SUNITA: BACK TO ME Comes To The Hollywood Fringe

Larchmont resident, singer, actor and pianist Sunita Param will bring her autobiographical one-woman show Sunita: Back to Me to the Hollywood Fringe Festival, LA's largest celebration of the performance arts. Written, produced, and performed by Param, the show follows the autobiographical adventures of a Broadway-bound dynamo forced to confront a new reality. Param presents her life as a musical theatre soundtrack and her lively, yet poignant cabaret show has been well-received and gained a following on both coasts. Directed by Jason Manuel Olazábal, Sunita: Back to Me opens June 17th and runs for three performances at the Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre in Hollywood.

About the Show

Sunita: Back to Me takes you on an unforgettable journey through her life's ups and downs and everything in between. She walks us through her life with an artful and beguiling self portrait, made of beautiful soulful acting, as well as some of the most iconic songs from the American musical theater songbook. Harnessing her talent to tell her story, you see a woman so courageous, so resilient, so funny and sparkly. Unafraid to tell all – embracing every part of it with an almost lightness. Sunita is authentic, vulnerable, radiant perfection. A storyteller, her glorious soprano fills the room. Singing cleverly chosen songs from musicals, including “Wicked,” “Waitress,” “Into the Woods,” and “Dear Evan Hansen,” to name a few, you will be left wondering, “where has she been all my life?” Accompanied on the piano by the brilliant Derek Purdy, you will laugh, you will cry, you will be inspired and filled with joy by the resilience of the human spirit.

Sunita Param was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and grew up in Williamsville (Buffalo, New York). She was schooled at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance with a Minor in Piano. Param is a member of The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Actor's Equity Association (AEA). Sunita is an actor, singer, pianist and the first Miss New York of South Asian descent (1995). She has performed worldwide as a singer on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) world cruise and over 10 years in New York where she worked Off-Broadway, in regional theater, television and film. In Los Angeles, Param has been a featured singer with Mostly Musicals and Miscast. She is also the owner of Sunita Param Piano Studio. In 2020-22, Param wrote and began performing her autobiographical one-woman cabaret Sunita: Back to Me throughout California, including the historic Gardenia, Feinstein's at Vitellos, Les Michaels' cabaret, Sunday Series at the Arthur Newman Theater, Palm Desert, and on the East Coast, at Musicalfare Theatre, Buffalo NY. In 2024, Param performed at the Whitefire Theatre, at Solofest 2024, the largest solo theatre festival on the West Coast, and was the recipient of the Whitefire Theatre Solofest Encore Award. Param launched her cabaret career on the Royal Viking Sun (1996) followed by a New York cabaret, The Little Brown Girl Finally Gets to Sing (2000). Param has also been a guest star on TV for shows including Rebel (ABC) and Law & Order (NBC) and film credits include “American Desi” (2001), one of the first films to feature a mostly South Asian cast, and “Blades of Glory.” She is also a talented voice actor, recently voicing the character of Kabir's mom In Adam Sandler's Leo which was Netflix's biggest debut for an animated film. Param is also a part of “Voices Of Christmas”; a professional Christmas caroling company in the greater Los Angeles area. Param is the owner of Sunita Param Piano Studio in Larchmont Village (Los Angeles) where she has taught privately in the area for over 13 years to hundreds of students. She was featured in PEOPLE magazine's 2013 “Search for Real Beauty at Every Age” as the winner in the 40s category for the magazine's “World's Most Beautiful Women” edition.  

 

Director Jason Manuel Olazábal holds an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  As an Actor he can be seen as “Eduardo Morales” in the latest season of The Cleaning Lady (FOX). Some favorite roles include “Ramon Prado” on Showtime's Dexter (SAG Award Nomination), “Dante Esquivel” on Fear the Walking Dead (AMC) and “Alex Cruz” on Make It or Break It (Freeform). He's also been seen on Broadway in  Julius Caesar and Anna in the Tropics. Jason is a proud member of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. 

 

Derek Purdy has been a collaborative pianist in the Los Angeles area for over 20 years and his work has taken him around the globe performing in venues from orchestra pits and jazz ensembles to country bands and piano bar pick-up bands. He is currently in his 15th season as the accompanist of the West Coast Singers LGBTQ+ Chorus of Los Angeles, performs as a part time accompanist, and works as a full-time event planner and corporate culture consultant. He received his B.A. in Music Theory from Azusa Pacific University and a M.A. in Musicology from Claremont Graduate University.

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