Q&A with Plus 1 Solo Show Fest's Yangyang Guo

The spring 2014 Plus 1 Solo Show Festival features five 20-minute solo works and musical guest Todd Kramer.  The festival line up:

• Unmolested? by Lynn Bixenspan
• Lucky Chick by Felicity Seidel
• Solo Show by David Meyers
• My Unsexy Life as a Wall Street Analyst by Yangyang Guo
• Sleep Well by Glynn Borders

The festival runs for 2 shows, May 11 and 12 at 8 PM at The Bridge Theatre.  There is an intermission. Purchase $20 tickets online or by phone at 212-868-4444.

Yangyang Guo tells her tale.

Actress Yangyang Guo fled a life in finance to perform, and she lived to tell the tale in her piece, My Unsexy Life as a Wall Street Analyst.  We asked her a few quick questions and she gave us the scoop.

What inspired you to write My Unsexy Life as a Wall Street Analyst?
I started writing about my experiences on Wall Street during my first month on the job, as a way to stay sane, because there's only so much venting my friends and family could take.  I've always loved writing (when I was little, I wanted to be a best-selling novelist when I grew up), so I signed up for a solo show class with Melanie Hoops at the Magnet Theater last March.  After unsuccessfully trying to create various characters and stories, she helped me realize that I already had a story that wanted and needed to be told.  I took a solo show class with Seth Barrish at Barrow Group this year and he helped me tremendously with the story structure, efficient storytelling, and maximizing the the impact of the main event.

Our Plus 1 Solo Show Fest is a potluck feast of stories.  What's your go-to potluck dish you bring to parties?
I like to make and bring guacamole to parties.  It is also a food that embodies me.  It's got a softness and a crunch, spice, and zest.  Guacamole is great with chips and tacos, but also perfect by itself.

Dream big and tell us your goals for this piece!
I play to develop my piece into a full 90-minute production and perform it at the Fringe Festival in summer 2015.  Then I would like to tour colleges, especially ones that send too many of their graduates to Wall Street every year.  Eventually, I'd like to turn it into a TV series, in which I'd star.