About Us
Project Overview
Living Over the Rainbow is inspired by the true story of Latisha King, a 15-year-old trans victim of a hate crime. The circumstances of her death and the social issues brought to light in this show are brilliantly adapted and transformed into a heartfelt and inspirational musical about living your truth.
Where and What Is Living Over The Rainbow?
Living Over The Rainbow is being in a place that is free from one’s past wounding and earthly experiences. One lives Over the Rainbow when one completes their journey of letting go and steps unencumbered into their next greater yet-to-be.
Project History
Summer 2018 Reading in Costa Mesa, CA: With a full cast and score the show was performed for one night in front of a full house. Since this reading, several revisions have been made to the book, music and lyrics.
Spring 2019: The producer mounted a two-night advanced developmental workshop in Dallas, TX in April 2019 at the Black Box Theatre at the Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts. These performances included full cast, score and limited design for the purpose of running the show with changes in front of an audience.
Why I Wrote this Musical
On February 14th, 2008 while mindlessly browsing through the LA Times, my eyes were magnetically pulled and locked on the photo of 15-year-old Lawrence King, a beautiful child, exploring their gender identity, who called themself, Latisha. I read on to find that Latisha was declared brain dead after being shot in their classroom by a middle school classmate in Oxnard, California. I felt a deep connection with this child, a kinship that went far beyond my own gender fluidity and political activism. Our connection was, and continues to be, profound. I started out by creating and producing a short documentary, Teach Your Children Well, narrated by Lily Tomlin which quickly morphed into a full-blown musical, Living Over The Rainbow. I had to be a musical. My story imagines Latisha moving through and finally releasing the pain and suffering of the living world and finding true freedom as she sings, “So, if you’re lookin’ for me / I’ll be dancing with an angel / Floating in the starlight!”