After 24 years, musical love story ‘Gold Mountain’ will have its world debut in West Valley City

The world premiere of the musical “Gold Mountain” is on Thursday, November 4th at the West Valley Performing Arts Center – just 24 years after Jason Ma wrote it.

It is a love story set in the Sierra Nevada during the construction of the transcontinental railroad shortly before its completion in 1869. A young Chinese named Lit, who works as a “fuse runner” – he sets the explosives on fire and runs away before it explodes – falls in love with the young Chinese woman Mei, who has been forced into prostitution to support her family.

It’s heartfelt, emotional, fun, dramatic, and very entertaining. Almost the entire cast is Asian-American – as is the backstage crew. The creative team – set designers, clothing designers – consists exclusively of women. And “Gold Mountain” is arguably more relevant today than it was when it was written.

“It’s so important,” said director Alan Muraoko, “especially at this time to tell an Asian-American story, given some of the things that have happened in the past two years – anti-Asian violence and racism.”

But when Ma, who wrote the book, the music and the lyrics, tried to get producers interested in “Gold Mountain” in 1997, he encountered “extremely negative” reactions.

“We think the theater is so open and liberal in its views,” said Ma. “But I received letters of rejection that said, ‘Why should you write something like this?’ Or, ‘Don’t you think it would be better if you focused on making Chinese opera tastier than trying to write a great Broadway musical?’ ‘That doesn’t sound like something you would write.’ “

At that time he had “no context” for the rejection. “But in the present we would know exactly what that meant – ‘You don’t belong here to write as a colored person in our genre.’ Nobody would ever tell me these things now. But at the time that was quite acceptable. “

So Ma, a native Californian who was working in New York at the time, tried to forget about the show he wrote. “I put it in a box and put it under my bed and let it go for a couple of years,” he said. He gave up writing and performing for a while. Went to secondary school. But then he heard Ali Ewoldt sing when they were both invited to a concert.

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my god, this is the perfect actor to play Mei in’ Gold Mountain ‘!'” Ma said. And that made him “push for the piece again”.

It came out from under his bed and – with Ewoldt, who is now a Broadway star, on board – was performed as a concert performance in a few cities, including both Salt Lake City and Ogden during the Spike 150 celebration in 2019, the the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad. After these performances, the directors of the Utah Shakespeare Festival were convinced to produce “Gold Mountain” as a fully staged musical. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, planning was already in full swing.

Once again Ma let go of the project “somehow” in her mind, unsure whether the Shakespeare Festival would stay interested. “But they picked it up right away,” he said. “It was wonderful. Actually, I couldn’t believe my luck.

“I mean, I gave up hope,” Ma said with a laugh. And he didn’t really think production would take place this time “until we went into the (rehearsal) room and started working. I was so used to it not being a full production that it was kind of stunning. “

A first for the Utah Shakespeare Festival

Ma was invited to meet with the directors of the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City in 2019, and he arrived “intimidated”. But festival founder Fred Adams, Ma said, “happened to be in the lobby when I got there. And he was so warm and welcoming. “

Ma said he was wondering, “What am I doing here with my Chinese railroad worker musical at the Utah Shakespeare Festival?” But Adams, who passed away a few months later, “immediately calmed me down. We talked about what it takes to put on a show this size – something they’re pretty used to. “

The first full production of “Gold Mountain” will be the first non-touring show produced by the Utah Shakespeare Festival outside of Cedar City. “Much of our audience here at the festival is from the Wasatch Front, and this is a great opportunity for them to see a festival production in their own neighborhood,” said Festival Executive Producer Frank Mack.

And festival director Brian Vaughn promised it would be “one of many future collaborations with the West Valley City Performing Arts Center.” (The 42,000-square-foot, city-owned theater on 3333 S. Decker Lake Drive is the former home of the Hale Center Theater.)

(Photo courtesy of the National Asian Artists Project) A rehearsal of the musical “Gold Mountain”.

A first for the theater

Ewoldt, who appeared on Broadway in “Phantom of the Opera”, “Les Misérables” and “The King and I”, plays Mei in “Gold Mountain”. Jonny Lee Jr. plays lit.

“The fact that we have 11 Asian-American men on stage at the same time,” said Muraoko, “is so rare …”

“Rarely?” Ma threw in with a laugh. “Let’s call it out,” said Muraoko. “It doesn’t happen.” Until now.

Most of the performers have been associated with “Gold Mountain” for years, singing and acting at the concert performances. “We had to pick the people we wanted from across the country who we thought would be right for this show,” said Muraoko. “And not only the cast, but we could also choose our choreographers and our musical team. We consist of a purely Asian-American team. I think there has never been anything like this before in a regional theater. “

(Photo courtesy of the National Asian Artists Project) A rehearsal of the musical “Gold Mountain”.

Has the show evolved?

Not much has changed about the series since Ma finished writing Gold Mountain in 1997.

“We have the same number of characters. They all do the same thing. The plot hasn’t changed, ”he said. There are some new lyrics and new lines of dialogue, “but our characters have retained most of their essence. … But as our world has changed, they have all started to have this experience of being in a foreign country, building this railroad and being abused. Or treated as less than. “

It’s the kind or representation that Asian Americans have never seen on stage. And the first full production of “Gold Mountain” includes productions that the creator did not expect.

“I think we even surprised Jason with some of the things we created,” Muraoko said. “In the best possible way,” said Ma, Muraoko’s college roommate. “There is so much magic going on in this room. I mean, that also means that we’ve all known each other for a long time. Many of us have been working together for decades. “

This is entertainment

Gold Mountain tells the story of the Chinese workers who made up 90% of the Central Pacific Railroad’s workforce. “And even in the story there was an idea to try – somehow for lack of a better word – to gloss over the event,” said Muraoko. “The important part of this story is that we are showing that the Chinese were indeed a really integral part of American history.”

It’s a part of history that has largely been forgotten. Even Ma, the son of Chinese immigrants, didn’t know “until I graduated from college. In my high school … it wasn’t taught at all, ”he said.

And while it is set in the Sierras, Gold Mountain certainly has resonance in Utah, where the railroad was completed. Before rehearsals began in Cedar City, Ma and Muraoko attended the Promontory Summit, where the final spit was driven to complete the transcontinental railroad.

“It was so cold that Jason and I lasted maybe five minutes before we had to run back to the gift shop and warm up,” Muraoko said. “And for me that was in a moment – ‘Oh my god! These people worked under these conditions and survived under these conditions. ‘”

But “Gold Mountain” is not a dark story. It’s filled with quirky characters who are often very funny with loud laughs. The audience does not have the feeling that they are sitting in a lecture.

The aim is to entertain the audience. And if they learn a few things in the process, all the better.

(HBO) Alan Muraoko, who directs Gold Mountain, at his job on the set of Sesame Street.

“It’s kind of like my day job on Sesame Street,” says Muraoko – a stage actress / director who has been the owner of Hooper’s Store in the children’s educational series since 1998. “You educate while you entertain. They’re smuggling all these little educational things in there. … One of the goals of this show is just to get people to go out and say, ‘Okay, I didn’t know.’ “

Nevertheless, “Gold Mountain” is not intended to make the audience think, but rather to make them feel.

“This is really something to experience with the heart,” said Ma. “This is a love story. We only tell stories here, as in every play or musical. “

Forward and up?

Is the premiere of “Gold Mountain” the first step on the road to bigger and better for the musical? Well, Ma and Muraoko keep their fingers crossed.

“Sometimes the biggest barrier to productions is actually getting to this world premiere,” Ma said. “And that was given to us. But because of the pandemic, all bets are up. “

And Muraoko said he believes that after the huge success of “Hamilton” there is “more theaters trying to find other stories and other people.”

Ma said the West Valley shows “have already opened a number of doors for the play and for me to continue on this journey. We have people who come to see the show who are able to influence their future.

“This piece always seems to find its place in the sun. … If the past is a sign of it, it will rise again. “

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Gold Mountain runs November 4-20 at the West Valley City Performing Arts Center, 3333 S. Decker Lake Drive. 17 performances are planned – 14 evening and three Saturday matinees.

Tickets are $ 59 and are available at wvcarts.org or by calling (801) 965-5140.

A face mask is required to attend performances.