A.C. Petersen, librettist
Jeremy Berdin, composer 

In this original operetta, four vocalists portray the experiences of a Japanese American family from Bainbridge Island in 1937, revealing the emotions and obstacles of characters torn apart and trapped on both sides of the Pacific Ocean during World War II. The performance will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A about the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans set in motion by Executive Order 9066. 

Panel moderated by Gail M. Nomura, associate professor emerita of American Ethnic Studies at the University of Washington. Her most recent publication is Our Voices, Our Histories: Asian American and Pacific Islander Women, which she co-edited with Shirley Hune. Nomura is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies. 

Panelists include Shigeru Nishida, who was twelve years old when he and his family, who were farming in the Yakima Valley, were sent to the Heart Mountain incarceration camp in 1942. 

Librettist A.C. Petersen is nisei (second-generation Japanese American), and her multi-disciplinary dance/theatre works has been performed at On the Boards' Northwest New Works, Northwest Asian American Theatre, Powell Street Festival (Vancouver, BC), Consolidated Works, Allegro! Dance, and Bumbershoot. Themes have included Japanese and Western tea traditions, immigration and sweatshops, sumo, and Madeline children's stories.  

Composer Jeremy Berdin is yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese American), and his other works include the original musical Buried Deep (with demos recorded with Gaisma Theatre Group), and has contributed to the new musical Paranoia (Harrisburg Fringe Festival). Jeremy's work will also be showcased as part of the Jane Lang Davis Creation Lab at Seattle Opera. Updates on his various projects can be found at jeremyberdin.com 

This work has been further developed thanks to an award from the City of Bothell Arts Commission and is performed in partnership with McMenamins History.