This interview is part of our 30th issue. You can read it here. 

More than a performer, Teagan Earley is a storyteller. Overnight, she became a global sensation, belting her way through the hearts of many with her interpretation of Athena in EPIC: The Musical. We got to sit down with Teagan to talk all about the success of the musical, her personal journey and what fuels her passion. 

How did you first come to join this epic project? 

I went to the same undergraduate university as Jay (Jorge Rivera-Herrans) and we became friends during our sophomore year, through being in the same musical theater class together. Literally, on the second day of class, he ran up to me after class and said “Hi, I’m writing a musical and I would love to have you sing some songs in it.” And as soon as I said I was in, he went and found a piano and played me his work. From the minute I heard it, I knew this kid was onto something and unbelievably talented! That started our collaborative process and we ended up being in a couple of shows together over the years. Our senior year, we were working on Jesus Christ Superstar together and he told me he wanted to create a musical that felt epic in scale. He didn’t even have the concept in mind yet! He didn’t know what he wanted it to be, he just said to me “I need you to be in it and voice like a goddess or something.”. A week or two later, he decided it was going to be The Odyssey by Homer and I thought it was a great idea because it is such a beautiful and rich myth!

At first, it was just the two of us working on it and then he brought some other people as he continued writing. I voiced Athena, Circe, Hera, Calypso… pretty much all the female-identifying characters I have sung at one point or another! 

Even through the pandemic, I had a job as a nanny and he would call me in the middle of the day and say “Can you sing this? Can you try that?” and, although I had a baby on my hip, I did it! And I am so grateful that I did because what an incredible journey it has been. 

You were there from the very beginning! Was the success of EPIC expected in any way? 

I don’t think either of us expected it would become what it has become. I knew, looking at him and his talent, that he was going to make it big. But I didn’t expect it to go the way that it ended up going, especially with the TikTok factor. The crazy thing is that I was there when he decided to get a TikTok account and at first he thought of it as a video diary, a way to keep himself motivated and keep track of the evolution of the project. I thought it was a great idea, as an intimate thing, and then, within a week, it exploded! 

From then we were like, “How do we do this now?”. He has built such a beautiful community through that platform but we didn’t know the musical would become such a big hit through that path. It’s always the thing you least expect that comes and sweeps you up! (laughs). 

Your voice became viral on TikTok overnight. What was your reaction to it? How did you deal with it? 

Sometimes, it feels like I’m living a double life. In my day-to-day life, I’m still going to callbacks where no one knows who I am – and rightfully so! –  and I’m doing theatre jobs that maybe don’t pay super well. That’s the life I am tangibly experiencing every day! And then I open my phone and this whole other world exists in which millions of people have heard my voice or are familiar with my work. 

The moment where these two began to cross and felt real was when Warrior Of The Mind first started trending. The song was part of that Greek goddess filter on TikTok and Grace Van Dien, who plays Chrissy on Stranger Things, used it. I was just scrolling and all of a sudden, she was using my voice for a video and I went, “That’s crazy!”. (laughs). It definitely still hasn’t fully sunken in because I don’t feel any different. You tend to feel like “Oh, people like our work, that’s exciting! I can’t wait to connect with them over it”. 

Especially when it is all online. You don’t have a physical connection with the fans.  It comes down to your voice, a screen and people behind it. 

It’s not concrete yet! I’m living a virtual Hannah Montana life through my phone! (laughs). 

The thing with EPIC, is also that it is for everyone. Whether you already know Greek mythology through and through or are simply enjoying the music. 

There are so many different people in the community and it is also such a welcoming one. It is my favorite thing! EPIC is something that can be used in schools. It is relatively family friendly and while it is not 100% accurate to the myths, it’s a great tool for learning and for getting people to engage with a story that otherwise they might not! 

I’m such a literature nerd and the minute he said he was doing this, I thought it was amazing. Now seeing all the ways the community engages with the music, the characters and the story, has been mind-blowing. I absolutely love it! 

You also re-recorded the first two sagas recently. Now that the musical is so popular, was it different? Was there pressure? 

I had an interesting journey with that. Let me get this out the way: one of the reasons I became viral for, was my lack of diction in the first version of Warrior Of The Mind. (laughs) Everyone thought I was saying “Well done, you lied to me” (instead of ‘enlighten me’). So that, personally, was a lot of pressure for me because I needed to make sure I was doing better! 

Other than that, I think the pressure came from the fact that it was not a great situation. I knew the fans would rally behind Jay, but for a minute, he wasn’t so sure. Re-recording something is tough! People already learned to love the first versions and it’s a scary thought for an artist. But then the community just rose up behind the re-recording and Jay and that was really powerful to see. It gave me a lot of hope in the artistic community in general because the support was impressive. 

And then, the other fun thing was that I was really sick when I first recorded “My Goodbye”. I was down in Kansas City and Jay and JP [Warner] flew out to record with me in this random studio we found. I woke up so ill that morning! My voice, my sinuses… Everything was a mess but they flew down so we couldn’t cancel it! So, a piece of me was kind of relieved when I got to re-record the song because, even if people don’t really notice it, I knew I could have done better and sung that more fully or supported that note better! 

“That’s the beautiful thing about being a storyteller. You get to take inspiration from the things around you and pour it into a piece of storytelling that the people are going to connect with.” 

Did it change the way you each approached the project and the characters? 

It doesn’t necessarily change things. The characters are ever-changing anyway and every time I revisit Athena, she is a different character. It is a result of all the experiences I had and I love hearing people’s theories on the character and seeing the art they created about her, it really inspires me! And Athena is an ever-changing character anyway because she is learning as the story goes along and me too, as Teagan, I’m learning and growing as I go. Every person I come in contact with, and every piece of art that I get to view, influences me. Athena, where she ended up before I was done recording, was the result of all those parts. That’s the beautiful thing about being a storyteller. You get to take inspiration from the things around you and pour it into a piece of storytelling that the people are going to connect with. 

What’s your relationship with Athena, your character? How did you develop her? 

I’ve loved her since the beginning and even before EPIC came to be. I loved her in Percy Jackson, I read her myth and, what an incredible character! The thing that has remained consistent with her and getting to play her is that it made me feel stronger. It made me feel more confident, more fearless, and more willing to take a step back and take things as a full picture, rather than focusing on the details. The strength of that character makes me feel stronger! It’s the greatest thing I could possibly say about a character. 

It feels weird that my journey with her is over, for now at least. I’ve been sitting and waiting, and luckily I get to interact with the people who are experiencing her story for the first time. But I miss her right now so I hope I can get back into the helmet pretty soon! (laughs)

Did you get to meet or chat with the rest of the cast to discuss your characters and the direction of the story? 

Actually, there are many cast members that I have never met in person, which is so wild. I feel like I know and I’m best friends with all of them. I’ve spoken to most of them online of course, but I’ve only been in the room with Jay, Armando Julian, Steven Dookie, Luke Holt and Talya Sindel. I also briefly got to record with TROY and EJ [Moca]. As you can imagine, every single person who works on this project is a stellar human being. They’re the nicest, funniest, most talented people I’ve ever been surrounded with. 

Did you get to meet MICO, who plays Telemachus? 

No! I didn’t record with MICO so all of those beautiful harmonies that you hear in “We’ll Be Fine” were done completely remote! I am so heartbroken right now that I didn’t get to meet him yet because he is such a darling from what I’ve heard and every interaction I’ve had with him online has resulted in “I will protect you at all costs.” (laughs) But he is so talented! 

So much thought went into creating EPIC and its world, it is actually mind-blowing–from the use of motifs to the instruments and foreshadowing. How much room for creativity do you have as the voice of the character? 

I got lucky because Jay and I had been working together for so long before EPIC came to be. He knew my voice very well so as soon as he knew Athena was the character I would be playing, he started writing for my voice. I didn’t need to do a ton to move things around because it fitted perfectly from the moment I started singing it. He said that one of his favorite things to do is to write for a specific voice or to have someone in mind while doing so. 

Concept albums are interesting in the sense that they’re very different from a workshop. In a workshop, the writers are in the room and they want to see how things look and sound on stage and they might make changes along the way, taking everything into account. Because EPIC is not there yet, through the recording, it’s the first time that this material has been presented to the world and it is what people are going to be singing along. It is what they are going to expect to hear. So, there is a certain level of strictness that has to go into the recording process. You need to be true to what the writer intends. 

Jay is a great collaborator and he would definitely ask for opinions but once something was written, that’s the way he wanted us to sing it. There was a specific sound that he wanted for Hermes’s laugh for example! So there is creative liberty, but by the nature of this being a concept album, it has to be the way it is. Jay would always let us try things and then go “Yeah, that’s great, go back to the other thing now!” (laughs) He’s creating a brand, a product that he is presenting to the world so he needs it to be a certain way when it first goes out. You can always make changes later! 

We’re impressed with the trust he has in all the talents involved. 

Jay, above all else, likes to work with good people. He likes making friends through art. It was pretty much destined from the beginning that if you were attached to this project, you were bound to be an amazing human being. That’s the way Jay likes to work: he would much rather have someone who is kind, generous and passionate about the project, than someone who could sing like, let’s say, Ariana Grande. I think that’s a really nice balance, in addition to the fact that everyone can sing like Ariana Grande! (laughs)

I’ve read you love Greek mythology. And with EPIC, The Lightning Thief and Hercules, we see that the subject is still very popular, even on stage. Why do you think it is?

In general, I think we are drawn to myths. They tell us some things about ourselves and we as humans are constantly grasping for meaning and what the purpose of the universe is. We’re so curious by nature, we love answering questions and figuring things out and that’s a beautiful thing! 

Particularly in Greek mythology, it makes the divine feel more familiar to us. We have these figures who are incredibly strong, beautiful and talented and they are higher than us, but they act like us. There is jealousy, hatred, love, mistakes made, messiness in families… It takes these divine figures and makes them more human. Greek Mythology in general is the master of that and now we, humans, see ourselves in these gods! That’s a very attractive quality and that’s my theory on why it stood the test of time. Not only are the myths interesting, they feel like us and we genuinely like stories that feel like us! 

The storytelling and worldbuilding are also big elements of EPIC. When listening to the songs, it’s like you can exactly picture what is happening! 

From the minute Jay started writing it, he said, “I want the musical to be completely sung-through.” and I thought, “Well, good luck with that because we have a lot to convey in the music then!” But he has done it and then some. The world-building in the musical is absolutely phenomenal, not just in the lyrics but also in the way the songs were structured and created. 

And he doesn’t hold back either when creating the world and the songs. 

I remember listening to “Suffering” with Jay on Facetime and being so confused as to why Penelope was in the ocean and stuff, and he was just like “Sh-shush, just wait…”. He is the king of writing a twist, I’ll tell you that! I’m continuously shocked by how he doesn’t hold back. 

And neither does Greek Mythology so we have to have some taste of that! I think he found a great balance in keeping it family-friendly while not cleaning up the myths. 

Your voice range spans from classical music to pop music and opera and musical theatre. How do you make it work and what do you draw from each genre? 

I was raised to classical music and having that basis in my voice unlocked everything. I don’t think I would be able to do things with as much versatility if I didn’t have that foundation that I built upon. I’m a vocal technician as well and I love thinking about how different muscles create different sounds and different ways of supporting different resonances. But all of that aside, it really is just telling a story. It’s knowing the style of the storytelling that you’re working with. 

For example, in opera, the way that the voice sounds and the way it moves tells as much of the story – they’re equals. If there is one thing you have to really get behind and be aware of in opera, it’s that the voice is a character in itself. You have to create a character vocally first and the rest is almost secondary. 

In musical theatre, the voice and the words are more equal or if anything, the words are more important! What you’re saying is actually more important. And then, in pop music, the way that you structure a song has to be captivating and you can certainly do it in a way that also tells a story. But if you go too far in that direction, it becomes empty. You have these two elements in music, and which one is more important defines the genre. 

Good training is good training and keeping your voice in shape will keep it in shape for any genre that you could possibly dive into! Being aware of the history of the genre, its structure and the way it is performed helps too! 

Athena gets to do a little bit of everything too, which is the joy of EPIC. She’s a powerhouse who gets to rap and sing over poppy rhythm. Is it fun to mingle with it? 

Yes! It’s so fun and that’s part of what I love about the score of EPIC: it jumps across so many genres. Jorge would just decide that this is the kind of world this specific character would live in and suddenly he has written a funk song! (laughs) Each of those choices is intentional, they say something about the character, about the world and it is amazing. 

Athena experiences such an arc throughout the show that even the way her songs are written changes. In Warrior Of The Mind, the Cyclops Saga and My Goodbye, she is a powerhouse and she is belting it out. There is not a lot of nuance to her, she is very straightforward and clear about what she wants and she will get in your face about it. Whereas, now, one of the last things we saw of her is We’ll Be Fine and all of a sudden, this very cold-hearted goddess has softened and vocally, you can hear it too. Getting to play with that was so liberating and it unlocked a lot of layers to the character for me. Of course, every singer wants to use different facets of their voice and show it so as a technician this was great! I got to check in with my belt, my head voice, my diction and everything! 

You’re also producing shows and teaching as well as acting. How do you juggle all that and what do you aim to learn from each? 

My brain is definitely full! I’m not naturally a super detail-oriented person, I’m a lot more of a big-picture person. I have to work what sometimes feels like ten times harder, to really organize myself because otherwise, details would slip!  And because my brain is so full of all those things, I am more intentional in what I take on and what I say yes to. It’s a scale that I’m really glad I learned because it’s essential for young artists in general! 

Teaching is my favorite thing. Young people are so brilliant and so under-resourced and under-trusted but no one has greater imagination and potential for creation and invention than a child. We speak to them like they’re too young to understand but maybe we’re the ones that don’t understand the full potential of a situation because we’re talking ourselves down from doing so many things. A kid is simply like, “Well, what if we do this? And then we will figure it out by doing this and that!” and they’re onto something there! They sometimes teach me way more than I think they learn from me, so I love working with them. 

Producing is my crusade! That’s my warrior moment because while theatre is a beautiful industry, it’s also a broken one. That’s no one’s fault in particular, it is just the way it is. Producers are the ones that get things into rooms, move things forward and get stories the resources they need. The minute I realized I wanted more for my fellow artists, I needed to figure out how to do it. Actors make a difference to the audience, producers make a difference in the industry in general. More artists should be going into producing because if there were more of us, the greatest changes would happen! I love getting to fight for stories that matter! 

And then acting, what’s not to love about it? You get to play pretend and people pay you for it, that’s pretty much the ideal. The difference between acting and pop music is that it is my story I get to tell with music. Not only do I play pretend, but I write it down, add music to it and show it to people! 

How different is it to perform your own songs, rather than singing other people’s songs? 

It’s so liberating. I don’t feel captive in acting or in musical theatre, it’s just a different art form. You are given a text and you are told to solve the problem. Here is a character that has no life in her, figure out how to give her life, how cool is that! It’s like a puzzle: You learn about her, you get to hang out with her and figure it out by filling all the gaps. As someone who loves figuring things out, what an exciting form of storytelling that is! 

By writing my own music, I create the world and it is problem-solving in a different way because sometimes it’s as simple as I have thought of a line, a theme, or a certain sound that I want to bring into the world but I have to figure that out myself. There is no one to check my work afterwards, I send it out and it’s just “Here is what I came up with, hope you like it!”. It is way scarier but also so liberating! 

What inspires you every day and inspires your art? 

My family, my friends, people in general. Humanity and its complexity but also beautiful simplicity inspire me. I feel everything I do, I love to connect with people and I aim to make my loved ones proud. People set the roots of storytelling. I love people! 

One of the things that is at the core of my journey as a person is that we either do things fueled by fear or love. You know which one it is most of the time because you’re at peace when you are doing something fueled by love, there is settlement and contentment there. Whereas, fear, there is always this touch of anxiety or franticness and uncertainty. Sorting through my life and figuring out what is driven by fear or love is a thing that keeps me going every day. 

Teagan’s run-through:

Odysseus or Telemachus? 

Telemachus! Oh, that was probably too quick! (laughs)

Favorite song from EPIC? Or favorite saga? 

“Love In Paradise”. Right now, at least! It changes literally every time. 

Favorite character from EPIC, can’t be Athena! 

Scylla. It probably says a lot about me, but she is so cool! Also, Eurylochus. The way he went was so brutal that now I feel less bad about being on Telemachus’s side right away. 

Is there a moment in EPIC that took you off-guard or blew your mind? 

When Jay told me how “God Games” was going to end. 

Will we ever get a live performance or staged version of EPIC? 

I’m unfortunately not on the team who makes this decision but I know they want EPIC to have many more lives after the recordings. I don’t know what those lives are going to look like yet but the fans can rest assured that there will always be a life for EPIC!