Conversations with Carla Mongado: Stories of resilience through her song

By Marivir Montebon

New York – Carla Mongado has this distinctively sweet and solid voice on stage, earning her not just praises but goosebumps as she renders her songs. She has been performing at small functions in the Filipino American community in the East Coast and has now spread her wings to greater heights. She has set foot on stage off Broadway and outside New York.

The year 2024 will be promising, as the past year had been nothing but breakthroughs in the performing arts. Her latest gig, titled Christmas in the Dells, in Wisconsin was a test of stamina and vocal artistry as the lead performer. Produced by Legacy Entertainment Group, the three-month show was a resounding success.

Carla finished her degree in Music, major in voice and piano, at the prestigious Silliman University in Dumaguete City in southern Philippines. This landed her immediately as a voice coach and incubator and director of a music school in CMP Music and Theater in Malaysia.

Island’s Song

Her greatest accomplishment at such a young age of 20 was setting up a school of 10 students to a full-blown music institution of 300 students. Each year, three school musical productions were created, thereby honing the musical and performing talents of students from age 5 to 55.

Carla continued to explore and found her way in New York in 2018. She finished her Master’s degree in Religious Studies at the HJ International Graduate School for Peace and Public Leadership in 2022.

Christmas in the Dells in Wisconsin

During the pandemic, she hunkered down and was busy reaching out to health frontliners by providing coffee and food runs to Filipino nurses at the hospitals during the harrowing days of the pandemic.

Currently, she is a freelance voice teacher and working on her first solo album and will debut her first solo concert titled “Short Stories”. This is in partnership with the nonprofit organizations Women’s Immigration and Communications Café (Wiccafe) and Women & Media (WAM).

Excerpts of our interview:

MM: Hi Carla, welcome and thank you for joining me today.

CM: Yes, I'm so happy to be here and that was quite a generous introduction. Thank you.

MM: I'd congratulate Carla because she's a very loved student at our school which is in Manhattan, and she sings for us during important occasions because she has a wonderful voice. So, Carl, tell us how you are doing right now.

CM:  Most of my friends here in New York probably don't know that my background is teaching. I taught for many years, about 11 years, before I moved to New York. I was in Malaysia for a teaching job.

I taught there for six years, and I also directed the school there for six years.

We started the school when it was just a studio with about 10 students. I was very blessed to have a very generous and understanding group of leaders in that company. They gave me a chance to create and expand that space. After two years of teaching, we were able to get about 300 students who were regular and active.

We were also able to get other teachers. That experience really helped me to like not just teaching but also to like and learn about administrative work and running the show and running the school.

MM: Wow, so it took out the best in you.

CM: Yes. I was quite young at that time. I did have a lot of advisors, but it was just hard work that taught me. I remember I most my friends would get me out of the work because I would not stop working but that was because I really see through the school.

In the Philippines, we have after school, and we have like different kinds of extracurricular activities. In Malaysia, I'm just talking about this little state called Kuching and there's a lot of talent in there but they just go for music lessons but they never really experience performing whatever they learned in school, so that was our mission to provide a stage for the kids to learn and just enjoy the magic of theatre.

The company was able to build us an auditorium for us to have performances every year.  We produced about three shows in a year. That's quite a lot.

MM: Who are your students? The young ones or teenagers?

CM: It's really for all ages. The youngest that I could remember was probably five and we put her as the youngest in Sound of Music.

MM: So this was after your college life. Am I correct?

CM: About two years after graduating college. I also did a Master's degree there in choral conducting and then I just had this opportunity to go build something there in Kaching.

MM: So you thought teaching was really your calling?

CM:  I know for sure that I will be performing so that's my first love really is to perform.  

MM:  Let me show you this picture. This is you on stage at the Silliman University production.  As a student, you're already in the acting world.

CM: My program in Silliman is on a vocal performance. It’s very different with musical theater where you are dancing, singing, acting. Ours was a very intensive program for just vocal performances. We did a lot of classical music and art voice.

In my father’s house - Silliman University (Photo by Ian Rosales Casocot)

Because I really in love with the theater but there's no program at the time in Silliman, I was just trying to audition for a different school play In My Father’s House. It’s a very important piece of art in the Philippines.

This was really heavy drama because heavy drama about uh the struggle of navigating the life of this Filipino family during the Japanese American war. There’s the politics on which side are you on.

I played the American wife Chrissy Santa Maria.   

I'm just trying to remember it. The director was Amil Leonard Dia, one of the most respected directors in the Philippines.

I don’t know anything about acting and honestly, I was very childish, I didn’t prepare anything.  

You know, it wasn’t like the things that I prepare for auditions here now. I would recall oh my God what what was I doing back then.

I just went into went into the audition room without any preparation. But oh my gosh, it was quite a journey. I was already a student teacher at this time, so I did have some students who knew I was in the play.

MM: Thank you for sharing that. Tell me about your journey from Malaysia to the US.

CM: I've always wanted to perform um in theater and be part of any theater production.  One of my best friends in college and I would watch YouTube videos of Broadway.

I would remember that I just really want to be part of it. I remembered when I first watched Wicked in CCP. That was the defining moment. I wanted to be part of it.  

I think I did quite answer that question of mine. I really do want to tell stories, it's either through singing or through acting so that was my main thing.

It made me realize when I was here, because my dream is to still to be on Broadway.  But I've been performing in different kinds of uh setup here.

The cast and crew of Dear Mom, I’m gay. (Photo by The Armenian Weekly)

MM: I have seen that you're acting for Dear Mom, I'm gay.

CM:  Dear Mom, I’m gay was the first full Workshop that I did back in 2022. It was very successful after the workshop.

The creator David Allen Dilsizian managed to bring this whole production for an Off-Broadway production. We had a two-week run back in July of last year. It's my first off Broadway production.

It is a coming out musical and it's also a story of David the composer creator. He had two kinds of mothers in his life. I played one of them. I've played like a sick dying mother.

It's another drama for you. It's a comedy drama. It was a lot of fun.   

MM: Speaking of friendship, you came here and you spread your wings into the very steep world of entertainment. How difficult is that or was that easy for a Filipina establishing a support network?

CM: I'm a very independent person but I love the connection. I’m very blessed to friends everywhere. I've been in different productions and I'm still friends with different people.

I have friends from the Filipino community and in different communities.

In that photo, I know Miguel and Lora. That’s Kevin, another actor. We recorded Andrew Beal's musical good called Goodbye New York. This is a very special photo because we were still in the height of the pandemic and I was not singing for two years.

Then we had this recording. It was a great feeling to be creating again.  

MM: Tell me about this group.

CM: Yeah. Oh, my goodness. So, these people are from Rooftop Musical Society, a nonprofit theater company. I met them because I auditioned for the show Island Song, an immersive production.

I played like one of a hell role here like I've never had. This a lot of a lot of growth I must say and really getting out of the normal things that I would do.  I was playing an ambitious lawyer trying to make her way in the big city.

I just felt like I somehow have her, that’s partly you. But it was a lot of fun playing her character.  

MM: When you go into these roles in the US or in New York, do you go through like a workshop? Are you being being prepared for the role?

CM: It's different for every production. The norm is you go into the audition process. Then if they offer you the role and then you go into rehearsals.

I think it also depends on the directors. I've worked with directors to like specifics like this is what I want. Most of the time, I've worked with collaborative directors who want you to build a character with them. They’re very open to what you can do or what you can contribute. I love working with those because it's awesome to put more of yourself into the character.

In the very beginning as I was still navigating the acting world, nice to just follow and then learn. But right now, I tend to be more collaborative.

MM: You watched Here Lies Love and how was this for you as an artist?

CM: I've watched a show seven times oh you did wow I did on different occasions because I liked it so much.

I was very fortunate enough to do a couple of auditions for the show. Obviously, it's easier because you don't have to research so much. You know Manila. You know the feeling of waking up in the barrio. It’s telling your story on Broadway. For the first, I don’t have to try to fit in.

I was fortunate to have some call backs and all that until the point where on the last month before they closed, I really thought that was that was going to be it. But nevertheless, I'm very proud of the show and I'm still dreaming of being part of it. Hopefully if they produce it again.

MM: What do we expect from Carla Mongado in terms of performing this year?

CM: I just did a three-month gig in Wisconsin and that was amazing. It really taught me a lot about pushing yourself because it was a very challenging contract.  We didn't have a lot of people to cover when we get sick, and I was also very blessed to not be sick for the entire contract.

I do want to do another contract like that. I'm not just like limiting myself just in the city. I also just want to see other states. I’ll have my debut concert and album this year called Short Stories. My dream is to tell stories of our resilience.#  

Conversations with MM: Carla Mongado