Reason to Be Update #5: 10 Takeaways From My First Workshop

Two Feelings

Just over two weeks ago, I debuted the first ever workshop production of my first original musical, Reason to Be. Here’s a photo of us singing “Finale”:

The morning after closing, I remember feeling two things. The first was this incredible and profound sense of fulfillment. A lot of people came up to me after the show and shared with me how this piece moved them. We had nearly three hundred people show up—almost a full house every day, which was amazing. For the first time in my life, I felt that I had seriously made a significant and positive impact in the world. I have done some other things that have made me feel similarly, such as tutoring or being a summer camp counselor, but nothing of this magnitude.

The second feeling was a feeling of fatigue and exhaustion. I had been working on Reason to Be over both my winter and spring breaks, so I didn’t really have a break since summer 2024. I was putting in 30 hour weeks, doing everything from producing to acting (as the protagonist, who is on stage the entire time) to music directing to publicity. I would work pretty much from the moment I woke up to the moment I slept (keep in mind I had a computer science and mathematics degree to attend to as well) and I had many stressful nights of insomnia.

It was absoutely grueling. It was absoluetly rewarding. Worth it? Yes. Would I do it again? I’m not sure. I don’t think this kind of lifestyle is sustainable at all in the long run so I am going to try my best not to work so hard in the future. With that being said, here are some of my biggest takeaways from my first production.

Ten Takeaways

1. Theater is a team sport.

I kind of knew this one already, after being in so many productions and having done theater the majority of my life. However, I came to gain an even greater appreciation of the collective nature of theater through the production of my own original work. I think because it was my work, I had a greater emotional stake in it. I also felt that the other cast and crew had a greater emotional stake in this production than normal, partly due to this reason, and partly because they either were already or have become my good friends. Something else I am super appreciative of, that I think people might not think about when they see theater, is all the administrative help I received with respect to my course schedule, getting funding, purchasing furniture, etc. Then there is also the amazing community at Harvey Mudd—so many faculty, staff, and students turned out to see my show and that support meant everything to me.

2. Do not act in your own show.

I honestly really wished I could sit and watch, because 1. it would help me as a playwright to actually watch the show, and 2. I had been working extremely hard on the writing (I wrote two drafts, including eight new songs, over 4 weeks!) so it would have been nice to “take a break.” It was difficult (impossible) to find another non-binary Chinese person who acted and sang and played piano so I ended up playing the lead role. In addition to the impossible task of juggling multiple production roles while also being in the cast, I found myself unable to turn off my “playwright brain” when I really should have been full-focused in “actor brain.” In the end, I think acting in this show was super fun and I loved singing my own pieces, but I would prefer to not do it again.

3. On the other hand, act in your own show.

As an actor, especially playing a character who is essentially in every scene, I studied the script more closely than I ever would have as a playwright. I basically memorized every single word my character spoke, and even for the scenes I wasn’t directly interacting with, I observed them many, many times. Become super familiar with the text as an actor has given me many ideas for where I need to take this story as a playwright.

4. Not all feedback is created equal.

After having done two staged readings and one full production, there have been many opportunities for people to share feedback with me. I used to try to listen to everyone, but now I realize that not all feedback—even feedback that is shared by the majority of audience members—should be considered. One thing I learned is to trust my artistic instinct, even against the opinions of the majority. For example, many people were telling me not to cut certain songs because they liked them, but I realized that someone liking something is not a compelling enough reason to keep it, because there may be something better. I also realized more that I actually was somewhat knowledgeable of musical theater. Though I have only been studying composing for a short period of time, I have watched dozens and dozens of musicals and have experience music directing as well. Upon reflection, I realized the most valuable pieces of feedback I received were from people who were at least as knowledgeable about music/theater as I was. General audiences can provide valuable feedback too, but I now know I need to exercise more discretion when choosing which feedback from general audience members to implement. I have found that the most valuable genre of feedback I can receive from general audiences is “that was confusing.”

5. Take your time.

I have been working on this musical for a little over two years now, and the staged reading just marked draft 9. Even after all this time, I feel like I’m just beginning! Seeing how this work has developed over the past couple of years has really made me realize how all things, and especially art, take time become really great. My favorite musical of all time, Rent, took around 5 years to write, and even that masterpiece was only written after Jonathan Larson spent seven years writing his musical Supberia that never saw production. I think that Reason to Be has the potential to be truly amazing. I want it to be something that is simultaneously compelling to the point that anyone who watches can relate to the characters, as well as something that is intellectual with some subtleties requiring deep analyses to understand. I want every single syllable, every single note to be meaningful. And that will take time. Lots and lots of time. I think I’m at the point where the skeleton of the show is really solid, but there is a lot to be fleshed out in terms of details. And I still have to write the string quartet parts too!

6. On the other hand, seize the moment!

Sometimes I think about how I did all the things I did in college, and the answer is with a lot of stress and not a lot of sleep. In hindsight, I could have gone a lot slower, recognizing that yes, I can be both a computer scientist and a theater artist, but maybe not try to do both super well at the same time. That being said, I did what I did because I took advantage of the environment around me. Through what avenue is it easier to produce a musical than through a student-run workshop? Especially in a community where I am already well-established and have many supporters? Even though this process was extremely tough on me and I aim to not replicate this in the future, I do think that pursuing both research and this musical theater production during my undergraduate degree has set me up for success in the future. I got into a graduate program I really like, and having one full production under my belt has put myself in a really great position as a writer, because I now know that it’s possible.

7. Do not be ashamed to beg.

Whenever I look at the resumes of successful theater people online, I always think two thoughts: 1. Wow, that’s so impressive! 2. How did they afford this? I think that in all disciplines, but especially the arts, people don’t really publicize their struggles, and as a result, the industry becomes really daunting for newcomers (me). One reason why I’m writing this blog is so I can share some parts of my journey, so that hopefully other aspiring musical theater writers do not become discouraged. Here are two things that are true:

1. The first production of Reason to Be was a huge success with lots of people who were in attendance and moved by our work.
2. I had to beg. HARD.

Anything you can think of, I begged for it. I begged two professors to take me on as an independent study student so I could actually have time in my course schedule to work on my musical. I begged for money from multiple sources. I begged for a performance space. I begged for a director. I begged for designers. I begged for actors. After having ONE person audition for the musical, I begged my computer science major friends who had never acted before to be in my musical (and they were amazing, by the way). I begged student newspapers and the college communications office for publicity. I begged classes, organizations, and individual people to see the show. Not only did I beg for an accompanist, I also begged for the accompanist’s keyboard. Towards the end, some of my friends were gracious enough to let me outsource the begging. But let it be known. There was a lot of begging. Worth. It.

8. Publicity is everything.

I hate marketing myself. As a computer scientist, I have strong thoughts on social media and I generally dislike it. There’s a reason why I prefer to write blog posts in 2025, and why my blog looks super minimalist. But for Reason to Be, I got down from my moral high horse and created tons of social media content and sent tons of emails. I also did a good number of interviews, put up dozens of fliers, and arranged many smaller-scale performances at certain school functions. I do not particularly enjoy making social media posts or writing emails, as I would much prefer to be writing or rehearsing, but the effort paid off tremendously. Across five shows, we had around 300 people show up. Now, I accept marketing as a necessary means for getting my art to be seen, because I know it is worth it.

9. Something has got to give.

I was a 4.0 student before my senior year. But there are a finite number of hours every week and so I had to deprioritize my classes in order to make Reason to Be as great as it became. I also, unfortunately, let my mental and physical health slip a little. I want to try to not do that in the future, but now I am definitely more aware of how I spend my time.

10. I can actually do this.

The first nine points I think of as more generalizable advice. This last one is all me. As I discussed in my previous blog post, for the longest time I felt torn between computer science and theater, ultimately choosing to study computer science for my undergraduate degree because I felt I was not good enough at theater to have a career. After writing an entire musical—books, lyrics, everything—and really putting it on, and having such a great audience reaction, I now know. I can do this. It may take me a long time, and I will likely fail many times along the way, but after the first workshop production of Reason to Be, I genuinely think I can have a career in the arts.