Insignificant Others

Music, Lyrics and Book by Jay Kuo

When:   Begins February 1, 2008 for open-ended run.
Performances Fri/Sat at 8pm, Sun 2pm

Where:  Theatre 39 at PIER 39
Beach & Embarcadero Streets, San Francisco

Tickets: $46 center, $39 side

Box office: 415 433 3939

Website

Jay Kuo was an AIRspace resident in 2006
Insignificant Others was the first original musical to be selected by the Jon Sims Center in many years.

It tells the story of five friends—two gay men and their three girlfriends—who move to San Francisco from the Midwest looking for love and fulfillment in the big city. Right away, they examine their new surroundings and how they fit in them. They get jobs, friends, boyfriends and a big dose of city-living reality. “It’s a celebration of the spirit of San Francisco—the zaniness, the beauty, and the warmth. And our cast is just amazing, with tremendous talent depth. They really bring the show to life,” says lyricist and composer Jay Kuo.

Kuo pulls few punches in this romantic comedy. He gleefully lampoons the planned world-domination of coffee emporiums and the trendy allure of “eco-conscious” lifestyles, while exploring the ambiguities of sexuality and the depths of heartbreak and loss. Kuo firmly anchors Insignificant Others in our time, with songs about gay marriage and the bleak monotony of post-boom Silicon Valley, and “first-time-ever-in-a-musical” instant messenger chats between the characters. Insignificant Others is a musical that could only be written in and about San Francisco, a true love song to our fair city.

Insignificant Others emerges from the AIRspace program as a fully staged production on its way to joining other successful San Francisco-born, critically acclaimed shows that have won the hearts of audiences across the country.

Critical Acclaim for Insignificant Others:
"Tony Kushner's Caroline, or Change aside, there has not been one truly exciting modern musical in my opinion... until now. The book and melodies blow my mind, they are so complete and lyrical. Brilliant...a revelation of very human, often unspoken, thoughts and desires. Who else writes musicals like that? Sondheim? Finn?"
Jeffrey Hoffman, Aristic Director, theatre Q

Insignificant Others is a 2005 awardee of CA$H, a grants program of Theatre Bay Area in partnership with Dancers' Group.

Photo by Edward Casati, Unbound Photography

Sarah Farrell, with Mikey Tongko,
Joven Calloway, Mike Triolo
and Alex Rodriguez