ABOUT
We're just tiny pieces of an infinite universe.
The KUSAMA Project is an original work by Yuriko Shibata and Andrew Strano. Spirals outwards from the themes and obsessions of Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama – dots, infinity, repetition, reflection – The KUSAMA Project refracts them through the life and experiences of the writers, the ensemble, and finally the audience, transmuting her explorations of self-obliteration and cosmic scale into music, ritual, and collective play.
If each of us is a dot in a vast pattern, The KUSAMA Project aims to connect the dots, to connect us, helping us to realize we all belong to something larger – breathing, singing, sharing, and celebrating the relief, joy, and beauty of being a tiny part of the infinite universe – together.
A recipient of a Frank Young Fund for New Musicals' 2024/2025 Writer's Residency Grant, awarded by NAMT (the National Alliance for Musical Theatre), this musical was originally developed by Theatre Now New York, and had its first reading in June, 2025.
CREATIVE TEAM
Composer Yuriko Shibata
Lyricist Andrew Strano
Co-Bookwriters Andrew Strano & Yuriko Shibata
JUNE 2025 READING CAST
Mami Kimura, Sushma Saha, Mandarin Wu, Bern Tan, Evan Michael Smith, Cheryse Dyllan and Kendyl Ito
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Demo of "Obsession" The KUSAMA project