Interview: Composer Micah Young & Friends Celebrate Pride at Pangea
The 6/24 show features an intimate evening of his original songs paired with classic pop and Broadway tunes
By: Rebecca Kaplan Jun. 20, 2025
On Tuesday June 24, 2025 at 7 pm, join composer and music director Micah Young (Spring Awakening, Fun Home) for an intimate evening of his original songs paired with classic pop and Broadway tunes featuring special guests Mary Page Nance (Lempika, Great Comet), and Vishal Vaidya (Merrily We Roll Along, Groundhog Day). Micah’s irreverent charm and charisma is inspired by the wit of Tom Lehrer and the musical vulnerability of Carole King, with stories and songs to celebrate this Pride Month.
Read a conversation with Young about the upcoming show.
What are you looking forward to about your upcoming Pride show?
I'm looking forward to making some incredible music with my fellow performers Mary Page Nance, and Vishal Vaidya, and sharing that experience with our audience. I feel now more than ever, it's vital that we continue to create and perform. I keep thinking of a Sondheim lyric, "Laugh at the kings, or they'll make you cry." We need to laugh. And we need to be in community together.
What made you decide to put on a show in celebration of Pride this year?
Pride means a lot to our community. It means having a safe place to express ourselves and to be fully known. As this show came together, I kept returning to the themes of home, friendship and belonging. I also think about the generations of those who came before us, who have fought for our rights. I put this show together to honor them. I'm putting on this show because all of us need to speak up, speak out and celebrate who we are.
What can audiences expect from this show?
They can expect everything from the authentically beautiful to the sublimely silly. My original work ranges from very romantic and lush too irreverently witty. Mary Page and Vishal are two brilliant Broadway performers who bring a wealth of talent and charisma to the show. I am looking forward to performing with them. Together, we are bringing some crowd favorites as well as my own songs, to humor and entertain.
You're performing some of your original work at this show. Can you tell us about one of the songs you'll be performing and the inspiration behind writing it?
How much time do you have? (I love exploring the process of writing, and sharing it!) I wrote a song, "Standing Tall," inspired by the hit Netflix series, "Heartstopper." In the song I tell the story of a closeted boy who sees the boy in school who is out, but also alone. He realizes this boy is standing tall through all the adversity thrown at him; from that example, he is inspired to stand tall alongside the boy who is out. I love the message of this song because I can relate to that moment of discovery in myself, and we all have moments in our lives where we've learned something about ourselves (and that's a lifelong process). I'm also very proud of the song because of the simple harmonic structures, and the internal rhyme schemes that guided the song when I wrote it.
What have you been working on lately?
I premiered the score to my new musical The House By The Sea at the National Arts Club with Broadway performers, Jill Paice and Michael Maliakel. I was thrilled with their work and it has led me to continue conversations with creatives. I'm actively looking for a book writer and I’m in meetings with producers. I would like to continue the work towards further development of the musical. We will be sharing two songs from that musical in our show Tuesday night.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Thank you for taking the time for this interview. I really appreciate being able to share my work with you and your readers. So often, I create in my apartment, on my piano, and don't always get out to share the work. I'm doing this show in part because I want to have my songs heard and I want to know how they work with an audience. That part of the creative process, you the audience, is incredibly important and often the most difficult to manage. I'm grateful for the coverage from Broadwayworld.com, and for all the people to come to enjoy the live performance. Thanks!
Learn more about Micah Young on his website at www.micahyoungmusic.com
Find tickets to Micah Young and Friends next Tuesday on Pangea's website here.
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