Cabaret star Rick Lau on his journey from a Chiu Chow corner shop to the stage

South China Morning Post

6 days ago

I WAS BORN in February 1970. An Aquarian. They're dreamers, they're not practical, but they're charismatic and people like them a lot. I have four siblings, so with my parents there were seven of us living in a 220 sq ft flat in
in February 1970. An Aquarian. They're dreamers, they're not practical, but they're charismatic and people like them a lot. I have four siblings, so with my parents there were seven of us living in a 220 sq ft flat in
Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate . It was a typical Chiu Chow family. Chiu Chow people love to have small businesses. We had a si do, a corner shop, and that was pre-supermarket days, so it was always busy. I remember the whole family had to work in that shop. My responsibility was slicing bread. I was in primary school then and it was a happy time because I could snack on whatever I wanted. My favourite was Toblerone and Maltesers. An endless supply.
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MY PARENTS HAD COME over in the 1960s from China in that migration wave from (the
over in the 1960s from China in that migration wave from (the
Chaoshan region of Guangdong province). The radio was always on in the shop. I listened to a lot of the Top 40 countdowns; that was how I was exposed to American music. We didn't have a television until I was in Primary Five or Six. I remember one Chinese New Year they were playing
Barry Manilow in concert and at the time I didn't know who he was. All I remember was this tall, lanky guy with long blond hair, playing the piano and singing 'Even Now', and all the girls were screaming. I remember thinking, 'I want to do that. I want to sing in front of people.'
Rick Lau was the youngest in a Chiu Chow family living in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate. Photo: courtesy Rick Lau
I WENT TO SCHOOL at Chan Sui Ki (La Salle) College, in Ho Man Tin. I played badminton for the school team. I went to Australia for Year 12, to Adelaide, where I lived with my sister. Then I studied computer science at the University of New South Wales, in Sydney. As a Chinese boy, you have to do what your parents tell you, and that's why I did computer science and became an IT consultant for six years. But, you know, once you've done that, perhaps you're free to do what you want.
WHEN I WAS an IT consultant in Sydney, I started doing amateur productions of musicals. My first was Oklahoma. I was the only Chinese in it and I played an American cowboy. Then I did The Count of Luxembourg. I also did a pro-am production, so we didn't get paid as actors but the production team were paid. That was Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures, about the Westernisation of Japan, and it inspired me, because it was the first time I was in a lead role. After that I started thinking about whether I could do it as a career.
Rick Lau as Mimi Moore the flight attendant in City Contemporary Dance Company's Home Sweat Home, which premiered in 2021. Photo: Eddie Wong
WHILE I WAS thinking about that, a friend took me to a clairvoyant. They look at you and your guardian angels, and the guardian angels give the clairvoyant messages and he or she will relay them on to you. So I sat down, and before I'd said anything, she said to me: 'I could see you on stage in elaborate costume on a beautiful set. You were singing your heart out and the audience was mesmerised.' For me, that was like a message from the universe. So, two weeks later, I handed in my resignation. Luckily, I got into drama school – the National Institute of Dramatic Art, in Sydney. I did musical theatre. That was when I was 28. Now one of my life mottos is: leap and the net will appear. I've co-created seven cabarets with Tony Taylor, one of my mentors, who was my teacher at drama school. He taught me so much about cabaret because he came from a vaudeville tradition and was a great comic actor. He taught me about comic timing and storytelling through songs.
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I WORKED AT a call centre for a year or so. Then I got into a musical – Naked Boys Singing! We had to be naked on stage singing, in Sydney. The second show I got was Hair, where at the end of act one, everyone was naked facing the audience. It was great training. I was young so I wasn't self-conscious. I wouldn't do it now!