New Musical THE PHOENIX Selected for Rhinebeck Writers Retreat’s Triple R Program

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat (RWR) and The Howard Ashman Trust for Theater Arts has announced that The Phoenix, a new musical with book by Princess Grace Award winner Desdemona Chiang and score by Jonathan Larson Grant and Fred Ebb Award winners Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels, has been selected for a special Fall edition of RWR's Triple R Program. A staged reading of the piece will be presented on November 2, 2026 in NYC.

In The Phoenix, devoted mother and wife Ruby Wong is eager to participate in a local senior dance group for the opening ceremonies of the 2028 LA Olympic games, even as she is caring for her ailing husband who suffered a recent stroke. As she gets caught up in the thrill and dreams of performance, memories resurface of an art form that she abandoned a lifetime ago as a ballet dancer in China. With Revolution-era Chinese ballet in conversation with an epic score of traditional folk music, Mandopop, and the sound of Broadway, The Phoenix is a coming of age for those over 60, a story of reviving forgotten relationships, and a reminder that it's never too late to reignite the fire within.

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat addresses a critical need faced by musical theatre writers: dedicated, uninterrupted time and resources to write. Over the past 15 summers, RWR has supported over 250 writers developing 130 musicals, which have gone on to fill stages around the world and advance our theatrical canon. The Phoenix was developed at RWR's Summer Residencies in 2023, and Triple R ('2 Readings and a Residency') is a three-step follow-up program designed to accelerate their project closer to production. It begins with a cold table read to hear the latest draft aloud, followed by a 5-day writing residency to further develop the work, and culminates with an AEA 29-hour reading to collaborate with a cast and creative team.

'I think this program, with its sequential three-part scaffolding, is ingenious—which I feel comfortable saying since it was designed by RWR Founder Kathy Evans! And, historically, we have only been able to offer this meaningful development opportunity to one writing team each year. Thanks to a generous gift from The Howard Ashman Trust for Theater Arts, we are thrilled to produce a second 2026 Triple R, and could not be more excited to nurture Desdemona, Cheeyang, and Eric's beautiful work,' said RWR Executive Director Erica Rotstein.

The Howard Ashman Trust for Theater Arts honors the memory of the celebrated playwright, director and lyricist by encouraging the creation of new works for the theater.

The Phoenix Triple R team includes Casting by Andrea Zee and General Management by Sing Out, Louise! Productions. For more information visit rhinebeckwriters.org.

Desdemona Chiang

Desdemona Chiang (she/her) is a Taiwan-born American director/writer working for the stage and screen, creating and developing stories about unique intergenerational immigrant experiences. Theatre directing credits include The 5th Avenue Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Coast Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, and Union Arts Center, among others. Her stage adaptation of Amy Tan's novel The Bonesetter's Daughter received its world premiere in the summer of 2022. Her films have screened at CAAMFest, Newport Beach Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, HollyShorts, LAShorts, and DisOrient. Her TV pilot scripts have been developed with the Sundance Episodic Program, Film Independent, The Orchard Project, The Writers Lab, and the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab. She is developing and directing her first full-length feature, Something About the Tide (Tribeca/AT&T Untold Stories finalist 2024), and made her episodic directing debut on Fire Country on CBS/Paramount+ in February 2025. Affiliations/Awards: Princess Grace Award. Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship. CAPE Julia Gouw Honorable Mention. AFI DWW+. WIF Directing Fellow. Drama League. Gold House Futures. Rideback Rise Circle. MFA Directing: University of Washington.

Cheeyang Ng

Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng is a Fred Ebb Award, Princess Grace Award, and Jonathan Larson Award winning singer-songwriter who writes at the intersection of queer, Asian and immigrant stories. They have performed around the world, including Lincoln Center with Carole King and Carnegie Hall with Jason Robert Brown. They are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center showcasing their original music and their songs have been performed across the U.S. Creator of podcast East Side Story and vocal group The Lunar Collective, they have won multiple vocal awards all across Asia, including Singapore, Taiwan and China. Musicals in development include MĀYĀ with Eric Sorrels (@sohoplace 2025), Eastbound with Khiyon Hursey, and The Phoenix with Eric Sorrels and Desdemona Chiang. Their solo musical, Legendary premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in 2026 and has garnered critical acclaim including 5 stars in The Scotsman calling it 'poignant and hilarious', winning awards from Asian Arts Fund Scotland, Somewhere for Us and more. Other select credits: Eric H Weinberger Librettist Award, the ASCAP Foundation Lucille & Jack Yellen Award. MFA: NYU. BMus: Berklee. www.cheeyang.com. @cheeyangmusic

ERIC SORRELS

Eric Sorrels is a songwriter, librettist, and singer originally from Lebanon, Tennessee. His original musical The Gray Man: A Musical in Three Hurricanes releases its full-length concept album in Fall 2026 and receives its first developmental production at the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville in January 2027. With composer Cheeyang Ng, Eric received both the 2024 Jonathan Larson Grant and the Fred Ebb Award. Their collaborations include MĀYĀ (Live & In Color 2019, NAMT 2021, Amas Musical Theatre 2022, @sohoplace 2025) and The Phoenix, co-written with Desdemona Chiang (Rhinebeck Writers Retreat 2023, NYSCA Grant 2025). Additional honors include the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, the Eric H. Weinberger Librettist Award, and the ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award. A proud member of AGMA, Eric sings regularly in New York City with Musica Sacra and the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine. BA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; MFA, NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. graymanmusical.com

ABOUT RHINEBECK WRITERS RETREAT

Founded in 2011, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat exists to support musical theatre writers through two core programs: Summer Writing Residencies and Triple R. The writers and musicals nurtured at Rhinebeck expand the theatrical canon and fill stages across the globe. This year alone, RWR alumni writers were awarded Oscar, Tony, Grammy, Drama League, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Jonathan Larson Grant, and the Kleban Prize. Currently running alumni projects include the Tony and Olivier Award winning Operation Mincemeat (West End, Broadway, US and UK Tours) and Drama League, Drama Desk, and Lucille Lortel Award winning Mexodus (US Tour), as well as the upcoming productions of A Beat of Their Own (McCarter) and What's Eating Gilbert Grape (MCC Theater, world premiere).

Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's programs receive major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, The Stephen Sondheim Foundation, The Howard Ashman Trust for Theater Arts, The Shubert Foundation, The Noël Coward Foundation in honor of Geoffrey Johnson, The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund, The National Foundation for Musical Theatre, Concord Theatricals, Music Theatre International, and hundreds of individual donors, including major gifts from Liz Armstrong, Steve and Paula Reynolds, Matt Benjamin and Yeeta Yeger, Gloria Catinchi, Grove Entertainment, Ruth and Stephen Hendel, Pam Hurst-Della Pietra and Stephen Della Pietra, Deborah Landesman, Molly McEneny, Damon Suden, Steve and Sondra Beninati, and Gavin Berger.