Back to School
Actress Melanie Chandra & Comedian Rajiv Satyal take us back to a day in the life of two high school seniors in 1999
Even though we’ve been friends for 13 years (the amount of time it takes to go K-12), it’s still a thrill to get a call from Melanie Chandra. One day last year, she rang me up and suggested, “We should do something together,” and without any kind of idea or plan, the two of us hatched the concept of a live show in which we’d spend some time back in our high school days.
Now, I’m just a tad older than Mel. I graduated high school in 1994, a year I spend an entire scene of my latest solo show, The Man in The Middle, declaring as the best year ever in the history of the US of A.
And Melanie graduated well into the next millennium. So, we split the difference a bit in her favor (as I was more than glad to do) and called it 1999.
Spending some time back in the last year of the last millennium was a trip down memory lane. It was a time of great optimism; there was something crackling there in the zeitgeist. It felt like the entire nation was buzzing. Both Mel and I go into more detail in this very cool piece Brown Girl Mag did on us.
Mel and I met in 2007 through a group in Los Angeles called DesiYou. It was a platform designed to be of, by, and for South Asians. At a ten-person dinner one night in NY, we discovered we had a personality connection and that we’d both be performing at this 5,000-audience-member event called the Bollywood Awards in New York…. OK, it was in New Jersey. Melanie modeled and I hosted. And we just stayed in touch and started creating content. We were onto something early, making two videos under the banner, That’s What’s Up, way back in 2008:
It’s not easy to find people with whom you can collaborate. In this business, when you find ’em, hold on to ’em. And that’s a message I’ve taken to heart, because our director on that second video above, Cole McClendon, did the set design for our show, Back to School. And he played the mascot.
We’ve known each other since sixth grade, back at Fairfield High School outside of Cincinnati, Ohio. So, we were dogs in the real 1990s.
So, what was the show? It was 80 minutes of standup, sketch, improv, and audience participation… with the focus being on sketch comedy. Mel and I sat down and wrote the entire thing, which consisted of following us through a typical high school day: morning announcements, classes, cheerleading practice, a pep rally, etc.
It was ultimately a platform for us to showcase our ability to write and perform. But above all, it was pretty much an excuse for us to hang out and have fun.
Mel was instrumental in pulling in essential members of our team. Nick Vango gave us his tireless effort over the course of many weeks as he directed his first-ever live show. It is impossible to overthank this dude for just how much of his time and energy he put into this. And he brought his boys with him to be stage hands.
It didn’t hurt that Rob and Saiyam were great dancers who helped to fill the time during our transitions.
Mel also called up her good friends, Reema Sampat and Ami Sheth, to play the roles of two cheerleaders in our final sketch.
I’m a huge fan of Reema’s; while I know she’s done bigger things (appearing on a show you just might’ve heard of — Orange Is the New Black), I love her on Kabir Chopra’s Swiped to Death.
And I’ve known Ami about as long as I’ve known Mel; not surprisingly, she’s also killin’ the game, appearing on NBC’s Blindspot.
Given their incredibly busy personal and professional schedules, Reema and Ami’s presence was super-appreciated.
We should probably be cheering them on…
It didn’t hurt that we shot a funny video we play during the show with the Indian American actor who probably made it bigger than anyone before or since — Mr. Kal Penn. And the rumors are true: he’s about as nice a guy as they come.
I wasn’t the least bit surprised that we sold out a Friday 9:30 pm show in New York. After this many years in the game, either one of us had better be able to do that.
What did surprise me was that it sold out on Monday, especially given how long our people usually wait to buy tickets. We added a second show on Sunday at 9:30 pm and I was, frankly, shocked that it sold out a number of days in advance.
The vast majority of the material for the show is new but it was great to resurrect Mahatma Gandhi from The Man in The Middle and the Music Professor from Taking a Stand to do their thang. If Gandhi had a thang.
Gandhi didn’t realize he was on camera backstage.
Mel added some poignancy to the set during Independent Study, when she opened up about the insecurities she had in high school. The audience was rapt.
And here she is, having as much fun backstage as onstage.
The highlight had to be the pep rally where we all dance. I certainly could not have done it without our choreographer, Gayatri Bahl.
Hmmm… why is there footage of only Raj?
Many years ago, one of my acting teachers, Myra Turley, told me there are four reasons to take a job, in no particular order:
- The Money: The dough is too good to pass up.
- The Résumé-Builder: The credit will look good.
- The Work: You get to build your craft.
- The People: The team is just that dope.
We’re all likely to be in this game for decades… and some of us have already known each other for decades. (See above.) In this moment, during this snap, I felt like I made a bunch of new friends.
We cannot thank our wonderful friends enough for coming out to support us. Although grabbing rounds of drinks was one way — and a fun way — to do so.
And then we pulled it all together to do it again on Sunday.
As part of the pep rally, we had a talent show. Over the course of two nights, we had gymnastics, singing, dancing, and standup comedy by NY-based Nimesh Patel, who absolutely wrecked.
A woman who did a phenomenal impression of Britney Spears and of Shakira celebrated her birthday at our show and at the bar afterwards, where we serenaded her.
If it doesn’t make it to the ’Gram, did it really happen? Thank you to ClassPass’ Payal Kadakia, Actress Pooja Kumar, and all of our other dear friends who took to IG to spread the word about #MelRajB2S.
Mel’s playing to win… trying to figure out our next stop, coronavirus pending. Wish that were a joke.
Oh, and a shout-out to Mel for bringing her friend, Daniel Dae Kim. I totally fanboy’d to him over his character on LOST.
Well, I did say to DDK, “Not to be totally racist, but Lucy Liu came to my last show in New York.”
We were so pumped we just pulled DDK into our crew shot.
It was no joke traversing the continent multiple times to assemble this show. But in the end — and let’s face it, the whole way — it was worth it. This was my fourth stage show. No Man’s Land in 2013. Taking a Stand in 2017. The Man in The Middle in 2019. And now, Back to School in 2020.
Two of them are solo shows. But it is special to share the stage with somebody… singer/songwriter Taylor Alexander for music and now Melanie Chandra for a truly educational experience. I am forever grateful for her friendship and to her and her husband (and her daughter) for welcoming me into their home myriad times as we put this together.
Indeed, after dropping Melanie off at the Burbank airport on a Sunday, I said, “See you tomorrow.” I flew to JFK the next day, and as I walked through her door, said, “It feels like we’re commuting.” One of the many laughs we shared over the last few months.
Mad Props to our families, friends, fans, and followers. Big Ups to The Tank NYC for taking a chance on us. And of course, Much Love to Harsha Satyal, my queen, for your never-wavering support, affection, feedback, and care. It’s good to be home.
#MelRajB2S
Melanie Chandra is a NY-based actress who has been featured as a series regular on The Brink on HBO and Code Black on CBS. Rajiv Satyal is an LA-based comedian who is the first person ever to do standup on all 7 continents.
