If I had to choose one word to describe Melissa Li, it would be honest.  In spite of significant success in her career, when asked if it is what she would have chosen for herself she doesn’t hesitate to let me know that it absolutely isn’t. With wry humor, she tells of how as a child she felt forced into music, and how when she gained her independence she wanted to distance herself from it as much as possible. Oh, how things have changed.  I suppose when you have as much talent as Melissa, music finds you whether you like it or not. Melissa’s current career is focused on writing musicals. Most notably, Melissa wrote the music for the musical Interstate as well as contributing to the book and lyrics in collaboration with Kit Yan.  Interstate premiered at the 2018 New York Musical Festival, where it was nominated for the awards “Outstanding Musical” and “Best Music,”  and won “Outstanding Lyrics” and “Special Citation: Representation and Inclusion.”

Why has Interstate racked up so much success? Because the real beauty in Melissa’s unapologetic honesty is not her willingness to share facts about her life; rather, it is how her dedication to the truth informs her storytelling.  Interstate follows the story of Henry, a South Asian transgender boy.  Henry takes comfort in the work of the other two protagonists of the show, the transgender man Dash and the lesbian Adrian, artists who are embarking on their first national tour.  When choosing what stories to tell, Melissa prioritizes choosing only narratives she can tell with honesty. The character Adrian is based on herself, and Dash is based on her partner Kit, a transgender man, who carefully reviewed Dash and Henry’s narratives for emotional accuracy.  That’s what makes Interstate so robust– it embodies the stories of real people and the way that those real people see their own stories and emotions.  Melissa explained to me that if she wanted to tell a story that were not her own, she either wouldn’t or would do it to assist someone else who was working to tell their own story.  Ultimately, she doesn’t feel like other people’s stories are hers to decide to tell.

Furthermore, she chooses to tell more diverse and uplifting narratives of queer people of color than the tragedies we typically see in mainstream media.  Melissa hopes that underrepresented people will not only see themselves in her work, but also that they come away feeling hopeful and supported. Even if that means passing up opportunities for her own career.  In our talk, Melissa shared with me that she and Kit were recently approached with an offer to produce Interstate commercially.  There was one condition though– they would have to cut Henry’s support system from the plotline.  Here, Melissa admitted to me what a difficult decision this proved to be. Commercial production, after all, would take away the stress of fundraising faced by independent artists, and would make her work widely available to general public.  Ultimately, she and Kit declined the offer. In spite of all the benefits it would provide, they could not justify adding Interstate, a work already cherished by many as an uplifting creative gesture, to the ever-growing list of work that casts queer people of color as lonely, afraid and sad.

Selfless and honest, Melissa is part of a new generation of artists.  She is working to create a space at the table for people who have traditionally been underrepresented in the whitewashed arts.  She seeks to tell traditional Broadway-style stories, the only difference between those stories and the ones she tells being the types of people she chooses to represent.  Her work is not what she considers radical. Still, she’s making waves in the world of theater, and honestly, it means a lot to people.