TV Exclusive: CUTTING-EDGE COMPOSERS CORNER- Spotlight on Drew Fornarola & Scott Elmgreen's TIANANMEN

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This week's spotlight is on composer/lyricist Drew Fornarola and bookwriter Scott Elmgreen. TIANANMEN is an original rock musical that follows the events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, focusing on the stories of three student demonstrators and the Communist leaders they dare to challenge. The students communicate through music while government leaders communicate through spoken dialogue, and in this way the show uses musical theatre to starkly and viscerally portray the generational and cultural divides that come between both sides. Selections from Tiananmen premiered in a March 2014 concert at 54 Below starring Telly Leung, Ruthie Ann Miles, and Karl Josef Co, and the show continues to be developed under the artistic guidance of director Stafford Arima and with academic support from the Harvard University Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. For more, email: TiananmenMusical@gmail.com.

Below is a video of highlights from their recent concert at 54 Below featuring Telly Leung, Ruthie Ann Miles, Karl Josef Co, Jaygee Macapugay and Orville Mendoza, With: Eric Badique, Katie Boren, Calli Buetow, Billy Bustamante, Kiet Tai Cao, Ali Ewoldt, Katie Lee Hill, and Toren Nakamura, and Directed by Stafford Arima with Music Direction by Rick Fox.