Zhang and Hu
Musical Theater Makers
Hu is Quentin, why is Jonny?
Thanks for stopping by. We are a musical theater duo of Jonny Zhang (book and lyrics) and Quentin Hu (music). The first thing you should probably know about us is that we are not Jonny Zhang and Quentin Hu. If they exist, we don't know them. Zhang and Hu are nom(s) de plume.
In reality we are an Asian American [sometimes] theater and film actor who discovered a love of writing, and a composer from Taiwan whose love of Broadway is pathological.
Climb Every Mountain
Break Every Ceiling
20+ Years of experience
Educated in the U.S., and with over twenty years combined experience making musicals, we both have won several awards telling Asian and Asian-American stories. Neither of us has a working definition of what that is and we both agree it's for the best. We both have had productions in the U.S. and Asia and have collaborated with Tony, and Pulitzer winners. Songs we have written together and independently have been performed in the U.K., South Africa, Australia, Korea, China, Japan and Taiwan, though it kind of bothers Quentin that no country in South America is on that list. Jonny is uncharacteristically cool with it. We have also been teaching artists across the country and held multiple 9-5 jobs because we don't come from the kind of privilege that allows for not earning, and theater making is not sustainable. We don't wish we had that level of privilege, but we are grateful for those who do. We believe in space for all.
"Theater that matters"
We love making "theater that matters." We love how that could mean anything. For us it means when we make a thing, we are always to some degree representing and carrying our parent culture(s). We don't believe in simply creating a space for them though, we believe also it should be a space that actively subverts the myth of the monolith. So, no shows about immigrants starting laundries or restaurants, no shows about the children of immigrants succeeding as doctors or lawyers, though those shows are true and worthy and we love them. We're just more interested in making the theater nobody else is making. No one called us to do this, and we don't believe all writers should, but we believe in the dichotomy of great power inviting great responsibility. That suits us.
Song Samples
Social Justice Worrier
A pre-eminent South American avant-garde theater maker hires Jonny to be in her experimental musical and asks him to lean into a stereotypical Asian accent, egos and ideologies clash with the old guard prioritizing sacrifice for satire and the new guard prioritizing safety over all else. Things only get worse when she asks him to use a thick Mexican accent too. Social Justice Worrier is a one-act musical with an approximate running time of 25 minutes. It features eight songs and four performers.
Remembrance of Things Vast
When a mysterious piece of land is bequeathed to Jack Li mere days after his passing, eldest daughter Hermione, finds herself once again in direct opposition to her tiger mom Helen on how best to utilize it to honor the late patriarch. The battle of wills is further exacerbated by the ongoing debate about the welfare of her 21 year old neuro-divergent brother whose needs exceed the care provided by Helen and her volunteer friends from church. Everything is at stake in a very public race to meet a reverse matching grant determining whether the land will house a new sanctuary for the church Jack founded or a memorial for the Chinese American soldiers who fought in Vietnam alongside his brother.
Remembrance of Things Vast is a full length musical.
Untitled Animated Tiger Project
Four songs from an unproduced animated feature-length project for [REDACTED] about a low-born girl in the Tiger Empire who rises through the ranks of her stratified society to become its eventual savior, only then to dismantle it once and for all. Inspired by the late Qing Dynasty Empress Dowager Cixi. With book by [REDACTED] and music and lyrics by Zhang and Hu.
Other Things
"Maybe we are an AI algorithm. Maybe we are real. Maybe we're all in the Matrix anyway."
Yours,
Zhang and Hu