bOSTON CHINATOWN musical: STORIES ON OUR STREETS

“‘Boston Chinatown: Stories on Our Streets’ is a song cycle that uplifts Boston’s Chinatown’s history, vibrancy, and perseverance in the face of gentrification and racial violence. From the rhythms of restaurant kitchens, to the steps of a child growing up on the brick streets, this song cycle-in-progress offers moving portraits of home, memory, and belonging—rooted in Boston’s Chinatown and resonant far beyond it.”

In 2025, CHUANG Stage and Company One began writing a new original musical about Boston’s Chinatown, and I was lucky enough to be involved as a songwriter and performer. This project was a collaboration of many wonderful artists of the Asian American theatrical community in Boston, as we collectively brought the stories of Boston’s Chinatown to life, sourced from an 80-page transcript of interview of real Chinatown residents and changemakers.

We performed staged readings of our work-in-profess twice during this year, firstly in July 2025 at the gate of Chinatown and next to Mary Soo Hoo Park, and then in October 2025 at the Jaharis Courtyard in Chinatown. I performed as the character Mary, and later additionally as the character Young Mama.

I wrote two songs for this project so far: “In America, at Home” and “I’m Fine”. For the two readings I performed Brandon Zang’s song “The World Ended in April”.