“What is a parent? Is it someone who looks like you? Someone who gave birth to you?”
Those lyrics are from one of many songs in “They Chose Me,” a musical about adoption and belonging coming to Valley Youth Theatre in mid-October.
The play, co-written by adoptive father and New York composer Ned Ginsburg moves through vignettes narrated by different characters.
Themes like LGBTQ, multicultural and open versus closed adoption, are explored through diverse characters such as Mei-Ling Moskowitz, an Asian girl adopted by Jewish parents, or Laura Jamison, an “all-American” Puerto Rican girl who resents her biological parents for leaving her.
Some characters are adopted and unhappy with their situations, while others are navigating the hardships of foster care, said Valley Youth Theater’s Producing Artistic Director Bobb Cooper.
To delve deep into the characters, Cooper had cast members discuss their experiences related to the issue. Three of the actors are adopted, as is Cooper.
Actor Patrick Mullen, 14, said he realized through the discussion that like him, another cast member was adopted by parents of a different race.
“I’ve never met anyone who is adopted and mixed and looks like me and makes me feel similar,” he said. “It was cool to find people that I related with.”
Owen Donsker, 14, said it was “heart warming” to hear the cast speak openly with one another. “And then incorporate some of that into my own (character)” he said. Donsker’s mother is adopted, and encouraged him to audition.
Cooper first brought the musical to Phoenix in 2013 after meeting Ginsburg and viewing the play in 2008.
While well-known productions like “Cinderella” or “Peter Pan” easily fill seats, productions with less commercial appeal can be tough sells, despite artistic value, Cooper said. But he kept it in mind.
“And I had an epiphany. There’s a whole audience out there that this play would speak to,” he said.
Around 1.5 million children in the U.S. are adopted. On any given day, nearly 500,000 children are in foster care.
Despite a decline in recent years, Arizona still has the highest number of children per capita in foster care in the U.S.
Cooper said he understands the struggles of separation from one’s biological parents having first realized at age nine that his stepmother adopted him.
“I knew there was a hole in my heart about something, and I would have dreams and nightmares about something, but I didn’t know what it was,” he said.
For anyone currently in foster care who comes to see the play, Cooper said he hopes the experience is inspiring.
“Sure, it doesn’t look very good right now, or it’s not where you want to be, but never give up hope,” he said.
Contact the reporter at flatona@asu.edu.
