Our friend Timothy Huang is a composer, lyricist and a member of the Musical Theater lab at BMI and a proud fellow of the MacDowell artist colony.  He is working on a project to produce a new musical “Cost of Living”!

Read his story:

Inspired by a New York Times article, my new musical Costs of Living tells the story of two immigrant cab drivers who take opposite shifts off the same medallion. While the day shift driver (Eng) encounters successes, his night shift partner (Chin) continues to encounter obstacles until the two find themselves on opposite sides of an ever widening gap and in a dangerous escalation that leaves one dead and the other brutalized. It is, at its heart, a human story, an American story and a cautionary tale lending voice to the unspoken dangers of freedom without social consciousness or oversight. It is a story of love and country, resillience and responsibility, the price of freedom and the costs of living.

The last ten years of my career have been about finding ways to make the things that move me move other people. And with tremendous support and feedback from the Asian American community and the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop (where this project originated) I feel like Costs of Living has found a unique balance. It is a musical that isn’t afraid to tell a story of social significance, or allow music to transcend language, but most of all it is unafraid to tell an American story employing people who look like me that isn’t necessarily about people who look like me.

Costs of Living was a finalist for the 2011 American Harmony Prize and an official selection of the 2012 ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop, which was moderated by Stephen Schwartz, Lynn Ahrens and Andrew Lippa. A small article about us in the New York Times here:

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com

I’m super proud of this piece and all it (and its cast) have accomplished so far, and would love to take it to take it to the next level. Every song has to amaze. Every word has to blow your mind. But without an audience I can only guess what pops and, frankly, what blows. To that end I want to present the entire musical to you, with actors at music stands, to hear directly from you. Get a better idea of what works and what doesn’t.

My producing team and I hope to achieve this with two readings: the first will be on September 19th, behind closed doors and at the table, so I can get feedback from my performers and my director. With these notes I will go back and do a second round of rewrites and present them to you at the second presentation, which will be public, in either October or November.

The money I’m raising now will fuel both presentations so that I can present the best possible version to you.

Costs of Living – a musical is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the purposes of Costs of Living – a musical must be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

For more: http://www.rockethub.com