What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument?

In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world profoundly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical

In a Better World

In The Beginning

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"Vive Le Progres, Baby (Reprise)" (Vocalists: Mikko Juan, Rachel Nofziger)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

Vive Le Progres, Baby (Reprise)

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"I Want More" (Vocalist: Rachel Nofziger)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

I Want More

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"Vive Le Progres, Baby" (Vocalists: Ulyber Mangune, Jeff Church, Rachel Nofziger)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

Vive Le Progres, Baby

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"Better Days (Alone)" (Vocalists: Mikko Juan, Amy Jones)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

Better Days (Alone)

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"Love Is a Deadly Sin" (Vocalists: Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

Love Is a Deadly Sin

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"Me Against the World" (Vocalists: Mikko Juan, Amy Jones, Jeff Church)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

Me Against the World

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"Were We Just a Dream" (Vocalist: Amy Jones)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

Were We Just a Dream?

IN A BETTER WORLD: A Multiverse Musical
Book and lyrics by Harold Taw; music by Mark Bombara
"In the Beginning" (Vocalists: Ulyber Mangune, Rachel Nofziger, Jeff Church)

What if multiple universes exist alongside our own that can’t be seen, heard, or touched because they are vibrating at different frequencies, each world a separate string on an infinitely grand instrument? In the musical IN A BETTER WORLD, mixed-race inventor Sylvain Lee creates a machine to jump from string-to-string into three alternative histories of early-20th century England—as French vassal, Chinese protectorate, and libertine Steampunk island—searching for a place where he and his true love won’t be separated by race, class, and sexual inequality. But can the world truly change if the people within it don’t?

Vocalists (in alphabetical order): Jeff Church, Amy Jones, Mikko Juan, Chelsea LeValley, Ulyber Mangune, Jessica Milanese, Rachel Nofziger

In the Beginning

HAROLD TAW is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and layabout multi-form writer. His debut novel was Adventures of the Karaoke King (Lake Union Publishing 2011). His writing has been featured on NPR, in a New York Times bestselling anthology, and in The Seattle Times; his screenplay Dog Park has garnered recognition in domestic and international film festivals and competitions. Harold wrote the book for two musicals presented as staged readings by The 5th Avenue Theatre: the full-length Persuasion: A New Musical (2015), based on Jane Austen’s final novel, which also had a workshop reading at Texas Musical Theatre Workshop; and the original one-act The Missed Connections Club (2014), which won Third Place in the 2015 Frostburg State University One-Act Competition, was a finalist in the Arts Club of Washington’s 2014 One-Act Play Competition, and was longlisted for the 2015 British Theatre Challenge. Persuasion had its world premiere at Taproot Theatre Company July to Aug. 2017; it had its California premiere at San Diego's Lamb's Players Theatre from October to November 2018. Harold is currently completing a novel about a turbulent adolescence in Southeast Asia, collaborating on a musical about parallel universes, and co-curating WordsWest Literary Series. A Yale Law School graduate and a Fulbright Scholar, Harold’s research and writing have been supported by, among others, 4Culture, 826 Seattle, Artist Trust, Centrum, the Helen Riaboff Whiteley Center, Humanities Washington, Jack Straw Productions, and Wing Luke Museum.