Thanks to the generosity of some individual donors, Bay Area Children's Theatre is able to take Story Explorers on the road! We are able to visit a few special needs classrooms this year and present our sensory-friendly, interactive shows designed specifically for them! Words don't do the experience justice, but I think this photo by Melissa Nigro captures beautifully the wonder and meaning that performing these shows brings to me.
Posts filed under Musical Theater
Four Immigrants wins 6 SFBATCC Awards!
Last night, The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga received the following San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards:
- Original Script, Min Kahng
- Original Music, Min Kahng
- Entire Production, Bay Area
- Entire Production, South Bay
- Stage Direction, Leslie Martinson
- Music Direction, Billy Liberatore
I'm am so pleasantly stunned and honored by this recognition! Thank you to all of the many collaborators and supporters who have been a part of the journey of The Four Immigrants!
Introducing... Austin & Min Write A Musical, The Podcast
Artwork by Melissa Nigro
I'm proud to announce my latest collaboration! But I don't know yet what it is!
Fellow playwright/composer Austin Zumbro and I are embarking on a new musical theatre project, and we thought it would be fun to capture our creative conversations in a podcast!
So, we hope you enjoy literally listening to two dudes with mics throwing out ideas for an as-yet-unborn musical. We also hope it actually leads to a musical!
Austin & Min Write A Musical, The Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and here!
THE FOUR IMMIGRANTS Nominated for 11 BATCC Awards!
Nominations for the 42nd Annual Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards were announced, and THE FOUR IMMIGRANTS is in the running for 11 categories:
- Entire Production Bay Area
- Entire Production South Bay
- Ensemble
- Original Script - Min Kahng
- Original Music - Min Kahng
- Stage Direction - Leslie Martinson
- Music Direction - William Liberatore
- Choreography - Dottie Lester-White
- Costume Design - Noah Marin
- Lighting Design - Steven Mannshardt
- Set Design - Andrew Boyce
Winners will be announced at the ceremony on March 26, 2018!
Recording is a Team Effort
Just a handful of the amazing individuals who are helping turn this album dream into reality!
I spent the past weekend at 25th Street Recording in Oakland with the Four Immigrants cast, musicians and creative team to record the original cast album for the show*. To be honest, going into the weekend, I was feeling fairly anxious. I have recorded two cast albums before, and both of them demanded so much time and attention that my impression of the recording process was that it was always mentally draining. So, I braced myself for a similar experience this time. I'm delighted to say that, while the recording sessions were definitely still demanding, the entire process actually went very smoothly and with minimal hiccups.
It was immediately clear to me that this was because I had such a great team of people around me. We were fortunate not only to have the entire cast back, but each musician in our 6-person ensemble had played in the pit for the show as well! This enabled us to jump right back into the material even after almost half a year had passed since the last time we performed it. Perhaps the biggest help was that I had a team of people to help take on some of the administrative and decision-making roles. For my past albums, I wore the hats of producer, manager, and music director combined. For The Four Immigrants, we split up these responsibilities among five people, and, by doing so, were able to keep things focused, organized and on track. This made a world of difference. Having a team of people you trust. Working with them and leaning on them. This sense of relying on others to help us get through to the end is, interestingly enough, one of the major themes in the show as well. I'm so grateful to all of the individuals who lent their skills, talent, time, and funds to this project. I wouldn't be able to do it alone.
*We are still trying to raise funds to help with the final production and distribution costs of the album. If you would like to make a donation, click here.