The new musical Tiananmen, which will premiere in 2023 just ahead of an upcoming industry-staged reading September 20th, 2022, announced the New York cast as well as a major addition to its creative team.
The cast for the reading of Tiananmen, 100% Asian American and Pacific Islander, includes Cáitlín Burke (The Sound of Music), Kai An Chee (Miss Saigon), Grace Choi (Avenue Q), Karl Josef Co (Pacific Overtures, Classic Stage Revival), Troy Iwata (Be More Chill), Austin Ku (2021 Grammy Nominee for Soft Power), Kelvin Moon Loh (Beetlejuice), Jason Ma (Miss Saigon), Sami Ma (Vietgone), Rommel Pierre O’Choa (My Fair Lady), Gen Parton-Shin (Next To Normal), Sam Tanabe (Allegiance), and Elena Wang (Allegiance).
Wu’er Kaixi, who helped lead the protests in China’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 and now lives in Taiwan as an activist for democracy, has joined the production as conceiver and creative consultant.
“It would be as if Lin-Manuel Miranda had Alexander Hamilton alongside as he created Hamilton,” Tiananmen author Scott Elmegreen said of Kaixi’s first involvement. “He has made our script better, more authentic and more powerful since we presented Tiananmen in New York last September and as we get ready for our World Premiere at The Phoenix Theatre Company.”
The new musical Tiananmen, which will premiere in 2023 just ahead of an upcoming industry-staged reading September 20th, 2022, announced the New York cast as well as a major addition to its creative team.
The cast for the reading of Tiananmen, 100% Asian American and Pacific Islander, includes Cáitlín Burke (The Sound of Music), Kai An Chee (Miss Saigon), Grace Choi (Avenue Q), Karl Josef Co (Pacific Overtures, Classic Stage Revival), Troy Iwata (Be More Chill), Austin Ku (2021 Grammy Nominee for Soft Power), Kelvin Moon Loh (Beetlejuice), Jason Ma (Miss Saigon), Sami Ma (Vietgone), Rommel Pierre O’Choa (My Fair Lady), Gen Parton-Shin (Next To Normal), Sam Tanabe (Allegiance), and Elena Wang (Allegiance).
Wu’er Kaixi, who helped lead the protests in China’s Tiananmen Square in 1989 and now lives in Taiwan as an activist for democracy, has joined the production as conceiver and creative consultant.
“It would be as if Lin-Manuel Miranda had Alexander Hamilton alongside as he created Hamilton,” Tiananmen author Scott Elmegreen said of Kaixi’s first involvement. “He has made our script better, more authentic and more powerful since we presented Tiananmen in New York last September and as we get ready for our World Premiere at The Phoenix Theatre Company.”
Elmegreen is a Lecturer at the University of Chicago, and Fornarola is best known as a composer for DreamWorks. They were most recently represented in New York by their play Straight, a New York Times Critics’ Pick now in development as a major motion picture. Lee has directed and choreographed numerous productions around the country and internationally. He has performed in 11 Broadway shows and in addition to Tiananmen has recently developed the world premieres of Mr. Holland‘s Opus, The Gifted Prince, Brain. Storm., and Disney Wishes for Disney Cruise Line. (www.darrenlee.com)
“In light of the ongoing debate, indeed fight between authoritarianism and democracy Tiananmen is a brave and necessary work to remind us all of the hinge of world history that happened in Tiananmen Square at a time when China is trying to erase all that happened there from memory,” said Lee, a Chinese-American.
