Lawrence Walker will present a developmental reading of Fusong, a new musical with book and lyrics by Christine Toy Johnson and music by Cecilia Lin. Based on the novel, The Lost Daughter of Happiness, by acclaimed Chinese novelist and screenwriter Geling Yan, Fusong is directed and conceived by Gabriel Barre.
Fusong tells the story of two young Chinese women in two different centuries linked by their complicated destiny to search for true freedom from within. As Fusong is kidnapped from her small village in China and thrown into the dark world of San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1866, and Nancy confronts the anti-Asian hate crimes of America’s 21st century COVID era, their histories intertwine with violence, enslavement, duty, and – against all odds – love, ultimately leading them on a journey to discover their shared legacy of survival.
The April 5 reading will feature Aaron Alcaraz, Colin Anderson, Stephen Bogardus, Delphi Borich, Emy Coligado, Amy Keum, Ryan Knowles, Angel Lin, Kelvin Moon Loh, Paul Heesang Miller, John Sang Rheu, Nathan Salstone, Jason Simon, Pearl Sun and Xiaoqing Zhang.
Music direction is by Joshua Zecher-Ross; orchestrations and arrangements are by Cecilia Lin; sound design is by Connor Wang; casting is by Michael Cassara, CSA and Andrea Zee; general management is by Visceral Entertainment. Ada Zhang is the production stage manager and Kathleen Rose Gallardo is assistant stage manager.
All actors & stage managers are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
The by-invitation only industry reading will take place Friday, April 5 at 11AM and 3PM at New 42 StudiosThe by-invitation only industry reading will take place Friday, April 5 at 11AM and 3PM at New 42 Studios (229 W 42nd Street, NYC). Industry Members interested in attending should RSVP by email to contact@visceral-entertainment.com.
About the Artists
CHRISTINE TOY JOHNSON (Book & Lyrics) is a Tony and Obie honored, multiple award-winning writer, actor, and advocate for inclusion. Works produced and/or developed by the Roundabout, O’Neill, Abingdon, Ars Nova, Barrow Group, Prospect Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Village Theatre etc.; included in the Library of Congress’s Asian Pacific American Playwrights Collection. Treasurer of the Dramatists Guild, founder of the Asian American Theatre Artists Collective, co-founder of AAPAC. Alum of BMI, The Writers Lab, Sarah Lawrence College. Details: www.christinetoyjohnson.com
CECILIA LIN (Music, Orchestrations & Arrangements) is a four-time China Music Award winner for Best Composer of the Year. Beginning her professional career at age 15, Ms. Lin has written over a hundred pieces of pop music for various Asian pop stars and twenty-one songs that reached #1 on China Music Radio (Chinese Billboard). Ms. Lin also has a selection of film and TV credits, including composing additional material for Disney’s High School Musical (Asia). In 2015, Ms. Lin signed on with the Paris National Symphony Orchestra as its first Asian composer and is the youngest artist ever to be on the national stamp issued by the China Post. Since 2018, Cecilia has been living in New York pursuing a career in the Broadway theatre industry, earning multiple awards as a co-producer, including the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical (Desperate Measures), and represented as a co-producer on Broadway in Mrs. Doubtfire. .
GABRIEL BARRE (Director) Broadway: Amazing Grace. Off Broadway: original productions of A Sign of the Times, The Wild Party by Andrew Lippa, Summer of ’42, john & jen and Almost, Maine. National Tours: Amazing Grace, Pippin, and Cinderella. Regional: original productions of Memphis, plus Billy Elliot, Sweeney Todd, Finian’s Rainbow, Here You Come Again. International: Sound of the Silk Road, Billy Elliot, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Holmes-The Legend, Jesus Christ Superstar, Carmen, as well as the Czech premiere of Beetlejuice and the UK Tour and West End production of Here You Come Again which he also co-wrote with his wife, Tricia Paoluccio, and Bruce Vilanch, featuring the songs of Dolly Parton and starring Tricia as Dolly both happening this year.
GELING YAN (Author, The Lost Daughter of Happiness) a novelist and screenwriter from China, has published over 40 books and won over 30 literary and film awards. Her work has been translated into 21 languages. Many of her works have been adapted for film. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Fusong is based on her novel The Lost Daughter of Happiness, which she researched and wrote in San Francisco. www.yangeling.com