Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s original stage production Just Ask! at Coterie platforms the joy of empathetic curiosity

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor reads her book, Just Ask! to a group of children at Kansas City’s Central Library. She was in town to see a staged reading of a musical version of the book that will debut at The Coterie in Jan. // Photo by Beth Lipoff

The Coterie’s new world premiere of Just Ask!  is still in the works for the moment, but the children’s theater recently garnered a special visit from its high-profile collaborator in the venture—Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor made several stops in Kansas City during her Aug. visit, including reading her book—the source material for the new musical—to a group of children at the Kansas City Public Central Library downtown.

Keeping with the book’s story, she encouraged kids to be curious instead of calling someone or something they don’t understand weird, especially when it comes to medical conditions.

“There’s a lot of kids with conditions who get embarrassed because people assume they’re not smart when they are,” she said to the group.

Later, she watched a workshop performance of the musical for which Fran Sillau wrote the book and is directing at The Coterie. Mark Kurtz is writing the music and lyrics.

The whole thing came about when Sillau got a call several years ago from a theater colleague in the Bay Area who wanted to develop a show based on the 2019 children’s book. That commission fell through due to the pandemic. 

Actors present a stage reading of Just Ask! a musical in development at the Coterie that’s set for a Jan debut. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whose book is the source material for the show, was in the audience. // Photo by Beth Lipoff

Sillau felt the project still resonated with him and got in touch with Sotomayor’s literary agent to work something out directly.

“The book is colorful and joyful, and I love to do colorful and joyful work,” Sillau says. “It spoke about a community that is underrepresented. I live every day with cerebral palsy. I walk with forearm crutches and navigate the world that way.”

What makes this production different than most you might see is that the work is flexible to the cast available in any community where it runs. The story follows a group of kids, each of whom has a challenge, such as Down syndrome or ADHD, trying to revive a community garden.

The intention is that each actor actually has the condition he or she portrays, which both lends authenticity to the performances and also gives those actors an opportunity.

“I have been blessed with parents who were able to give me opportunities to explore the arts and the theater. As I was going about what became my work in that world, I realized there weren’t a lot of people around who looked like me and had the experiences I had. And representation is power. Whenever I can, I want to give opportunities to all individuals who may or may not have seen themselves represented on stage,” Sillau says.

To achieve that, he wrote a story with extra characters who can be swapped in or out to accommodate the available talent pool.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor reads her book, Just Ask! to a group of children at Kansas City’s Central Library. She was in town to see a staged reading of a musical version of the book that will debut at The Coterie in Jan. // Photo by Beth Lipoff

“It really makes it more universal for other producing entities outside of Kansas City and all over the country and the world to really say, ‘I don’t have someone with a peanut allergy, but I have a great actor/singer who happens to be blind. I don’t have someone who has Down syndrome, but I have someone in a wheelchair,’” Sillau says.

He didn’t do it alone—Sotomayor has taken a keen interest in how her book is being adapted and has offered detailed feedback in response to his questions and drafts, as well as the recent staged reading.

“She was able to see beyond the lyrics and really look at the subtext of the piece, and that just shows the real intentionality in everything she does,” he says. “Every artist should be so lucky to have a collaborator like that.”

Sillau took care to be judicious about the issues he brought up in his limited communications with her.

“She is extremely busy with a very important day job. I want to be in respect of that day job,” he says.

Working with The Coterie has been helpful for him in developing the project and finding community partners.

“The Coterie is able to give it a special kind of attention that this play really needed, which was going out into the community and really finding those people who could embody these characters,” he says.

The full version of the show is set to run Jan. 29 to Feb. 23 at The Coterie. More information can be found here.