Today we’d like to introduce you to Regina.
Regina , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Hi! First off, thank you for meeting with me! I feel so lucky to have this time with Voyage. Let’s see, I am a proud Filipina American artist. Born in New Jersey and raised in South Florida. I am a recent transplant to the city of Los Angeles. I remember going to the Bay area to visit my extended family when I was 5 years old. My cousin, Christian, was asked to baby sit me and he had never baby sat a kid before, so he didn’t know what he was doing. Growing up, I was a pretty morbid, morose, and imaginative kid. So after a bit of brainstorming, he decided to pop the original cast recording of Les Miserables into the cassette player (yes, a cassette player) and proceeded to tell me the story. He would describe each scene and then play the song and I was absolutely ENTHRALLED. After that, my cousin, Yen taught me how to sing the songs and after seeing my excitement, my parents enrolled me into voice lessons, acting lessons, all of the lessons. I auditioned at the local arts school and got in (!) with a makeshift monologue from Cinderella. In high school, I was named co-president of the drama troupe (with my high school best friend) and placed as district representative at our state competition. After high school, I received a scholarship to the University of Central Florida where I earned my BFA in Musical Theater. Since then I’ve performed at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center of the Performing Arts, McCoy Rigby/La Mirada, Arizona Theatre Company, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Arvada Center, Walt Disney World, and Theatreworks. I have been featured on Good Girls for NBCUniversal and Side Hustle for Nickelodeon and I have been a member of the improv comedy troupes, Mama’s Kids and Boomtown.
I am incredibly passionate about storytelling, community building, collaborative theater, music, comedy, and devising.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh man. I wish I could say it was a smooth road but that would not be the truth. Knowing that I wanted to be an actress from an early age, I grew up seeing how incredibly tricky and expensive it is being in this business. Everything costs A LOT. Both in terms of money and time. Headshots, lessons, workshops, and dance clothes. The gas for my parents cars when they would drive me to everything. My parents having to adjust their work schedules to fit mine. (And that was not an easy feat.) My father worked a plethora of jobs and my mom was a medical technologist at the local hospital. She worked doubles, weekends, and nights to support our family. After graduation and upon moving out of my parents’ house, I found it tricky to find a “day gig” that would be okay with my constant absence as I hopped from gig to gig. In 2008, my joints became so enflamed and started hurting so badly it became hard to do simple tasks like sleeping and walking. After visiting my doctor, I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and had to be put on biologics to get everything under control. And the cherry on top of it all, being a brown woman always felt like I was having to prove myself every time I walked into an audition room. It was like constantly swimming upstream.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Oh wonderful! I love this question. Let’s see. I am a lot of things. What do the kids call it? A multi-hyphenate? I started off as an actress, then added singer to the profile and most recently, playwright. Oh! I was also a dancer in a past life but that was a long time ago. Above all, I consider myself a story teller. I love being a part of theater pieces that start important conversations. I love performing in contemporary plays and am also a huge fan of classical pieces like Shakespeare and Arthur Miller. One of my favorite acting memories was playing Ann in All My Sons. We had a talkback after one of the shows and a former veteran had come to see it. His words stuck with me. He said he had been to a number of plays but this was the first time he truly felt seen. He sat with us for a while talking about his experiences as a soldier and it was such an honor getting to sit there with him and listen.
After my father passed away last year, I became a singer/songwriter. He was a huge musical influence on me. I remember sitting outside of my parents’ bedroom and listening to him play his guitar while he sang The Beatles, James Taylor, and Elvis. He always dreamt of me writing songs and I am proud to say that I just finished writing 3 songs last month.
My love of dance came from my mother. She loved watching old movie musicals like Singin’ in the Rain, West Side Story, and A Chorus Line. I’d sit there for hours and watch Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds dancing until it was time for dinner. From there, she enrolled me in dance lessons where I became a dancer and then, a choreographer. I’ve been lucky enough to choreograph for a number of musicals and plays and at wonderful places like The Lone Tree Arts Center and The Old Globe in San Diego.
I was a hug fan of tv shows when I was in high school and an even bigger fan of good writing. When I would be inspired by a show, I would try to rewrite the episodes just to see what it would be like using my voice. After a decade of not writing, I just finished a first draft of a new two hander play with my writing partner and am looking to workshop it.
If I were to sum it all up, I would say that I am the gal you go to if you want to create something fun and new and poignant. If there is a good story involved, you can most likely count on me to come play with you.
What matters most to you?
Diversity in storytelling will always be the most important thing to me. I feel like I haven’t always had my voice. On this journey, I had been told time and time again not to take up space, to “know my place” and bite my tongue. After losing both of my parents, going through a global pandemic, and living through a myriad of life changing things, I felt like I was forced to find my voice. And it feels good to use it. Now that I have it, I want to use it to uplift the voices of others who haven’t had the chance to be seen or heard themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reginafernandezactor.com
- Instagram: @mabuhayitsregina
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regina.fernandez1?mibextid=wwXlfr&mibextid=wwXlfr
