Broadway Newcomer Myra Molloy on Hadestown, Eurydice and Thai Pride

Age: 27

Hometown: Bangkok, Thailand

Current Role: Myra Molloy plays Eurydice in Hadestown, the 2019 Tony Award-winning Best Musical.

Credits: Molloy started her career as the winner of Thailand’s Got Talent at age 13. She was the Kim alternate on the national tour of Miss Saigon. On screen, she appeared in The Bold Type and He’s All That, in addition to voicing Moana in the Thai language version of Moana.

Angel of Music
Growing up in Bangkok, Molloy started singing by chance. “Neither of my parents are musical at all,” she said. “They have no artistic bones in their body, bless them.” But her parents, who settled down in Thailand after living in New York, started taking Molloy on trips back to the city, where she saw The Phantom of the Opera. Molloy was hooked. She became obsessed with the musical and dragged her mother back to see it almost 20 times, often perched at the back of the theater in the standing room. Meanwhile, at home, she started training in classical voice, not unlike Christine Daaé.

Molloy's Got Talent
At 13, after years of singing in choirs, Molloy auditioned for the first season of Thailand’s Got Talent. To her surprise, she won. What had started out as a fun whim became a foothold for a career in Bangkok’s arts scene. “Being thrust into the industry professionally was just insane,” she said. “It was a lot, trying to grow up and figure out who I was and figure out what the industry was.” When Molloy started getting roles in professional Thai musicals, it helped that Bangkok was her hometown, and that her parents supported and encouraged her as a teenager pursuing her passion.

Finding Her Sound
As Molloy grew up, she wanted to stretch herself beyond the classical crossover music she grew up singing. “I never really felt like it was my thing, per se. I knew that I was decent at it,” she said. “I was having a hard time finding a home for where I wanted my artistry to be.” She knew that she wanted to keep singing but knew she was too shy to be a pop star, so she applied to Berklee College of Music as a vocalist. “Other than filming myself on PhotoBooth on my family’s desktop Mac, I didn’t have much songwriting under my belt at all,” Molloy said. But her roommates were taking songwriting classes, and she figured she may as well follow. Through songwriting classes, she found a new passion: music production. She bonded with a professor who encouraged her to find her own sound. “It’s sometimes such a man’s world, especially in music production,” Molloy said. “She really empowered me to do my own thing.”

The Heat Is On
During her senior year at Berklee, Molloy saw that the national tour of Miss Saigon was holding auditions in New York. She’d been a longtime fan of the musical and had kept an eye on casting notices for it since she was 15 and, admittedly, “way too crazy young.” But at 19, Molloy was finally old enough to play Kim. She took the first of many megabus trips from Boston to New York to audition before eventually being cast as the Kim alternate. Molloy finished her college degree online from tour stops across the country. She took a day off to walk at her graduation and went back to the show the following day. With Miss Saigon, Molloy started to follow in the footsteps of one of her role models: Eva Noblezada. “Eva is such an idol for me,” Molloy said. “I’m constantly awestruck by her.”

Hey Little Songbird
In 2019, as Molloy was finishing her time on the tour of Miss Saigon, Noblezada was in New York originating the role of Eurydice in Hadestown. Molloy saw it and was blown away. “I was sobbing the whole show,” she said. “It was the first time ever in my life where I saw a show and was like, ‘I can really see myself being a part of this.’” Anaïs Mitchell’s score, in particular, made Hadestown a new dream show for Molloy. “It just swept me away.” Now, it’s her turn to play Eurydice. Molloy hasn’t asked Noblezada for advice, but she’s been overwhelmed by love from both Noblezada and other actors who’ve played the role. “Everyone who plays Eurydice is a family,” she said. “Everyone is so sweet and supportive.”

Show the Way
Molloy feels the pressure of stepping into a long-running show, especially one she started loving as a fan. “You want to live up to the expectation of Hadestown,” she said. “I really wanted to do Eurydice justice and have everyone love her.” In addition to the specificity she brings to the character, Molloy, as Eurydice, says “sing it” in Thai eight times a week. “I think it’s special and cool that they’re so inclusive and allow us to bring so much of ourselves and our choices to the character,” she said. Going into Hadestown, Molloy had no idea that the role would make her the first Thai actor to lead a Broadway show. Now, it makes the role even more of a dream come true. “I feel proud that I’m able to represent my country in such a way. I pinch myself every day.”