Music and mochi make a powerful combo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 10 years ago \u2014 when bookwriter Lainie Sakakura and composer\/lyricist Paul Fujimoto first began adapting Jamie Ford\u2019s bestselling 2009 novel \u201cHotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet\u201d<\/a> into a musical \u2014 a song about mochi not only kick-started their collaboration; it helped convince Ford that his beloved book should take on this new form.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was a little skeptical,\u201d Ford said of the cold call he got from the writing team, along with a couple of sample songs. \u201cNot of Paul and Lainie’s intentions, but just that they would get<\/em> the book, you know? But they sent me demo songs they\u2019d recorded with some Broadway kids, and I ugly cried all over my keyboard; it was so good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, this team is bringing the musical to Seattle, a hometown shared by Ford, Fujimoto and the foundational text itself. This sneak peek of the musical\u2019s first act, performed May 23 and 24 at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, seeks to connect this show with its deep Seattle roots, and in the process, perhaps subvert the commercial theater model in favor of a communal theater model.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n To give credit where credit\u2019s due, it was Fujimoto\u2019s mom, Nancy, who first introduced him to the novel and suggested it would make a good musical. Fujimoto, a composer and musician who grew up on Beacon Hill and now lives in New York (and, full disclosure, was a classmate of mine at Franklin High School), didn\u2019t listen to her right away.\u00a0<\/p>\n But when he finally did read the book, he knew his mom was right \u2014 as did Sakakura, when Fujimoto eventually tossed the idea her way. The two theater artists connected at an event for the Japanese American Association of New York. Broadway veteran Sakakura was emceeing, and she went looking for a Japanese pianist.<\/p>\n \u201cI wrote a little song about mochi,\u201d said Fujimoto, which went over well, but it was the backstage chitchat where he mentioned \u201cHotel\u201d to Sakakura that struck a real chord.<\/p>\n \u201cI read it right away, and I was like, \u2018Oh my God, this is a musical,’\u201d Sakakura said, sitting with Fujimoto in Seattle\u2019s historic Panama Hotel, a pivotal location for the novel and musical. \u201cIt’s basically \u2018Romeo and Juliet\u2019 set in Seattle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, you have this beautiful, romantic coming-of-age story,\u201d she continued. \u201cThen a multigenerational story, and then Henry\u2019s best friend, Sheldon, is a Black jazz musician, which naturally puts music at the heart of this story.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHotel\u201d takes place in Seattle\u2019s Chinatown International District during World War II and focuses on two teens, Chinese American Henry and Japanese American Keiko, who become enamored of each other just before Keiko\u2019s family is incarcerated at Minidoka War Relocation Center<\/a> in Idaho. A second story thread, 40-some years later in 1986, follows the now-widowed Henry and his son, Marty.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s about fathers and sons, it\u2019s about long-lost love, it’s a family story,\u201d Fujimoto said. \u201cIt’s dealing with a very serious time in America, but it’s fun and lighthearted \u2014 it’s a romantic comedy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\nMade to be a musical\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n