Hometown musical theater talent from Eugene is making it big this week in New York City. The musical Mija trounced hundreds of competitors to be among a handful of original productions and their teams invited to showcase their work to industry king makers.
The production’s coast-to-coast journey began nearly eight years ago.
Evynne Hollens, a singer and writer who was born, raised and still lives in Eugene, was listening to an acquaintance retell a traumatic birth experience. Hollens, struck by how matter of fact her friend shared heart-pounding details, convinced her to share it with the world.
The story unfolds in Antigua, Guatemala and Oregon, intertwining the coming of age stories of a mother and daughter, bilingualism, and the found families and friends that help them survive.
Mija, a Spanish language contraction for my daughter ("mi hija"), is among eight finalists selected from 575 entrants to showcase 45-minute staged presentations to industry-only audiences in New York City during the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s 35th Annual Festival of New Music.
It’s a chance for Hollens and her team to get in front of people who can take her dream, and the dreams of the other women and creators involved in the production, to the next level. Creative and artistic directors. Movie and music moguls. Theater houses.
“We're already seeing interest, which is so exciting,” Hollens said during a phone call she took while walking her team through the streets of Manhattan to an appointment, traffic and sirens wailing in the background.
Her hope is to land money and enough support to keep her co-creators and talent together, allowing them to bring the show to wider, bigger audiences.
"Come From Away," which tells the true story of a small town in Newfoundland that welcomed stranded airline passengers after the 9-11 terrorist attacks, showcased at the festival in 2013 and went on to become a Broadway hit, making a stop in Eugene last season at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.
Traveling with Hollens to New York City this week are Eugene residents Adriana Ripley, a graduate of South Eugene High School who’s now a junior at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and Ripley’s mother, Monique, on whom the story is centered.
A difficult journey
Monique Ripley took a volunteer journey to Guatemala about 20 years ago. There, she met someone. But six months into a pregnancy that followed, things took a dangerous turn.
“I was sick for some time, nearly died. As did (Adriana). Shortly thereafter I had to clandestinely get out of Guatemala. Because in Guatemala at that time the rights were all paternal and her father didn’t want to participate in her upbringing, nor did he want me to leave. So I basically had to escape Guatemala and come back to the states,” Ripley said in an interview from New York with KLCC.
That escape journey brought Ripley to Eugene. For Hollens, Ripley’s story was both remarkable and familiar, and a testament to the incredible choices women make, and the circumstances they endure for themselves and each other.
“Women go through a lot of hardship and it’s kind of quiet. And also there’s no choice. She had no choice in that situation. She was told she would die and that her child would die, but what else was she going to do,” Hollens said.
“You sacrificed, you should have died. In your strength you gave me life,” sings Gabriela, one of the characters in the production, during the song “Woman Warrior.” In it, Gabriella and another character, Luisa, recount that pivotal moment as they sing about fear, bravery and a mother’s love.
'Pinch me' moments
Each time Monique Ripley watches a performance, it’s emotional. But not just because it’s the story of past adversity. Up there on stage, belting out the tunes for Gabriela, is Adriana. Who, at age 20, is a long way away from the young child who loved musical theater but was so overcome with stage fright she asked to be a shrub so she could perform, but stay hidden.
Due to an eye condition from medical treatment after her premature birth, doctors told Monique not to let her daughter play contact sports. Musical theater seemed like a good alternative, especially since everyone kept complimenting the girl’s vocal skills.
Adriana is now ready to pursue musical theater and acting as a career, and has been under Hollen’s tutelage since before Mija was conceived. She said it’s thrilling to be at the festival “among the best in the business.”
“I kind of just sit there and beam. Because what a fantastic way to learn how to do this. There's definitely ‘pinch me’ moments every step of the way,” Adriana said in an interview after arriving in New York over the weekend.
Festival support includes a chance to work with musical director Kurt Crowley of Hamilton fame. That’s a big deal, and the excitement of it all – from getting to New York City, to the beauty and inventiveness of the original score, to the personal connection Ripley has to the show’s origin story – is hard to contain.
“Obviously, I know what happens. I know that my mom lives and survives, and we both do. But having the music there automatically heightens emotion for me and I cry at the end of our little showcase. It's not pretty crying either. But it's, you know, the body remembers,” Adriana Ripley said.
Her mother, Monique, finds a song called “Still Breathing,” which addresses violence against women, abusive men, religion, and risking it all to survive, particularly difficult to sit through.
“I have yet to get through seeing a performance without crying. And I'm always surprised, because I can usually relate to the story of Adriana's birth without crying. But something about adding in the music and the sound effects and the lights. It's almost like I have some sort of muscle memory and I start to feel like my heart race, and I start to feel a little lightheaded and nauseous at certain times,” she said.
A unique opportunity
So, why go through it? Monique Ripley said the answer is the same as it was in the beginning: a labor of love.
“It was for Adriana, for my daughter, to give her her shot at her dream,” she said.
“This is the largest gesture of sacrifice, to give someone something so vulnerable to poke and prod at for people to look at so that I can have my dream is pretty remarkable," said Adriana. "I think that she is really brave and really, really wise for that. And I admire that a lot and I hope that someday when I grow up and I have my own story to be told that I can manage it with as much grace as she has thus far."
Their story is now in the capable hands of Hollens and three other members of the creative team behind Mija, which is getting noticed for it’s cross-genre, bilingual music, and its themes of identity, place, culture, motherhood, coming of age and found community. Also involved are singer-songwriter Anna Gilbert of Portland, singer-songwriter and producer Gaby-Moreno of Los Angeles, and co-writer Rebecca Tourino Collinsworth of Seattle.
Showcasing at the festival is something Hollens calls "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
As they bring it to life this week, she said everyone who’s watched Mija evolve is also part of the momentum. The readings. The fundraisers. The evolving scripts. The expanding team.
“I'm so grateful to the Eugene community," said Hollens. "We felt so supported. And you know, there have been people that have been in the room for seven and a half years that have watched this develop. I know it's been a rewarding and exciting process for them. It feels really special to have that community cheering us on from Eugene."
