Leading masterclasses in Jakarta one week, then flying back to London the next for intensive rehearsals. That’s not something everyone can do, but Desmonda Cathabel did that and will be doing more. After all, this is exactly what she uprooted her life for — to pursue her love for performing and music. “It just feels like this is what I’ve been sent to do in this world, especially with all these abilities and talents,” she said in a chat with EnVi over Zoom.
Cathabel squeezed in time after a long rehearsal day to talk about her tenure as Eurydice in Hadestown — the first Indonesian performer in a leading role on the West End — and her transition into a new role as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. We spoke about her journey from Jakarta’s community theaters to London’s West End, and found out exactly why she’s a pioneer of Indonesian talents on the global stage.
Any Way the Wind Blows
Desmonda Cathabel doesn’t just wait for the spotlight. She chases it, even if it means leaving her home in Jakarta for London. It’s a trade she’s more than happy to make; slaving away in front of a laptop in between five-hour daily commutes was just not working. However, she finds solace in the in-between, where she gets to do one of the things she loves most: theater.
Her first-ever experience with musical theater was in a 2013 revue called Broadway ke Java by an indie community theater company, Jakarta Players. “I immediately fell in love with it, and I want to do it for the rest of my life, even if only as a hobby,” Cathabel said. This feeling only grew stronger as she nabbed her first corporate job. “My soul was clearly pulling me in that direction, but it wasn’t possible to make a career out of it at that point in my life.”
Though it is thriving, the musical theater scene in Jakarta is still quite small. The nation is home to a rich heritage of performing arts with various regional interpretations, from Javanese paper puppets (wayang), to Betawi culture’s comedic lenong, to the mystical Balinese kecak. However, when it comes to contemporary theater, Indonesia has yet to jump on the bandwagon the way other countries have.
Still, that fact didn’t deter Cathabel and a handful of other theater kids from co-founding their own troupe, Jakarta Performing Arts Company (JPAC), in 2014. As she continued to hone her skills, her credits grew along with them — earning her roles as Anita in West Side Story and April in Company, among others. These would only be the first of her many brushes with Stephen Sondheim.
Wait For Me, West End
The pandemic marked a total shift in Cathabel’s life. Her corporate life came to a quasi-pause, and so did her theatrical activities. However, it allowed her more time to begin the process of turning “maybe someday” into reality. Extensive research brought her to the Royal Academy of Music in 2021. This truly became a testament of the sense of community within Jakarta’s theatre circle. “My friends even staged a fundraising concert to help me pay for everything,” she recalled.
Beyond support from her closest circles, her westward motivations are spurred by a chance to bring her nation’s name to the global stage. “At that time, there were hardly any Indonesians who moved to the UK to pursue theater.” But now, there’s two — Cathabel’s long-time bestie El Haq Latief, a choreographer and dancer who performed in Cabaret on the West End and is currently touring with The Karate Kid – The Musical.
Cathabel described the one-year program as a crash course, which led to her first professional booking as Jasmine in the 2024-2025 UK and Ireland tour of Aladdin. Her splash in the big pond followed not long after, when she headed to the West End to star as Eurydice in Hadestown, becoming the first Indonesian national leading a show on London’s equivalent of Broadway.
“If I had to choose one role for the rest of my life, it’s Eurydice. It’s a dream role,” Cathabel mused. “I did things as the character that I didn’t even know I could do as a performer. Giving so much of myself into it eight times a week and getting as much feedback from the audience feels very fulfilling.”
The task of playing Eurydice isn’t an easy one. She remains on stage during the show’s entire 180-minute run. “Even when you’re not the focal point of a scene, your full presence is required, as you interact with or do something. That physicality demands so much endurance,” Cathabel described. The burden shifts whenever Eurydice is brought downstage. “It’s so emotional; you have to access something intensely devastating. That’s the only way to justifiably deliver one of the saddest stories ever told.”
But Cathabel rose to the challenge. After all, it’s a manifestation of why she loves performing. “I’ve always loved singing, but never found the courage to do so on stage as myself. When I found out that musical theater allowed me to hide behind the character — it’s their words and emotions, not my own — it’s almost like a safety net for me.”
At times, Cathabel questioned how to carry that much emotion eight times a week for one year, and how it would affect her as a person. But that mental separation between herself and her character proved to be her biggest asset. It was how she found safety and fun in delivering consistent emotional intensity, especially through her vocal performance — and how she has the confidence to step into a new role that demands the same gravitas.
We Do Know How to Love Desmonda
Cathabel isn’t a stranger to sharing the stage with legendary greats; she has performed alongside names like Bernadette Peters and Dame Judi Dench for Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends. But it doesn’t leave her any less starstruck as she enters the next chapter of her career. In her role as Mary Magdalene for Jesus Christ Superstar’s third West End run, she joins a rotating lineup of heavy hitters, including Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Matt Bomer, and Bob the Drag Queen.
Though Mary Magdalene and Eurydice seem to be two sides of the same coin — the former more subdued than the latter — Cathabel’s approach couldn’t be more different. “What I find interesting with theater is there’s never really one singular way to deliver a character, even if it’s different performances of the same show.”
Instead of the epic, folktale sensibilities of Hadestown, this production of Jesus Christ Superstar is grounded in a naturalistic mood, akin to the original cast recording from 1970. “There aren’t a lot of narrative beats in the direction, which makes the acting less of a focal point,” she revealed. “It feels more like a stylized concert, so I have to deliver a performance rooted in the musicality of the material. It’s a test of my musicianship.”
This experience, which propels Cathabel’s artistry as she finds more of her individual voice, boosted confidence in her own musicianship. “In this context — as a person and artist — I am an instrument. I have the skills and instincts that I can impart to a piece of music as myself, and it allows me to apply them in ways that the actor mentality could not. That’s what makes me, as a musician, interesting and exciting, even without having to create my own melodies or lyrics.”
Mary Magdalene forces Desmonda — the person, not the actress — to be at the forefront of the role. Though it leaves her feeling more vulnerable, it allows her to have more space to exercise more of her skills as a musician. “At the end of the day, you always have to deliver great music in musical theater, so you have to be just as confident and adept as the pianist or guitarist or drummer. My own artistry matters, too.”
Living to See Her, Dying to See Her
There’s a quote Cathabel constantly thinks of whenever she steps into the spotlight as an Indonesian person: you can’t be inspired if you aren’t represented.
Still, there’s another side of the coin. “Hot take, but I feel like we’re in a pretty interesting time in terms of racial casting,” she said. “I’m grateful for the opportunities I have today, which might not have come five years ago. But I have to acknowledge how Asian women are seen in a stereotype within the Western landscape.”
She reflected on her London résumé, many of which are ingénue roles historically played by Asian women — Eurydice was first played by Filipino Eva Noblezada, while Mary Magdalene was originated by Chinese-Japanese-Irish Yvonne Elliman. These roles are docile, obedient, and petite, stereotypical attributes attached to Asian women in many Western portrayals, often erring on the side of becoming sexual objects to White men — and that’s not to mention the colonial undertones of this dynamic.
“A lot of people are also only looking at numbers when it comes to representation,” Cathabel continued. “That alone is still bad, not to mention the nuances. Intersectionality with the kind of roles they’re playing and other identities are rarely brought into the discussion.”
Though mainstream musical theater has seen many stars from different members of the Asian diaspora, Indonesians are among the lesser represented groups. “I hope being on the West End kick-starts a whole new wave of Indonesian talents making their way to international stages,” she said. “We need to show up. Let’s not allow people to push us to the sidelines. It’s crazy that we’re not given equal opportunity in spaces especially like musical theater.”
The Indonesian contemporary theater industry is growing, especially right now — Jakarta recently saw the first-ever Indonesian-language production of Chicago. Cathabel serves as a north star for the nation’s emergence to the global stage. “JPAC, Jaksical, Indonesia Kaya, that’s home,” she said. “Semangat!”
Follow along on Desmonda Cathabel’s latest West End residencies through her Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.
Interested in more stories by Asian musical theater performers? Check out EnVi’s Artist Spotlight with SIX the Musical alum Kay Sibal!
