The forged of “KPOP” on Broadway. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)
In April 2017, Emily Shooltz, former affiliate creative director of Ars Nova, reached out to gauge my curiosity in a “giant, immersive musical about K-pop.” My title was handed alongside by César Alvarez, who I had met shortly after they established the Polyphone Festival at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. The present had already lined up a music director and have been seeking to fortify the group with an affiliate music director. The resolution was simple for me: a powerful sure. How may I cross up the chance to collaborate with Korean and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) creatives, in addition to a forged composed predominantly of Koreans? It appeared unreal.
I’m an adopted Korean American who grew up within the suburbs of Albany. The closest proximity I needed to Korean tradition was my finest good friend Ann, a first-generation Korean American (or second era, by Korean parameters). I used to be one in all a small (although important) group of Korean adoptees in my neighborhood. And whereas my dad and mom made a number of makes an attempt to hyperlink me up with my id from a really younger age, none of them caught. It wasn’t till my late 20s that I started to embrace and revel in my heritage.
Meanwhile my obsession with musical theatre began early, with Fiddler on the Roof and The Fantasticks because the ABCs. Toward the tip of elementary college, my dad and mom began taking me all the way down to Manhattan for two-show-day adventures. We would get in line at TKTS (often farther again), and one in all my dad and mom would stroll me as much as the board to view choices. There have been no apps or on-line postings or TodayTix then, so this ritual grew to become a time-honored custom. I couldn’t wait to see what was a whopping 50 p.c off! My first Broadway present was The Secret Garden. These sporadic weekend journeys continued by means of center and highschool.
The day we noticed Rent, my molecules modified eternally. I couldn’t have named it then, however seeing a tapestry of racial identities current collectively in a contemporary context was vastly impactful. I had been performing in class musicals, however hadn’t thought-about that there might be a spot for somebody who seems like me on the industrial stage. With a hearth in my intestine, I ended up pursuing a BFA in musical theatre efficiency at Ithaca College.
And now right here I’m. On Broadway. In addition to KPOP’s 18 performer debuts on Broadway, there are a variety of debuts among the many inventive and manufacturing groups, together with my very own. I’ve been knowledgeable music director for the higher a part of the final 15 years, and will by no means have imagined the serendipity of creating my debut with such a historic piece of musical theatre.
Consider: Until now, there have been simply seven Broadway musicals, all falling into the class of “period piece,” that featured an AAPI presence (which I outline as exceeding a single character). Until pretty not too long ago, most weren’t authored by AAPI of us:
• South Pacific (1949, 2008 revival) by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan
• The King & I (1951, revivals in 1977, 1985, 1996, 2015) by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
• Flower Drum Song (1958, 2002 revival) by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joseph Fields (with the addition of David Henry Hwang for the 2002 Broadway revival)
• Pacific Overtures (1976, 2004 revival) by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman
• Miss Saigon (1989, 2017 revival) by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boubil
• Shogun (1990) by Paul Chihara and John Driver
• Allegiance (2015) by Jay Kuo, Lorenzo Thione, and Marc Acito
Into this combine comes KPOP, penned by Jason Kim, Helen Park, and Max Vernon. But it’s not simply the truth that this musical facilities AAPI our bodies and tales that thrills me; additionally it is that we’re spending time with individuals in modern circumstances, grappling with timeless tensions like the private price of ambition, the character of authenticity, and parentage. (The final theme is of explicit poignancy for me, as somebody who went by means of the foster system in South Korea earlier than being adopted at 5 months previous.)
KPOP calls to thoughts parts of reveals I like dearly, together with A Chorus Line and Gypsy, inside a culturally particular container by which the characters course of battle—a container which will really feel unfamiliar to the standard Broadway-going viewers at first look, however is deeply linked to musical theatre custom at its core.
In New York City, a cosmopolitan ambiance wealthy with progressive thinkers, it could appear fairly pure for a manufacturing like this to roll into the 2022 Broadway season, particularly after the “racial reckoning” we’ve all come by means of and proceed to grapple with. But I need to draw your consideration to this: It is a radical act. To witness these charismatic, hungry, hopeful younger AAPI artists navigate a narrative the place they get to be nuanced, humorous, and flawed fashionable characters on a Broadway stage is actually groundbreaking! It is a narrative I by no means thought I’d see, and one which I imagine may have a profound impression on how AAPI Americans lower by means of actuality, pursuing goals with a stronger sense of confidence than I had rising up.
I like musical theatre with my complete self. It has been my residence for so long as I can bear in mind, each personally and professionally. I’ve had the nice fortune of seeing reveals on Broadway since I used to be 12. To now be a part of a theatre season there, amongst icons of all generations, is a dizzying honor. But to be there with KPOP—this love letter to the American musical theatre, and an open hand inviting you to expertise a pioneering side of Korean tradition—makes me really feel like I belong.
Amanda Morton (she/her) is a music director based mostly out of the NYC area.
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