CONCEPT
Reflections is based around LGBT issues. It is meant to educate and inpsire, showing audiences all the perspectives of those related to members of the LGBT community; specifically, someone in the transgender community.
Reflections is largely based on certain life events that were experienced by Vincent Gau (lyrics, book), as a transgender male who grew up in a small, conservative town. The story began to find its musical roots when Bálint Varga (music, book) took the reigns of composing for the show.
While the main purpose of the Reflections is to educate and inspire, it also serves to make the audience feel loved, understood, and give hope to those struggling with their own identity.
SYNOPSIS
The story takes places in the small, conservative town of Asotin, Washington. ANNE is a freshman college student who feels incomplete, though she can’t figure out what it might be. She does a great job of trying to hide it from her charming yet narcissistic girlfriend, CELIA, and her religious and conservative parents, MAX and SHERRI. One day, Anne meets a strange yet familiar man, CHRISTIAN, who perfectly pins down everything she feels upon their first meeting. When Christian causes an upheaval of everything Anne thought she knew, she tries to continue with her life without paying Christian too much attention. When she wants to shut everyone out, she meets IRIS, an out-of-this-world, glammed-up shooting star who sees her for what she is but in a gentle way. Iris is everything Anne wishes she could be, and this newfound friend helps Anne on her journey of self-discovery by boosting her up and making her realize her worth. But as Celia bares down on Anne about the future of their relationship, Anne begins to question if she’s ready to commit to a life with someone when she doesn’t even know who she is. When the pressure starts coming in from Christian, her parents, and her girlfriend, Anne has a choice: remain comfortable in silence or embrace the truth of whom she’s meant to be.
VINCENT GAU
Lyrics & Book
VINCENT GAU (Lyrics & Book) Vincent Gau is a lyricist, screenwriter, and actor from a small town in Washington. He began his musical theatre career in writing and acting when he moved to New Jersey in 2019. Since then, Vincent started his education at Los Angeles Film School, and began writing Reflections, his first musical theatre project. Vincent's goal, as a transgender artist, is to introduce the world to the intimate side of what it means to be transgender and to open doors for conversation about something considered taboo. His work reflects free-spirited and emotionally driven stories. He hopes to usher in a new era for transgender entertainers in show business through Reflections and his future works.
BÁLINT VARGA
Music & Book
Bálint is a NY-based writer, composer, and immigration advocate originally from Budapest, Hungary. He started playing piano at age 4. At 17, he moved to Paris where he started his first professional work at the Bastille Opera House. First, he graduated from Béla Bartók Conservatory, later he moved to America and studied composition and conducting at Berklee College of Music.
His work has been performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Birdland, Symphony Hall, 54 Below.
He received his US Green Card for extraordinary abilities based on his achievement in his field.
Notable writing credits: Yasuke - The Black Samurai, d'ILLUSION, Hypatia and the Heathens, Gailley and the Tale of the Fate Keeper, Where We Rush To Disappear, O.REX, Why Don't I Have A Girlfriend?
He’s the recipient of the Charles Mayer Grant, a Jonathan Larson Award finalist, and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and the Lehman Engel BMI Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop.
Balint also collaborated on Broadway workshops such as Elton John’s Tammy Faye, Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell, Mariah Carey’s Christmas Show, and Forest Whitaker’s Benefit Concert. He wrote special choral arrangements for Josh Groban. BALINTVARGA.COM