By: Anaya Miller
For the past few months, Kurt Miyashiro, associate professor at Southern Adventist University’s School of Music, has been writing a musical exploring the themes of fate, destiny and love.
The musical, titled “King of Me,” will be performed in the winter semester in Mabel Wood Hall’s Ackerman Auditorium. Due to limited seating, the School of Music will charge $5 per ticket.
Miyashiro was first contacted about the musical by Rick Shiomi, award-winning Japanese Canadian playwright and artistic director. Shiomi’s plan was to collaborate with Miyashiro to write a musical based on Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s “Life Is A Dream,” but to use an Asian setting.
Upon receiving full rights to the story last summer, Miyashiro changed the narrative to a frame story, focusing the plot on six theater students who are writing a play set in 16th–century Japan. He also wrote some of the music, adjusting already written pieces to fit his chosen themes.
The School of Music is collaborating with the School of Visual Art and Design (SVAD) for the first time to produce Miyashiro’s musical. Jesse Rademacher, associate professor of animation, is in charge of staging and directing, while Christin Smolinski Lee, adjunct professor for drawing, oversees choreography.
The cast of the musical is made up of current students and alumni, most of whom are from the School of Music. To include more people, Miyashiro double-cast the musical, resulting in two sets of lead actors.
Clarissa Tching, senior music education major, is the main director of the company of students. Adriana Esteves, a sophomore voice performance major, is a supporting lead actress. Allyson Stirewalt, a senior nursing major, and Nacor Lantigua, a voice performance alum, are the lead actors.
Esteves commented on one main character’s arc throughout the narrative of the musical.
“I like to say that she does find what she wants for herself after being put under so much pressure,” Esteves said. “Since I also have a lot of stress, I want to know that, in the end, I’ll live my life too and not be worried about what comes next.”
In an interview with the Accent, Stirewalt shared her experience as the lead.
“I auditioned back in March, and it was a really fun process of singing the compositions and finding out that I was cast as a main character,” she stated. “While I’ve never done theater before, it is so interesting to build my character from the ground up. I love to sing, so getting to showcase a full range of emotions while singing musical theatre is such a different but enjoyable experience. The cast makes it so easy to show up for our weekly rehearsals, and I always leave excited to make more music together.”
Lantigua spoke of his excitement to join the musical on campus.
“Over a year ago, before the musical was complete, Dr. Kurt invited a group of music students, graduates and faculty to record a portion of the musical,” Lantigua stated. “Cut to a couple of months ago, Dr. Kurt invited me to play one of the leads. I literally couldn’t say ‘yes’ fast enough! I am having an amazing time back at my alma mater. Everyone involved in the musical is full of energy and dedicated to excellence.”
Miyashiro also spoke highly of those involved in the musical.
“We have great talent,” he said, “so we’re using it. Not just for performing, but also for leadership.”
According to Miyashiro, he has received a great deal of support from his colleagues in the School of Music as he prepares for the musical.
“It really was a big sacrifice for the ensembles, the directors and the other faculty,” he said. “Everybody had to pull back on some of their own events to allow this to happen. I don’t know how the musical could have occurred if everyone wasn’t willing to do that.”
In addition to a campus performance, Miyashiro hopes to bring his musical to the Ripple Theater in Chattanooga to reach a secular audience.
“I want to reach an audience that is not Christian with Christian concepts in a way that is appealing, in a way that won’t make them think I’m preaching at them,” he said. “I want them to buy into the theme that love can transform lives.”
