As a Musical!!

“It's hard not to fall in love with My Korean Deli...[It] tells a rollicking, made-for-the-movies story in a wonderfully funny deadpan style.”

-The New York Times Book Review

The Story

Meet Ben, a self-identified WASP and editor of a notable literary journal. And his wife Gab, daughter of Korean immigrants, who’s a corporate lawyer hitting complete burn out. And Gab’s mother, Kay, the Mike Tyson of Korean grandmothers, a consummate doer, restless from mid-life crisis. Mix in a donut, a deli, and a dream and what do you get?

My Korean Deli: The Musical

MKD:TM is about more than just a white collar couple diving into the perils of big city entrepreneurship. It’s about letting go of preconceived notions, swimming upstream, evolving. It’s about community and the nuanced intimate exchanges of motley neighbors. It’s about the hard-knock ways of New Yorkers. But most of all, it’s about human beings just being human.

From the memoir

“That’s the thing about family business, though - there is no escape. You live with the people you work with, and after putting up with them at work all day, you get to come home and listen to them clip their toenails as they hog the television.”

“There’s no ‘blah blah blah,’ as Kay would put it - ‘just do.’ (Like her syntax in English. Kay’s life doesn’t have a conditional or subjunctive tense —only action.)”

“For the most part, the regulars aren’t the types to get drunk and knock off convenience stores. They’re the types to get drunk and go fishing underneath bridges.”

“Standing there all day not knowing who’s going to come in next or what they’re going to say, you have almost no choice except to become a bit more easygoing, and to trust more. It’s a good thing. Everyone should work at a checkout counter for some part of their lives.”

Why this story? Why Now?

Remember a time before smart phones were super smart, when they were still called mobile phones. Back when you actually complimented people in person rather than on social media. A time before AI gave you instant answers, when curiosity lingered long enough to get you searching and you found more than you searched for. Sometimes it dropped like a ton of bricks, shaking you awake. Well that time is here and the bricks come in the form of a deli in MY KOREAN DELI: THE MUSICAL!

In My Korean Deli, Ben, Gab, and Kay dive headfirst into the perils of big city entrepreneurship and purchase a deli in the on-the-cusp-of-gentrifying neighborhood of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. The customers are salt of the earth, fly by the seat of your pants types that contrast strongly with Ben’s over-intellectual ways. Ben starts as a total fish out of water, floundering on the cash register, packing eggs at the bottom of the bag. But he’s perceptive, sharp witted, & evolves. By the end, he’s found his land legs.

The story, based on Ben Ryder Howe’s 2011 critically acclaimed memoir, My Korean Deli, Risking it all for a Convenience Store is perfect for the live musical format. The characters are quirky, strongly opinionated. And the setting, the deli / bodega, as all New Yorkers know, is more than just a place to buy cigarettes and beer. In My Korean Deli, it’s a community center, a lifeline, a family affair, a test of endurance. Brooklynites, Koreans, lotto, perfectly bland coffee, and the Ben v Kay dynamic… a winning combo for a comedic uplifting show.

The time is ripe for the memoir’s next iteration as a musical. A few years into the post-pandemic loneliness epidemic, at the apex of the AI wave, we’re hungry for stories that celebrate human to human interactions. So if you’re wondering: How does one join a community of the other? What is it that makes some people embrace an uncomfortable situation while others reject it? Or simply what’s the trick to picking winning lotto numbers… well you’ve come to the right place.

Please consider a tax-deductible donation so we can move this project, in the words of the wise Kay, from “blah blah blah” to “just do”!

For donations larger than $1000 contact Creative Visions directly. [debra.koffler@creativevisions.org]

The Crew…

(Thus far)

Timothy Huang is a Taiwanese American playwright, actor, composer and lyricist. He is the creator of the award-winning one-man musical, The View from Here, the song cycle LINES, and "American Morning", aka Costs of Living. Inspired by a true story, Costs of Living received national attention in the 2011 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, moderated by Stephen Schwartz. Subsequent to the workshop, Costs of Living won the Richard Rodgers Award. Huang is the third Asian American to win the award and the first to win as a triple threat composer/lyricist/librettist. Costs of Living was also nominated by the Dramatist Guild for the Weston New Musical Award, the American Harmony Prize. It was juried by Stephen Sondheim for the BMI Master Class Series. Add to his credit composer, lyricist and librettist of the full length musical And the Earth Moved, which was featured in the inaugural New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Ruth S. Chon is a filmmaker and content creator. Her work spans from documentary to big studio marketing. She worked in the television musical space at Disney for over a decade on shows such as "High School Musical the Movie, the Series”, “Zombies”, and “Descendants.” But Ruth’s passion lies in the untold stories of the under represented, diving into big issues and parsing the complexity with a human touch. Her work has won awards and been reviewed favorably in Variety magazine. Presently she is expanding a 2011 short doc that explores the transgender scene of Hawai’i into a feature length film. As a Korean mother, she anticipates the day her children will gift her a deli.

David K. Israel has been telling stories through music, words and the lens for more than three decades. In 1991, he was hired by The Estate of Leonard Bernstein to help edit and publish the late composer’s works. Mr. Israel worked on definitive editions of West Side Story, Mass, On the Town, and Wonderful Town. He's composed commissioned scores for numerous critically acclaimed dance pieces, working with companies such as Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp and the New York City Ballet and choreographers such as Janie Taylor, Gianna Reisen and Melissa Toogood. David has also produced, written and sold feature films and TV pilots. His critically acclaimed first novel, Behind Everyman was published by Random House, translated and sold worldwide. His recently-completed second novel, The Lost Mozart, will be released for publication by Regalo/Simon & Schuster in August 2026.

Ben Ryder Howe Former senior editor of The Paris Review, senior editor of Town & Country, travel editor of Departures, and deputy editor of The New York Observer. Author of My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store (Amazon Top 100 Books of the Year). A journalist with depth, humor, and a record of generating traffic, including frequent "Great Reads," "Most Emailed" and Apple News+ features. He writes, edits, and works behind the scenes, always favoring a light touch and real reporting.

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