You usually only hear him behind the microphone, but this winter, David Lee was on stage in the spotlight.
Lee, the station manager of WUWM Radio, returned to Milwaukee’s theater scene in First Stage’s production of Emily Song and the Queen of the Night. The show, which opened on Jan. 31 and ended its run on Feb. 16, tells the story of a young music mage just beginning to learn about the extraordinary power of her voice.
The play’s message resonates with Lee; as the manager of WUWM, which is run under the umbrella of UWM’s College of Letters & Science, he knows all about the power of voices. It’s his job to amplify them.
“How do you engage the community in a way that’s representative and powerful and lifts the voices of the people that you serve?” he mused. “I think those challenges are magnified in media because we are a platform for our community. I think it’s a unique privilege.”
Lee also feels strongly that as the leader of WUWM, it’s important for him to be an active part of the communities that the station serves. He sits on the boards of the Marcus Performing Arts Center and the Skylight Music Theatre, has thrown out the first pitch at a Milwaukee Brewers game in celebration of WUWM’s 60th anniversary, and now, has appeared in a First Stage production.
To be clear, Lee wasn’t acting (pun intended) in his official capacity; he just really likes theater and was asked to be in the show.
“I (am) friendly with a lot of folks in the arts and culture community … and people know that I will do things that fit my schedule. I was asked to be in the (initial reading), and I guess I did okay because they asked me to come back for the full production,” Lee said.
It helps that he has a theater background. Lee attended a performing arts high school in California and later spent 10 years in Los Angeles “trying to become Chinese George Clooney,” he joked. “That, as with most people, didn’t work out for me.”
Instead, Lee began working in nonprofits, first in LA and then in the Midwest. Before he joined WUWM, Lee was the chief philanthropy officer for the Ascension Wisconsin Foundation. But he has always loved the stage and “Emily Song and the Queen of the Night” gave Lee a chance to flex his acting chops. He played Ben Song, the main character’s father, who attempts to quash his daughter’s interest in music in an effort to protect her.
The role was a fun challenge for Lee, who does not have any children of his own. Instead, he said, he enjoyed working with the talented kids in the cast and tried to model acting skills like hitting a mark, getting off-book, and being able to take a note from the director.
The role was also a challenge in a different way: Lee does not sing or dance.
“I’m not a triple threat. I’m maybe a single threat,” he laughed. “I think (the choreographer) changed the choreography of the curtain call because of my inability to complete this jump-spin.”
He also enjoyed the show because it provided opportunities for kids of color—and himself—to play characters who look like them and have similar cultural backgrounds.
“I rarely played a person within my own racial and ethnic background. I … was always doing plays that weren’t written for a Chinese man growing up in America,” Lee said. “I think it’s really delightful to see kids have these opportunities to actually play within their cultural context.”
Lee’s not sure if or when he’ll take the stage again, but he’s always looking for ways to keep himself – and WUWM – engaged in the Milwaukee community.
By Sarah Vickery, College of Letters & Science