New Musical MANZANAR To Be Read At EWP

East West Players, will hold a workshop with public performances (TBA) of an original musical by Russell McCoy and Dan Taguchi. Entitled MANZANAR: THE STORY OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY, the play follows the Shimada family from Thanksgiving 1941 through the tumultuous years of World War II. Toyo and Misao Shimada send their 18-year-old son, Yoshi, to be educated in Japan, while their young daughter, Margaret, harbors dreams of becoming a singer. Everyone&Mac226;s hopes and plans are shattered by the dramatic events of December 7, 1941.

MANZANAR chronicles the slow, but steady, fraying of the life-fabric of this family as it copes with the realities of existence in a U.S. internment camp. Across the Pacific, Yoshi must deal with his own, unexpected set of circumstances -- after being drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army.

Epic in scope, with original music that feels both period and fresh (Lou Frizzell, the real-life camp music director comes to play an important role in this story), MANZANAR captures a broad spectrum of experience in a narrative that is dramatic and sweeping.

"Music is a great way to express emotions that are too big for words," says Tim Dang, EWP's Producing Artistic Director. "And I think that the Internment is a perfect example of an event in which mere words cannot fully convey the depth of the human experience. Songs provide a dramatic outlet for everyone, especially the normally reserved Issei and Nisei characters of the play."

The critically acclaimed musical director continues, "I became particularly excited about this project when I remembered that the Union Center for the Arts, the present-day home of East West Players and the David Henry Hwang Theater, once housed the Japanese Union Church of Los Angeles which served as a processing center for Japanese awaiting internment and, after the war, as a housing referral center upon their return to Southern California. The buses actually loaded up at the old Union Church and took them from their homes to camps like Manzanar!"

Fittingly, the current Union Church is one of the supporting organizations for this workshop.

The story is inspired by composer Dan Taguchi&Mac226;s family, who were actually interned at Manzanar. Dan and Rus McCoy, who wrote the book and the lyrics, have been writing music. individually and collectively, for about 30 years. MANZANAR: THE STORY OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY was drawn from conversations based on Taguchi&Mac226;s family&Mac226;s experiences during World War II. Taguchi's mother was only nine years old when her family was sent to the Manzanar War Relocation Center. While there, she took voice and piano lessons form Lou Frizzell, the camp music director. She is, of course, the inspiration for the character of Margaret.

Both Taguchi and McCoy have done considerable research for their project. They interviewed a great number of Manzanar survivors, including Taguchi's mother, Miko. Everyone involved in this story felt a deep commitment to sharing this story. One interviewee noted that, while the events recounted are over 50 years old, they must still be told and not forgotten.

This workshop is being supported in part by a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP).

Questions? Email gwangung@u.washington.edu