Vaheed Talebian and Faiza alex Manaa

VAHEED: My first experience with theatre was going to my sister's high school production of the Jungle Book when I was 6 years old. After that, I wanted to sing and act with my sister all the time. We watched every musical film my parents had and would belt along to any and every song possible together. My love of musical theatre is all due to her, and we still sing together whenever we can even twenty years later.

FAIZA: Hamilton had me in a chokehold as a teenager. I had limited access and exposure to theatre growing up, so as far as I knew, musicals were just old people twirling in a meadow and singing incomprehensibly. Hamilton became the first of many modern musicals I grew to appreciate, and whose writing styles I learned from (and eventually, I grew to appreciate the Golden Age, too). But Hamilton was also a gateway to accessing theatre in general: as a through-musical with an online soundtrack, I could follow along with the story without having to attend the show, and it was all the more special when I finally got to experience it live.

VAHEED: The first time I tried writing a song was after watching one of my favorite trashy ABC Family shows and I was writing from the perspective of one of the characters. And while I can guarantee that song was not good, it started my journey into writing music. After that, I would take existing poems and set them to music to practice writing and exploring different styles. The musical that has inspired my current style the most would be RENT. Something about queers belting and riffing at the top of their lungs really spoke to me as a child. After years of therapy... I realized why....

FAIZA: I started writing when I was six or seven years old and was gifted my first journal; I would write poems that rhymed and took pride in showing them off to my friends and teachers. As I got older, I began writing songs, but they mostly would sit in my desk drawer. It wasn’t until I was a teenager when I discovered Hamilton (did I mention it had me in a chokehold) that I realized songwriting and musical theatre writing could be a legitimate career. When I learned that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote his first musical at 17, I thought “psh, I could do that,” and the rest is history.

VAHEED: My musical writing is a combination of indie pop, rock, and Persian music, all with a hint of R&B. Dramatically, the stories I'm most interested in revolve around queer and POC characters. The way I try to include representation in my stories is not through identity politics, but through having these characters present at all. I love comedies, but also am such a sucker for a devastating ballad.

FAIZA: I would describe my style as a fusion of pop-rock, rhythmic, modern MT with Arab influence. Thematically, a lot of my work explores Arab & diaspora culture, intergenerational and cross-cultural stories, class struggles, and the discomfort of the human experience.

VAHEED: The most rewarding thing about writing music for me is connecting with audience members. If my music speaks to at least person and evokes an emotional response, I consider that piece a massive success.

FAIZA: There is something powerful that music can evoke which is difficult to replicate through other mediums. Music can change your mood, make you empathize with those you don’t understand, and get stuck in your head long after you’ve heard it. For me, what’s most rewarding is that through writing music, I can reach those who don’t have the same experiences as me. Most people haven’t been to Egypt or befriended an older immigrant Arab woman, but through a song, they might be able to see a picture of a beautiful community they didn’t previously know, and feel for those who have lived like the character whose voice they’re listening to. Hearts are easier to reach through a good soundtrack.