From Buena Park to Broadway, Bryan Munar can soon be heard as the voice of an angel playing Orpheus in the upcoming touring production of Hadestown. Now living in New York, this singer, actor and dancer left his job at Mozilla behind to pursue his big dreams on the road in a popular musical that will lead him to the Windy City next year.
Hadestown won eight Tony Awards in 2019, of the 14 nominations, including Best Musical, along with a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It tells the tale of Greek characters Orpheus and Eurydice, who are in love and trying to flee the underworld.
The queer-identifying performer talked privately backstage about his character during soundcheck before the Broadway in Chicago Summer Concert at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
Windy City Times: Start off with your background…
Bryan Munar: I was born in Saipan, which is the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. I stayed in the Philippines until the first grade, when I moved to Southern California in Buena Park where I grew up. I went to college at UC Berkeley and I moved to New York in January of 2021.
WCT: Well, that was a smart move with Broadway being there. Now your career is on fire!
BM: Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it’s on fire. I am just trying to do the work and I am happy people like it. I am very lucky!
WCT: You are out of the closet in your life and career. I saw that religion is important to you as well on your social media.
BM: Yes, both of those are a big part of me and part of my journey. They both exist in my life.
WCT: What is your favorite musical?
BM: Once.
WCT: Do you play guitar?
BM: I do.
WCT: What instruments do you play otherwise?
BM: I play piano and some percussion. I wish I could play the violin; strangely it’s my favorite instrument.
WCT: How did you land this role in Hadestown?
BM: I had been auditioning to be in this show for a couple of years. They would tell my agent that they only saw me as the lead, and that’s tricky because there are only a few companies that hire for the lead. When the touring show came around, I was so fortunate that I would be able to do it.
WCT: Do you feel vindicated at this point?
BM: Honestly, it’s a role that I never thought I would play. I loved the show and thought the music was so spectacular. I liked that it didn’t sound like traditional Broadway, but was still storytelling-focused.
I now identify with it more than I did when I wanted to play it. Right now I am working on my personal music so I can get signed and make records. That is what Orpheus does, and I didn’t realize we had the same thing inside. I grew up a Disney kid and loved the Disney Channel. I always wanted to draw cartoons and that’s why I like Broadway so much.
For me, this character will be one for the books and is a dream come true. The dream has shifted a bit and I feel like I am ready for it!
WCT: So it’s about the right time and place for you?
BM: Yes, I am not here thinking about something else. I don’t have an ego about it. I feel like I am here to do a job and present this story to the world the way the writers want it to be presented. Preserving the integrity of the project is not making it about me.
WCT: Tell the readers about Orpheus.
BM: Rehearsals start in a month so I haven’t gotten to delve deep into Orpheus quite yet. From what I know about a show that has been around for five years, he’s a lover and a dreamer. I want to come off as cool and confident, but the reason I am perfect for the role is that I am a dorky kid who loves music and is a hopeless romantic.
His arch is the catalyst for the show’s message which is to try to see the world in a more hopeful way and a more forgiving place than it really is. He does that, but in the end, he gets to know himself. He’s a symbol of hope and trying even when things fail. He does fail and that makes the show so beautiful. It’s not something that’s happy, but it’s very real and somewhat tragic.
WCT: What do you think the LGBTQ+ community will like about Hadestown?
BM: Our Hermes is just fantastic and Jaylon C. Crump uses ‘they’ pronouns. They want through their expression as Hermes to be gender-fluid. They want to present an ambiguous Hermes for people in the world who identify with that expression. Things can be very binary on Broadway so I hope audiences see that unique sense in this interpretation.
Hadestown does a great job of showing all facets of life are represented. It doesn’t matter what someone looks like as long as the performer embodies what and who that character is.
People may be surprised, and they do it in a very subtle way, which is my favorite thing. I hate when a production tries to be woke. This is about displaying a world that exists and this is all normal to us. This is a show with an image that allows anyone to be and that’s what Hadestown is really about.
WCT: Have you visited Chitown before?
BM: This is my first time! I am trying to see The Bean and get a picture.
WCT: Cloud Gate is right outside of here.
BM: We are here for two weeks in May so I have to try some deep-dish pizza.
WCT: What are your plans until you come back?
BM: I start rehearsals for Hadestown next month in September then I just tour until May.
WCT: Is your family going to see it?
BM: Yes, they live in SoCal so they will see it in Costa Mesa.
WCT: What are your thoughts on Asian representation in Broadway musicals?
BM: It’s getting better, but it’s not there yet. There needs to be a revolution where we start to trust people in parts with people who may not necessarily look like they would play that role.
I hear many stories about casting where the casting director turns a blind eye to someone with potential. Just because someone doesn’t look like a leading man does not mean they can’t play one.
With Asian representation, there were several shows in the past that shoved them off as side characters or portrayed them in a very stereotypical way. That was not ideal and it aged poorly. While it’s getting better now, producers need to trust new people to originate these parts. Someone’s Asianness is not a personality. It’s an ethnicity and heritage. That’s another reason I am grateful to play this part. I am the first Filipino to play Hermes full-time.
WCT: Congratulations on breaking that glass ceiling! Where would you like people to follow your new music?
BM: On Instagram @bkmunar and I am on Spotify also. I am releasing a song at the end of the month. I am thrilled to share my work there and I have a great music team to produce all of my stuff.
Take a trip to Hadestown at CIBC Theatre, 18 West Monroe St., from May 6-18, 2025. Tickets for the Tony Award-winning musical are not on sale yet but stay tuned to broadwayinchicago.com for future information.