ELLIPSES


PARALLEL UNIVERSITY


TOUR

OPERA

  • Crunch - ELLIPSES

    The opening number when Singularity, Cartwheel, Whirlpool, Triangulum, Andromeda, and Milky Way pray together. The song is recorded by MilkyWay Theatre Company's 2023 team featuring Joseph Lee (Singularity), Karina Ordóñez (Cartwheel), Kristen Amanda Vargas Smith (Whirlpool), Carla Angeline Mongado (Triangulum), Yoosep Im (Andromeda), and Yasmin Ranz-Lind (Milky Way). The band is Simon Broucke (Pianist), Brandon Jackson (Percussionist), Jason Shu (Violinist), and Isabelle Wood (Guitarist).


  • Warps, Waves, and Wrinkles - ELLIPSES

    The big production number near the end of first act when Milky Way learns to accept their adolescent self. The song is recorded by Working Title Playwrights Acting Ensemble featuring Evan Hill Phillips (Milky Way), Daniel Sakamoto-Wengel (Oort Cloud), Abby Holland (Uranus), Jason-Jamal Ligon (Saturn), Skye Passmore (Jupiter), Daniela Cobb (Mercury), and Minka Wiltz (Sun).



  • Symmetry - TOUR

    The opening number when Atom, Lepton, Boson, and the particles start college in the Accelerator. The song is recorded by Diana Easter (Lepton), Brian Egland (Boson), Rina Lubit (Atom), and Rebecca Chan (Particles).


    "Symmetry" · TOUR

    “Symmetry” was unveiled at Musical Cafe: The SF Bay Area Musical Theatre Development Program on September 12, 2020 and at Musical Theatre Factory on September 21, 2020. Vocals: Rina Lubit & Diana Easter & Brian Egland & Rebecca Chan · Composer & Lyricist: David Quang Pham #TourTheMusical

    Posted by TOUR on Saturday, November 28, 2020
  • POP

    Anomaly is Everything - ELLIPSES

    The family favorite song of ELLIPSES. The song is recorded by Working Title Playwrights Acting Ensemble featuring Abby Holland (Triangulum), Jason-Jamal Ligon (Cartwheel), Skye Passmore (Whirlpool), Daniel Sakamoto-Wengel (Andromeda), and Evan Hill Phillips (Milky Way).


    "Anomaly is Everything" · ELLIPSES

    “Anomaly is Everything” is dedicated to Working Title Playwrights. Vocals: Abby Holland & Therecia Lang · Composer & Lyricist: David Quang Pham #Ellipses #AnomalyIsEverything

    Posted by ELLIPSES on Friday, January 1, 2021
  • Parallax - ELLIPSES

    Gravity is trying to get HD to relax. The song is recorded by Working Title Playwrights Acting Ensemble featuring Vallea E. Woodbury (Gravity) and Daniela Cobb (HD).


  • Backscatter - TOUR

    Quark tells Lepton that they are ending their doctoral advisor-student relationship. This song is recorded by Diana Easter (Lepton) and Kami Visitsak (Quark).


    "Backscatter" · TOUR

    “Backscatter” was unveiled at Musical Theatre Factory on June 26, 2020. Vocals: Diana Easter & Kami Visitsak · Narration: Bianca Waechter · Composer & Lyricist: David Quang Pham #TOURTheMusical

    Posted by TOUR on Friday, July 10, 2020
  • SPACEY

  • Entanglement - TOUR

    Boson entangles Quark in a research proposal. This song is recorded by Brian Egland (Boson). The guitar is played by Lee Cleaveland.


  • Time is Relative - ELLIPSES

    Cartwheel and Whirlpool discover time together. The song is recorded by Working Title Playwrights Acting Ensemble featuring Jason-Jamal Ligon (Cartwheel) and Skye Passmore (Whirlpool).


    "Time is Relative" · ELLIPSES

    “Time is Relative” premiered for Working Title Playwrights, in celebration of Lunar New Year. This is the first draft's take of this song. This duet has drastically changed in the following drafts. Vocals: Kari Twyman & Skye Passmore · Stage Manager: Alexis McKay · Composer & Lyricist: David Quang Pham #Ellipses #TimeIsRelative

    Posted by ELLIPSES on Monday, April 12, 2021
  • Undecided - PARALLEL UNIVERSITY

    The freshman is undecided in their major. This song is recorded by Sophie Sagan-Gutherz and orchestrated by Stephanie Carlin.


  • WAVE

  • Cutting Edge - ELLIPSES

    HD wants to go to the Edge of the Universe. The song is recorded by MilkyWay Theatre Company's 2023 team featuring Isaac Williams (HD1), Maria Noriko Cabral (Gravity), Joseph Lee (Singularity), Karina Ordóñez (Cartwheel), Kristen Amanda Vargas Smith (Whirlpool), Carla Angeline Mongado (Triangulum), Yoosep Im (Andromeda), and Yasmin Ranz-Lind (Milky Way). The band is Simon Broucke (Pianist), Brandon Jackson (Percussionist), Jason Shu (Violinist), and Isabelle Wood (Guitarist).<


  • Bounce - ELLIPSES

    The choreographic opener and motif of the Galaxies. The song is recorded by MilkyWay Theatre Company's 2023 team featuring Flynn Jungbin Byun (Ing), Oscar E Chicaiza (Be), Kenedi Chriske (Tidal), Leigh Dillon (Tidal), Yoosep I (Andromeda), Chyna Jackson (Tidal), Chris King (Tidal), Joseph Lee (Singularity), Sabrina López (Tidal), Carla Angeline Mongado (Triangulum), Maria Noriko Cabral (Gravity), Karina Ordóñez (Cartwheel), Yasmin Ranz-Lind (Milky Way), Kristen Amanda Vargas Smith (Whirlpool), Caitlyn Somerville (Tidal), Eli Wassertzug (Tidal), and Isaac Williams (HD1). The band is Simon Broucke (Piano), Brandon Jackson (Percussions), Jason Shu (Violin), and Isabelle Wood (Guitar).<


  • Valence - TOUR

    Lepton tries to teach Quark that validation is unnecessary while they juggle orbitals of students. This song is recorded by Diana Easter (Lepton), Kami Visitsak (Quark), and Rina Lubit (Atom).


  • METAL

  • Big Bang - ELLIPSES

    The violent altercation between Singularity, Gravity, and SPT0615-JD. The song is recorded by Working Title Playwrights Acting Ensemble featuring Minka Wiltz (Singularity) and Vallea E. Woodbury (Gravity).


  • David Quang Pham

    David Quang Pham (he★him)

    David Quang Pham (he/him) is a musical theater science communicator. His purpose is to guide scientists to the fourth wall and theatre artists to the fourth dimension. Due to youthful trips to operas and space camp, he now writes love letters to science, devising stories from its branches. His musicals personifying astrophysics and quantum mechanics are respectively: ELLIPSES (2023 MilkyWay Theatre Company New Works Festival, Theatre 71; 2022 Colorado New Musical Festival; 2022 Eugene O'Neill Theater Center semifinalist) and TOUR (2020 DUAF finalist). His musical about family ELLIPSES had a sold-out workshop production produced by MilkyWay Theatre Company in their First Annual Off-Broadway New Works Festival in Theatre 71 at Blessed Sacrament on January 26, 2023. His dramaturgical credits include Millennials are Killing Musicals by Nico Juber (2022 29-hour reading at Open Jar Studios and 54 Below) and Allies by Michael McGoldrick (2022 PPADC Hamilton Arts Festival).

    Composer Janelle Lawrence mentors him, helping to forge his broad range of musical styles including pop, punk, tango, and Xiqu. After completing an astrophysics and theatre education at Michigan State University, he studied playwriting as the second apprentice of Working Title Playwrights, Atlanta. He is the last Literary Fellow of Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco. His music was commissioned by Harriet Tubman Effect Institute. He was a critic in Kennedy Center’s BIPOC Critics Lab whose work is published in TheaterMania. He is a proficient trombonist; moderator at LMDA; founding member of CreateTheater and the International Dramaturgy Lab; member of ΣΠΣ, ASCAP, and the Dramatists Guild. His moonbase is in New York City and his earthbase is in Wyoming, Michigan. Be up to lightspeed at davidquang.com

    Translated from Lourdes Guzmán González: David Quang Pham (él) es un dramaturgista de la ciencia. Gracias a viajes juveniles a óperas y campamentos espaciales, ahora escribe cartas de amor a la ciencia y diseña historias desde sus ramas. Después de terminar su educación en astrofísica y teatro en la Universidad del estado de Michigan, estudió una mentoría en Working Title Playwrights (WTP) en Atlanta. Janelle Lawrence es su mentora. Su ópera subatómica, TOUR, es finalista del Festival Downtown Urban Arts 2020. Su mitología cósmica épica, ELLIPSES, es protagonizada por Singularity y sus adolescentes Galaxies y sigue su búsqueda para deshacer el Big Bang, después de que su perro Gravity lo desencadena. Este musical familiar fue desarrollado en talleres anuales con WTP junto con la dramaturgista Jordan Alexandria Ealey. Las canciones serán presentadas en la Universitdad Durban de Tecnología en octubre de 2021. En el Laboratorio Internacional de Dramaturgismo inaugural (International Dramaturgy Lab), su equipo Constellations construyó prácticas dramaturgísticas basadas en cosmología. Es miembro fundador de CreateTheater y miembro de ΣΠΣ, ASCAP y el Gremio de Dramaturgxs (Dramatists Guild).

    January 2023: ELLIPSES had a sold-out workshop production produced by MilkyWay Theatre Company in their First Annual Off-Broadway New Works Festival in Theatre 71 at Blessed Sacrament
  • September 2022: Harriet Tubman Effect Institute Commissions Composer David Quang Pham for the Launch of the New 52-week Dismantling Systemic Oppression Program: a New World
  • August 2022: A SYMPHONY FOR PORTLAND at The Player's Theatre
  • July 2022: Bay Area Playwrights Festival
  • July 2022: Colorado New Musical Festival
  • March 2022: MILLENNIALS ARE KILLING MUSICALS written by Nico Juber and directed by Ciara Renée and dramaturged by David Quang Pham
  • December 2021: Creating Something Out Of Nothing: Artists Thrive Despite the Pandemic (Zine) by C. Rose Widmann
  • December 2021: Celebration of New Works from Play Cafe
  • October 2021: Durban University of Technology DigiFest and Annual Research Conference


  • September 2021: Playwrights Foundation Literary Fellowship
  • September 2021: Another Way Interview
  • July 2021: Featured in The Dramatists Volume 23 Number 6 - The Season In Review Issue 2020-2021
  • July 2021: Working Title Playwrights Apprenticeship Concert Reading
  • July 2021: The Art of Adaptation Interview
  • June 2021: International Dramaturgy Lab
  • March 2021: Featured in The Dramatists Volume 23 Number 4 The Environmental Issue
  • January 2021: Story Collider
  • August 2020: Working Title Playwrights New Play Development and Dramaturgy Apprenticeship
  • July 2020: Cabaret on the Couch in Partnership with Musical Theatre Factory
  • April 2020: The Dramatists Guild and 24 Hour Plays Table Reading
  • November 2019: Downtown Urban Arts Festival Announces 2020 Finalists
  • May 2018: Induction into the Physics Honor Society, Sigma Pi Sigma
  • March 2017: Featured in The Guardian - How music is being used to treat autism
  • December 2014: Spamalot
  • December 2013: MLive - Beauty and the Beast
  • December 2013: Featured in WZZM13 - Toys For Tots Coordinator