Madame Cancelar
What would you do if one day, social media decided you were cancelled? In this comic opera, A diverse set of characters are caught committing real, (or staged) acts of racism, buying their way into elite schools, or internet shaming of others. They are tried and committed by the mob justice of internet shaming. The opera features a trio of angry Karens and Oprah!
Byron Au Yong Composer
Composer Byron Au Yong searches for ways music connects people with the places they call home. As a queer Asian American, he advocates for increased story sharing and vibrant visibility.
madame cancelar The Proposal
Kristina Wong, Librettist
Kristina Wong is a writer, performance artist, comedian, and elected representative of Koreatown in Los Angeles. Her solo shows and ensemble plays have been presented across North America, the UK, Hong Kong, and Africa.
Curator discussion
Mark Streshinsky, Mary Chun & Brian Rosen
Artist Interviews: Madama Cancelar
InFocus Issue 17
Madama Cancelar
Get to know them: First Opera Stories
previous work samples
Kristina wong introduces
"Feminist boy"
Byron au Yong introduces
"Orange Beef"
Kristina Wong Introduces
"Boss Lady"
"Feminist boy"
Excerpt from
"Orange Beef"
"Boss Lady"
byron au yong Bio:
As the child of immigrants, composer Byron Au Yong searches for ways music connects people with the places they call home. As a queer Asian American, he advocates for increased story sharing and vibrant visibility. His collaborative events for chamber ensembles, moving choirs, contemporary dance, museum installations, site-specific locations, taiko groups, and theatrical productions have been presented in places that range from alleyway puddles to concert halls.
The Seattle Weekly says his “interdisciplinary works are as exquisite and imaginative as they are unclassifiable.” Highlights include Activist Songbook (Asian Arts Initiative, International Festival of Arts & Ideas), Stuck Elevator (American Conservatory Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre), and Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas (Bumbershoot Festival of the Arts). Au Yong lives where the trees and waterways retain power alongside digital technology. He teaches in Performing Arts and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco.
kristina wong Bio:
Kristina Wong is a writer, performance artist, comedian, and elected representative of Koreatown in Los Angeles. Her solo shows and ensemble plays have been presented across North America, the UK, Hong Kong, and Africa. She co-created a Reality TV pilot with Lionsgate for TruTV and launched the award-winning web series Radical Cram School.
Guest appearances include The Nightly Show on Comedy Central and Totally Biased w/ W. Kamau Bell on FX. Wong was featured in the New York Times’ Off Color series “highlighting artists of color who use humor to make smart social statements about the sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious ways that race plays out in America today.” During the 2020 pandemic, she founded the Auntie Sewing Squad, a national network of volunteers who sew face masks for the most vulnerable communities. Her work is published in Contemporary Plays by Women of Color, as well as CNN, Huffington Post, Jezebel, Playgirl Magazine, and Vice. She was born in San Francisco.
"Feminist Boy" from Internet based series, Radical Cram School
Series Creator: Kristina Wong, Director: Jenessa Joffe
Producers: Kristina Wong, Jenessa Joffe, Anna Michelle Wang and Teddy Chao Music
Stuck Elevator
Performed at American Conservatory Theatre
Byron Au Yong, composer; Aaron Jafferis, librettist; Directed by Chay Yew
Cary Koh, Violin; Michael Graham, Cello; Allen Biggs, Percussion
Julius Ahn: Guāng, Wáng Yuè, Snakehead, Nephew, Mugger; Raymond J. Lee: Dealer, Customer, Young Guāng
Marie-France Arcilla: Míng, Waitress, Fortune Cookie Monster, Guard; Joel Perez: Marco, Bladder, Player, Resident;
Joseph Anthony Foronda: Boss’ Wife, Dancer, Elevator Monster, Old Guāng, General Tso, Zhōng Yì
“Boss Lady"
Directed by Woko Derrick Toltape/ Empire Films
Music Produced by Nerio Badman of Empire Records Uganda, Additional Vocals by Sarah O’Sullivan
Shot in Gulu, Uganda, edited in Kampala, Uganda