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Turnover: A New Leaf

Turnover: A New Leaf

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Turnover: A New Leaf

Turnover: A New Leaf (Clean Edition)

Turnover: A New Leaf 🌱 The Plant-based Musical 🌱

Full-Length Musical, Comedy, Family / 1w, 1m, 3-5 any gender

Book, Music, and Lyrics by David Quang Pham

Plot

Set in a world of personified plants, this coming-of-age musical follows a transplant cilantro who starts a salon in Dirty City to raise her son, Parsley. When the garden nation of Woodwook ratifies the Weed Out Act, she must earn her green card before she gets uprooted and loses custody of Parsley. However, she faces a new obstacle: her landlord Malus's nibling and Parsley's new pear friend named Pyrus Crabapple. Pyrus sends Parsley on an adventure filled with crop tops and fertilizer pops that gives him an awakening his mom was not rooting for.

Characters

Parsley Ram*, herbal preteen Asian American boy, Rau’s well-mannered yet overly curious son

Rau Ram*, herbal Asian woman, Parsley’s mother and the owner of Salontro after emigrating from Paddy Kingdom, she has a fair unwaivering loyalty but is fiercely overprotective

Pyrus Crabapple, pear-like teen, Malus’s nibling, who can be adventurous, mischievous yet self-loathing

Malus Crabapple, apple-like adult, Pyrus’s aunty/uncle and the owner of FigLeaf, who can be grandiose, wise, and self-indulgent

Mayor Canna Blomquist, the rotten mayor of Dirty City who narrates throughout the musical

DJ Cauliflower, the hip-hop and coolest Cruciferous on tour

Anchor, an unseen and pre-recorded WoodTV anchor

*Original Version (Vietnamese Influence)

New Versions: Parsley Cilantro and his Mom are available in other cultural backgrounds (Latin, Arabic, East Asian)

🏆 Accolades 🏆

Winner! 8 2024 Philadelphia New Musicals Festival Awards, including Best Book and Best Director (Aliyah Curry)

Nominee: 10 2024 Philadelphia New Musicals Festival Awards, including Best Musical and Best Orchestrations

Winner! 2024 Great Performances Fellowship Award

Keywords

Adolescence / Childhood / Coming-of-Age / Fable / Family / Friendship / Parenting / Teens

Music

Musical Style: Pop, Rock, Vietnamese Folk

Vocal Demands: Easy-Moderate

Orchestra: Drum Set, Piano, Guitar, Violin

Dance Requirements: Easy

1) Move the Plot Forward

2) A Natural

3) Amount to Anything

4) Grow a Pair

5) Test the Water

6) Photosynthesis

7) Crop Top

8) Soiled (The Family Name)

9) Fertile

10) Dirt on You (Adult Version)

11) Fig Leaf

12) Green Card

13) Turnover (A New Leaf)

14) Bow - Photosynthesis

History

Turnover: A New Leaf had four Working Title Playwrights table readings (July 2023, October 2023, November 2023, and January 2024) and concert readings at City Reliquary produced by Undiscovered Countries in September 2023, Philadelphia’s Abington Art Center produced by Theatre on the Verge in March 2024, and The Tank’s PrideFest in June 2024. In 2025, Queer Theatre Kalamazoo staged a full production run from May 16-17 including a concert on June 7-8.

Queer Theatre Kalamazoo World Premiere

May 16-18, 2025 and June 7-8, 2025

Parsley: Henry Lee

Rau: Laura Nguyễn

Pyrus: Isaac James

Malus & DJ Cauliflower: Duke Duquette

Director / Intimacy Director: Dr. Quincy Thomas

Music Director: Emma Vivian Peterman

Stage Manager: Eric Batts

Sound Designer: Sophia Smith

Producer: Connar Klock

Drums: Jude Fleischman

Violin: Zhak Pokora

Guitar: Stephen Lindquist

The Tank

June 28, 2024

Parsley: Max Boone

Rau: Veronica Dang

Pyrus: Kimi Handa Brown

Malus: John Gallop III

Mayor Canna Blomquist / DJ Cauliflower: Erick Carter

Director / Choreographer: Fang Tseng

Music Director: Carla Mongado

Stage Manager / Costume / Prop Designer: Deniz Demirkurt

Dramaturg: Aliyah Curry

Lighting Designer & Board Operator: Anna Schultz

Sound Designer & Board Operator: Piper Hill

Photographer: Shiana Mainarich

Producer: Caitlin Mayernik

Percussion: Ethan Lucas

Piano: Joshua Erickson

Guitar: Timmy Ong

Violin: Emerson Cyrus Olson

Philadelphia New Musicals Festival

March 21, 2024

Parsley: Kimi Handa Brown

Rau: Veronica Dang

Pyrus: Gina Prince

Malus / DJ Cauliflower: Drew Russell DuBoff

Director: Aliyah Curry

Music Director: Matthew Melchior

Stage Manager: Maya Nguyen-Haberneski

Dramaturg: Bryson Lima

Producer: Amanda Gulla

Piano: Joshua Erickson

Lead Guitar: Frank L. Turner Jr.

Rhythm Guitar: Mark Rascati

Photosynthesis: The Motion Picture

Photosynthesis is the animated film and series adaptation that expands upon the plant-based stage musical Turnover: A New Leaf. It was a 2025 Creative Capital finalist. Visit PhotosynthesisFilm.com for the treatment and script.

Author

David Quang Pham is an award-winning Vietnamese-American songwriter and filmmaker based in Manhattan, known for creating musicals that personify scientific concepts to explore the human condition. His work has been produced or developed by Queer Theatre Kalamazoo, Milky Way Theatre (Off-Broadway), Musical Theatre Factory, Signature Theatre, with performances in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Portugal. His artistic talents led to his Working Title Playwrights apprenticeship, Playwrights Foundation fellowship, Great Performances Fellowship Award, and 78th Tony Awards CBS appearance. They hold a B.S. in Astrophysics with honors and Minor in Theatre from Michigan State University.

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