At 19, stage actor Nic Chien carves his own path with performances defined by vulnerability and nuance. Guided by a love of theater inherited from his mother, Lea Salonga, he brings empathy and depth to the inner lives of young people onstage.
“I think that’s my favorite song. It’s definitely the coolest number. But my mom was the one who told me, ‘Yeah, it’s about masturbation.’” 19-year-old stage actor Nic Chien is currently in rehearsals as Moritz Stiefel in the upcoming Sandbox Collective production of Spring Awakening. During our interview, he starts belting out the lyrics of “The B**** Of Living.” A crowd favorite, the song is a group number that his character begins; but as his mother, theater legend Lea Salonga, informed him, it’s also about masturbation.
“The second they go, ‘Touch me…’ I thought, maybe I shouldn’t be watching this in the car with my mom present,” Nic laughs.
Without context, the number seems like a bawdy rock song about erotic dreams. And it is. But it’s also so much more. Spring Awakening is based on the 19th-century German play of the same name, and is as subversive as its source material, despite its release over a century later. It deals with the trials of growing up, as adolescents deal with budding sexuality, identity, and mental health amidst a conservative society that represses sexual education and the voice of the youth. Moritz is one of the numerous students in the ensemble cast.
“Moritz is my favorite character. Not because I play him. It’s because the second I started watching him, the second I saw him, I knew he represented every weird kid, and every kid who felt misunderstood, or did bad in school, or didn’t feel loved,” Nic shares. “And he’s not just this weird guy. I mean, he is. But he’s also so much more, as we human beings always are.”
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A Children’s Story
Assigned female at birth, Nic made his professional debut with Atlantis Theatrical’s 2017 production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, playing the titular character’s schoolmate, Alice.
“I remember always liking the theater,” Nic shares when asked about what sparked his interest in pursuing acting. “I can’t remember a time in my life without it. Although I think it was around the seventh grade when I realized I liked making people happy, making people laugh. I thought, this is what I am meant to do: entertain people.”
Following the advice of his family, after Matilda, Nic took a break from professional theater to focus on his studies. He attended school first in the Philippines, before moving to New York for high school. Of course, that didn’t mean he was out of the scene. He notes that his mother would still bring him wherever she went, from rehearsals to performances. And, at school, Nic continued to develop his art as a performer. He participated in theater activities, from competitions in reciting Shakespeare to school productions, including playing the Witch in Lapine-Sondheim’s Into the Woods.
Rewriting Fairytales
Somewhat apt, then, that his reintroduction to professional work after graduating high school was once again in Into the Woods. At the time of casting, Nic was navigating his own identity expression, bringing a nuanced perspective to the role of Jack that had rarely, if ever, been explored before in professional theater.
Bobby Garcia, the late theater director and co-founding collaborator of Theater Group Asia, which mounted the show as their maiden musical, saw something special in casting Nic. “As far as he knew, no queer person had ever played Jack,” Nic recalls, “and he thought that would be very interesting, story-wise.”
The musical deconstructs the well-loved classic fairy tales we grew up with, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Beanstalk, among others. It dares to ask about the narratives behind the stories that we think we know. As for Nic’s character, the young and optimistic Jack, the role represents how young people engage with connection and discovery. It’s about realizing there’s more in the world than we could have ever imagined: terrible, awesome, scary.
The show opened in the summer of 2025 with an all-star cast that included Filipino Broadway stars Arielle Jacobs, Josh Dela Cruz, and Lea Salonga. Reviews noted that Nic stood his ground amid these seasoned performers, balancing youthful sincerity and depth.
Where Matilda explored the world of childhood resilience and imagination, Woods pushes the boundaries even further for the young actor, revealing more richly textured realities that lie just beneath the surface of seemingly simple stories.
“It was super gratifying,” Nic says on his initial return to the theater. “I had been waiting to do Woods since the tenth grade, for, like, three years. In class, I would think to myself, ‘In a couple of years, or next year, or in a few months, so on, I will finally be doing what I love to do.’”
Nic Chien Springs Into Action
While Into the Woods was still in production, Nic heard about open auditions for Spring Awakening through his co-star Josh Dela Cruz. Initially, Nic only had basic knowledge of the show. He watched it in the car with his mom, experiencing a mix of excitement and mild embarrassment when she casually explained the explicit lyrics of ‘The B**** of Living.’”
“So, I watched the rest of the show on my own,” Nic adds with a laugh. “I think I stopped right before ‘Purple Summer,’ and I thought, ‘This is really cool.’ But I wouldn’t say I was as infatuated about it as much as I am now. Now, I love the show, so, so much.” Nic had taken a gap year to perform in Into the Woods, with the plan being to spend the rest of the year traveling with family before starting acting at Ithaca College this fall. But the stage continued to call to him. With the production timeline aligning with his gap year schedule, and with the encouragement of his family, he auditioned for Moritz and got the part.
Each of Nic’s theatrical roles seems to trace the trajectory of young characters grappling with increasingly complex challenges as they face the world. From the playful ensemble of Matilda to Jack’s boyish coming-of-age journey in Into the Woods, he continues to delve into the inner lives of young people. Moritz is the most explicit representation of this artistic exploration (a “big jump!” Nic exclaims as we list down his recent stage credits).
“I do research the second I decide to audition,” Nic explains, revealing the thoroughness he says he inherited from his mother’s practice. He found versions to watch online, went through a deep dive, took time to let the material sink in, and sought his mother’s advice (“this applies to a lot of stuff in my life”). When he got the role, the “obsession” continued. Yet he remains mindful of balancing out that research by leaving space to learn.
“I think that’s the hardest part of it, trying to hinder my own wanting to see examples. It’s so easy to see what other people do for reference for your own work, but you really want to do it on your own,” Nic adds, before summarizing: “You have to be curious.”
Read the full story in our January 2026 e-magazine by subscribing to Lifestyle Asia’s digital access and purchasing your copy at Readly.
Photography by Erwin Canlas Assisted by Riza Rosal
Creative Direction Paolo Torio
Stylist Roko Arceo Assisted by Jun Oliver and Vivian Roberto
Grooming Cats Del Rosario
Videographer Tim Dueñas
Associate Producer Mae Talaid
Shot on location at The Blackbox at Proscenium Theater and The Proscenium Theater, Rockwell Center
Special thanks to The Sandbox Collective and Proscenium Theater
