Conversation with the writers and director behind the new musical "Half the Sky"

Broadway ReFocused is in conversation with writers Tidtaya Sinutoke (music) and Isabella Dawis (book/lyrics) and director Desdemona Chiang about the new musical, Half the Sky. Half the Sky tells the story of an Asian American woman climbing Mount Everest. It is a contemporary American musical on a global scale, infused with the sounds of traditional Thai and Himalayan folk music. The writers are winners of the 2020 Weston-Ghostlight New Musical Award and 5th Avenue Theatre’s inaugural First Draft: Raise Your Voice Commission. In this podcast, we deep dive into why this story was written, why representation matters on stage, and the bigger dreams of telling this story to a wider world audience. We listen to the hauntingly beautiful song, “Bistarai'' that follows the Sherpa through the Khumbu Icefall on Mt. Everest. You can learn more about Half the Sky on halftheskymusical.com and on IG: @halftheskymusical

MWI - Episode 5, Half the Sky

Spencer Williams: Welcome to Musicals With Impact today. We are so excited to have the team of Half the Sky, the new musical. Why don't we introduce who's here today. Desdemona you want to start?

Desdemona Chiang: Sure I will start. Hi everybody. My name is Desdemona Chang and I am the director for Half the Sky.

Isabella Dawis: My name is Isabella Dawis and I'm the book writer and lyricist.

Tidtaya Sinutoke: My name is Tidtaya Sinutoke and I'm the composer.

Spencer Williams: Welcome today. I'm so excited to learn a little bit more about Half the Sky. I was so taken by it when I was doing some research to find these new musicals.

And so I'm really excited to have this conversation today with you all. I have to mention, like we're all coming from different time zones in different places in the world. We have LA, Utah, Thailand and also Minneapolis. So, that's kind of a fun thing to do as we talk about the show, so I just wanted to mention that. Why don't we start right at the beginning?

How did Half the Sky come about and where did the inspiration come for the show?

Isabella Dawis: Half the Sky began as a one-page proposal for the 5th Avenue theaters First Draft 'Raise Your Voice' commissioned program. 5th Avenue theater is in Seattle. They're a huge theater that does classic musicals as well as develop new work. And First Draft was launched in 2018 as an initiative to foster writers who come from historically marginalized communities and then to inject those voices into the musical theater canon. So, to Tidtaya actually came to me, she had heard about the program and she wanted to pitch them the idea of a musical about an Asian American woman climbing Mount Everest.

And I thought that idea was just so interesting that I wanted to be apart of it and it made me forget however, doubtful I might've been about my capabilities for following through on that huge epic idea because I just found the concept so fascinating.

So, we went ahead and we applied and now here we are, it's been just a couple years and we've been lucky enough to collaborate on this piece with Desdamona. And we just finished this kind of nice full circle process in a way, because we just finished recording a radio play version of Half the Sky with the Fifth.

And in fact, right now it's actually available for the Fifth subscription base.

Spencer Williams: That's amazing, how exciting that you get to come back to 5th Avenue after that first development. So, how did you both meet? Was it a theater connection or was it a separate connection?

Isabella Dawis: Yeah. It was a theater connection. We met in New York. I moved to New York as a really primarily as an actor. I've always been really interested in New Works development and then being in the room with writers, with playwrights, and composers, and with the other creatives who are  working on the next big thing who are developing their projects.

And I like assisting them throughout that process. That's always been where I feel the most comfortable as an actor. So, I moved to New York with this kind of very idealistic goal in mind. But I have to say I'm really glad that I did because I got to meet people like Tidtaya. So, I've met Tidtaya performing her work basically Tidtaya already this established young composer. She just won the Johnson Larson Award. And so she was somebody who you know, people were following. So, I was lucky I was singing in a concert of her work and her music stuck out to me because I trained as a musician.

And I could tell that Tidtaya was extremely musically literate. She had this kind of chameleon quality that you really want in a musical theater composer because she's able to evoke different styles and genres and kind of put on these different characters in this very expressive way that was very unique.

And her melodies are also just very singable. And now I know that Tidtaya, I think I understand a little bit why too, because to Tidtaya studied flute in school. So, she has an understanding of like breath and how, and what it takes to sing through a phrase. So, Tidtaya work just stood out to me and of course she was also just such a kind person and good to work with.

 I really enjoy the role of being a book writer and a lyricist. There are some aspects of it that are kind of thankless because you're building a skeleton much of the time and the kind of flesh and bones and like beating heart of the actual being are provided by you know, Tidtaya, and in other ways you know, by the actors' energy and so forth.

It's a delight to collaborate with Tidtaya and I really enjoyed developing our collaborative relationships and as well as this piece.

Spencer Williams: That's really exciting to hear. That collaboration is, I think one of the key things for me that I miss the most right now in this pandemic, is that being in the room together and collaborating. Tidtaya why don't you tell us a little bit about the music and your inspiration for Half the Sky.

Tidtaya Sinutoke: Okay. Well before that first of all, I don't know if the word established for me really matched. But I think it's just that I started writing a little bit sooner than Isabella, but besides that Isabella has been in theater since she was really young, as a performer, as musicians.

And she's very accomplished for all of it, like singing, acting, and she's actually a better pianist than I am -- truth be told. Yeah, and I think the feeling is mutual. I'm very very lucky that I get to work with her as well, and yeah. As for your question with the what's the music, right?

Well, that's also something that unfortunate that Isabella is also a musician, so we didn't have a Spotify playlist of songs that we wanted to hear. Even before we flew to Seattle the first time for the first draft commission program. I mean, after we got selected for the finalists, before we flew to Seattle, the first time we already have the Spotify list of like songs that we need to listen to and all this stuff.

How to say this? I mean, yes, I play flute. And when I was younger, I also studied traditional Thai instruments. And I mean, growing up in Thailand before moving to America, in a way, gives me, advantage that like I grew up with different sounds of music. It wasn't just like the Western music, Western pop music, but it's all, you know, like I listened to Thai traditional music.

I listened to K-pop before it's even like big in America or J-pop that never really, it hasn't get as big as it got in Asia, you know? So, I've listened to so many things. And I think because of that, that what that is my advantage of writing is that I don't just only know off the Western scales.

And sometimes when you listen to different types of music I mean, like it's interesting because Asian music, a lot of it, but not all of it is about pentatonic modes. But for me, each country, when you look at pentatonic scales is still different from one another. So, I guess I got lucky that I grew up with different types of music and that helped with writing musicals. And especially for this piece where we agree that it's all combination of many, many sounds around the world, many scales and you know, so yeah, I guess I just got lucky that I grew up in different parts of the world.

Spencer Williams: I love that because it's actually one of the things that when I was listening to some of the demos that are out there and some of the videos, it was actually one of the things that I was most excited about -- was that there was someone that knew different types of music than just Western music.

I can hear that as a musician myself, and it, just brought something new to my ear that I was like, this is exciting. This is something that we need in musical theater. And So you talking through that is, kind of fun to hear because that's something I heard in the music. So, it's definitely translating through that process.

Desdemona, how did you come on to the team?

Desdemona Chiang: I was actually on the selection panel for the 5th Avenue commissioning project. It was three years ago when the 5th approached me about this new thing that we're starting, which is of course as Isabella said, the First Draft commissioning program.

And they asked if I'd be interested in reviewing these applications. And so I was going through, I don't know, 50 to a 100. I mean, it was, a fair stack, a fair stack of applications. And one of the applications that stood out was one that Isabella at the time had submitted called Half the Sky.

And at the time it was literally just a one page story page, no demos, no scripts, nothing. And it had said the score would be an amalgamation of contemporary musical pop with Thai folk and Buddhist chant and my mind kind of exploded and so that made its way to the top. And of course, when they got the commission, I was really excited to hear what would come of it.

And at one point a few months into their journey Theater Latte Da in Minneapolis, reached out to me and because Isabella at the time were such hustlers they were in the process of getting a first workshop done. And I think they had sent me maybe like a partially finished Act One, no, Act Two yet, because they were doing this three week intensive in Minneapolis.

And I know as mentors, you've listened to some of the demos. I listened to that opening number "Higher", and I read maybe 10 minutes of the book. And I was just. I was committed. I was like, you know what? I don't have to read anymore. I don't have to listen to anymore. I already feel like this team is onto something so special.

And so I joined and that's when I first got involved on the project. And I was very blessed to have Isabella, Tidtaya to welcome me back for subsequent workshops including this most recent production of the Radio Show at The Fifth.

Spencer Williams: That's amazing. I love it when like sometimes that inspiration comes and then you get to actually collaborate and do the work.

That's so exciting. Isabella, will you tell us a little bit about the book? I'm sure some of our listeners don't know the story of Half the Sky. So, why don't you give us a little bit more info about your story?

Isabella Dawis: Half the Sky is this young Thai American woman named Aurlie who's setting out to fulfill her childhood dream of climbing Mount Everest a year after her sister's death. So, she's in this group of mountaineers from all over the world whose led by this teenage Sherpa woman. And as she gets closer to the summit the memories of her past, of her childhood and her relationship with her sister and with her mom, begin to surface and to bump up against and interfere with her climb and her journey.

This piece kind of explores Everest. Everest is an in-between place it's like in between Earth and sky it's in between, you know, living and dying because it's, literally, kind of at the border of where human life can actually exist. It's on an international border between Nepal and Tibet.

But in this piece, we're also exploring the border between past and present for this character. And the border between conscious and unconscious or subconscious between her family life and the journey she's trying to carve out for herself as an individual. So, it's quite an epic piece in that it's an adventure.

The musical is literally set on Mount Everest and the entirety of Mount Everest. I mean, from the foot from base camp to eventually, the summit of Everest. It's also exploring this character's internal life as well. And her journey of coming to grips with her past and her memories.

Spencer Williams: I think I'm, like Desdemona. I already want to see the show.

It's just so interesting. I was like getting goosebumps when you were talking about it cause I think what a fascinating thing to explore through music especially like how you're doing that within traditional sound and then also contemporary musical theater or pop, and then to explore those themes, I'm here for it. I'm ready like I want to see it. That's really exciting.

Desdemona Chiang: Yeah. And that was the one I just offer too, right. This idea of Everest as like this ultimate goal, because ultimately, I mean, Everest is also like the highest, the most superlative thing in everyone's life. And because, you know, the amount of energy and resources, it takes to even attempt the summit. The degree of ambition, the drive, whatever that demon is or whatever that white whale is that you're chasing. No one wakes up and goes, you know what? I'm going to try climbing Everest today. Right? And so this idea, that is both an in-between place which means it's kind of liminal and unknown. And at the same time, such an aspiration for a number of people, right. It's both an extreme and an ephemeral thing it's really fascinating too. Yeah. So, I guess I just want to offer that as well as what, why, why this idea of Everest is so, so I guess alluring for people, right. And the dangers of that. And what does that mean? And what is the cost of that ambition? What is the cost of that drive and the people who've like summited, you know, are we trying to colonize the planet? What are we trying to do when we try to climb Mount Everest? What are we saying about ourselves as people? And what do we believe? What do we believe our role is in our society and our world. And what we want to do is conquer all the time.

Spencer Williams: Those are fascinating questions. I'm excited to see you answer or at least pose, right. I always love walking out of a show with, you know, those questions that you're asking about yourself as you, as you interpret the show. I think that's one of the best parts about theater, right?

Why don't you tell us a little bit of why you believe this show needs to be heard today? I mean, that's kind of the thesis of Musicals with Impact is, sometimes and I'm going to speak a little out of turn, but like sometimes I walk out of shows that, you know, on Broadway and I'm like, why, why was this done?

Like, what were they all thinking at one point? And I think for me, it's so important to think about, okay, why does this story have to be told and who is this for? And, what's that burning thing that like, why, why? So anyway, I'd just love to hear kind of, from your perspective of what you think about that.

Isabella Dawis: I can speak about two things which were really on my mind from the beginning. One of them is telling the story of, you know, a typical American . Because I grew up just like a devotee of American musical theater. Which now I can really see clearly was not meant to describe, represent or serve people like me. And I was lucky that in some places I was welcomed as a participant and as an audience member. But not all of those spaces in the art form and the industry are really meant for me to exist there. So, Tidtaya, and I, and Desdemona as well.

I mean, we can't help but be conscious of our ability to increase representation and just help each other be more honest about the the country we live in and the communities we're a part of and the stories that are all around us that get lost or that we can't hear. Our protagonist is an Asian American woman who is wrestling with big philosophical questions, just like any protagonist of a story. That's like any human who walks the earth. And then the second thing I would say is I'm also very conscious writing in the 21st century about how my characters connect to nature and the wider environment because I know that we're living in a planet that's deeply troubled.

So, I think it's important to bring nature onstage and have it be part of our stories and our characters lives in a really deep and impactful way. So, those are my two, those are my two points.

Spencer Williams: I think both extremely valid. It's not a loss on me that I'm speaking to three women right now about a show that they're developing. I mean, that, that in itself, like it doesn't happen often specifically on Broadway.

Tidtaya Sinutoke: The idea of Everest is very westernized that sometimes we forgot that is actually is in Asia. And a lot of people still don't really know that the first women who summited Mount Everest was actually an Asian women.

So, you know the stories of women and Asian women who climb this mountains exist. My answer to your question of like, why we write this piece. I answered this before and the answer is just, why not?

Desdemona Chiang:  Given the global nature of this piece, I also think where we are now as a nation, as a people, as a whole world.

Right. A. I'm really interested in any stories that challenge our notions of Ameri-centerism. Anything that we can do to debunk this notion that America is like the most important narrative in the world. I'm super interested in that. And for me, that's, a combination of how do we reconcile our personal ambition with a very, very deep need to be humbled, right. I think humility is something that is severely lacking right now. Both in individuals and in communities, right. And any story that we can bring to the American canon that broadens our sense of the global conversation, whether that's about climate change, whether that's about colonialism, whether that's about what does it mean to erase native communities. These are all I think conversations we have to have in this moment, because I think, as Americans we're often figuring out our place in the world, right. We're very individualistic people. We're all about like ambition and drive and we value that cowboy value.

 This piece really challenges that and it honors that, right? It's both about ambition and both about the demand that we see each other in a more collective lens. This is, you know, this is the secular Buddhist to me coming out right now where it's like, how do we embrace impermanence and interconnectedness at the same time?

Spencer Williams: That's beautiful though and then all so important. It's actually really interesting to hear all three of your point of views on that because they all intersect really interestingly. And I think this is probably part of the reason why you all collaborate quite well, but it all works together.

But then still has that path telling the story in a very specific way. I would love to now listen to some of this music and  why don't you tell us a little bit about the song that you chose and a little bit about the story so that we can kind of collectively get into it together.

Tidtaya Sinutoke:  This is actually the third song we actually wrote, it's the first song we wrote after we got the commission.  Basically if you climbing Everest on the Nepali side the first thing that you have to go through is what's, it's called the Khumbu Icefall, which is tons of blocks of ice. And it's considered as one of the most dangerous stage in a place to climb on Mount Everest. And you do it at dark, when the ice is coldest. Froze the most. And you know, should be, you should reach up a camp before the sun is rising because you know, it melts and it could collapse -- avalanche can happen. It's one of the most dangerous places, but you have to go through that multiple times. So, this is the song is the first one this time they going through the Khumbu Icefall.  

Isabella Dawis: Dawa the Sherpa leader of the expedition it's guiding them and she's saying "Bistarai", which is Nepali for slowly. And oftentimes when you're climbing  it helps to have a mantra. This is something that's not, it's not just common to Everest. I mean, it's just the act of climbing is so rhythmic and so can also be so tedious that it's just kind of common. It's helpful for people to have some kind of, you know, something that they can sing to themselves or chant to themselves, or just to help them keep going.

This song is Dawa leading the climbers through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall.

Desdemona Chiang: So, some context right through the Khumbu Icefall, they will come across in the climb, a gap in the climb, like a crevasse essentially, where they have to essentially cross the gap. And what they do is they lay a ladder across the gap, right. And the ladder is usually like tipping on either end.

And sometimes the gap is so wide that it's two ladders tied together with rope that they lay across this gap. And the climbers are climbing using their crampons and it's like a hundred foot drop below, right. Where the ladders are swaying in the wind and it's bobbing and it's dark. And the only way to see where you're going is to follow the headlamp of the person in front of you.

And so you're essentially holding rope and following each other in the dark, trying to cross this gap where, you know, that's like a thousand foot fall on a ladder that is swaying in the wind. So, just again, give you an idea of how treacherous this climate is. Yeah. Slow, stay calm, and don't let the snow melt because you might fall, right.

Cool. Cool. Cool. That's why and why people do this again? Why are they doing this?

Spencer Williams: I don't know. My heart is literally like, yeah. Nope. Well, I'm really excited to hear this. So, here we go.

Wow. That is unbelievable.

Isabella Dawis: Shout out to Kendall Itto also whose singing the role of Dawa there. Like the character she is a small in stature and mighty. 

Spencer Williams: It's so beautiful. And I can hear in the ensemble work that combination of part of that pentatonic scale, like, or that scale that happens in the ensemble work was like beautiful connecting the two worlds I felt like musically. That stood out to me, was really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that.

Tidtaya Sinutoke: Thank you. Well, also the lyrics really helped too. And I dunno, I do feel like, you know, I mean, working with her really makes me a better composer so thank you.

Spencer Williams: I love that the admiration between you two is amazing to watch. You're so complimentary to one another. I'm so excited to follow the journey of, where you're at. And it sounds like you've had some exciting opportunities even in this pandemic to showcase some of the work. But I think one of the things that I love to ask is what is the dream? 

Desdemona Chiang:  I don't know what the right answer is, but part of me is like, I kind of want to do this in Nepal. You know, like I don't even know that would appeal to the Nepali community. I don't even know that's of interest, but I feel like, I don't know part of me wants to do this. I mean, I don't know if it'll be possible, there's no way we could do it on Everest, but like, if there's something about it that wants to be, it's not, I mean, sure Broadway to be lovely, but it's not, that's not what my sights are. There's something bigger than that spiritually for this piece that's beyond commercial success for me.  The international reach of it is really interesting to me whether or not, I mean, I think it wants to go any country that has had ambitious sights on Everest should see this piece here, this music and rethink what the impact of the consequences of their drive is. 

 Spencer Williams: The dreams don't necessarily have to be Broadway, right? Like that commercial side of it is like, it's not necessarily the thing when you're like really thinking about the big dream. Isabella, did you want to add to that?

Isabella Dawis: Well, I was just going to say, you know, my, dream has always been to have all types of people come to see. Not just what I do in general, but Half the Sky in particular. and that's why the idea was so appealing to me because I knew that Everest appeals to everyone. I mean, it's a global worldwide symbol and it means something to everyone and it has kind of a hold on people's fascination in some cases. There was a mass appeal in that concept that I thought was just so powerful. And wanted to make use of, to tell people the story of this young Asian American woman and her family. So, I just want to see all types of people, of all ages, of all colors, from all different backgrounds. I just want them to come and all fit together and experience this story together cause hopefully they can all take something away from it.

Spencer Williams: That's lovely. The last thing I want to ask is what's the next step that you need? Do you have a producer on board? Do you want a full cast recording? What's that next development step that you would love?

Isabella Dawis: We've had a yearning for a while now to see it on its feet. I mean, binders aside, because we make them climb Mount Everest. Like we make them climb Mount Everest. And so the physicality and the choreography for this piece is going to have to be really creative and I think can be so so stunning. But I don't know, I'll let Desdemona speak.

Desdemona Chiang: Yeah. I mean the crazy thing about  having to follow on the heals of a radio play is that the radio play actually captures beautifully the feeling of Everest in a way that makes me nervous as a live stage director, because Everest in our imaginations will always be greater than the Everest inside a Broadway house, right? Or a black box or whatever, Sydney Opera Stage, whatever. Right. So, that is something that I find to be a constant contradiction or challenge is that, how do I realize the scope of what this piece is asking?  I think, you know, to Isabella's point the next step would be to somehow in a safe environment work with the choreography or movement and even talk to designers around, if I had a costume designer, like how can we realize the fullness and the danger and like the climactic, right, the torrential coldness, the kind of, the awfulness that Everest presents and keep the performers limber. Can they move? Right? They're inside a tent.  That's something I want to find a way to reconcile the aesthetics of what musicals demand and the literalness of the climb.

Tidtaya Sinutoke: Yeah. And also, before the pandemic hit, we were supposed to do a concert at Joe's Pub and has been postponed since, I mean, we talked about it in March and it was supposed to be in May.

So, it has been postponed it since then. So, that's something that we're looking forward for. And also with all that we talked about, you know, the choreography and design elements and everything. I think we all kind of yearning to meet all of the creative teams and then the actors again. I mean, doing the recording, the audio version was truly a blessing, but I really wish that we can all be in the studio all together with all the snacks. So, that's something that we missed and we wish it could happen soon.

Spencer Williams: Yes, totally understand that. Well, tell the listeners a little bit about how they can continue following your journey, wherever that might take you.

Isabella Dawis: We have these beautiful demo recordings that were produced by Ghostlight Records, which are available at www.halftheskymusical.com. And that website also has a bit more about the show, the development, and some videos you can watch as well. Actually the 5th Avenue Theater, just put out this really great behind the scenes video series on YouTube about them making up Half the Sky, it's called The Green Room.

So, you can check that out too. And then Half the Sky musical is on Instagram as well.

Desdemona Chiang: And I think we had mentioned that the radio piece is on fifthavenue.org. It's for fifth subscribers, but you can also subscribe to be a part of the 5th for the year. And they actually have a couple of other radio musicals coming up in season two, that they're really excited about, so check it out.

Spencer Williams: Definitely. I'm so excited to follow this journey and maybe at some point we can have you come back and tell us a little bit about what's been going on in different ways, but thank you. All of you -- in all the different places in the world that you are, to coming and talking and speaking about Half the Sky, it sounds such an inspirational piece that I'm so excited to follow and listen and learn more about.

And I'm so thankful that you're writing it because we need different stories. And this is just like the perfect idea and such a beautiful, realization of it, musically and story-wise so thank you for writing it. And I really wish you all the success as you move forward.

Desdemona Chiang: Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Isabella Dawis: Thank you so much.