I’m 12 in his car, listening to Beatles 1 on repeat. He tells me, “At my funeral, play this song.” Anyway, here’s “Can’t Buy Me Love” for the man who taught me that grandparents are the best. No tears today on what would’ve been his 94th birthday. Instead, just gratitude and relief. Relief for him. Gratitude for all the time I got.
How surreal to watch music I wrote in my little NYC apartment being performed at the 2026 Korea Musical Awards. A true honor to be nominated for Best Composer and Best Orchestrations.
You can jump around the video to catch glimpses of some great staging moments, like the closeup camera hidden in the ground, the sword fighting training duet, and a rock star moment getting the audience to headbang to heavy metal. Also, btw, you can stream the whole cast recording. It’s split into two EPs, SHADOW: A New Musical. Like I said, surreal.
Here is “I Will Survive,” “You and I,” and “No More Living in the Shadow” from the K-musical SHADOW. Music by me, Lyrics by @janehur_ , directed and produced by @dimonstration and @bluestage_musical
What a week. What a night. Thank you, @prospectmusicals and @firehousestage , for bringing our show to Binghamton, NY. Thank you, local Upstaters and SUNY Bing students, for coming out. This was special.
The highest I’ve ever been playing piano—
I went to the tallest building in Korea (6th tallest in the world), the Lotte World Tower. On the observation deck, they had a piano anyone could play. I couldn’t resist.
The song is “Roses” by OutKast
Opening night of SHADOW. It’s a wild show. I wanted to represent NYC with a Yankees cap, but I’ve seen more Yankees hats in Seoul than in New York. The company party is another day, so we celebrated with classic Korean fried chicken and beer (치맥). If you’re in Seoul by October 26th, check it out!
Here’s my tired face about to board a flight to Seoul. I’ll be there til September 13th. I’ll be catching opening night of the musical SHADOW, which I wrote music for. So grateful to @bluestage_musical and @dimonstration for this adventure. I haven’t traveled solo in 10 years, so send messages, tips, well-wishes, hate mail, anything.
Honored to orchestrate/arrange/play the Overture for the workshop of The Oscar Micheaux Project, a new jazz musical composed by the great trumpeter/bandleader @horneswag with words by @petemills2 , @ararecliche , and Jesse L. Kearney Jr. Come catch this phenomenal cast and band this week only! Go to @prospectmusicals for tix!
