Mu presents Becoming
What: Becoming by Iris Shiraishi and Zaraawar Mistry, performed by Iris Shiraishi featuring Alex Lubet.
Where: Dreamland Arts (677 Hamline Ave N, St. Paul)
Tickets: $18 adults, $16 students/seniors. Available through the Dreamland Arts box office at 651-645-5506 or online at www.muperformingarts.org.
Summary: Mu Performing Arts presents the premiere production of Becoming, a moving, autobiographical story that follows the life of an Asian American woman from Hawaii to the Midwest as she finds herself through the power of music.
(Saint Paul – March 29, 2010) Mu Performing Arts will wrap up its 2009-2010 mainstage season with the world premiere of Becoming by Iris Shiraishi and Zaraawar Mistry. Shiraishi stars as herself in this one-woman stage memoir that traces the arc from her childhood in Hawaii to her life in the Midwest as a wife, mother, and musician. The production opens April 9 and continues through May 2 at Dreamland Arts. Single tickets $16 – $18 are available through the Dreamland Arts box office at 651-645-5506 or online at www.muperformingarts.org.
Becoming is an intimate and highly personal piece, made all the more personal by the small venue of Dreamland Arts and the closeness between stage and audience. It is centered on movement and sound to illustrate the events, both large and small, which build a life. A vivid musical backdrop, ranging from Hawaiian songs to classical piano concertos to Japanese drums, builds the foundation for Shiraishi’s journey and helps highlight the landmarks moments of her story. “There is some kind of music in every scene,” she explains Much of the music is performed by Shraishi herself, on one of a wide variety of instruments, or by her husband Alex Lubet, who joins her on stage to contribute to the soundtrack.
As a trained musician and long-time taiko artist with Mu Performing Arts, Shiraishi is no stranger to performing, but Becoming represents her first undertaking as an actor. Her collaboration with Zaraawar Mistry represents a strong partnership that reaches the core of Mu’s long tradition of shaping both artists and their audiences. “[Zaraawar] continues to have very high standards and has not given me any kind of bye on my lack of actor training,” Shiraishi says of Mistry’s talent for building the skills and potential of new actors and playwrights, a talent that came in handy in the early days of Mu when he worked alongside current Artistic Director Rick Shiomi as an artistic producing associate.
Similarly, Mistry recognizes the potential of Shiraishi’s story to strike a chord with the audience. “The Mu ethos is that of the artist as shaman, a medium, for personal and community transformation,” says Mistry. “Individual performing artists have the ability to affect others’ lives and opinions. . . I believe that Iris has a unique, yet universal, story to tell about an Asian American woman of her generation.”
