ONE WOMAN SHOW
Struggling with abuse and loneliness & turning it into a creative piece both poignant and funny that the LA Times described as a brilliant, Gwendoline wrote, starred and produced her one woman show “Laughing With Mouth Wide Open.” “To have audience members come up and say I told their story with tears in their eyes meant everything to me this is why I do what I do.” Watch it: Google Gwendoline Yeo one woman show on YouTube https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SXPn8Im1Qvk
How it began:
THE MUSICIAN
Gwendoline was discovered by the executives at NPR/KCRW playing the Chinese Zither (otherwise known as the "Gu-Zheng") at an intimate New Year's party and was invited to write, narrate and score her own One Woman Show which aired as a half hour special on *NPR/KCRW's "The Politics of Culture" 89.9FM."
http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/politics-of-culture/gwendoline-yeo
Her work on the unusual instrument also brought such honors as opening for Norwegian sensation Ryok Sopp doing electric solo zither in their Los Angeles Tour at the Henry Ford Theater in front of 5000 people.
Gwendoline graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 1994 in an advanced program with a diploma in Piano. She also introduced the Chinese Long Zither to the conservatory and incorporated her study there. She continued her study at the ethnomusicology department at UCLA.
Offered a couple of record deals previously that didn't seem like the right fit, as well as a successful acting career, Gwendoline still plans to do an album more world music geared when the time is right.
See one of Gwendoline's first recordings with Hen House Studios schooling you old school on the zither! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=siAlvfZkFAs
BEAUTY QUEEN
At first to make money to get into college, her ugly duckling story led her to win the Miss Teen Chinatown SF pageant.
With more confidence and the Chinese Zither in tow, she won Miss Asia America 1995 where she also took the titles of Miss Talent & Miss Congeniality.
In her third pageant, she made it a full sweep by winning the most prestigious of all Asian American Pageants the Miss Chinatown USA pageant in 1998 held at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts & Chinese New Year parade on channel 2.
BOOK
She is working on her first novel "Lost & Found: Depression, Faith & a 50 State Bucket list" aiming to be released with a small but mighty publisher. More info to come this year, 2017.