Director Alan Muraoka, and collaborators Christine Toy Johnson and Jason Ma at Open Jar Studios on May 3, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Washington’s Village Theatre presented a New York City industry reading of the new musical Broken Ground on May 6 at Open Jar Studios. The work features a book and lyrics by Christine Toy Johnson with music and lyrics by Jason Ma.
The full company of BROKEN GROUND in rehearsal at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 3, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Music Director Fiona Santos, Delphi Borich, Cáitlín Burke, Ali Ewoldt, Kennedy Kanagawa, Diana Huey, Alan Ariano, Kevin Schuering, Brian Kim McCormick, Hazel Anne Raymundo and Jason Ma in rehearsal for BROKEN GROUND at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 3, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
The reading featured an all Asian-American cast and creative team. The cast includes Ali Ewoldt, Diana Huey, Kennedy Kanagawa, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Delphi Borich, Kevin Schuering, Brian Kim McCormick, Cáitlín Burke, and Alan Ariano. Alan Muraoka served as director, and Fiona Santos as music director.
Delphi Borich, Alan Ariano, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Kennedy Kanagawa, Diana Huey, Kevin Schuering, Cáitlín Burke, Brian Kim McCormick and Ali Ewoldt at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 3, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
18-year-old Xuě Lán sets out on the path created for her, by both tradition and her family, to marry a young soldier. The musical follows her as she grieves her mother and twin brother, and the journey she goes on after she looks to Guān Yīn, the goddess of compassion, and the spirit of her mother for guidance. Her reality shifts due to an embroidered story in NüShū, the centuries-old writing system created by and exclusively for women, where she discovers how to honor the path set for her and the one she wishes to forge herself in 1912 as a new era in China dawns.
Diana Huey, Christine Toy Johnson, Kevin Schuering in rehearsal for BROKEN GROUND at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 3. Photo by Lia Chang
Village Theatre is based in Issaquah, Washington, and has been producing shows since 1979. Within the region, it is recognized for its work, which also includes helping develop new musicals through its Village Originals program. Over 175 new works have been supported by the theatre company to date.
The reading of BROKEN GROUND at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 6, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Kennedy Kanagawa, Diana Huey, Delphi Borich, Cáitlín Burke and Hazel Anne Raymundo in a reading BROKEN GROUND at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 6, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Delphi Borich, Diana Huey, Kevin Schuering, Cáitlín Burke and Brian Kim McCormick in a reading BROKEN GROUND at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 6, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Alan Ariano, Kennedy Kanagawa, Delphi Borich, Cáitlín Burke, Diana Huey, Kevin Schuering, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Ali Ewoldt in a reading BROKEN GROUND at Open Jar Studios in New York on May 6, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Alan Ariano, Cáitlín Burke, Kevin Schuering, Brian Kim McCormick, Ali Ewoldt, Delphi Borich, Christine Toy Johnson, Diana Huey. Photo by Lia Chang
Cáitlín Burke, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Diana Huey, Delphi Borich and Ali Ewoldt. Photo by Lia Chang
1st row: Covid Safety officer: Rheanna Atendido, Robb Hunt, Executive Producer at Village Theatre, Jason Ma, Kevin Schuering, Delphi Borich. 2nd Row: Stage Manager, Bill Carlton, Alan Muraoka, Brian Kim, Christine Toy Johnson, Cáitlín Burke, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Diana Huey, Ali Ewoldt, Alan Ariano and Brandon Ivie, Associate Artistic Director for Village Theatre (not pictured Kennedy Kanagawa and Music Director Fiona Santos. Photo by Lia Chang
Christine Toy Johnson. Photo by Bruce Johnson
Christine Toy Johnson is an award-winning playwright, actor, director and advocate currently serving as treasurer of the Dramatists Guild, and is a founding steering committee member of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC). Her written works have been produced and/or developed by the Roundabout, Village Theatre, Barrow Group, Prospect Theatre, Weston Playhouse, O’Neill, The Abingdon, Greater Boston Stage Company and more and are included in the Library of Congress’s Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection (Playwrights Division). Host of the Guild’s podcast The Dramatist Presents: Talkback on Broadway Podcast Network. She is the founder of The Asian American Musical Theater Writers Project. She is the recipient of the Rosetta LeNoire, JACL, Asian American Arts Alliance, Obie awards for advocacy in diversity and inclusion. Details: www.christinetoyjohnson.com. Twitter/Insta: @CToyJ
Jason Ma
Jason Ma (⾺智培) is a son of an immigrant family and a grateful descendant of a long line of those who were able to persist, overcome, and succeed on their way to becoming Americans. In addition to writing, he is an actor who has performed extensively on Broadway and off-Broadway stages, in regional theaters, and in many international venues. Ma has received two ASCAP Foundation Awards – the 2021 ASCAP Foundation Harold Adamson Lyric Award, and the 2017 ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award for his work as a composer/lyricist, and he wrote the music, book, and lyrics for Gold Mountain. Utah Shakespeare Festival presented the World Premiere of Gold Mountain in November. www.goldmountainthemusical.com.
Alan Muraoka, Christine Toy Johnson and Jason Ma. Photo by Lia Chang
Alan Muraoka, Robb Hunt, Executive Producer at Village Theatre, Christine Toy Johnson, Jason Ma. Photo by Lia Chang
Alan Muraoka, Ann Harada and Christine Toy Johnson. Photo by Lia Chang
Billy Bustamante and Alan Muraoka. Photo by Lia Chang
Cathy Masie, Ali Ewoldt and Elliott Masie. Photo by Lia Chang
Diana Huey and Kevin Schuering. Photo by Lia Chang
Robb Hunt, Executive Producer at Village Theatre, Diana Huey, Fiona Santos, Jason Ma. Photo by Lia Chang
Telly Leung, Ann Harada and Kevin Schuering. Photo by Lia Chang
Ann Harada, Alan Muraoka, Christine Toy Johnson and Jason Ma. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia Chang, Christine Toy Johnson, Ann Harada and Hazel Anne Raymundo.
Lia Chang is a Chinese-American actor, a multi-media content producer, an award-winning filmmaker, and a photo activist and documentarian, who lifts up and amplifies BIPOC communities and artists and the institutions that support them.
Lia moved to New York from her home in San Francisco when she was 17 years of age and made her stage debut as Liat in a national tour of South Pacific with Barbara Eden and Robert Goulet. She spent many years working extensively Off-Broadway, including Signature Theatre’s revival of Sam Shepard’s Chicago. Her film work includes Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, and The Last Dragon. The decades of being viewed by others through the narrow lens of “Asian actor” in the industry brought Lia to a turning point, and she picked up her camera, determined to create awareness by documenting the work and the lives of her BIPOC colleagues, resulting in the creation of thousands of photographs and pieces of video. Her photo archives are housed in the AAPI collection in the Library of Congress’ Asian Reading Room under “Lia Chang Theater Portfolio collection,1989-2011” and in the “Lia Chang Photography Collection” in The Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library.
Lia’s awards include the 2022 Prospect Muse Award, the 2000 OCA Chinese American Journalist Award and the 2001 AAJA National Award for New Media. She is also an AAJA Executive Leadership Graduate, a Western Knight Fellow at USC’s Annenberg College of Communications for Specialized Journalism on Entertainment Journalism in the Digital Age, a National Press Photographers Association Visual Edge/Visual Journalism Fellow at the Poynter Institute for New Media, and a Scripps Howard New Media Fellow at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.
More recently, Lia co-founded Bev’s Girl Films, which makes films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. She executive produced and starred in the indie films Hide and Seek (AA Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Best Actress Nomination), Rom-Com Gone Wrong, and When the World Was Young (2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative). www.liachang.com, www.liachangphotography.com
Lia Chang Photography 