’s acclaimed Diva concerts. From there she worked with director Spike Lee in his film She Hate Me and his Showtime movie Sucker Free City.
In 2002, Teresa returned to Hong Kong to hold a series of concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, which resulted in a best-selling CD/DVD. Since then, Teresa has sold out the Hong Kong Coliseum numerous times and has received prestigious awards including the Golden Needle, an honor that is only given to those artists who have made an exceptional contribution to the Hong Kong music industry.
Teresa amassed these achievements as a music icon in Hong Kong and on this particular day in June 2010, she was in New York not as the legend but as a supportive mother to her daughter who is just beginning to accumulate her own string of achievements.
Her feelings can very well be summarized in one sentence.
“I watch her as an artist and I say, ‘She’s doing good! She’s doing really good!’,” Teresa said.
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