musical theatre | Jillian Ohayon 1

the garden bridge

book & lyrics by jill ohayon

music by andy li

Forced into Shanghai’s poorest neighborhood in 1941, a family of Jewish Viennese refugees becomes neighbors to a Chinese family -- with whom they appear to have nothing in common. Still, in spite of language barriers, resource scarcity, and the constant threat of violence, the characters develop relationships with one another in ways that will change them all forever. The Garden Bridge is a story of resilience, community, and the triumph of the human spirit.

Listen here.

recognition

Award for Best Production (SheNYC Arts)

Award for Best Music & Lyrics (SheNYC Arts)

Winner of the New York Foundation for the Arts QAF New Work Grant

Winner of the Mécénat Musica Crowd Prix Grant

Selected for Casa Uno Residency in Atenas, Costa Rica

Selected for workshop with Jennifer Jancuska's The BringAbout

Selected with top score for inclusion in the Mainstreet Musicals Library

Selected for residency at Goodspeed Musicals

Finalist for the Aubrey & Marla Dan Fund at the Musical Stage Company

Semi-finalist for the CreateTheatre Musical Series

Semi-finalist for the Manhattan School of Music Lab Series

performances

Sold-out Off-Broadway festival run at Classic Stage Company (2025)

Concert presentation at Broom Tree Theatre (2025)

Selection performed at The Green Room 42 (2025)

Selection performed at 54 Below (2025)

Breaking Sound Series Performance at the PinkFrog Café (2024)

Selection performed at Joe's Pub (2024)

The Garden Bridge was conceived at Tisch School of the Arts under the invaluable guidance of Deborah Brevoort, Mindi Dickstein, and Randall Eng.

If you are interested in learning about how you can support this project, please reach out to thegardenbridgemusical@gmail.com.

turbulence

by jill ohayon & ryan o'dea

Please place your seats in their upright positions and fasten your seatbelts as we prepare for takeoff. Turbulence is a 20-minute three-hander musical comedy that takes place entirely over the course of a flight from Newark to Milwaukee. Each struggling in their own way, three characters help each other to face their respective fears and and uncover within themselves courage and confidence they never know they had.

Watch here.

performances

selected for production at the International Human Rights Arts Festival at the Tank Theatre

directed by Ryan O'Dea and performed by Jill Ohayon, Zoe Dean, and Theo Austin

filmed version presented at the NYU Black Box Theatre

Turbulence was developed under the mentorship of Tony Award-winner Rachel Sheinkin.

birthday presence

book & lyrics by jill ohayon

music by andy li

Who wants to go clubbing?! The answer is: nobody. Birthday Presence follows two college best friends on one of their 30th birthdays. We join their respective subway rides as they travel to meet up for another night of a longstanding birthday tradition: spending hours in sweaty nightclubs drinking overpriced vodka. Each singing to the audience about their real reasons for upholding this tradition in spite of desperately wanting to let it go, the girls finally meet on the train platform and the truth comes spilling out.

performance

Prospect Musicals' "Jump Cut" at the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre at Symphony Space

directed by Dev Bondarin and performed by Miyuki Miyagi and Sarah Anne Fernandez

with each other together:
step, ball change into success!

book & lyrics by jill ohayon & addie symonds

music by sequoia sellinger

With Each Other Together: Step, Ball Change into Success! is an absurdist musical comedy about Sadie (pronounced Sad-E), a 34-year-old victim of the millennial loneliness epidemic. Her job is unfulfilling and underpaying, her friends have moved on and away, and her romantic life is nonexistent. After developing a strange addiction to watching the same 80’s “social dance” workout video several times a day for 15 years, Sadie is in for a rude awakening when she is electrocuted by her VCR and the instructors, Joanne and Indigo, come to life in her bedroom.