Projects
Current Projects:
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HALF THE SKY
Music by Tidtaya Sinutoke
Book & Lyrics by Isabella Dawis
Directed by Desdemona Chiang
HALF THE SKY tells the story of an Asian American woman climbing Mount Everest — a contemporary American musical on a global scale, infused with the sounds of traditional Thai and Himalayan folk music.
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A year after her sister’s death, Aurelie sets out to fulfill her childhood dream of climbing Mount Everest. She joins an international group of mountaineers from around the globe. As Aurelie embarks on her path to the top of the world, memories of her Thai American past and the unresolved rift between her and her sister begin to surface. Borders between countries and cultures, past and present, and waking and dreaming blur in this epic journey of ambition, survival and reconciliation.
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Production/Development History:
• First Draft Story Summit at the 5th Avenue Theatre (2018)
• Commissioned by the 5th Avenue Theatre's First Draft: Raise Your Voice Program (2018-2019)
• Theater Mu's New Eyes Festival (2019)
• Theater Latté Da's NEXT Festival (2019)
• The 5th Avenue Theatre Showcase (2019)
• Eugene O'Neill Center's Independent Writer Residency (2020)
• Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award, with director Nana Dakin (2020)
• Rhinebeck Writers Retreat (2020)
• Richard Rodgers Award Finalist (2021)
• The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2020-2021 Digital Season (2021)
• Musical Theatre Factory Joe's Pub Concert (2022)
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Music by Tidtaya Sinutoke
Book & Lyrics by Isabella Dawis
Directed by Nana Dakin
with Producer/Cultural Consultant Ikumi Kuronaga
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The brilliant Japanese solar scientist Hisako Koyama was as groundbreaking as Galileo, yet she has remained a “hidden figure” — until now. Sunwatcher is an inventive new musical about one woman’s unsung genius, and her drive to advance science in the face of immense obstacles.
In 1944, a young woman in Tokyo dares to stare at the sun. Despite oppressive gender roles which limit women to the kitchen, and though the violence of WWII rages around her, Hisako fights for an impossible dream — to widen our understanding of outer space. Her struggle leads her to the guidance of an unexpected teacher, the mighty Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu.
Through an innovative musical score which uses electronic live looping and traditional Japanese musical instruments, Sunwatcher animates Hisako’s story with a cast of all Asian women.
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Production/Development History:
• EST/Sloan Foundation New Commission Finalist (2020)
• The Civilians R&D Group (2020-2021)
• Johnny Mercer Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals (2021)
• Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Global Forms Festival (2021)
• Ancram Opera House's Summer Play Lab & Residency (2021)
• The Civilians' FINDINGS Series (2021)
• Tofte Lake Center's NEAP Residency (2021)
• Weston Theater Company's Spring Artist Retreat (2022)
• Ancram Opera House's Summer Play Lab & Residency (2022)
• Loghaven Artist Residency (2023)
• Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Summer Residency Lab (2023)
SUNWATCHER
DEAR MR. C
Written and Composed by Tidtaya Sinutoke
Lyrics by Lily Ali-Oshatz, Naomi Matlow & Tidtaya Sinutoke
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A story about love, family, grief, immigration, and cancer.
DEAR MR. C, is an intimate, verbatim, indie-pop memoir with a hint of traditional Thai lullaby. It is a memory play that tells the story of a Thai immigrant writer who's trying to find peace after one phone call turns her world upside-down.
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Production/Development History:
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• The Voices of America Writers Workshop at the PlayGround Experiment (2020)
• NYFA's City Artist Corps Grant, with director Marina Montesanti (2021)
• Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative Award (2022)
• Polyphone Festival, with director Marina Montesanti (2022)
• The Crossroads Project, with director Janet Wilson (2022)
• Rhinebeck Writers Retreat (2022)
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LITTLE DUGONG AND
HER SEAGRASS SONG
Music by Tidtaya Sinutoke
Libretto by Isabella Dawis
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Based on the Thai folktale “The Bruised Fish,” LITTLE DUGONG AND HER SEAGRASS SONG is an opera for kids about sea creature – using traditional Thai Southern folk music, dance, and shadow puppetry to educate young audiences about marine biology and climate change.
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A lost young dugong arrives at the shores of the Thai island of Phuket, separated from her mother because of human fishing activity. She meets a monkey and an elephant, chasing a lost jade bracelet which has been carried out to the ocean. All three animals agree to work together to find what they’re looking for. But the destructive behaviors they’ve picked up from humans threaten to undermine their teamwork. The dugong, monkey, and elephant must learn to appreciate their differences and help each other in the spirit of generosity and kindness.
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Production/Development History:
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• American Opera Project's Composer & the Voice Fellowship (2021-2023)
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Past Projects:
CLOUDS ARE PILLOWS
FOR THE MOON
Music by Tidtaya Sinutoke
Book & Lyrics by Ty Defoe
A coming-of-age story about teenage Ella Horses who runs away from her Native American reservation. Due to the recent death of her mother, Ella Horses runs away to the city of Chicago. There she meets her kindred best friend, P, a girl from Thailand. Together these two girls embark on a rite of passage from girlhood to womanhood.
Production/Development History:
• New York University (2013)
• B-Side Production (2014)
• Yale Institute for Music Theatre (2014)
• Collaborative Development Production (CDP) Workshop (2014)
• CAP21 Writers Residency (2015)
• ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop in New York (2015)
• Kilroy's Honorable Mentions List (2015)
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Music by Tidtaya Sinutoke
Book & Lyrics by Ty Defoe
Hart Island, the United States most documented potter's field; located in the Bronx, NY, where an estimated one million people are buried, dating back from 1869 to present day. This investigative theatre piece depicts stories of dead people who gather, at an abandon theme park to remember their life and death. A series of stories were gathered, imagined, and stitched together to highlight people who are undocumented, in poverty, or lost. HART ISLAND REQUIEM asks what happen to those souls when they are unable to rest in peace in "America"?
Production/Development History:
• The Civilians R&D Group (2015-2016)
• CAP21 Writers Residency (2016)
• Robert Rauschenberg Residency (2016)
• Anna Sosenko Assist Trust Grant (2016)
• EtM Con Edison Composer-in-Residence (2016-2017)
• CATWALK Art Residency (2016)
• One Company Writer's Residency Retreat (2017)
• Apples and Oranges Studio THEatre ACCELERATOR (2017)
• Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals (2018)
• Polyphone Festival (2019)
• Drama League Residency (2019)
HART ISLAND REQUIEM
© 2023 by Tidtaya Sinutoke.