Triple R is a three-step development incubator designed to accelerate an alumni musical towards production. The program begins with a cold table read in NYC to hear the initial draft aloud, followed by a 5-day writing residency in Rhinebeck to further develop the piece, and culminates with a staged reading back in NYC to collaborate with a cast and creative team.
This special Fall Triple R is made possible by a generous gift from The Howard Ashman Trust for Theater Arts.
If you are interested in learning more about the reading presentation of THE PHOENIX,
email info@rhinebeckwriters.org.
ABOUT THE PHOENIX
Devoted mother and wife Ruby Wong is eager to participate in a local senior dance group for the opening ceremonies of the 2028 LA Olympic games, even as she is caring for her ailing husband who suffered a recent stroke. As she gets caught up in the thrill and dreams of performance, memories resurface of an art form that she abandoned a lifetime ago as a ballet dancer in China. With Revolution-era Chinese ballet in conversation with an epic score of traditional folk music, Mandopop, and the sound of Broadway, The Phoenix is a coming of age for those over 60, a story of reviving forgotten relationships, and a reminder that it's never too late to reignite the fire within.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
DESDEMONA CHIANG (she/her) is a Taiwan-born American director/writer working for the stage and screen, creating and developing stories about unique intergenerational immigrant experiences. Theatre directing credits include The 5th Avenue Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, South Coast Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Union Arts Center, among others. Her stage adaptation of Amy Tan’s novel The Bonesetter’s Daughter received its world premiere in the summer of 2022. Her films have screened at CAAMFest, Newport Beach Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, HollyShorts, LAShorts, and DisOrient. Her TV pilot scripts have been developed with the Sundance Episodic Program, Film Independent, The Orchard Project, The Writers Lab, and the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab. She is developing and directing her first full-length feature, Something About the Tide (Tribeca/AT&T Untold Stories finalist 2024), and made her episodic directing debut on Fire Country on CBS/Paramount+ in February 2025. Affiliations/Awards: Princess Grace Award. Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship. CAPE Julia Gouw Honorable Mention. AFI DWW+. WIF Directing Fellow. Drama League. Gold House Futures. Rideback Rise Circle. MFA Directing: University of Washington.
CHEEYANG NG. Born and raised in Singapore, Cheeyang Ng is a Fred Ebb Award, Princess Grace Award, and Jonathan Larson Award winning singer-songwriter who writes at the intersection of queer, Asian and immigrant stories. They have performed around the world, including Lincoln Center with Carole King and Carnegie Hall with Jason Robert Brown. They are the first Singaporean to headline a concert at Joe's Pub and Millennium Stage at Kennedy Center showcasing their original music and their songs have been performed across the U.S. Creator of podcast East Side Story and vocal group The Lunar Collective, they have won multiple vocal awards all across Asia, including Singapore, Taiwan and China. Musicals in development include MĀYĀ with Eric Sorrels (@sohoplace 2025), Eastbound with Khiyon Hursey, and The Phoenix with Eric Sorrels and Desdemona Chiang. Their solo musical, Legendary premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in 2026 and has garnered critical acclaim including 5 stars in The Scotsman calling it “poignant and hilarious”, winning awards from Asian Arts Fund Scotland, Somewhere for Us and more. Other select credits: Eric H Weinberger Librettist Award, the ASCAP Foundation Lucille & Jack Yellen Award. MFA: NYU. BMus: Berklee. www.cheeyang.com @cheeyangmusic
ERIC SORRELS is a songwriter, librettist, and singer originally from Lebanon, Tennessee. His original musical The Gray Man: A Musical in Three Hurricanes releases its full-length concept album in Fall 2026 and receives its first developmental production at the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville in January 2027. With composer Cheeyang Ng, Eric received both the 2024 Jonathan Larson Grant and the Fred Ebb Award. Their collaborations include MĀYĀ (Live & In Color 2019, NAMT 2021, AMAS Musical Theatre 2022, @sohoplace 2025) and The Phoenix, co-written with Desdemona Chiang (Rhinebeck Writers Retreat 2023, NYSCA Grant 2025). Additional honors include the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, the Eric H. Weinberger Librettist Award, and the ASCAP Foundation Lucille and Jack Yellen Award. A proud member of AGMA, Eric sings regularly in New York City with Musica Sacra and the Cathedral Choir of St. John the Divine. BA, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; MFA, NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. graymanmusical.com
