NEWS + PRESS
ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD had its world premiere at East West Players in Los Angeles, CA, the largest and longest-running Asian-American theatre in the United States. The show ran for 23 performances, including a sold-out one-week extension. The world premiere was produced in association with FilAm Arts.
FEATURE. "‘On This Side of the World’ turns a one-way ticket to the U.S. into a unifying trip, one captivating song at a time." Los Angeles Times, May 25, 2023.
T.V. FEATURE. "'On This Side of the World' arrives in LA with a suitcase full of songs." Spectrum News 1, May 19, 2023. .
REVIEW. "A sweeping consideration of the immigrant experience that is comical, pithy and often so poignant that tears result." ..."Director Shapiro delivers a taut, sharply realized staging — and considering all the moving parts of this supremely ambitious production, that is no mean logistical feat." Stage Raw, May 17, 2023.
REVIEW. “ 'On This Side of the World' – Immigrant Stories Told in Song." South Pasadenan, May 17, 2023.
T.V. FEATURE. "New Musical: On This Side of the World." CBS News Los Angeles, May 16, 2023. .
FEATURE. "Filipino composer-lyricist’s musical opens to standing ovation in LA: ‘These are our stories!’" The Diarist.Ph, May 11, 2023. .
PODCAST INTERVIEW. "Ep 425: Paulo K. Tirol & Noam Shapiro On Creating Filipino American Musical" Asian America: The Ken Fong Podcast, May 7, 2023. .
FEATURE. "‘On This Side of the World’ musical tells Filipino immigrant stories." Hey SoCal, April 23, 2023. .
PRESS RELEASE. "World Premiere of ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD & More Announced for East West Players 57th Anniversary Season." BroadwayWorld.com, December 7, 2022.
ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD was among the musicals featured at the Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Annual Fundraiser 2022 at Sardi's in NYC. Diane Phelan, who was at the time playing Cinderella in Into the Woods on Broadway, performed "Lantern in the Window."
ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD was one of eight musicals, chosen from 145 submissions, to be developed at the 2022 Rhinebeck Writers Retreat. Paulo and his collaborator Noam Shapiro were in residence at this prestigious retreat from July 10 to 17, 2022.
PRESS RELEASE. "Rhinebeck Writers Retreat Hosts 16 Award-winning Musical Theatre Writers For Summer Residencies." BroadwayWorld.com, May 21, 2022.
Paulo and director Noam Shapiro spent two weeks in residence at the Catwalk Art Institute in May 2022, developing ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD and their new project, a musical adaptation of journalist Jose Antonio Vargas' bestselling memoir DEAR AMERICA.
From March 2 to 20, 2022, Prospect Theater Co. presented NOTES FROM NOW, a new off-Broadway musical featuring commissioned work by Paulo and 20 other musical theatre writers, at 59e59 Theaters in New York City. Paulo's piece, "Mr. What's-Your-Name", was inspired by remote learning during the pandemic and dedicated to teachers, especially his husband Jeremy.
FEATURE. "21 Songwriters Pen New Songs for Prospect Theater Company's Notes From Now." Playbill.com, January 19, 2022.
FEATURE. "Prospect Theater Company Unveils Musical Anthology ‘Notes From Now’ (EXCLUSIVE)." Variety, January 14, 2022.
On October 26, 2021, Prospect Theater Co. presented REIGNITE, a concert of musical theatre songs written during the COVID-19 pandemic, including "American Roulette" from Called and "Stories Like Air." Watch "American Roulette", featuring Orville Mendoza, Kendyl Ito, Jaygee Macapugay, and Michael Protacio, with music direction by Sean Peter Forte.
PRESS RELEASE. "Prospect Theater Company Announces Fall Concert Events at Symphony Space." BroadwayWorld.com, October 14, 2021.
In September 2021, ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD was presented to West Coast audiences for the first time. On September 18, Musical Theatre West presented a staged reading of the show in Long Beach, CA; a week later, on September 25, FilAm Arts Teatro presented highlights of the show in Historic Filipinotown in Los Angeles, CA. Find our more about these events here.
On September 9, 2021, Paulo was awarded the Dramatist Guild Foundation's inaugural Benjamin Indick Award. This award honors a mid-career lyricist, librettist or book writer for musical theater, in honor of the late science fiction writer. Watch Paulo's acceptance speech.
PRESS RELEASE. "Recipients of 2021 Dramatists Guild Foundation Awards Announced." Playbill.com, September 9, 2021.
PRESS RELEASE. "Dramatists Guild Foundation Announces 2021 Award Recipients -- Brittany K. Allen, Avi Amon, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Paulo K Tiról." BroadwayWorld.com, September 10, 2021.
On June 28, 2021, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in New York City premiered GEN SPEAK, which included "Love Songs", a new mini-musical written by Paulo and directed by Marella Martin Koch. In GEN SPEAK, three musical theatre writers and two playwrights were commissioned to write short pieces inspired by members of the Greenwich House Senior Center. Watch "Love Songs".
On June 7, 2021, the Association of Catholic Publishers named "Still We Sing Alleluia" as Song of the Year in their 2021 Excellence in Publishing Awards. Read ACP's press release.
On May 1, 2021, Musical Theatre West in Long Beach CA presented Highlights from On This Side of the World to kick off Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The free virtual event also served as a fundraiser for the Filipino Migrant Center in Long Beach, CA, and a teaser for On This Side of the World's staged reading in Musical Theatre West's Festival of New Musicals in September 2021. Watch the presentation on Musical Theatre West's YouTube channel until May 31, 2021.
PRESS RELEASE. "Video: Musical Theatre West’s Presentation of Paulo K Tiról and Noam Shapiro’s ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD Featuring Jaygee Macapugay, Marc delaCruz, Diane Phelan, Kay Trinidad, Michael Protacio, Vincent Rodriguez III, Belinda Allyn, Joanne Javien, Albert Guerzon, and Kevin Schuering, Streams through May 31." Lia Chang in Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, May 18, 2021.
EVENT LISTING. "5 SoCal shows to see in person, plus the best culture streaming this weekend." Los Angeles Times, April 29, 2021.
On This Side of the World was featured in New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series on March 3, 2021. The featured included premieres of new videos featuring Belinda Allyn and Marc delaCruz, and a live interview with NYTB Artistic Director Joe Barros and Associate Artistic Director Jen Sandler. Watch the episode on NYTB's YouTube channel.
PRESS RELEASE. "New Musicals from Paulo K Tiról, Noam Shapiro and More Featured in New York Theatre Barn's New Works Series." BroadwayWorld.com, February 26, 2021.
PRESS RELEASE. "Mar. 3: New York Theatre Barn’s Virtual Programming to Feature Paulo K Tiról’s ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD with Belinda Allyn, Marc delaCruz, Joy Tamayo and Michael Protacio; Full March Lineup." Lia Chang in Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, February 24, 2021.
PRESS RELEASE. "Taylor Iman Jones, Jelani Remy, Marc delaCruz, and More Perform New Works for New York Theatre Barn." Playbill.com, February 24, 2021.
The podcast 10K Dollar Day featured a conversation between Paulo and actor, director, and podcast creator Lulu Picart on January 23, 2021. Listen to the episode here.
On This Side of the World was selected for the prestigious National Alliance of Musical Theatre (NAMT) 32nd Festival of New Musicals, happening virtually in November 2020. It was one of eight shows selected from among 349 submissions. Check out OTSOTW's page on the NAMT site here.
PRESS RELEASE. "Amber Iman, Zachary Noah Piser, Vincent Rodriguez III and More Announced for 32nd Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS." BroadwayWorld.com, October 15, 2020.
PRESS RELEASE. "NAMT Festival of New Musicals Announces 2020 Lineup." Dan Meyer, Playbill.com, September 10, 2020.
PRESS RELEASE. "National Alliance for Musical Theatre Announces Lineup for 32nd Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS." BroadwayWorld.com, September 10, 2020.
PRESS RELEASE. "NAMT Announces 2020 Festival Lineup." AmericanTheatre.org, September 10, 2020.
This year's Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture (#FPAC2020) featured "Stories Like Air", a song written by Paulo especially for Broadway Barkada to premiere at the virtual festival on October 23, 24 and 25, 2020. See the virtual performance here.
PRESS RELEASE. "Lea Salonga, Eva Noblezada, and More Broadway Stars Headline Online Filipino Festival." BroadwayWorld.com, October 17, 2020.
PRESS RELEASE. "Lea Salonga, Eva Noblezada, and More Broadway Stars Headline Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture; World Premiere of Paulo K. Tirol’s “Stories Like Air” Featuring Liz Casasola, Brian Jose, Steven Cuevas, Jaygee Macapugay, Devin Ilaw, Aaron Albano, Albert Guerzon, Emily Borromeo and Ali Ewoldt." Lia Chang in Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, October 23, 2020.
The essay "#BlackLivesMatter: A Filipino immigrant's perspective", written during the protests following the murder of George Floyd, was published in The FilAm, a magazine for Filipino-Americans in New York on June 4, 2020; and in Inquirer.net, the online counterpart of the Philippines' largest daily, on June 11, 2020. Read the essay here and here.
Bev's Girl Films released "The Language Lesson (The Kilig Song)", a musical short film featuring and based on the song of the same name from On This Side of the World. The film stars Jaygee Macapugay from the original cast of On This Side of the World, was directed by Garth Kravits. Read the BroadwayWorld.com press release from March 25, 2020 here.
On This Side of the World had a sold-out two-night concert reading produced by Prospect Theater Company as part of its IGNITE concert series at Greenwich House in NYC's West Village on February 3 and 4, 2020. Read the BroadwayWorld.com press release from January 8, 2020 here.
PHOTO RELEASE. "Photo Flash: In Rehearsal For Prospect Theater Company's On This Side of the World in Concert." Photos by Lia Chang in BroadwayWorld.com, February 2, 2020.
FEATURE. "Jersey City composer’s ‘On This Side of the World’ explores life through a Filipino frame." David Menzies, nj.com, January 30, 2020.
FEATURE. "Paulo Tiról musical is a ‘vibrant mosaic’ of the balikbayan experience." The FilAm, a magazine for Filipino-Americans in New York, January 20, 2020.
A number from Called with choreography by Victoria Casillo was presented at New York Theatre Barn's Choreography Lab at Pearl Studios in NYC on Monday, October 14, 2019. Read the BroadwayWorld.com press release from October 7, 2019 here.
Paulo had his off-Broadway debut as orchestrator of Ma-Yi Theater Company's Felix Starro, which ran at Theatre Row from August 23 to September 21, 2019. With book and lyrics by Jessica Hagedorn, music by Fabian Obispo, and direction by Ralph B. Peña, Felix Starro was the first musical by Filipino-Americans to hit off-Broadway. Read the Broadwayworld.com press release from July 1, 2019 here.
REVIEW. "...a well-orchestrated... score that mixes pop, rock, tango, and a kind of staccato, Sondheim-sounding musical theater." Jonathan Mandell, NewYorkTheatre.me, September 3, 2019
REVIEW. "The show [is] aided immeasurably by the pulsating orchestrations by Paulo K Tiról for the four-piece band..."
Ron Cohen, MusicalTheatreReview.com, September 6, 2019
TV FEATURE. Watch the news feature on ABS-CBN by Don Tagala from September 9, 2019, with music from the show, here.
Paulo was chosen for the 2019-20 class of Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellows, along with six other musical theatre writers and five playwrights. Beginning October 2019, Paulo will be developing Called with the help of guest artists, mentors, and his class of fellows over the course of his Fellowship. Read the Playbill.com press release from July 10, 2019 here.
"Angel Song", a new mini-minute musical with book, music and lyrics by Paulo, was one of eight new mini-musicals in Message in a Bottle, Prospect Theater Company's 2019 Musical Theater Lab on June 1 and 2, 2019 at The The A.R.T. / New York Theatres. "Angel Song" was performed by Joanna Carpenter, Sevan K. Greene and Patty Nieman; with direction by Dev Bondarin and music direction by Abel Garriga. Read the BroadwayWorld.com press release from May 31, 2019 here.
On This Side of the World had a sold out two-week run at Access Theater in downtown Manhattan from May 2 to 12, 2019. Read the BroadwayWorld press release about the production from April 10, 2019 here; and the BroadwayWorld Meet the Cast press release from May 3, 2019, with photos, by Lia Chang here.
REVIEW. “ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD is at once delightfully simple and unspeakably complex in what it accomplishes and aspires to. If taste and justice prevail, it should well prove itself to be a seminal work in the ever-developing story of the American musical.” Matt Blank, On Stage Blog, May 18, 2019
REVIEW. “BEST BET! ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD may play best with immigrant audiences, but the themes of separation, love, and perseverance are relatable even to those who have never set foot outside of their home country. Audiences won’t be able to stop cheering (when they’re not weeping) for this ambitious underdog of a show.” Maria Paz Alegre, Theatre is Easy, May 12, 2019
REVIEW. “Each of the show’s 17 numbers is an award-worthy performance in itself. That said, the sum of the show’s parts is no less than extraordinary... ON THIS SIDE OF THE WORLD may be Tiról’s love letter to the Filipino community, but the show’s universal themes will be related to and appreciated by all. You’ll cry, you’ll laugh, you’ll want to sing along." Jed Ryan, Lavender After Dark, May 7, 2019
FEATURE. “ 'The Filipino immigrant story is one of courage, sacrifice, searching for identity, struggling to belong, and ultimately, redefining home—and come to think of it, isn’t that every person’s story?—and I am happy to be telling it. ' ” Momar Visaya, "Paulo Tirol’s ‘On This Side of the World’: From a school project to a full musical experience", Asian Journal, May 10, 2019
FEATURE. "For a long time, Tirol was reluctant to have his songs performed, assuming that these were stories no one was really interested in hearing. 'But my collaborator, director Noam Shapiro, who is not Filipino, believes in it so much and has pushed me to finish it and helped me present it. A staged reading was held earlier this year to test the material’s developments. People’s responses to it—Filipinos, Asians, non-Asians, immigrants, children of immigrants and people whose families have been here for generations, artists and non-artists alike—have convinced me that this is a piece worth sharing,' says Tirol." Walter Ang, "New Musical Captures Filipino Experience in the US", Inquirer.Net, April 26, 2019.
Paulo and director Noam Shapiro became 2018-19 Artists in Residence at Access Theater in downtown Manhattan, through which they would spend the next six months developing On This Side of the World in collaboration with other theatre artists. This residency culminated in the piece's first staged reading in February 2019. Read the BroadwayWorld press release from August 14, 2018 here.
The work of Paulo and lyricist Kathleen Wrinn was featured at the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's (NAMT) 28th Annual Festival of New Musicals. Songs Paulo and Kathleen wrote at NYU, as well as a song from Paulo's song cycle On This Side of the World, were performed at the festival's Songwriters Cabaret held at New World Stages, NYC, on October 27, 2016. Read the BroadwayWorld press release from October 24, 2016 here.
VIDEO. "The State-Line Line Dance", lyrics by Kathleen Wrinn, music by Paulo K Tiról
VIDEO. "Predictable Patti", lyrics by Kathleen Wrinn, music by Paulo K Tiról
VIDEO. "On Your Side of the World" from On This Side of the World, lyrics and music by Paulo K Tiról