The developmental cast album for “Illegal: A New Musical” is out now on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and other streaming platforms, in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
Featuring 15 songs from the original musical performed by a professional Asian-American cast, this album features powerful performances by Anna Stacy, Nicholas Leung, Subin Kara Ahn, Miguel Sutedjo, Skyler Chin and Sita Sunil.
Illegal features book, music and lyrics by writing duo Skyler Chin and Sita Sunil. The show’s soundtrack is inspired by protest music, spoken word poetry, and Asian-American fusion, as well as artists like Jason Chu, Andrew Huang, Silk Sonic, Fall Out Boy, BTS, the Wu-Tang Clan, Yellow Pearl, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
This cast recording follows an exciting season of performances across the country in partnership with educational institutions and community organizations dedicated to telling Asian-American history and supporting AAPI representation, including a special concert on location in the immigrant detention barracks of the Angel Island Immigration Station that inspired the musical, as well as full-length staged readings in New York City and Long Island.
For Chin, “This show is very meaningful to me because of what my grandfather went through on Angel Island. It’s important to learn from the past but also to honor the humanity and fighting spirit of those who persevered, allowing future Americans to proudly tell their stories. This is for the immigrants and people of color that have always fought for dignity in this country through their artistry just like the detainee poets who left their voices on the walls,” says Chin.
For Sunil, “It has been so exciting to develop and share this album with these amazing singers and actors,” says Sunil. “We’re so happy to be able to share the songs we’ve been working on more widely and would like to thank the many people who helped us develop the show and bring it to so many different communities. We are always seeking to improve as writers and composers and work with awesome people in an inspiring environment and we love working with the community.”
Chin was inspired to create Illegal when he learned about his grandfather’s 1923 detainment and interrogation, and when he read the powerful poetry carved into the walls by hundreds of detainees at the Angel Island Immigration Station in the San Francisco Bay. Chin and Sunil developed the story, characters, and music of the musical and first presented it at Yale University in 2019. Illegal confronts the history of anti-Asian prejudice experienced by immigrants like the writers’ ancestors and by many who still face discrimination a century later.
Illegal was named a Finalist for the 2023 Richard Rogers Awards and a Semi-Finalist for the 2022 National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. In 2022, Illegal was presented in New York in Manhattan, Long Island, Queens, and the Bronx, as well as in California at UC Berkeley and the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco. Chin & Sunil are working on exciting new collaborations in the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop as well as continuing to develop Illegal.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, an Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sundays at 1:30pm and 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and streams on MNN2. Lia was recently profiled on Asian American Life. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. www.liachang.com www.liachangphotography.com
Backstage Pass with Lia Chang 