Find your beat. Find your team. Find yourself.
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Winner of the 2019 Richard Rodgers Award, Bhangin' It is an exhilarating new musical set in the high stakes world of intercollegiate competitive bhangra: a Punjabi folk dance morphed into a good old fashioned dance-off.
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Bhangin' It had its world premiere at the Tony-winning La Jolla Playhouse in Spring 2022.
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Check out the coverage by Ashely Lee in the LA Times, Michael Paulson in the New York Times, and Hafsa Fathima on NPR Weekend Edition!
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"Bhangin’ It manages to pull off [nuance] and more, without any kind of diluting. It presents multiple sides of complex discussions around cultural identity without declaring a definitive winner, incorporates deeply rooted South Asian art forms into an American musical... and genuinely addresses these topics and conversations without sacrificing story, character or crowd-pleasing humor."
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-- Ashley Lee
About the Show
THE STORY...
East Lansing University senior Mary Darshini Clarke has spent her entire life trying to figure out where she fits in, and she has always found community dancing on the school’s prestigious bhangra team. But when she becomes the self-appointed captain of a new team of enthusiastic novices more interested in making friends than the right moves, Mary quickly learns that carving out her own path is more complicated than she thought. As the pressure of the big national competition approaches, can both teams learn what makes them unique could actually be the key to their success? Bursting with vibrant dance and electrifying music, Bhangin' It is a joyous new musical comedy for America today.
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THE TEAM...
Featuring music, lyrics, and co-dance and vocal arrangements by Sam, the creative team includes:
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award-winning playwrights Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew
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director Stafford Arima (Allegiance, Altar Boyz)
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additional music, co-arrangements and co-orchestrations by Grammy-nomimated multi-instrumentalist Deep Singh, co-orchestrations by Justin Goldner, electronic music design by Scott Wasserman (Hamilton), and keyboard programming by Taylor Williams (Hamilton)
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acclaimed Bollywood, Bhangra and Kathak choreographer Rujuta Vaidya
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multi-Tony-award-winning producers Mara Isaacs and Tom Kirdahy (Hadestown, The Inheritance, A Man of No Importance)
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sets by Robert Brill (Cabaret at Studio 54), costumes by Linda Cho (Anastasia), sound by Jonathan Deans (Cirque du Soleil), lighting by Amith Chandrashaker (Fairview), projections by David Bengali (1776)
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THE HISTORY...
Bhangin' It's generous developmental homes include La Jolla Playhouse, the Jerome Robbins Foundation's Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals, Rhinebeck Writers Retreat's Triple R Program for two readings and a residency and Rhinebeck's summertime Writers Retreat, as well as the Johnny Mercer Colony at Goodspeed Musicals, Running Deer Musical Theatre Lab and The Orchard Project.
