#54: Nathania Ong: First Singaporean to Lead the West End, And She Almost Gave Up

Nathania Ong is the first Singaporean to lead both Les Misérables and Hamilton on London’s West End.

But before any of that, she was 18, alone in a foreign city, rejected by every drama school she applied to in a single week.

This is a story about the years nobody sees.. the flight home after every door closes, and the quiet season where you have to decide: Do I keep going, or do I let this go?

In this conversation, Nathania opens up about:

the rejections that almost broke her

the stage fright she developed after going viral

⁠the best friend who talked her back from the edge

and the philosophy that has carried her through every closed door since

“Sometimes it’s not no. Sometimes it’s not yet. And what is for you will not pass you by.”

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:29 Meet Nathania Ong: From Singapore to the West End