Dixon Place to Present Staged Reading of New Musical INTERSTATE, 7/8

On July 8th, 2013 at 7:30pm, Interstate, a new concert musical, will have its first public staged reading as part of this year's HOT! Festival presented by Dixon Place. Written and performed by Melissa Li and Kit Yan, the musical follows the drama of two queer Asian-American performers embarking on their first cross-country tour with a new white drummer and learning to negotiate their relationships with their art, their communities, and each other. Melissa Li and Kit Yan, professional composer and spoken word artist, respectively, are both established NYC-based artists and long-time collaborators. This is their first musical together.

Interstate is a concert musical that weaves together music and poetry to tell the story of Acupuncture for Fools, an emerging activist band comprised of two Asian performers: lesbian singer-songwriter Adrian and transgender slam poet Dash. They have recently hired newcomer Jess, a young white lesbian drummer, to join them on tour. As they navigate the country in the claustrophobic confines of their compact car, they must confront their individual insecurities and jealousies, renegotiate their friendships with each other, and grapple with their significance within the larger queer people of color (QPOC) community.

Melissa Li (music, lyrics, book) is a composer, lyricist, and performer. She is a Jonathan Larson Award winner, whose most recent musical 99% Stone (The Theater Offensive), about the 1969 Stonewall riots, received an NPN Creation Fund and a NEFA Grant. Her first musical, Surviving the Nian (The Theater Offensive), won an IRNE award for Best New Play in 2007.

Kit Yan (poetry, lyrics, book) is a poet, performer, and writer. He is an internationally touring spoken word artist who has earned spots in the Individual World Poetry Slam, The National Poetry Slam, and placed in the top 3 in the 2010 National Queer Slam. His work has been included in Troubling the Line, an anthology of transgender poets, and Flicker and Spark, a queer poetry anthology. He has a forthcoming book with Transgenre Press.

Interstate has been developed under the direction and dramaturgical guidance of Jessi D. Hill, the Associate Artistic Director of terraNOVA Collective and a seasoned director who has worked with NY Theater Workshop, The Public, Women's Project, Primary Stages, New Dramatists, The Playwrights Center, The Playwrights Realm, and many others. Interstate has additional support from Moe Angelos, the producer and mentor to the production. Additional cast members TBA.

Dixon Place is located at 161A Chrystie St., New York, NY 10002. Tickets for the staged reading are currently on sale at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/9803192, and are $12 in advance, $15 at the door, and $10 for students and seniors. The Dixon Place Lounge is open before, during, and after the show. Proceeds directly support Dixon Place's artists and mission.

For more information, visit the official Interstate website www.interstatethemusical.com or the official HOT! Festival website www.hotfestival.org.