HOME / 2023-24 SEASON / BLENDED 和 (Harmony): THE KIM LOO SISTERS
FROM MINNEAPOLIS TO BROADWAY, HOLLYWOOD, & BEYOND
Inspired by Leslie Li’s Just Us Girls book and The Kim Loo Sisters documentary, this musical follows the Kim Loo Sisters as they make their way from Minneapolis to the flashing lights of Broadway in the 1930s, the silver screen of Hollywood, overseas at USO shows, and more. This new musical is based on their real experiences and is an homage to their family, love, their Chinese Polish American heritage, and the bond of these talented sisters on and off the stage.
Apply the promo code MU23-24 for a discount up to 50% depending on the ticket level.
GENERAL INFORMATION
DATES
May 4 - 26, 2024, at History Theatre
May 5, 12, 19, 26: Afterthoughts post-show talkbacks
May 19: ASL interpretation, audio description
May 25 matinee, May 26: captions
TICKETS
In the spirit of Theater Mu’s Pay As You Are program, History Theatre has set up a special code for Mu patrons. Make sure to use the code MU23-24. You will receive 50% off Tier Five, 49% off Tier Four, 21% off Tier Three, 15% off Tier Two, and 9% off Tier One seats. Click here for a screenshot of where to enter the code/what it looks like when it’s applied.
VENUE INFORMATION
Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters will be at the History Theatre at 30 East 10th St., Saint Paul, MN 55101. Besides paid street parking, Ramp 7A is connected to the History Theatre by the skyway. Metro Transit provides several nearby drop off points, including the Green Line light rail’s 10th Street station. For more information, visit History Theatre’s website.
IN COLLABORATION
Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters was co-commissioned and is co-produced by History Theatre and Theater Mu.
MEET THE CAST
Understudies: Fjaere Harder, Michi Lee, Sydney Lin, Abby Magalee*, Carl Swanson, Nelson Williams
MEET THE LIBRETTIST
JESSICA HUANG (she/her) is a playwright and librettist whose plays include: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (Barry and Bernice Stavis Award), Mother of Exiles (Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award), and Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying (EMOS Ecodrama prize). Her audioplay Song of the Northwoods is available on Audible. She is developing an original television show with WBTV. She has commissions with Manhattan Theatre Club, Timeline Theater, TheaterWorks, History Theatre, and Theater Mu. She is a three-time Playwrights' Center fellow, and has been a member of Ars Nova Play Group, Civilians R&D Group and Page 73's Interstate 73. She is a graduate of the playwrights program at Juilliard.
MEET THE COMPOSER
JACINTH GREYWOODE (he/him) is a New York-based composer and music director whose family hails from Sierra Leone. His works, which range from classical chamber pieces to Broadway-style theater music, have been performed throughout the Americas and in Europe and Africa by such groups and companies as the Civilians, American Opera Projects, the Village Theatre and the Public, Calidore String Quartet, and others. Recent credits: How to Break at Village Theatre; Iron John: An American Ghost Story with Rebecca Hart (2020 Richard Rodgers Award finalist, 2019 O'Neill National Musical Theatre Conference [NMTC] semifinalist), and Black Girl in Paris with AriDy Nox (2023 O'Neill NMTC finalist). Education: BA in music with a certificate in collaborative piano performance (Princeton University), MFA from the musical theatre writing program (NYU's Tisch School of the Arts), and PhD in composition (Stony Brook University).
MEET THE DIRECTOR
LILY TUNG CRYSTAL (she/her) is a director, actor, and the artistic director of Theater Mu. Lily’s recent productions include Mu’s world premiere of Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay The Kung Fu Zombies Saga: Shaman Warrior & Cannibals, Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band at Mu/Jungle, Mu’s live film-theater production of Susan Soon He Stanton’s Today Is My Birthday, and The Humans at Park Square (Twin Cities Theatre Bloggers’ Best Play 2022). She has also helmed David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish and Flower Drum Song and Leah Nanako Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow, all for which she was named a Theatre Bay Area Award finalist for Outstanding Direction. As an actor/singer, Lily has performed at theaters across the country, including Cal Shakes, Jungle Theater, Magic Theatre, Mixed Blood, New World Stages, Portland Center Stage, and Syracuse Stage.
lead creative & production
RUSH BENSON
Choreographer
MARISA CARR
Dramaturg
ELISE SANTA•
Music Director
ROBERT ELHAI•
Arranger
JASON HANSEN
Co-Arranger
LESLIE LI
Story Consultant
MINA KINUKAWA
Scenic Designer
URSULA K. BOWDEN, REBECCA MALMSTROM, JENNY MOELLER, JACEY STEWART
Properties Design Team
MATHEW J. LEFEBVRE#
Costume Designer
CAROLINE ZALTRON
Assistant to the Costume Designer
MAGS SCANLON
Lighting Designer
MIKO SIMMONS
Video Designer
LESLIE RITENOUR
Video Programmer
C ANDREW MAYER#
Sound Designer
EMMA GUSTAFSON
Wig Designer
RACHAEL RHOADES*
Stage Manager
LINDSAY JOHNSON*
Assistant Stage Manager
WESLEY MOURI
Assistant Director
ELIZABETH M. DESOTELLE
Intimacy Coach
JOSEPHINE LEE
Cultural Consultant
PATRICK CHEW
Language and Dialect Coach
KEELY WOLTER
Dialect Coach
PATRICK CHEW, ANNIE JIN WANG
Chinese Translation
BETHANY ENGSTROM, LINDA GILL
ASL Interpreters
LAURIE PAPE-HADLEY
Audio Describer
LAURA WIEBERS
Open Captioner