Howard Ho

Howard Ho

Howard Ho is a playwright and composer. His full-length play RESET was produced at Moving Arts in 2023. RESET is an O'Neill National Playwrights Finalist and a Bay Area Playwrights Semifinalist. Previously his play VARIOUS EMPORIA was also an O'Neill Finalist. His short works WHERE I’M FROM and END OF THE LINE were both Finalists in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. WHERE I’M...
Howard Ho is a playwright and composer. His full-length play RESET was produced at Moving Arts in 2023. RESET is an O'Neill National Playwrights Finalist and a Bay Area Playwrights Semifinalist. Previously his play VARIOUS EMPORIA was also an O'Neill Finalist. His short works WHERE I’M FROM and END OF THE LINE were both Finalists in the Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway Short Play Festival. WHERE I’M FROM was previously featured in Center Theatre Group’s Community Stories and is currently being developed into a full-length musical. END OF THE LINE is published by Theatre Now New York and is licensed by MTI. His musical PRETENDO was featured in Center Theatre Group’s Library Reading Series and featured in Compose LA. He’s been a member of writers groups at Moving Arts, The Vagrancy, Playground-LA, Playground-NY, and Company of Angels. He has sound designed over 50 shows with nominations from the Ovation Award and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. His Youtube channel (youtube.com/HowardHoMusic) dissecting musicals has over 120,000 subscribers and was recognized by Lin-Manuel Miranda. His journalism has been published in Entertainment Weekly, LA Times, Howlround, and American Theatre magazine. He holds a Musicology degree from UCLA and a Master of Professional Writing degree from USC. Instagram: @howardwho

Plays

  • Reset by Howard Ho
    Recommendations: 5
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller + 3 more
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    Keyword: quantum realities, quantum physics + 8 more
    Genre: drama, mystery/thriller, political, science fiction, tragedy
    Keyword: quantum realities, quantum physics, science, alternate reality, 2020, Ukraine, Russia, infinite multi-verses, multiverse, parallel universe
    Finalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2023

    2020 Chernobyl. A man takes part in a secret new life-changing treatment that promises he will attain his “best self.” But what he thinks is a self-help retreat turns into a mind-bending quantum physics experiment that will reveal the devastating truths of what the future actually holds for him. Could his “best self” be the key to mankind’s salvation?
  • Where I'm From by Howard Ho
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama
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    Keyword: san gabriel valley, SGV + 7 more
    Genre: comedy, drama
    Keyword: san gabriel valley, SGV, anti-asian discrimination, Asian American, coming of age, AAPI, STopAAPIhate, Asian American identity, Autobiographical
    When a co-worker asks Howard out to lunch in the San Gabriel Valley, the Asian American enclave where he grew up, Howard reexamines his relationship with his hometown and his identity.
  • Parity by Howard Ho
    Cast: 
    1
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    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic + 2 more
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    Keyword: One woman play, One woman show + 7 more
    Genre: biography, docudrama/historic, drama, young audiences
    Keyword: One woman play, One woman show, solo drama, solo piece, Chinese American, Chinese women, 20th Century Women, women, female scientist
    In 1976, Chien Shiung Wu (吳健雄) looks back on her incredible life from growing up in a small village in China to changing the entire world with her enormous contribution to quantum physics.
  • Various Emporia by Howard Ho
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 6 more
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    Keyword: yellowface, mikado + 5 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, farce, melodrama, political, satire, tragedy
    Keyword: yellowface, mikado, adoption, racism, Asian American, American identity, Asian American playwright
    Finalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2017

    As Charles and Nancy Unger prepare to perform in a church production of The Mikado, their
    daughter Hannah returns from college challenging their use of yellowface. To prove he has no
    bigotry, Charles urges Hannah to invite local store owner Mr. Chung to dinner, which turns into
    a disaster when the Ungers'...
    Finalist, O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, 2017

    As Charles and Nancy Unger prepare to perform in a church production of The Mikado, their
    daughter Hannah returns from college challenging their use of yellowface. To prove he has no
    bigotry, Charles urges Hannah to invite local store owner Mr. Chung to dinner, which turns into
    a disaster when the Ungers' estranged adopted Chinese son visits on the same night.
  • Disappointment Island by Howard Ho
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, dark comedy + 3 more
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    Keyword: Chinese American, billionaires + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, dark comedy, drama, political, verse
    Keyword: Chinese American, billionaires, Mexican American, hip hop, Rapper, intersectionality, African American, classical music
    A crackpot Chinese billionaire dies leaving behind a joint trust fund to his two sons, one a Chinese American wannabe rapper and the other an illegitimate Chinese Mexican never-do-well. Trouble is, the inheritance comes with horribly offensive strings attached. Will the brothers follow the money or their hearts?
  • End of the Line by Howard Ho
    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: adventure, comedy + 4 more
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    Keyword: theatre for youth, ants
    Genre: adventure, comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, musical, young audiences
    Keyword: theatre for youth, ants
    Four worker ants set out on a routine mission to retrieve tasty morsels for their colony and end up on the quest of a lifetime. When faced with a fork in the road, will they return home empty handed or receive a hero’s welcome for discovering the “legendary stuff” long prophesied by their ancestors?
  • The Nightingale Mixtape by Howard Ho
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: adaptation, comedy + 9 more
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    Keyword: nightingale, hans christian andersen + 4 more
    Genre: adaptation, comedy, dark comedy, fable/folktale, fantasy, farce, musical, parody/spoof, political, satire, translation
    Keyword: nightingale, hans christian andersen, hip hop, rap, resistance, Asian American
    A hip-hop adaptation of The Nightingale by Hans Christian Andersen. When the Emperor sends his Courtier out to find the famed songbird Nightingale, it turns out she is actually a fierce female rapper with a lyrical agenda to stop the Emperor's colonialist regime. Unfortunately, while the Emperor loves Nightingale's melodic virtuosity, he can't understand her words.