Multicultural Team Brings New Musical IRREPLACEABLE To New York For Festival Reading

On September 9, 2024, a developmental reading of an excerpt of the new musical Irreplaceable will take place at the Chain Theater in New York, as part of the Emerging Artists Theatre's Spark Theatre Festival NYC.

This work has been developed by a multicultural writing team that includes Ei Sugai (Book), a Japanese playwright and president of the theater unit Mo'xtra, known for his adaptation of Dekalog I-X performed at the New National Theatre Tokyo; Yu Okuda (Music & Japanese Lyrics), a Tokyo-based composer and recipient of the 2023 Fellowship for Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists from the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan; Adam Mathias (English Book & Lyrics), a Drama Desk and Richard Rodgers Award-winning bookwriter recognized for the off-Broadway musical See Rock City & Other Destinations; Ayumi Okada (Dramaturgy & Additional Story), a New York-based composer and 2019 recipient of the BMI Jerry Harrington Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Musical Theatre; and Yasuko Uchida (Dramaturgy & Additional Story), a Tokyo-born actress who has collaborated with internationally renowned directors such as Simon Godwin and Roger Castellano.

Irreplaceable explores the theme of "care" through a Japanese popular music-influenced score. The musical intertwines the stories of Kento, a high school senior in Shizuoka, Japan, who devotes himself to caring for his disabled grandfather to avoid confronting his own desires, and Naomi, a middle-aged single mother who seeks to rejuvenate her career now that her daughter is almost grown but feels constrained by societal expectations that equate social value with career success.

The show is set to be developed both in the US and Japan, and this reading marks the first public presentation of this exciting new work.

The cast features Luke Di Liddo, Charissa Bertels*, Greg Carter*, Angelika Christoforou, and E.B. Hinnant.

Monday, September 9, 2024 at 7:00 PM

Equity Approved Showcase

Emerging Artists Theatre's Spark Theatre Festival NYC at

The Chain Theatre, 312 West 36th Street, 3rd floor, New York City, NY

Tickets are $20 if purchased online at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sparktheatrefestival/1329071 or $25 at the door.

 

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