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Topaz Gao

@purelytopaz

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Take a glance at the art I make 😛 -> @topazgao
🔒💕 @_onthedl

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I take a break every now and then (shoutout to @omnomnitty for organizing the trip out)

@ahjaegookbap thank you for having us even though we looked crazy ordering so much food by @purelytopaz

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3 days ago

I had the absolute pleasure of being part of a super cool music video shoot recently. @rowancassandralin reached out to me in search of "buff women" and I felt absolutely honored to be invited.

I didn't realize how many amazing people I would meet at this shoot.

My body has never been something i had a lot of confidence in. I was always chubby, and having grown up in China my limbs and proportions were always a little bigger than what was considered "ideal", and my BMI was always in the "overweight" range. After a while my gender identity also started to sway, and even as I experimented with ways to present myself, my body felt like a curse I couldn't get away from.

Only recently did I start earnestly and consistently strength training in the gym. I started to put my bets on what my body could do as opposed to what it looked like, but my confidence in that choice has always wavered. Until I met some of the other amazing AFAB folks on set for this shoot.

To my amazing fellow buff women @bellafitness798 @acs.photodumps @stephdelander @donnaztinylab @sheamccoy @lorierra @eris.ayra
@oceanofivy @kaci_sends_sometimes - thank you for validating my decision and showing me what strength looks like. I admire all of you more than you know.

To the talented models @daytimetvshows @ellesm.th @loramouna @sweetpeacece @mshaug @juliet.by.night - thank you for accepting and welcoming me. Being feminine in my body has never felt so safe.

Of course, I still have critiques on my physique, but I have never felt so motivated to chase progress.

Shot By: @camerynkaman @isabella_nha @veryfreakingcool
Production Company: @slugwifeproductions
Wardrobe: @sour.dice

Directors: @augie_murphy @rowancassandralin
Stylist: Max Casson @maxuhhhhhmillion
Additional Styling By: @e.r.m.l.nolan
Lighting By: Ginny Jiang @g1nny2470
Camille DZY @camiessdo
Trinity Johnson @tri3ity
Donna Zhang @donnaztinylab
Production Design: Pan Moncada @pangaeaxo
Abby Kim @a66ykim
Harper Abeyta @harps.j.a
Jasmine Spero @jasmine.spero
Location: @diamondheart_sg by @purelytopaz

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6 days ago

I promise like 3 of them are temporary gigs. 5 jobs in one week is tough tho I don’t think I’m gonna do that again 🫪

On a more serious note, doing independent theater is expensive and hard, but I wanna make sure I can keep doing it. So for now we’re saving up some funds for the next thing. Wish me perseverance 🫩

#newyork #work by @purelytopaz

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13 days ago

Letting my high school students narrate my workday 🫪

They’re so funny by @purelytopaz

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19 days ago

I go out I swear by @purelytopaz

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a month ago

I'm late making this post because of course I am. I always have such a hard time keeping up with posting projects I'm working on because it feels like an admission that it is done, and this one feels particularly hard to let go of.

To the cast and crew that decided to bear with me even when this project had so many moving pieces, you are the most patient, talented, and gorgeously hard-working individuals I've ever encountered. I cannot express enough gratitude for your part in bringing this pipe dream of a story that I felt was an amorphous blob a year ago into reality with such stunning detail.

To my co-creators in this project, thank you for teaching and trusting in me. I constantly feel like the crazy one when it comes to interactive theater, but you welcomed my insanity and gave me the freedom to create something I am so endlessly proud of us for. I love you both.

At the end of the day, I am so grateful to be able to make art with my friends. Both old and new.

You are all Greater Than.

CREATORS:
Director / Co-Writer: @clara.mckenzie
Asst. Director / Co-Writer: @purelytopaz
Co-Writer: @aan9elina

CAST:
Alex - @xray_maxwell
Eleanor - @kaitlyn.rose.rabocse
Ophelia - @amayamakhni
Eros - @creaamyso
CEO - @noahsl123
Preacher - @laurynn_starkey

MUSES:
Thalia - @lex_arenberg
Calli - @sopipaaaaa
Clio - @simonebatiste
Mel - @anjalimoorthy
Terry - @_onthedl

CREATIVE:
Stage Manager - @carolinedefazio
ASM - @sitong_yi25
Production Manager - @ahreumbi
Intimacy Coordinator - @thornsnroses.co
Technical Director - @william_owen02

DESIGN:
Set Design - @purelytopaz
Set/Prop Design - @spr.ingbok
Projection Design - @aan9elina
Projection Design - @lily_makes_theatre
Projection Design - @mira__aiko
Lighting Design - Chloe Dittloff
Sound Design - @thelaurenbrad
Composer - @thisisjnvn
Costume Design - @jenbourke_

PRODUCTION:
Co-producer - @clara.mckenzie
Co-producer - @purelytopaz
Fundraising Manager - @jenbourke_

VIDEOGRAPHY
@djaws11
@chelseatrotti

PHOTOS
@ava.iwano
@purelytopaz
@springbok.jpg

PA/USHER
@_onthedl
@ethanmkauf
Aiden Samwick
@Kazi taken in Target Margin Theater by @purelytopaz

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2 months ago

6 days till the show! Have a conversation with our director @purelytopaz about JULIE—"Instead of critiquing someone else’s version of activism, what can we actually do?"

March 6-8, Chain Theatre.
Seats filling up fast, get your tickets now!

#Julie #MissJulie #newyorktheater #ShallSeeTheater #March2026 taken in Manhattan, New York by @purelytopaz

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8 months ago

Life update: I would do a grad post if I could recover those photos from my old phone by @purelytopaz

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a year ago

See you next year ~ taken in Seoul, Korea by @purelytopaz

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2 years ago

Yo 2024 went way further back than I remember by @purelytopaz

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2 years ago

In loving memory of the pink hair that got me identified and arrested 😔 by @purelytopaz

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2 years ago

Some old photos for your consideration 🤲 by @purelytopaz

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2 years ago