Melissa Fahn

Interview with Melissa Fahn by Chris Moeser

Her voice just seems to sprinkle sugar, spice, and of course everything nice, but this Wicked cast member has more to her then a sweet voice, she has dreams. Melissa Fahn is far from her home of Santa Monica, but has made the journey for a very good reason. Fahn is making her Broadway debut and a dream come true in Wicked. Not new to the stage or even television, Fahn provides voices for such cartoons as Digimon, Cowboy Bebop, and Invader Zim. With her young playful voice and child like smile she fits very well into Oz. Through out animation land Fahn has become a very hot item, but now it is Broadway's turn to meet this rising star.

Coming from a family of entertainers, she seems to be at home in the spotlight. With a love for performing, she has accumulated a rather large list of stage credits from around the country. From Maria in West Side Story in Denver to Maryanne in Gilligan's Island, The Musical in California, Fahn has taken up residence on stage and it looks like nothing is going to move her. Private training and constantly being on the job has provided her with the environment to cultivate her talent. "[I'm] not trained in the classical sense," she said. "I went to one year as a dance major at Cal State Long Beach, but I started working and doing musical theater when I was really young like 12 or 13. My parents were very supportive. I was always in dance classes and would have a private singing coach. I was fortunate in that way, but sometimes I miss that university environment and sometimes I wish I had gone."

With the dreams of the stage and screen bebopping through Fahn's head, the choice to take the next step had to be made. Moving out, finding a job, and auditioning were next on her agenda. She was looking for stardom, but had no clue something would find her. "I had moved out of my parents' house when I was younger and got a job as a receptionist in a postproduction commercial house," she said. "So I was working one day and a voice over casting director who worked in the next building over came by to drop off some demos of voice actors for a TV spot. I accept them from her and she said, 'you have a really interesting voice. Have you ever done voice over?' I said, 'No, not yet'. She said, 'I want you to make a tape, anything, you can read from a magazine. Just make a tape and bring it over to my office...' A few days went by and I hadn't done the tape and she called and said, 'we just so happen to be auditioning for the new voice of Betty Boop and I want you to come in.' I went in and met them. Then they called me back. I sang "I Wanna Be Loved By You," read some dialogue for them, and I got it. It was a complete fluke. It was a wonderful, wonderful break for me."

Providing a voice for a character has endless possibilities, but can also be a channel to bring new things to the surface. In supplying the voices for her list of characters, Fahn believes it pulled more of herself out, bringing to life things she had always wanted to be, do, or say. She believes hearing her own voice come out of Rika of Digimon or Gaz of Invader Zim seemed to create some changes. Changes that brought about a realization of what and who she is and mostly what she is capable of. Maybe in her case, life imitates art. "It is thrilling and also really gratifying to know I can let myself go, to be free and create apart of me. I think all of my characters have a little bit of me in them. It is a wonderful feeling." As she finished she let out a laugh. This child like laugh seemed to bounce around the Starbucks like if it was playing at a playground. Fahn has this energy about her that seems to fill the room, and you cannot help but have it rub off on you. Always smiling and laughing, she is the type of person you cannot help but smile back at. A smile will arise across your face. You have no control over it.

Fahn provides the voice for some head strong and off the wall little girls. For example, Edward on Cowboy Bebop is a young brainy vocal girl hacker that hangs around with bounty hunters, but one character stands out for Fahn, one with which she seems to really have a connection with. "I think one of my favorite characters is Rika on Digimon," she comments. "That character came along at a time in my life that I was doing a lot of growing and discovering about myself personally. Rika is kind of traumatized and heartbroken. I was able to put a lot myself into her. I channeled my heartache and growing pains that I might have been feeling at that time into her. I liked Rika because she was really gutsy and a brave little girl. I was able to become a little braver and stand up for myself a little more. At the same time I was doing Gaz on Invader Zim. Gaz is an angry sort of dark character that takes no shit from her older brother or Zim, but I like Rika a lot. I am proud of her."

From its beginnings of a two-and-a-half hour first act when initially preformed in workshop, Wicked needed some time and changes before making the jump to Broadway. Changes seem to come in the form of rewrites and cast changes. No one is safe when you are trying to make a hit musical, not even the leads. "I saw three or four Nessaroses, two Elphabas, two Glindas, three Wizards and three or four Madame Morribles and each time you have to believe that they are not lacking talent, they just have a different vision of the way a character goes and you just have to say ok. There were three solid cast changes and I didn't understand at first but when I saw them I understood completely."

After a lot of hard work and sweat, the show received the call and she and the show were going to Broadway - The Great White Way was now just a few steps away. "Throughout rehearsals we all had a feeling it was going to go. When we got word, it became almost otherworldly. O my god, this is really going to Broadway. It was pretty amazing. It was something I had always wanted. When I heard we're going and you're going, it really solidified something in me. That Broadway is possible even from the west coast. Maybe I'm extremely lucky and everything lined up right for me, but it was really really exciting. It was a dream come true for not only me but for my family as well."

Broadway is a long way from California. So far that everyone could not tag along. The people that supported her and cheered her on had to stay behind when she embarked on her dream of Broadway. She was met with the challenges of cast changes, leaving behind her family, and putting a hold on her career in voice acting to move closer to Broadway, but she kept all of them with her, in her heart. "It was very difficult. I just got married a year and a half ago. I have had to be separated from my husband for extended periods of time. I also left behind my brothers and their little babies; I'm an auntie now. I miss them so much. Also career wise, you have to say I am going to go do this venture, I'm going to be back. Please don't forget me." Halloween marked opening night for the show, but mostly a dream come true. "I think I cried at the curtain call," Fahn said. "My parents and my husband flew in for opening night. We were all a mess, we were all crying. So much of this is a dream of my parents and my brothers because of what we all do. I'll never forget opening night."

This dream come true became a target for the city's critics. They began digging their pens into the show. Mixed reviews began surfacing in papers throughout the city, but this did not worry the cast and particularly Fahn. "The critics have problems with certain aspects of the book and music, but we already felt how the audience responded to it. We had already gone through San Francisco and there we had standing ovations every night and were always sold out, it kinda charged us and told us not to worry about the reviews."

Even though many pay to be entertained by the cast of wicked: the musical, one could never have guessed the actors get a kick out of watching the audience. "A couple of weeks ago, there were some girls in the front row saying every line and singing every word. I don't think they know that we can see them; it sends the giggles through the cast. As soon as one gets it, it tends to spread."

New and exciting projects are out on the horizon for Fahn, but she takes it one step at a time, living by the motto, "Really really believe in yourself and give yourself a solid foundation. If you have a solid planting, I think anything is possible." So clear the way, Melissa Fahn is here to play.