TheatreWorks is hosting the world premiere of “Happy Pleasant Valley: A Senior Sex Scandal Murder Mystery Musical” Wednesday at 8 p.m., a unique show filled with suspense, comedy and original music.
Min Kahng, the scriptwriter of this play, began formulating the script in 2019 with TheatreWorks’ Writers Retreat. Over the past five years, he has continued to develop the story through workshops, virtual readings and staged readings. Kahng said two-thirds of the current actors in the play starred in his staged reading at TheatreWorks’ New Works Festival in 2023, and three cast members are new. Kahng said it has been good getting feedback from all the actors throughout the years, and the festivals helped clarify the stories better.
“When we ran this show as part of the festival at TheatreWorks back in 2023 it was funny because there were some jokes that you could hear a certain demographic of the audience laugh and respond to,” Kahng said. “It’s been fun just being able to talk about the show with the actors, even just beyond like scene work and practicing the songs, but hearing their experiences, whether it be about gender or sexuality or just family dynamics and family relationships. So, we’ve had some rich conversations in our rehearsals.”
He said the play is about digging deep into who you are and being proud of where you have come from. The story takes place within a senior community center, a place where he said people are dating around and living in small quarters near their neighbors. He thought it would be interesting to explore the inner workings of their relationships and see what could happen when a series of murders take place among a close group. The play also will include musical numbers and a representation of LGBTQIA+ and API voices that reflect the local communities in the Bay Area.
“I wanted to make it an intergenerational story,” Kahng said. “The lead character, June (Emily Kuroda), has a couple of lovers die and she feels like somebody’s trying to frame her for their deaths. And then her granddaughter, Jade (Sophie Oda), is there because she’s trying to help the grandmother with some trouble with the apartment complex. Since these men keep dying, it turns into a buddy detective comedy for the two of them, but they also have their history that they need to sort through, and they’ve been estranged from each other for several years. They are now forced into this kind of zany, murder mystery situation and have to work together.”
Jacqueline De Muro, who plays Bernice in the show, has played the character since the New Works Festival and has noticed the script has gotten a lot punchier with its jokes and includes more multigenerational references. She describes her character to be highly involved with the drama in the retirement community and tries to keep up with the latest trends. She is well aware of Jade’s status on the internet as a famous influencer and she is always curious about what is happening when she visits her grandmother.
She said there’s some underlying insecurity where she wants to contribute and hopes everybody likes her.
“What’s nice about this play, it has a wonderful balance between familiar themes – sort of that murder mystery cozy feel to it,” De Muro said. “And a lot of the styles of music are very familiar and arranged. Each character has their style of music. There’s someone who, in their heyday liked disco but then there’s also more modern rap and traditional musical theater ballads. There’s a little something for everyone and it’s melodic, so it’s accessible.”
The show is directed by Jeffrey Lo and the book, music and lyrics are by Min Kahng. The show is also in co-production with the Center Repertory Company, a theatre group that performs at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek. The play will perform Mountain View until March 30 and Walnut Creek between June 1-29. To learn more about the play and to buy tickets for future performances, visit my.theatreworks.org/6829.
