Ash

I think I was about 6 years old watching the Little Shop of Horrors movie when I realized that all my favorite movies were musicals. I did theatre for fun in middle school, but it wasn’t till I was in a high school production of The Music Man that I appreciated how brilliantly crafted musical theatre could be.

I took piano lessons as a kid… and hated it. I was always changing the rhythms, melodies, and chords to my teacher’s dismay. I like to credit that to the composer in me (and not to any unruliness, surely). I eventually found my way back to the piano and started writing songs in high school. And then I arranged choral music in college. And then I wrote songs for Shakespeare shows for community theatre. And then I wrote my first full musical. And then, and then, and then… Becoming a writer was a slow and meandering route, but one that feels like it was always inevitable.

As a queer and trans artist of color, I’m passionate about creating theatre that cultivates empathy, challenges audiences, and tells new stories (or old stories in new ways). I revere music that is accessible to the ear, affecting to the soul, and engaging to the mind. And holding contrary truths is a cornerstone of my artistic philosophy: I believe that pain can be beautiful, love can have question marks, and nothing is black and white. So, compositionally, I tend to strive for simplicity, beauty, and surprise.

I've always loved telling stories through music to make an audience have a new thought, feeling, or experience, cause when a song breaks you and changes you just a little bit… it makes you want to never stop writing.