A tween girl and her loving dad. A hidden talent and family secrets. What could go wrong? Quite short of all – ahem – breaking loose, in this story of a girl who loves to sing and a widowed dad who denies her from her gift at every opportunity.
Emily Song and the Queen of the Night takes audiences on the journey of a young girl named Emily living in New York and turning 12, who discovers the magic and power that lies within this transitional life stage.
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The play opens in Emily’s bedroom as she’s being virtually tutored by a renowned singer, a referral that came from her supportive school friend who knows of her hidden talent. When Emily is coached to sing with more fervor and passion, she gets an otherworldly surprise. Then Dad walks in and disrupts the mysterious happening to excitedly ask Emily about her new school activity: basketball. But the last thing Emily Song is into is a bouncing orange-and-black ball gifted to her by her dad.
The second song of this musical, “Play Pretend,” is sung by Emily, expressing the burden of having to pretend to be someone she isn’t to make her dad happy. This insight into Emily’s character and internal conflict is a relatable notion of how people keep up appearances for others to make them happy, and it begs the question, what makes you happy? And at what risk?
Emily and her family are Asian American; the play is part of two efforts dedicated to uplifting the voices of young people of color. The first is First Stage’s Amplify series, which showcases works written by BIPOC artists that more authentically reflect the community it serves.
The second is a national initiative, the BIPOC Superhero Project, pairing commissioned works by playwrights of color to 24 theaters throughout the country. Marcus Yi is one of those selected playwrights, who wrote the book, lyrics and music of this snappy pop-rock musical with Michelle LoRicco as director.
Queen of the Night’ by Marcus Yi. First Stage, 2025.
And fitting with the project. Emily Song is a story of superpowers, as it is revealed that upon turning 12, Emily gained magical powers through music.
The story follows Emily and her crew of characters as audiences are introduced to her school bestie, long lost maternal grandmother and members of the glee club. After the mysterious surprise in her bedroom, things quickly pick up as she meets more monsters and mystical characters.
The grandmother gives Emily (and the audience) the backstory of her powers – involving a mystical Queen of the Night – but she discourages her from singing, offering to make Emily disappear so the Queen and her sparkly, magical monsters don’t come after her. But in true hero fashion, Emily rejects running and hiding and accepts her fate as a music mage.
When taking down the Queen of the Night, a nod to Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, Emily must rescue her dad and best friend from the Queen’s thralls and stop her from destroying the city during the glee club’s big concert.
The stage logistics and transitions from scene to scene – including the bedroom, subway, alleyways and glee club practice – were creative, but at times distracting. The songs were upbeat, and many of the singers had strong, beautiful voices. Most of the ensemble cast were double-casted. This was easy to follow when they played other characters, but became a bit clunky in scenes they served as stagehands.
Fun aspects of the play included the eclectic costumes, handmade puppets that resembled what children might imagine magical creatures to look like, and the storytelling of the Queen’s background through shadow puppets – a personal highlight.
Overall, this is a delightful, feel-good, quirky and funny musical that successfully teaches lessons of kindness, perseverance and self-confidence.
This First Stage play, running at the Todd Wehr Theater, is about 75 minutes with no intermission for families of all ages, but is recommended for ages 7 and up.
