New Operetta Follows JA Women on Bainbridge
By AC Petersen
NAP Contributor
Librettist AC Petersen and Composer Jeremy Berdin will be presenting a 15-minute operetta called Currents that follows three Japanese American women from Bainbridge Island through time and place.
From a 1937 departure of a young Nisei/Kibei (second-generation Japanese American born in the U.S. but educated in Japan) on a ship to Japan, to working in Japan’s World War II “Balloon Bomb” factory, to a mother and young daughter’s arrival and incarceration at Minidoka War Location Center in Idaho, this impressionistic arc of five songs reveals emotion and ties of family members torn apart by choice and by force, and trapped on both sides of the Pacific Ocean during World War II.
The vocalists are Isabelle Bushue, Caitlin Sarwono and Sandra Waters.
AC Petersen, a Nisei, has had her multidisciplinary dance/theatre works performed at On the Boards’ Northwest New Works in Seattle. She also performed at the Northwest Asian American Theatre, Powell Street Festival (Vancouver B.C.), Consolidated Works, Allegro! Dance and Bumbershoot. Themes have included Japanese and Western tea traditions, immigration and sweatshops, sumo, Noh theater, and Madeline children’s stories. For more on Petersen, visit acpetersendance.org
Jeremy Berdin, a Yonsei, is a rising songwriter and composer who aspires to tell stories of joy and belonging in his creative endeavors. He composed the original musical, “Buried Deep” (Drake University), contributed to the new musical “Paranoia” (Harrisburg Fringe Festival) and publishes selections of his music on SoundCloud and Spotify. Updates on his various projects can be found at JeremyBerdin.com.
The operetta will be shown at the 18th & Union performance space from 7:30 p.m. on April 11-13 as part of the Springshot Festival. Tickets can be bought at https://18u.thundertix.com.
