Theatre
Music Direction and Sound Design: Theatre C.V. & Featured Reviews
Theatre Writing: Musicals and Plays
For more songs from Shakespeare plays, visit withmusicbyash.bandcamp.com
Songs from THIS SIDE OF THE DOOR
Music, Lyrics, and Book by Ash
Performance of "Outside" by Jason Philip Solís at the MusicalWriters.com 2025 New Works Cabaret in Arlington, TX.
Performance of "Looking Back" by Kya "KJ" James at the MusicalWriters.com 2025 New Works Cabaret in Arlington, TX.
Performance of "Knock, Knock" by Elijah Ponce at the MusicalWriters.com 2025 New Works Cabaret in Arlington, TX.
Theatre C.V. (Music Direction and Sound Design)
Upcoming
The Glass Menagerie (play), Sound Designer and Composer, Bag&Baggage, 9/2025
Magnetic Electric (play with music), Composer and Music Director, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, 10/2025
Past
Cinderella Boy (musical theatre, concert), Music Director and Keys 1, Trans Entertainment Guild, 6/2025
Sapience (play), Sound Designer and Composer, Artists Repertory Theatre, 3/2025
Youth Devising Residency Production (play), Sound Design Mentor, Hand2Mouth Theatre, 3/2025
The Dark Stuff (play with music, staged reading), Composer and Music Director, Twilight Theater Company, 2/2025
Beginnings & Endings (two plays), Sound Designer and Composer, Bag&Baggage, 2/2025
E.G.G. (play), Sound Designer, Between Us Theatre Co. @ The Tank, 11/2024
Won BroadwayWorld Award for “Best New Play” in Off-Off-Broadway category
Velvet Rage: A Queer-Ass Play (play), Sound Designer, Between Us Theatre Co. @ The Tank, 6/2024
Magnetic Electric (play with music, staged reading), Composer and Music Director, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, 6/2024
Fuckboy Saves the World (musical theatre, staged reading), Music Director, Musical Creators’ Institute, 5/2024
The Lark & the Nightingale (play), Sound Designer, Oregon Fringe Festival, 4/2024
Texas Gothic (play), Sound Designer, Theatre for the New City, 4/2024
Performance Troupe Inaugural Event (devised play), Sound Designer, International Girls Ensemble, 2/2024
The Words Will Come (play, workshop), Composer and Sound Designer, Lower East Side Shakespeare Co., 2/2024
Sovereignty Hymns (dramatic cantata), Music Director, Rattlestick Productions, 1/2024
Dracula, a Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really (play), Sound Designer, Portland Center Stage, 12/2023
Cinderella Boy (musical theatre, 29-hour reading), Music Director, A.R.T.'s Spaces@520, 11/2023
BEE (play), Composer and Sound Designer, Lower East Side Shakespeare Co., 11/2023
Crumbs (musical theatre, staged reading), Composer and Music Director, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, 6/2023
Choir Boy (play), Sound Designer, Portland Center Stage, 4/2023
English (play), Sound Designer, SpeakEasy Stage, 10/2022
tick, tick… BOOM! (musical theatre), Music Director, Portland Center Stage, 8/2022
Runner-Up for BroadwayWorld Award for Best Music Direction & Orchestra Performance
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical theatre, remount), Music Director, Portland Center Stage, 1/2022
Intergenerational Queer Audio Project: Message to Ourselves (podcast), Music Director, Oregon Children’s Theatre, 6/2021
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (musical theatre), Music Director, Portland Center Stage, 1/2020
Macbeth (play), Music Director, Portland Center Stage, 10/2019
Dear Evan Hansen (musical theatre, abridged for Young Professionals Showcase), Music Director, Oregon Children’s Theatre, 7/2019
The Sacrifice of Belonging (theatre/movement piece), Sound Designer, Risk/Reward Pavement Festival, 8/2018
Cymbeline (play), Composer and Sound Design Consultant, Boston University, 5/2018
Lifeboat (play), Composer and Sound Designer, Corrib Theatre, 1/2018
What Is Left? (play), Composer, Sound Designer, and Performer, Avital Shira Directs, 8/2015
Echoes: a Cabaret Response to the Disappeared (play), Composer, Sound Designer, and Co-Creator, Jewish Theatre Collaborative, 1/2015
¡O Romeo! (play), Composer and Sound Designer, Milagro Theatre Group, 10/2014
Won Drammy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music
Love’s Labour’s Lost (play), Composer, Music Director, and Sound Designer, Post5 Theatre, 7/2014
Seussical JR. (musical theatre), Music Director, Young People’s Theatre Project, 6/2014
Dear Momma: a Love Letter (play), Production Manager, Untitled Productions, 1/2014
Revival (musical theatre), Production Manager, Skidmore Bluffs, 1/2014
The Importance of Being Earnest (play), Music Director and Sound Designer, Pop Up LA / LAAC, 10/2013
Two Gentlemen of Verona (play), Composer, Music Director, and Production Manager, Playmakers, 8/2013
Crumbs (musical theatre, 29-hour reading), Composer, Music Director, and Production Manager, Phantomwise Ensemble, 3/2013
Twelfth Night (play), Composer, Music Director, and Sound Designer, Portland Actors Ensemble, 7/2012
Won Outdoor Shakespeare Festival Award for Best Sound Design
A Live Dress (play), Production Assistant, Fertile Ground Festival, 1/2012
Featured Reviews: Music Direction and Sound Design
“The mood and modern sensibility are enhanced by an evocative sound design, mostly percussive electronic effects and wordless vocals, supplied by erstwhile Portlander and now NYC denizen Ash.”
— OR Arts Watch on BEGINNINGS & ENDINGS
“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I loved the eerie sound design of Ash in this show: they perfectly captured the dark political tone of the show with bass reverberations and haunting musical echoes.”
— Some Scripts Literary Magazine on BEGINNINGS & ENDINGS
“Props to Musical Director, [Ash].”
— Notes from a Shakespeare Nerd on TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
“The idea of adding music from this period is quite a stroke of genius. Not only does it illustrate the feelings of the characters but it quite entertaining in itself... the addition of music [by Ash] is the icing on an already deliciously layered dessert.”
— Dennis Sparks Reviews on TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
“Ambient music and the sounds of tropical birds between each scene also add an emotional richness to the space.”
— OR Arts Watch on SAPIENCE
“A wonderful array of music adds depth and warmth... Actors play instruments, offstage and on, and composer and sound designer [Ash] has provided Elizabethan music and Aztec flight and drum riffs. A well-paced vocal phrase, the ring of a bell, add to the stage magic.”
— The Oregonian on ¡O ROMEO!
“... beautiful original tunes… Chaves' closing “cuckoo song” solo is especially lovely...”
— OR Arts Watch on LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST
“Composer [Ash] has written some lovely, lilting tunes for this production.”
— Artslandia on LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST
"I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful music written by [Ash] and very well performed by the entire cast. Bravo."
— Notes from a Shakespeare Nerd on TWELFTH NIGHT
Theatre Writing Overview
For all non-musical plays (including various 10-minute plays), see Ash’s profile on New Play Exchange.
CRUMBS
music and lyrics by Ash
A sung-through, one-act musical inspired by the tale of Hansel & Gretel.
A relentless examination of family, grief, and survival, Crumbs challenges cis-heteronormative models of family, explores how communities experience grief and resilience, and examines how queer and trans identities are threatened by fear and real-world tragedies. After a queer throuple runs away from an oppressive world and builds their own utopia, they raise their two children, Handsome and Graceful, and all is well for many years. But when one of the three parents suddenly dies, their idyllic endeavor is shattered, and grief threatens to tear the family apart. Now the family must make a terrible decision: restore their broken dream of the future, or return to the nightmare of the past…
MAGNETIC ELECTRIC
play by Mikki Gillette with music by Ash
Trans woman Celine owns a college bar where she performs her music. Drama arises when a romance with Rain, a new adjunct professor, destabilizes her relationship with Cole, and Archer, a white nationalist provocateur, targets her venue.
THIS SIDE OF THE DOOR:
A Song to break out of the Cycle
music, lyrics, and book by Ash
A collection of musical snapshots in the lives of four characters on the threshold of change who must navigate choices both big and small.
Taylor has just moved to the big city, come out as trans, and wants to wear a dress outside for the first time. Forest has lost everything and is stuck inside their grief and depression. Kaiden is struggling to make ends meet. Sam (our token cis character) navigates unexpected romantic feelings that find him out of his depth. As each character weaves in and out of each other's lives, they must make the choice – again and again – to open the door to whatever is next.
THE DARK STUFF
play by Mikki Gillette with music by Ash
When the suave professor Bodkin adopts trans student Izzy as a protege, the aspiring poet is swept into his erudite world. His advances cross lines, however, and their histories and present lives blur in this new play with songs.