Theatre Horizon presents Wishing to Grow Up Brightly

Out of sight, out of mind

Playwright and lyricist Amanda Morton was heavily inspired by both the loss of her father and the birth of her daughter, two events that brought her own questions and emotions around personal history and identity to the forefront of her life. Similarly, the musical is a nuanced exploration of grief and love, and the difficulty of finding one’s place in a world where you don’t quite fit, set to a score that Decker calls “part musical theater, part homage to 90s music”.

Though the performance addresses loss in many of its complex forms, pain is not the only feeling being explored. “Grief is hard, but part of the grieving process is celebrating the person we’ve lost” Sami Ma, who plays Amanda, notes. “It’s beautiful; it’s not just about the sadness and negative connotations of grief, there’s so much warmth and brightness.”

The feeling of being displaced by circumstance is “universal” and will resonate with audiences from any background, but Morton is the first to point out that Korean adoptees don’t regularly see themselves reflected in mainstream media. It was while talking to several other Korean adoptees in the arts that the lack of representation really hit home for Morton. “I’m so in love with musical theater and I’ve never seen my story represented. It just stopped me in my tracks,” she said. With Brightly, her goal is to start a discussion. “The conversation about birth, death, and hope is fundamental to our existence,” she explained. “It just happens to be through the lens of a Korean adoptee.”

Wishing to Grow Up Brightly also comes with auxiliary affinity events tied to it. On Thursday, November 6 is Growing Up Brightly: Adoption, Artistry, and the Search for Self, an intimate online conversation with Amanda Morton and Kevin Kreider (from Netflix's BLING EMPIRE) exploring identity, belonging, and creative courage in the lives of adoptee artists. Then, an Adoptee Roundtable comes November 15, featuring a special conversation for Korean-American and AAPI adoptees over a shared meal, centered on identity, belonging, and storytelling. Adoptee “Tea” is on November 22, where guests can join adoptees for tea, coffee, and conversation between matinee and evening performances of Wishing to Grow Up Brightly. A post show talk also happens after the November 22 performance.