A Korean-born woman, Amanda, adopted in the United States by white parents, returns home to Albany to assist her mother after the death of her father. While cleaning up the house, since the mother wants to move out, Amanda is overwhelmed by memories of her life as a child, many of which deal with her race. This semi-autographical musical, the story of Amanda, written by Amanda Morton, Director Matthew Decker, and Brenson Thomas is making its world debut at Theatre Horizon.
Amanda’s parents, Jean (Marybeth Gorman) and Walt (Trey Lyford) tried to give their daughter Amanda (Sami Ma) information about her Korean culture, even sending her for a week to a camp with other Korean children. But she never thought she “fit.” As she is now pregnant, she wants to find out more about her birth mother but can no longer ask her deceased father. She wants to know why she was given up by her mother.
Amanda has imaginary conversations with her father as she tries to clean up her childhood bedroom. We even see a few flashbacks of them together. But she quickly discovers that her father did something quite unusual with the moving company reMEMOREX, a futuristic company, that is carting away the boxes. Through it, Amanda can not only read but see via AI manifestations, his memories. He made his thoughts available to her after he was gone in something called Box. Box never forgets.
It is not easy to access the memories and often she doesn’t want to know things, but she hopes to learn much about her life that we would not usually learn after the source for that information has died. It’s a fascinating idea.
Her mother doesn’t want any part of it and discourages it all. After all, she raised Amanda. She is the mother. She feels threatened.
“Wishing to Grow Up Lightly” isn’t just a narration, it is a musical with the lyrics of many of the songs so profound, they could stand by themselves as poems. They were written by the playwright, Amanda Morton and Josh Totora, who was also the composer of the music. I am challenged by new songs when the band plays too loud, and it is difficult to make out all the lyrics. I do wish they didn’t amplify it as much because I didn’t want to miss a word in this finely crafted drama. The second act, with only four songs, was more enjoyable as the story progressed.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the great choreography involved with the other five actors playing multiple roles as well as shifting the set to different story locations. Director Matthew Decker has done a masterful job in working with Amanda Morton in putting together with Brenson Thomas this tale about identity. Sami Ma is outstanding in portraying the confused Amanda as she moves from reality to uncertainty and back again. Gorman and Lyford as her parents effectively show their love for their daughter. This is very unusual story, an inventive story, that is so effectively told. It relates to everyone who seeks connection.
“Wishing to Grow Up Brightly” by Amanda Morton, Matthew Decker, and Brenson Thomas. Music and orchestrations by Josh Totora. Lyrics by Amanda Morton and Josh Totora. At Theatre Horizon, 401 DeKalb Street, Norristown, PA 19401, 610-283-2230, Ticket@TheatreHorizon.org Thru November 23. 2025.
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 