Gender/Pro-nouns: Female, She/Her
Date of Birth: April 18th, 1992
Place of Birth: Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
Current Residence: Notting Hill
Length of Residence: Since August 2010
The birth of Evie Lui Baker was certainly not spectacular, there weren’t people camped out in the waiting room to see her, or a room of full of balloons and cards for the expectant mother. Evie was a mistake, and not a wanted child. As soon as she was born she was handed over, nothing but a hospital ID bracelet with the last name Lui to connect her with where she came from. Luckily for Evie she was a healthy little girl and she was adopted quickly by two incredible parents who already had three other adopted children. They named her Evie and added Lui as her middle name, a reminder of her heritage. The Bakers were keen to adopt children of all ethnicities though all their children were English born, they wanted to ensure that they honoured their birth families and their own heritage.
Evie grew up a chatty little girl, keen to tell stories to everyone she met. She loved to entertain, putting on shows for family everywhere they went. She was six when her parents finally put her into an acting class and Evie fell in love with it instantly, sure the lessons were mainly just goofy improv games but to Evie they were everything. By the time she was ten she was dancing, singing, acting and anything else she could get her grubby mits on. She dreamed of the stage and she begged her parents like crazy to take her to see a professional west end show. Her parents were middle class but with four children all with their own individual hobbies finances were tight, and getting from Newcastle to London was no easy feat. She watched bootlegs online and listened to soundtracks constantly but it just wasn’t the same.
Local youth theatre became Evie’s favourite place, they put on shows twice a year and Evie often had large roles, but she dreamed of something bigger. The shows they did were stale and overdone and Evie wanted to do something new and fresh. She was 13 when she saw her very first west end show, Wicked. Evie’s entire world changed that day, she’d always known that the stage was her home but as soon as the curtain went up Evie knew she wasn’t going to rest until she was on that stage. Her parents were keen to allow their daughter to follow her dreams but they also didn’t want her growing up too fast. They allowed her to take part in a west end summer school each year and bought her a theatre ticket each birthday and Christmas so she could build up her repertoire.
As soon as she turned 18 Evie moved to London and got herself an agent. She got auditions and even some callbacks but nothing seemed to be sticking, she was either too Chinese or not Chinese enough, too short or too tall, too pretty or too plain, the feedback was always different. She got herself a job working front of house at the Arts Theatre, watching people on the stage act out her dream as she handed them ice creams and over priced merchandise. It was hard to watch the show every night and ache to be in it. She got herself odd commercials and small TV bit parts but nothing seemed to stick. It was working at the Arts where she met the love of her life, the person who felt like her missing piece.
Then, at age 22 Evie got her chance. The cast of American Idiot was hit with a sickness bug and the show was expected to be cancelled, until the director asked her a question, “do you know the part?” Evie had been watching the show for months and she knew it like the back of her hand so she stepped on the stage as WhatsHerName with only four hours notice. That performance led to her getting the role of a swing and with experience under her belt she was able to spread her wings even more. Her next job was in Made in Dagenham, which closed before it could really catch its footing. She then moved onto Into The Woods and then Hamilton. Evie found herself in some of the biggest shows in London but she was merely in the background, understudying for the roles that she so much wanted for herself.
Work wasn’t exactly going to plan but Evie’s romantic life wasn’t shaping up too badly. Becoming a step-mom at the age of 24 wasn’t exactly in her plan but neither was falling in love so deeply that it made her heart ache. Evie took on that little girl like she was her own, and pretty soon it felt like she was. The crumbling of the relationship only made her heart ache more but Evie knew that they were better off apart, the hardest part was losing the child that had become an important figure in her life. They came to an agreement and Evie gets visits, just like any other parent. She’s still a mom in her mind, no matter what any paperwork says.
Now Evie has landed her first lead role, Anne Boleyn in Six the Musical, a role she consistently has to pinch herself that she even has. Living her dream every night feels like pure magic and it’s starting to feel like all of the hard work is paying off. It also feels like full circle, back at the Arts Theatre where she got her first chance to play a lead, and now she’s there playing one of six almost every night. She had big shoes to fill but she’s ready for the challenge.
Penned by Jess, find them here.
