The movies we associate with The Brat Pack (Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Pretty In Pink, St. Elmo’s Fire and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) all were released one-to-three years before actor/singer Kenton Chen was born. That doesn’t stop Chen from embodying multiple characters from these films in the current For the Record Live show The Brat Pack. Chen plays “The Geek” in performances continuing at Break Room 86 through June 9th.
Chen first came to prominence through appearances on The Sing-Off on NBC. That lead to multiple opportunities to tour with Ben Folds, Post Modern Jukebox and more. He also is writing and singing his own material and just this week released a new video for one of his songs.
I recently spoke to Chen about his own introduction to the Brat Pack movies, the universality of these stories and channeling his own journey into his work.
When did you first see moves like Ferris Bueller or Pretty in Pink?
I think I was a kid. The first one I watched was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. I used to always watch movies with my sister. When she was watching Scream or some other more adult movie, I always thought it was so cool, but I never understood what I was watching.
The archetypes used in these films still hold up. It seems as though with all the generations that have watched these films that society hasn’t figured out how to make high school an easier experience.
They speak to the universality of the human experience and maybe mostly the American experience. We still keep doing the same things over and over. I think on the bigger stage of life that we take those archetypes and we still act similarly. Not to look too political, but if you look at how things are on the big stage, we never really leave high school.
Does high school ever leave us?
I don’t know that it really leaves us or we ever really leave it. I think we can try. There are so many people we think of as ugly ducklings – these powerful, beautiful, strong people, but you have to look at their past. There are a lot of people who grew up the awkward geeks and still move though life the same way. If you pay attention we are all still trying to prove to our younger selves that we are more than we thought.
The audience attending The Brat Pack loves to live in the nostalgia of the moment. How do you honor what they expect and still make “The Geek” a character of your own creation?
Once we started the rehearsal process I haven’t watched the movies. I don’t go back and watch the scenes. I know in the moment, in each scene we have, the best thing I can do is just be present. What comes out of me feels different than what it is in the movies because I have that singular objective of what I want and what I need to express. We’re just very different from the original characters that were in the movies by virtue of who we are.
You released a new video for Overwhelm, an original song. Can you tell me about the song?
The song came about when I had a writing session with a friend of mine and we were trying to figure out what we wanted to talk about. One of the things was this need to talk about mental health. I feel like we always try to push that away. I do that. We’re all growing and confused and sad at times. I think at a certain point that was true in my life.
I shared things that were very personal and vulnerable and somehow, in some form, I got rejected for that. So then we start building up walls and start having these ideas that nobody understands us. Over time the things that protect us from vulnerability to other people no longer become useful. They disconnect us from the very people we need to reach out to.
I’ve had multiple experiences in which the world felt too much and I had too many emotions. I was trying to drown them out whether through substances or surrounding myself with people who would distract me or just staying busy all the time. So I wanted to write about accepting all aspects of our life and all shades of what we consider negative emotions. They protect us and shape us and propel us into different parts of our lives.
Speaking of shaping us, I know you’re an Ella Fitzgerald fan. She said, “It’s not where you come from, it’s where you’re going that counts.” As of today, Kenton, where are you going?
I’ve been doing this whole vulnerability thing which is big for me. I love performing and writing and singing and I started off fast when I was on The Sing-Off. I really got scared. I shied away and I was really afraid of what success would mean for me and how it would expose me and how people would see me. I stepped away and I started pursuing other projects to try to double down on being just in one place and not really pursuing the limelight. In the past year or two that has really shifted for me. I think it does matter where I came from. I know where I come from and who I am. I have a much better idea and a stronger purpose of where I’m going. I’m going where I’m not afraid of my life, my story and who I am.
All photos by Abel Armas.