With melodic clarity and transient style, Christina Nuki has
bridged the gap between musical theater and classical opera.
Nuki has been pursuing her dream since leaving her UCLA roots.
Building on her classical training in opera, she has expanded her
talent to include the craft of musical theater.
Nuki is a featured performer playing Tuptim and Lady Thiang in a
new production of “The King and I” at the Pantages
Theatre in Hollywood through April 17.
She began her musical journey as early as junior high school,
making professional operatic and musical theater appearances with
Hartnell College and the Monterey Opera Guild and touring Europe as
a jazz soloist and cathedral soprano.
These early experiences allowed Nuki to receive a full
scholarship to study opera at UCLA. She was trained very
extensively, working closely with masterful technicians to finely
tune her vocal instrument.
“Operatic singing is different from singing; the voice is
transformed completely,” Nuki said. “The professors
turn sand into diamonds.”
But while studying at the Manhattan School of Music in New York,
she discovered her love of musical theater and Broadway.
Experiencing the industry, Nuki determined the work of musical
theater better suited her personal needs and goals as an
artist.
Musical theater seemed to be more challenging to the artistic
capabilities. She was able to explore acting and dancing while also
using her voice.
In the world of opera, the presence on stage is strictly
sound.
“As an opera singer, you perform like an athlete. You are
a walking, living, breathing instrument. You are a neurotic for
sound,” Nuki said with a laugh.
Although she had non-classical experiences, Nuki had not yet
mastered the Broadway belt needed for musical theater. There are
different techniques and theories behind the forms of opera and
musical theater.
“My cutting edge is singing high, flowing notes in the
rafters,” Nuki said.
But Nuki knows that her operatic voice won’t take her
everywhere.
In order to transition from opera to musical theater, Nuki had
to explore her voice and develop her acting skills. Working with
many teachers, she trained her stage voice and presence.
Broadway shows are filled with music written in incredibly high,
flat octaves. Thus, Nuki had to learn the techniques behind the
Broadway belt.
“In Broadway today, you not only have to hit the high, you
also have to drag it out,” Nuki said. “The belt has to
be healthy but high, so very high.”
Besides the new vocal techniques, Nuki explored the skills of
acting in workshops from Broadway performers. The hardest part was
retaining a quality of truth and spontaneity after so much training
and rehearsal.
“Every movement and gesture has to look unplanned and
natural, but you have to do it at the drop of a dime,” she
said.
Besides the extensive New York training in this distinctive
craft, Nuki also attributes her success in musical theater to her
exposure to R&B and rock and her experiences with jazz.
“Being a singer and being American exposes me to different
styles of music every day,” Nuki said.
Although Nuki’s path has centered on the classical
articulation of opera, her personal breakthrough has created a
talent reaching beyond a single category.
Still, with the rigid competition that exists in her business,
Nuki realizes her versatility and accomplishments, though initially
the result of the pursuit of a certain dream, are necessities for
success.
“If you want to work, you have to train your ear to do
everything,” Nuki said firmly.