By Samantha Pak
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Philippa Soo may be best known for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” but her most recent project—a collaboration with her sister-in-law, Maris Pasquale Doran—is bringing her work to a much younger audience.
“Piper Chen Sings,” co-authored by Soo and Doran, follows the title character, a young girl who loves to sing, as she gets a case of performance jitters when she’s asked to sing a solo at a school concert. Piper then turns to her grandmother, Nai Nai, for help with dealing with her stage fright and the butterflies in her belly.
The picture book, illustrated by Qin Leng, was published back in April and has been a long time coming. The idea for them to work together came to Soo (who is married to Doran’s brother) and Doran at a family Christmas celebration in 2018, during which the two women had discussed how passionate they were about children’s literature. It was shortly after “Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton” had been published—for which Soo had written an afterword.
“Since then, I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of writing my own children’s book,” Soo said. “And at that wonderful Christmas dinner, Maris and I had a conversation about potentially writing a book together.”
It was all a matter of timing, as Doran’s two sons were still young at the time and their world was “completely inundated” with picture books. And in addition to reading these stories with her sons on a regular basis, she would also write little rhymes of her own for them.
“[I was] thinking, maybe I’ll self publish them,” Doran said. “Or it’s just some fun experience that we get to have as parent and child. And then Philippa and I had this conversation and…we felt like, ‘Gosh, this is an opportunity to bring both of our interests and passion and skill sets together and write a project together and be together more.’”
The pair teamed up with Leng as an illustrator later in the process, describing her as “incredibly talented” and immediately connecting and falling in love with Leng’s watercolor work.
“When we started seeing some of the images from her (for ’Piper’), I think every time we’re just like, ’She brought it to life!’” Doran said.
Soo added, “It was just perfect. It was just perfect from the get go.”
A little girl, with big (and very real) feelings
Soo and Doran brainstormed many possible story ideas, but then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. So they took a step back from the book idea for a little while. When they got back to it, they landed on the idea of Piper.
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- Phillipa Soo
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- Maris Pasquale Doran
“At the time, I was keenly interested in sharing Asian stories, which included some of my own stories,” Soo said. “Piper is very much inspired by a younger version of myself, but she is her own character in her own right.”
She added that the book is an extension of both Doran’s and her own experiences in the world: Hers as a performer, and Doran’s as a psychotherapist and a mother. And while on the surface, “Piper” may be about conquering stage fright and learning how to be brave, Soo said the book is also about dealing with anxiety, managing feelings, and holding two “seemingly opposing feelings” at the same time.
Soo and Doran hope the book can be a tool for young people—and older people, alike. In that understanding Piper’s feelings could help them understand and deal with their own seemingly opposing feelings—such as being excited and scared—and navigate that.
“That was something that was very intentional to us, just hopefully for our young readers, and certainly for the grownups that are reading to them, to take away that piece of mindfulness and emotional awareness,” Doran said.
She said while these opposing emotions in Piper show up as stage fright, it can present in any number of ways for others, such as going to school or camp for the first time, a performance, or in sports.
“This is applicable and a universal theme for all humans young and old,” Doran said, adding that in her practice, she works with adults and they often focus on emotional regulation, and honing those skills. But sometimes, adults don’t have those skills to begin with, so “Piper” is a way of teaching young readers about varied and opposing emotions and for them to start practicing pausing and being mindful of what’s happening in their lives, being aware of varying and sometimes opposing emotions, and having the agency and empowerment to move forward in their lives intentionally.
Windows, mirrors, and doors
In addition to the story of a little girl with big feelings, Soo said “Piper” is also an intergenerational story about Piper and her Nai Nai, and how their Chinese heritage influences their lives. For example, when Nai Nai tells Piper about the times she’s been nervous, one of them was when she was a U.S. citizen.
“Certainly, that’s not necessarily a huge part of the plot, but it is a part of Piper’s narrative of who she is as a character,” Soo said, adding that discussions about Piper, her culture and world, were very important in weaving “this entire tapestry of who she is as a character.”
Soo described “Piper” as a window and mirror book, a term often used in children’s literature: A window for readers who may not be familiar with a particular culture, and a mirror for readers to see their own culture reflected back at them. Soo also added one more descriptor to “Piper,” a door book, as a way for readers to live their lives beyond the page.
“I grew up going to people’s houses and experiencing different cultures and ways of speaking, languages, and food. It was all a part of my experience of going over to somebody’s house and having that experience, which I feel so grateful for, but some kids might not have that level of diversity in their own town,” she said. “So you do have a friend in Piper, she can be your way into understanding a culture and a way of being that’s different than your own.”