Youngmee

“Han” is a Korean word with no direct English translation. It's said to be a quintessential part of the Korean identity. There are different descriptions of it based generationally and culturally. I've always described it to others as the weight of one’s heart. The violent objectivity of nature combined with using hope as an act of resistance. Some say it’s rage and regret; others say it’s a response to cultural and personal loss. I heard it recently as the “constant feeling of being less than whole.” And that’s when I realized that is why I am writing Youngmee; to become whole.

Youngmee explores this concept of “han” in multiple fashions. The piece transmutes grief, generational prosperity, tradition, the ethics of preservation, historical erasure, and the amplification of beliefs between a Korean-American family and that of a tiny rural town in Southwest Colorado. Youngmee is about a Korean-American family who, after a tragic family incident, uproots their lives from Los Angeles and relocates to a tiny tourist trap in Southwest Colorado where the citizens have just lost their time capsule. We discover The Lee family has suffered a loss of a close family member right before moving to Durango and each remaining family member is reckoning with grief in their own ways. As the town of Durango searches furiously for the missing town capsule, led by their multi-occupational mayor, an unexpected gift arrives at The Lee residence from Youngmee's recently departed brother. The score is bluegrass and folk inspired for something I'm calling "Korean-Americana". What better way At this juncture, Michelle has completed a Master of Arts from BerkleeNYC in Creative Media Technology with a specialization in Writing & Design for Musical Theater, to which they have completed an initial draft of Youngmee and a 15 minute showcase version. This abridged version was also selected for the 2024 National Asian Artists Project: Discover: New Musicals showcase series. This year, Michelle became a New York State Council for the Arts grant award recipient for further development of Youngmee in partnership with Musical Theatre Factory; there will be a public reading of the full-length show in Winter 2024.