We are the writers of HERE AND THEIR, a nonbinary musical! Jasmine Joshua (they/them) is a Seattle playwright, director, actor, and producer, and Heather Ragusa (she/her) is a Los Angeles singer and songwriter. We are so excited to announce that at long last, Seattle is going to get a chance to see a full production of our show!
We are so thrilled to be able to present HERE AND THEIR during Pride Month at 12th Avenue Arts on Capitol Hill June 13-28, 2025.
SYNOPSIS
HERE AND THEIR
Book by Jasmine Joshua
Music and Lyrics by Heather Ragusa
Story by Jasmine Joshua and Alexei Cifrese
Samantha O’Malley, 100% female human woman, lives happily in Butte, Montana. Engaged to David and running the family restaurant, everything in Sam's life seems perfect until a carefully guarded family secret is unearthed. Not only does Sam have an estranged aunt no one has ever mentioned, but it turns out she's lesbian punk rock icon Vikki Vektor!
While online stalking, er, researching, Sam stumbles across the term "nonbinary" and digs deeper into a world that is simultaneously completely unknown and innately familiar. Admitting you're nonbinary is one thing, but admitting it to your family is another. Sam panics, leaves David at the altar, and heads to LA to find Vikki Vektor, hoping she has the answers Sam's been looking for.
This is a joyful, funny rock musical about coming out “late” in life and intergenerational queerness. This show is for trans people and the people who love them.
Wanna hear some music? Yeah you do.
HISTORY OF HERE AND THEIR
HERE AND THEIR was originally developed as a part of The 5th Avenue Theatre's First Draft Program in 2018-2019.
With support from NAMT grants, HERE AND THEIR was workshopped at the Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2020, had a virtual reading in 2021, and an in-person workshop in July 2022.
In August 2022, the writers continued to develop the show at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat.
The writers participated in the Goodspeed Musicals' Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove in February 2023.
HERE AND THEIR was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Musical Theatre Conference (2023), a finalist for the Richard Rodgers Award (2023), and the writers were finalists for the Jonathan Larson Grant (2023)
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director: Jasmine Joshua
Music Director: Jordyn Day Palmer
Choreographer: Elizabeth Posluns
Stage Manager: Jack Bateman-Iino
Associate Director: Anahita Sepheri
Associate Choreographer: Laura McFarlane
Orchestrations: Brendan Milburn
Set and Props: Robin Macartney
Costumes: Kristen Lofgren
Sound Design: Josh Valdez
Production Manager: Katie McKellar
Graphic Design: Shane Smith
Social Media Consultant: Zandi Carlson
CAST
Chloe Payne: Sam
Ellen Dessler Smith: Sarah
James Lee: David
Juniper Johns: Pinky/Internet People
Kiki Werner: Vikki Vektor U/S
Marnie Wingett: Alice/Internet People
Meg McLynn: Vikki Vektor
Megan Huynh: Meghan
Selena Whitaker-Paquiet: Tommy
Shana Emile: Haylee
Ensemble: Annalisa Brinchmann, Sebastian Borges, Stefanie Mei Fang Van Rafelghem, Sydney Kaser, Teddy Meyer
BAND (so far!)
Conductor/keys: Aimee Hong
Guitar: Cam Schneider
Bass: Olivia Hamilton
Drums: Scot Sexton
$35,000?! GEEZ!
Believe or not, $35,000 will barely cover the minimum needed to put on a musical of this size and scope. We're calling in a lot of favors and people are doing this because they believe in the story and they believe in us.
We will use the funding to pay stipends for our actors, designers, and musicians, orchestrations for our five-piece rock band, rent the performance venue (which alone costs $9,000), building materials, costumes, sound design and equipment, marketing materials, rehearsal space, event insurance... the list goes on.
BIG thanks to Aspire Kinetic Arts and Seattle Public Theater for supporting us with donated venue space for our auditions!
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?
Jasmine came out at 33 years old. When they came out, they were the oldest nonbinary person that they knew. There wasn't an example for how to be an established nonbinary adult, much less a nonbinary parent. So in keeping with Jasmine's personal mission to create and produce art that helps people have "aha" moments, the concept for HERE AND THEIR was born.
That was six years ago. Since then, we've had some incredible opportunities to workshop and develop this show across the country (see History of Here and Their... we're kind of impressive), and have received extremely encouraging feedback. We have performed songs from the show at cabarets across Seattle and Jasmine is swamped with people afterward, asking, "When are we going to see this show?"
The answer is: soon. And we can't friggen wait
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