
About Julia Riew
Julia Riew is a Korean-American composer, lyricist, librettist, and writer from St. Louis and currently based in New York City. She is best known for Dive, which is currently being developed into a stage musical with Tony-Award winning director Diane Paulus and GLAAD-Award winning playwright Diana Son for the American Repertory Theater and into a middle grade novel with editor Mabel Hsu at HarperCollins after amassing over 130k followers and 3 million likes worldwide.
Since graduating from Harvard University in May 2022, Julia has been named the 2022 Fred Ebb Award winner, Playbill’s Featured Songwriter of the Month, a Woman to Watch on Broadway, and the recipient of the 2022 Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship under the mentorship of composer Laurence O’Keefe (Legally Blonde, Heathers). Julia was also the inaugural recipient of the Musicians United for Social Equity (MUSE) Linda Twine Scholarship (2021), a member of the first MUSE One-on-One Mentorship Program (2021-22) (mentor: Jeanine Tesori), and a member of the inaugural Maestra Music Mentorship Program (2020-21) (mentor: Deborah Wicks La Puma).
Despite her love for musical theater, Julia spent her first two years of college as a pre-med student before finding her footing as a joint-concentrator in Theater and Music. In her sophomore year, observing a lack of Asian students in theater, Julia co-founded the Harvard College Asian Student Arts Project (ASAP), a club created to provide the resources and community for Asian student artists. She co-wrote their first production, a musical called The East Side and later performed as “Paulette” in ASAP’s all-Asian production of Legally Blonde: The Musical, which received national recognition in fall 2021.
Julia’s other work has been featured at the American Repertory Theater, 54 Below, Summerstock Austin Texas, The Coterie in Kansas City, Harvard University’s Farkas Hall and Agassiz Theater, AMAS Musical Theater, The UNC-Greensboro School of Theater, Nora Theater Company at Central Square Theater, The Harvard Art Lab, University of Missouri, The Community Music School of Webster University, John Burroughs High School. She is currently working on several projects for theater, film, and TV, including the development of her musical Dive, a musical theater K-Drama, a YA fantasy novel in collaboration with her brother Brad, a graphic-novel inspired song cycle, and more. Her past works include Alice’s Wonderland, an original musical co-written by J Quinton Johnson (Hamilton on Broadway, In the Heights at the Kennedy Center), Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure (The A.R.T. 2020 Family Musical), and Thumbelina: A Little Musical (The A.R.T. 2019 Family Musical).
Awards and Honors
4th Annual Women To Watch on Broadway – 2023
18th Annual Fred Ebb Award Winner – 2022
Mia and David Alpert Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship Winner – 2022
Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts Winner – 2022
The MUSE Linda Twine Scholarship Winner – 2021
Radcliffe Doris Cohen Levi Musical Theater Prize Winner – 2020
Education
Harvard University (Bachelor of Arts | magna cum laude with highest honors in Theater, Dance, Media (TDM) and Music | Phi Beta Kappa)
BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop
News
Playbill: 18th Annual Fred Ebb Awards Honoring Julia Riew
CNN: A TikTok user wrote an entire musical for her Disney-style Korean princess. Now it’s going viral
Today.com: There wasn’t a Korean Disney princess, so this Harvard student created one
Boston Globe: There’s no Korean Disney princess. So a Harvard student created her own.
Next Shark: Harvard student’s ‘Korean Disney princess’ goes viral — and film producers want in
Wbur: TikTok fans embrace the soaring song of a Disney-inspired Korean American princess
Broadway World: Celeste Castillo, Daniel Quadrino & More to Star in Staged Readings of ALICE’S WONDERLAND: A NEW MUSICAL
Broadway World: Cast Album Released For Family Musical JACK AND THE BEANSTALK
The Harvard Gazette: A beloved holiday theater tradition, remote but not forgotten
The Harvard Gazette: ‘Thumbelina’ carries big message to the stage
Boston Globe: Musical-composing Harvard student tries ‘Thumbelina’ on for size
The Harvard Crimson: ‘The East Side’ Takes On Asian-American Identity Onstage
Broadway Women’s Fund: Women to Watch on Broadway
Playbill: Songwriter Series
NPR: Harvard student creates Disney-inspired, Korean princess musical on TikTok
Playbill: MUSE Announces Winners of Inaugural Linda Twine and Harold Wheeler Scholarships
NBC Asian America: How Harvard’s ‘Legally Blonde’ production bent the narrative with a snap of Asian flair
Broadway.com: Odds & Ends: Jeremy O. Harris Joins Emily in Paris Season Two & More
Broadway World: Photo Flash: Check out A.R.T.’s JACK AND THE BEANSTALK: A MUSICAL ADVENTURE
The Harvard Crimson: ‘The East Side’ Explores the Struggle of Living in the West
The Harvard Gazette: ‘East Side’ story: Student-penned musical puts the spotlight on the Asian Student Arts Project
Broadway World: VIDEO: First Listen to New Song ‘Small’ From THUMBELINA: A LITTLE MUSICAL at ART
Check out my musicals
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