Utah’s commission for the Transcontinental Railroad 150th Celebration has announced that Gold Mountain, the original musical by Jason Ma, will be presented as one of the cultural events commemorating the landmark anniversary. Alan Muraoka will direct three evenings of staged concert presentations, performed by a New York cast of Asian American actors, including Ali Ewoldt (Phantom of the Opera) as Mei, Jonny Lee Jr. as Lit, Alan Ariano (The King and I) as Ba, Daniel J. Edwards (Anything Goes) as Jiang, Lawrence-Michael Arias as Wong, Steven Eng (CSC’s Pacific Overtures) as Loong, and Eric Bondoc (Pacific Overtures) as Lo.
Music direction will be provided by Kristen Lee Rosenfeld and choreography by Billy Bustamante. Production will be spearheaded by Spike 150 in partnership with the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association.
Performances in Salt Lake City are currently set for the Regent Street Black Box at The Eccles Theater on Wednesday, May 8 and Thursday, May 9, 2019, both at 8:00 p.m. Performances in Ogden will take place at Peery’s Egyptian Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10 and a matinee on Saturday, May 11, curtain time TBD.
About Gold Mountain:
Gold Mountain is a love story set against the backdrop of a pivotal event in America’s history, the construction of the first transcontinental railroad. The original musical celebrates the striving immigrant spirit, the redemptive power of love and the ultimate nobility of self- sacrifice.
Gold Mountain was most recently presented at TheTimesCenter in New York City by the National Asian Artists Project in partnership with Prospect Theater Company as a part of their 2017 IGNITE series. It was also selected for presentation at the 2016 ASCAP/DreamWorks Musical Theatre Workshop in Los Angeles, for development by Apples & Oranges Studios in their 2017 THEatre ACCELERATOR, for a staged reading at San Francisco LaborFest 2016 in The Aurora Theatre, and for a 2017 eStudio grant for a developmental workshop at The Masie Center.
About the Writer and Director:
Jason Ma (Writer) is a son of an immigrant family, and a grateful descendant of a long line of those who were able to persist, overcome and succeed on their way to becoming Americans. He wrote book, music and lyrics for Gold Mountain and is the 2017 recipient of the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award, given to an emerging composer/lyricist “whose work shows promise.” Along with writing, he is an actor who has been seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway stages, in regional theaters, and internationally. Please visit: www.goldmountainthemusical.com
Alan Muraoka (Director) NY directing credits: Avenue Q (Off-Broadway Resident Director), Telly Leung: Telly on a Sunday (Birdland-November 2018), The Report (NY Fringe), Kung Fu (Signature Theatre-AD), Ann Harada: American Songbook (Lincoln Center), Awesomer & Awesomer!!!(Triad Theatre), The King and I (Harbor Lights Theatre), Telly Leung: Playlist and What Makes a Man? (54 Below), Ali Ewoldt: From Phantom to Phantom (54 Below) Grand Hotel (NYU/Cap 21), Falsettoland(NAATCO), John Tartaglia AD-LIBerty (Joe’s Pub) & Christmas Eve With Christmas Eve (BC/EFA Benefits). Regionally: South Pacific & Once On This Island (Olney Theatre),The King and I, Xanadu, Disney’s High School Musical and Disney’s High School Musical 2 (all at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma), Disney’s High School Musical (MUNY, Casa Manana), Urinetown (Trinity University), and Up In The Air (Kennedy Center-AD). Television: “Sesame Street,” Macy’sThanksgiving Day Parade. As an actor, Alan is most recognizable for his role in the Emmy Award winning series, “Sesame Street,” where he plays “Alan,” the proprietor of Hooper’s Store. He has appeared in 7 Broadway shows; Aladdin, Pacific Overtures, Mail, Shogun, the Musical, My Favorite Year, The King and I (with Lou Diamond Phillips and Donna Murphy), and most notably Miss Saigon, where he played the lead role of the Engineer. Member SSDC & DGA. Website: www.alanmuraoka.net Follow on Instagram: #alanathoopers
About Production Partners:
Spike 150: One of the most iconic and life-altering events in America’s history – the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad – happened in Utah on May 10, 1869. Spike 150 is an initiative of Utah’s Transcontinental Railroad 150th Celebration Commission, established by the Utah State Legislature and Governor Gary Herbert and organized to partner with all those celebrating the 150-year anniversary of the Golden Spike ceremony in Utah. Through a series of activities and events, the Spike 150 initiative aims to inspire, educate, and reflect on the Transcontinental Railroad legacy as it unifies Utahns to see that great things are possible with vision, hard-work, dedication, and collaboration. There are events planned all across the state so people can celebrate in 150 ways. The festivities will culminate in a celebration at Promontory Summit on May 10, 2019. For a full list of Spike 150 events, visit www.spike150.org.
CRWDA: The Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association is a national, membership based, charitable organization which seeks to preserve, promote and protect the contributions made by Chinese railroad workers to the United States. Through our educational and philanthropic efforts, we support academic research, historic preservation and artistic projects that further the understanding and appreciation of the sacrifices, struggles, hardships and contributions made by generations of Chinese and Chinese Americans. Please visit: www.goldenspike150.org
Jason Ma’s GOLD MOUNTAIN Concert and AfterParty
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Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
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We were fortunate to catch the performance in Ogden, Utah on May 11th. It was totally delightful! The singing voices of the Asian men was outstanding! It was a great way to end our trip to honor the Chinese men who built the central pacific railroad! Really hope this can go into full production on Broadway!
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