BRIEF SYNOPSIS

When Two of Us Meet tells the story of a spirited family’s turbulent journey from Armenia to America in the early 20th century, emphasizing the pivotal roles of faith, hope, and love in their personal, familial, and cultural evolution.

In the idyllic village of Ghasmali, Armenia, 1915, Avo and Shogho, along with their progressive teenage children, find their lives upended as tension escalates between Ottoman authorities and the Armenian people. As the shadows of tragedy loom, the family grapples with love, loss, and the pursuit of freedom.

Amidst the chaos, the narrative takes us on a riveting journey around the world, from Armenia to the Republic of Georgia, then Havana, Cuba, and eventually to Los Angeles, CA, where the family faces discrimination and the daunting task of rebuilding their shattered lives. The relentless trials of illness, displacement, and separation become the crucible in which the family forges an indomitable spirit, embodying the resilience of those who persevere in the face of adversity.

FULL SUMMARY

Act One

Armenia, 1915: Avo and his wife, Shogho, lead a life deeply rooted in tradition, where family holds paramount importance. Their teenage children, sons Aram and Aleck, and daughter, Filor, embody a progressive spirit ahead of their time, creating a stark, and sometimes humorous contrast with their parents. The family’s conflicting viewpoints challenge and threaten Avo and Shogho's wish for their family to stay together in Armenia. Aram is preoccupied with love, Aleck is searching for his life purpose, and Filor dreams of leaving the village.

Rising tensions between the Ottomans and Armenians cause Avo and Shogho to worry about the safety of their family, but Aram is unfazed, and confesses his feelings to his best friend, Nellie. Shogho and Filor continue to disagree on societal norms, but family quarrels are put on hold when Avo is arrested and jailed after killing two Ottoman soldiers in an act of self-defense.

Avo’s entire family grieves his absence as Aram marries Nellie, however, with the help of a few boisterous compatriots, Avo breaks out of prison. Avo returns to fight, just before Ottoman soldiers invade their village. The Armenians are triumphant, however, the family's freedom comes at the cost of fleeing Armenia to ensure a safe future.

Act Two

1918: Avo and his eldest son, Aram, work as rubbish haulers in California while the others live as refugees back East. Shogho, Aleck, and Filor book passage to America, but Aram’s wife, Nellie, is delayed in Ottoman Smyrna after her mother falls ill.

Filor contracts the Spanish Flu while ship-bound and is forced to disembark alone in Havana, Cuba. She recovers and meets a gregarious Cuban girl, Benita, who helps her secure work on a sugar plantation, but Filor grapples with an identity crisis as she becomes attracted to Benita.

1919-1922: Grieving, over the loss of Filor, Shogho and Aleck arrive in California. Aleck blames himself, but finds purpose in earning money to search for her, leading the family in building their own rubbish hauling business.

With hostility toward Armenians in Smyrna escalating, Aram travels to rescue Nellie. The Ottomans set Smyrna on fire, but Aram and Nellie narrowly escape and arrive safely in America.

Filor garners her wages but is unable to book passage to America as a solo female traveler. Determined, she disguises herself as a man to board the ship, vowing to Benita that she will return one day. As Filor reunites with her family in Los Angeles, Avo and Shogho acknowledge their family’s strength and perseverance. The Armenian-American community comes together to celebrate, sing and dance in Los Angeles just as they did in Armenia.

Epilogue: The family joins hands and sings, symbolizing the successful completion of Avo and Shogho’s wish for their family to be together. Avo and Shogho illustrate a deeper love, acceptance, and understanding when they let go of Filor’s hands, watching tearfully with bittersweet pride as she sets out on her next adventure. She walks downstage to dedicate the story to the surviving Armenian diaspora as she sings, “for our sons and daughters who are living on today”.

Pictured above: Getap, Armenia, formerly "Ghasmali", in the Shirak Region, July 2023. Photo by Emily Simonian.

BACKGROUND, DEVELOPMENT AND TRUE STORY

BACKGROUND/DEVELOPMENT

Armenian-American Emily Simonian says she always wanted to write a musical someday, and that particular day came in the summer of 2020 while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I knew the exact story I wanted to tell, because it's a true story that's been passed down for generations in my family. It's also an unfinished story that's haunted me for years."

This isn't a story about the Armenian genocide, but rather, a narrative about love, adventure, passion, and a very special culture, which begins against the backdrop of the 1915 tragedy. "With all due respect, our culture is so much more than a survival story. What happened after the genocide, what the Armenian diaspora looks like today, and themes like resilience and family

love— that's what this story is about. Themes that resonate universally, beyond one specific culture."

Emily partnered with her cousin, Rebecka Kazarian Webb, a studied musical theatre director and educator, and together, the two created a roadmap for Emily to bring the story to life through music and lyrics. After Emily gathered historical information, Simonian's father, Wayne, recalled secondhand accounts of his grandparents, Avo and Shogho's tumultuous experiences in Armenia and America.

In early 2023, Emily met orchestrator/arranger Alena Kutumian through an ASMAC (American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers) webinar led by musical theatre giant, Marc Shaiman. Kutumian, a graduate of NYU's Steinhardt, signed on and started creating the musical scores. Simonian, Kutumian, and Webb are currently preparing to workshop the musical in late 2024.

The story sparkles like "a new old classic" with a wholesome old world charm, and a fast-moving sung-through plot, brimming with catchy melodic hooks and clever lyrics.

Using 21st century vernacular and a progressive spirit, Simonian weaves each character's heart-warming story through historical tragedy with grace, and even humor. Indeed, this is not a story about the Armenian genocide. Some might call it a love letter to the Armenian diaspora, and to Emily, it's also "a tribute to memorialize and honor a lost family member: my great-aunt Filor."

INSPIRED BY A TRUE STORY

AVO

Sometime before the onset of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, Avo Simonian was delivering crops to a village near his hometown, Ghasmali, when two Ottoman men aggressively approached him in a field. Avo was alone and didn't have means to defend himself against the two men, who were armed with large machetes. The men tried to physically intimidate and threaten Avo, before rummaging through his cart filled with crops. Recognizing that they were going to kill him, Avo made an abrupt decision that would save his life and change the trajectory of his family members' lives. He snuck up behind the first Ottoman man, swiftly stole the machete out from his belt and killed him. Avo said the second man took off running through the field, so he chased after him and killed him, too. "I ran like a deer", Avo would say. "In those days, I was young and fast, and I could run like a deer".

There were dozens of other stories about dodging Ottoman hostility, but over 100 years later, that particular tale has become legend in the Simonian family, partially because of Avo's enthusiasm when he would tell the story, but mostly because of its critical importance to the family's generational survival. Unfortunately, not many Armenians successfully fought back against the Ottomans during that time. Avo and other Armenians who escaped the genocide were successful because they were bold, ruthless, lucky, or a combination of all of those things.

Avo's act of self-defense landed him in prison. The amount of time he spent in jail is unknown, and there are many other unanswered questions about his experience, like why the Ottomans incarcerated him instead of killing him, or exactly how he was released. Nevertheless, sometime between 1915-1920, Avo became a free man again and left Armenia in search of a better life for his family. He worked in Tijuana, Mexico, before joining an Armenian friend in Los Angeles, California, where he started a rubbish hauling business. His wife, Shogho, and children, Mamigon, Aleck, and Filor, lived as refugees near Batumi, Georgia until Avo sent enough money for them to travel to the states.

FILOR

Avo and Shogho's daughter, Filor, was a young teenager by the time she and her mother and brothers were emigrating to America in the 1920s. Her story still remains a mystery to the Simonian family, largely due to the fact that her mother, Shogho, found it too painful to talk about their experience traveling from Batumi to the United States.

What is known for sure is that Filor became so sick while traveling that she was forced to disembark when the ship made a stop en route in Havana, Cuba. Filor was hospitalized, and unsettlingly, that's where her story ends. Shogho, Aleck, and Mamigon arrived in the states without her.

There was little information about the traumatic experience offered from Shogho, however, the Simonian family has theories as to what may have actually happened. Filor may have died in the hospital with her mother by her side, but perhaps Shogho was never able to accept that Filor was gone. Alternatively, Shogho may have had to make the difficult decision to leave Filor in Cuba, with the intention of coming back for her. If Shogho were to miss re-embarkation, she would forfeit the opportunity to reunite with Avo in America, finding herself alone with her three children and no money, in a foreign country where she didn't speak the language.

WRITING AN ENDING

If Filor did survive, the Simonian family never found her. Avo and his family endured so much in Armenia- famine, poverty, incarceration, separation, and ultimately, escaping genocide. Avo traveled across the world to create a better life for his family, and his wife, Shogho waited for years, living as a refugee. They came so far, only to lose a nearly grown child when they were so close to a new beginning.

Emily became determined to write an ending to honor her great-aunt Filor, the 'lost girl' with an unfinished story, and perhaps an un-lived life. "She was so young, and they were so close to having a happy ending. I hate thinking that she may have suffered alone."

And so, a heroic, young female protagonist was born. "I felt it was important to acknowledge the unresolved truth, and to tell the real story for Filor, or at least a piece of it. The truth is usually so much more fascinating than fiction anyway."