Original Theatrical Works

Durra Leung’s Lullabies for Motherf*ckers Vol.1
Book, Music & Lyrics by Durra Leung

Durra Leung’s Lullabies for Motherf*ckers Vol.1 is an 80-minute original meta musical centering on Durra, a chronically single, gay, musical theatre writer from China, desperately writing himself into an American romantic comedy. By staging his origin story (a rom-com!) with three newly hired performers in his unrealistically spacious NYC apartment (very rom-com!!), Durra tries his darndest to make at least one audience member fall in love with him and eventually give him a happily ever after (DEFINITELY A ROM-COM!!!). However, the cracks in his story start to show and the performers start to rebel, to a point where Durra is on the verge of shutting it all down. Will Durra’s crooked rom-com have a happy ending? More importantly, will Durra get a happy ending?

  • One act, ~80 minutes, a cast of 6

  • Semifinalist - 2023 ANT Fest at Ars Nova

 

Photo credit: Serko Artinian

  • January 2023, Green Space, Queens, NY (libretto reading)

    • Queens Arts Fund New Work Grant Recipient

    • Director: Jason Aguirre
      Cast: Bebe Browning, Brandon S. Chu, Dillon Feldman, Troy Iwata, Durra Leung, with Kelvin Moon Loh as Durra

 

Photo credit: Joshua Brown

  • June 2022, Peter Jay Sharp Theater @ Playwrights Horizons, New York, NY (“Mr. J” excerpt)

    • Second Generation Productions & Ma-Yi Theater Company

    • Director: Miranda Cornell
      Music Director: Sammy Grob
      Cast: Juella Baltonado, Tuânminh A Đỗ, Xiaoxiao Sun, with Johnny Le as Durra

 

Photo credit: WEI & XI STUDIO

  • October 2021, The Tank, New York, NY (staged concert)

    • New York City Artist Corps Grant Recipient

    • Director: Jason Aguirre
      Music Director: Adam J Rineer
      Cast: Ellis Gage, Joy Lynn Pringle, Esteban Suero, with Durra Leung as Durra

The People vs American Cheese
Music by Durra Leung
Libretto by Clare Fuyuko Bierman

Audre, Walt, Durra, and Clare wake up surrounded by rubble, their gay cruise under attack. The culprit? The greatest danger of all— heteronormativity (in the form of American Cheese). As our unlikely heroes battle cheese slices, they must also battle one another for cultural relevance and icon status. Chaos reigns in this gay fantasia on gayer themes.

  • One act, ~30 minutes, a cast of 4

  • May 2023, Shubert Theatre at NYU, New York, NY (premiere)

    • The American Opera Project & NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts

    • Director: Sam Helfrich
      Music Director: Jeremy Chan
      Cast: Patrice P. Eaton, Jordan Rutter-Covatto, Nathaniel Sullivan, Gileann Tan

Photo credit: Steven Pisano

Photo credit: Steven Pisano

Photo credit: Steven Pisano

Photo credit: Steven Pisano

How Do You Know Caleb?
Book, Music & Lyrics by Durra Leung
Commissioned by Prospect Theater Company

Three the number represents the rebellion of a conventional, often heteronormative, relationship. In How Do You Know Caleb? three Caleb's ex-boyfriends(?) have something to say [read: sing] at Caleb's wedding.

  • One act, ~10 minutes, a cast of 3

  • November 2021, Symphony Space, New York, NY

Friends for a Night: A New Musical
Lyrics & Book by Taz Stahlnecker
Music by Durra Leung

Friends for a Night: A New Musical captures the beauty of those unplanned, brief encounters between strangers. Set in Santa Cruz, CA, it follows one extraordinary evening when 5 "lonely losers" unlock their memories and go on their respective healing journeys before the sun comes up.

  • One act, ~107 minutes, 3F3M

  • Semifinalist - 2021 National Music Theater Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center

  • May 2020, NYU Musical Theatre Writing Thesis Reading, New York, NY

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The Rise and Fall of Otis
Lyrics & Book by Sam Rosenblatt
Music by Durra Leung

Based on the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill, The Rise and Fall of Otis takes the audience on a rom-com adventure in a stalled elevator. Featuring a six-person cast, “Otis” explores the cliché of love at first sight, office relationships, and how people handle stressful situations.

  • One act, 11 minutes, 3F3M

  • August 2020, The Latest Draft Podcast (online)

    • Cast: Stephen Bennett, Amanda Briskin-Wallace, Sean Eads, Jessie Field, Noah Mutterperl, and Sam Rosenblatt

  • Spring 2021, Tisch Fringe Festival, New York, NY

Playwriting

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Not That Difficult
by Durra Leung

Set in an empty, new apartment, Not That Difficult is a short romantic drama about two gay ex-lovers pondering over their life decisions after agreeing to form a green card marriage. As they unpack the moving boxes and talk about their future, both Matthew and Benny are inevitably forced to face their past as well.

  • One act, 14 minutes, 2M

  • August 2020, At The Table - A Play Reading Series (online)

    • Cast: Austin Ku, Todd Buonopane

  • November 2020, Imaginarium Theatre Company (online)

    • Cast: Krutarth MP, Neil Stevenson

    • Director: Scout Standford

Standalone Songs

Film Scoring

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Your Smile
Director: Haochen Yang

Boyang, a retro high school teenager in Beijing, is experiencing the rebellious phase of his youth. He refuses to change himself by having a cellphone to fit in the community. He is alienated by other people and he is unwilling to open up his mind. One day, he captures an unforgettable smile on a young girl’s face through his 35mm film camera. He decides to approach that smile. After the struggling of changing himself, Boyang finally shows his long-lost smile on his face.

 

Can I?
Written by Danielle Koenig
Edited by Callia Tong
Produced by Beryl Liu
with the support from Samuel Helfrich and NYU Production Lab

After Becca returns from a study abroad experience, she and Meg must reconcile a relationship forgotten and changed in the six months she’s been gone.

Composition for Dance

Photo credit: Ella Bromblin

Photo credit: Ella Bromblin

in Sight
Choreographers: Margaret Wiss & Rafael Cañals

Lighting Design: Emmanuel Delgado
Costume Design: Sarah Thea
Set Design: Rhea D’souza

  • May 2019, Jack Crystal Theater, New York, NY