NEW WORK IN DEVELOPMENT

Composer Kevin Wong. Photo by Phil Crozier
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In Real Life

Set in a dystopian future, technological prodigy Max is an ideal student with a bright future until, with a single swipe, he sets out on a journey to forbidden corners of the internet, underground societies, and forgotten parts of himself. In a story filled with twists and turns, IN REAL LIFE looks at power, technology, and freedom as Max fights to save his loved ones and himself from an uncertain future that looks bleaker by the minute.

VIDEO GALLERY

PHOTO GALLERY

Bookwriter, Nick Green (left) is seated in a backyard chair, talking to music assistant, Jonathan Corkal-Astorga (right), who's standing while holding a drink. Nick is wearing a purple sweater, with his hair tied up in a bun, while Jonathan wears a blue button-up & bun. Deputy Artistic Director, Ray Hog (right) sitting on backyard patio steps, smiling while seated next to Bobby the dog, the musical mascot (left). He is wearing a blue tee & shorts, while Bobby is a small white fluffy dog, on a red leash. Composer, Kevin Wong (left), music assistant, Jonathan Corkal-Astorga (middle), & music supervisor, Chris Barillaro (right), are all standing around a backyard patio table, underneath a pop-up awning. They are all smiling at the camera and in summer attire. Composer, Kevin Wong (bottom left), music supervisor, Chris Barillaro (top left), music assistant, Jonathan Corkal-Astorga (top right), & bookwriter Nick Green (bottom right), are seated at a backyard patio deck and in the yard down a few steps, workshopping music.

Supporters

In Real Life
Leading Light
Andrew Gillespie

Credits

Commissioned with funding by the Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund for New Musicals.

'IN REAL LIFE" was originally developed at the Canadian Music Theatre Project at Sheridan College in Oakville, Canada, Michael Rubinoff, Producing Artistic Director.

Creative Team

Music & lyrics by
Kevin Wong

book & lyrics by
Nick Green

Director
Ann Hodges

Venue

Frequently Asked Questions

Show Calendar

DEVELOPMENTAL HISTORY

  • MAY 23-26, 2019: The Musical Stage Company-funded workshop with actors at Sheridan College in Oakville.
  • SEPTEMBER 12-15, 2019: The Musical Stage Company-funded workshop with actors at 918 Bathurst Street.
  • DECEMBER 2-6, 2019: Sheridan College-funded workshop with 4th-year students at Sheridan College in Oakville.
  • FEBRUARY 17-18, 2020: The Musical Stage Company-funded workshop with actors at Dancemakers.
  • MAY 2020: Sheridan workshops & virtual performance.
    • Slated to have its first workshop production with 4th-year students at Sheridan College in spring 2020, IN REAL LIFE made a nimble switchover to a two-week digital workshop over Zoom. Director Ann Hodges, working with a remarkable team of artists, including music supervisor Chris Barillaro, Projection & Video designer Nick Bottomley, and choreographer Janie Pinard continued to push forward with the development of the script.  They dug into Nick’s latest draft, explored music that Kevin had either newly composed or revised in the past few months, and finally created an astonishing music video using Zoom as a performance “venue” of the piece’s opening number “A Million”.
  • OCTOBER 2022: 1 week workshop in Sudbury with co-development by YES Theatre

CREATOR BIOS

KEVIN WONG – COMPOSER & LYRICIST

Kevin Wong is a Toronto-based composer-lyricist, singer/musician, and dramaturg.

Past works include: Recurring John: A Song Cycle, STAR!(ving): A Collection of Songs; Misprint (with bookwriter Lauren Toffan); Drama 101 (with bookwriter & co-lyricist Steven Gallagher, Bravo Academy 2017 / Etobicoke School of the Arts 2018 / Stage Door Academy 2018); and Reframed (Musical Stage Company / Art Gallery of Ontario, Dora Nomination – Best New Musical/Opera).

Current projects: Believers (with bookwriter & co-lyricist Ali Joy Richardson), Polly Peel (with bookwriter Julie Tepperman, 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival and winner of the 2018 Playwrights Guild of Canada Stage West New Musical Award), and In Real Life (with bookwriter & co-lyricist Nick Green, most recently presented in reading at Sheridan College).

Kevin is an Artistic Associate at the Musical Stage Company. He is a member of the vocal group Asian Riffing Trio (with Chris Tsujiuchi and Colin Asuncion).

NICK GREEN – BOOKWRITER & LYRICIST 

Nick is a Dora and Sterling award-winning playwright whose work has been seen across Canada and in New York.

Nick’s play Body Politic, which explores the legacy of one of Canada’s first LGBT Publications, was co-produced by Buddies in Bad Times and lemonTree Creations, and won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play, General Theatre Division, and is being published by Playwrights Canada Press in Spring 2019.

His play Happy Birthday Baby J, a comedy about a couple who are raising a baby without a gender, was created in Factory Theatre’s Natural Resources unit. Other favourite credits include Every Day She Rose, a play about the Black Live’s Matter protest at Toronto Pride, co-written with Andrea Scott; Poof! The Musical, a campy play about witchcraft that was nominated for an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding New Work; and Coffee Dad, Chicken Mom, and the Fabulous Buddha Boi, a solo show about coming out, the production of which won three Elizabeth Sterling Haynes awards.