playbill goes to the fringe

In a time when Asian characters revolting and behaving badly are having a moment in American entertainment (think Netflix's Beef and the film Joy Ride), Hello Kitty Must Die is definitely an of-the-moment musical. Which is why Playbill was so excited to get a behind-the-scenes look at the show. Follow below for how the Hello Kitty Must Die team set up, performed, and striked the show.

Hello Kitty Must Die is a thrilling story by an Asian American woman, about an Asian American woman, now set to be brought to life by Asian American women.  Leading as the high achieving lawyer Fiona Yu is Sami Ma (RENT, Paper Mill Playhouse; 4000 Miles, Gloucester Stage).  Also unleashing their claws will be Artistic Director of Cold Tofu Improv Jully Lee (KPOP, Circle in the Square, Young Sheldon, CBS), Lennox T. Duong (Three Sisters, The Juilliard Theatre; Dance Nation, The Juilliard Theatre), Amy Keum (KPOP, Circle in the Square; Be More Chill, Playhouse Square) and Ann Hu (Raven’s Home, Disney). Kitty Must Die

Hello Kitty Must Die
Pleasance Courtyard

This premiere is billed as a darkly comic musical mashup. Its protagonist is Chinese-American lawyer Fiona Yu and the show studies white patriarchal society and its racial stereotyping though the lens of Asian feminism. We can apparently expect sex, violence and killer stilettos. Based on the cult novel by Angela S Choi.

Hello Kitty Must Die, the musical will make it's debut at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. From Alchemation, the Tony-winning producer of SIX comes an outrageously irreverent world premiere musical mash-up of Asian feminism with a killer score. Based on the cult novel by Angela S Choi, this musical is a ruthless combination of sex, violence, and stilettos.

Hello Kitty Must Die, the musical welcomes our new casting directors,  Gail Quintos and Claire Yenson to the HKMD family.

Hello Kitty Must Die, the musical is thrilled to welcome new creative team members 

Cecilia Lin, composer and Jessica Wu, lyricist.

The Producer's Perspective PRO Reading Series, which is produced by Davenport Theatrical Enterprises, is kicking off their first quarterly reading with a presentation of Hello Kitty Must Die on Monday, March 18th at 4pm at Ripley Grier, Studio 312 (305 W. 38th Street New York, NY 10018).

Tonight’s the night. The first time Fiona Yu meets a live audience and gives teeth and claws to Hello Kitty Must Die!  Helen Young stars as the notorious Fiona Yu. A world premiere play in development @ Stage 773 , a darkly twisted solo adult comedy. Think Joy Luck Club meets Dexter.

VISIBLE SOUL: The musings and diatribes of a New York actor and playwright, Zack Calhoun. 

"People You Should Know  - Kurt Johns"

In this interview format, Kurt talks about his theatre career, SoloChicago, and creating 

Hello Kitty Must Die with Gail Rastorfer.

Kurt Johns co-adaptor and director pitches Hello Kitty Must Die to 20 NY producers in a Zoom Speed Date Pitch Session set up by Theatrical Resources Unlimited. on July 19, 2020

While the ability to gather together is curtailed by this virus. We're busy in the background making sure that fans of the novel and the play will be able to see Hello Kitty Must Die, the play as soon as we can get the go-ahead to gather and enjoy. 

Meanwhile - what we said above!