J A M E S  A. G O I N S

A musical centered on Joseph Bologne signals a growing movement in the arts that prioritizes diversity in storytelling. As audiences learn about historical figures often neglected in conventional narratives, the call for stories reflecting diverse experiences becomes stronger.

There is a quiet anticipation woven into the fabric of creation. The earth groans, the skies tremble, the stars lean in—waiting. Waiting for what? Not another political leader. Not another technological marvel. But for the children of God to be revealed. To rise, stand, and walk in the fullness of who they are—trusting fully, believing wholly, moving boldly.

One approaches a new script with anticipation, hoping to find characters that breathe and a story that resonates. In James A. Goins' Unexpected Family, one finds a rather potent premise grounded in contemporary anxieties and timeless questions about kinship and identity. The play introduces us to Beatrice “GiGi Bea” Holloway, a Burbank-based former B-movie actress of a certain age, whose meticulously curated, if somewhat faded, world is irrevocably disrupted by the arrival of