LINSANITY Kicks Off 2013 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) on May 2, 2013 ; Full Lineup Announced

March 29, 2013 – LOS ANGELES Visual Communications (VC), the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, announced its program of outstanding films for the upcoming 29th edition of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) beginning May 2- 12, 2013 at the Director’s Guild of America (DGA), CGV Cinemas located in Koreatown, the Tateuchi Democracy Forum at NCPD in Little Tokyo, and the historic Art Theatre of Long Beach.

As Southern California’s largest and most prestigious film festival of its kind, the LAAPFF launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year’s slate of over 140 films from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international directors from over 20 countries. Over the past 29 years, the Festival has presented more than 3,600 films and shorts by Asian American and Asian international artists. This year, 33 feature films and 108 shorts will be showcased throughout the 10-day fest.

The Festival will feature many returning filmmakers and producers who continue to make films and still hold true to their own voices as exemplified by amazing curated programs, special presentations and sneak previews of upcoming commercial releases, and the launch of two new programs for the production of new Asian American content. In addition, this year also offers an array of celebrated films from prestigious global film festivals including Sundance, Berlin, Toronto and Cannes Film Festival.

The LAAPFF 29th Edition kicks off with the Los Angeles premiere of the 2013 Sundance Film Festival hit LINSANITY, directed by Evan Jackson Leong, a longtime music video director, non-fiction filmmaker and Visual Communications/LAAPFF alum. This highly anticipated documentary, which received its World Premiere at Sundance 2013, casts a trained eye on Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin starting from his humble beginnings in Palo Alto High School to his Harvard college basketball days and through his magical run in the NBA with the New York Knicks in February 2012. Director Leong chronicles Jeremy Lin’s inspirational story long before that fateful month and at a time when Lin was still struggling to find a place in a league that didn’t want him while never wavering in his faith and hope for an opportunity. LINSANITY is produced by Christopher C. Chen (LOOPER; YEAR OF THE YAO; EVERY LITTLE STEP), actor Brian Yang (“HAWAII FIVE-0″; THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS), and Allen Lu. Daniel Dae Kim (“HAWAII FIVE-O”; “LOST”) narrates the film.

“We are excited to host the L.A. premiere of LINSANITY,” says David Magdael, Festival Co-Producer. “Celebrating opening night with this film, with Evan and his production team, is definitely a proud moment for our Asian American film community.”

The U.S. Centerpiece Presentation features the insightful JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS by award-winning documentary filmmaker Tadashi Nakamura (YELLOW BROTHERHOOD; PILGRIMAGE; A SONG FOR OURSELVES). Nakamura’s first feature film offers a compelling portrait of Honolulu-based musician Jake Shimabukuro, an inventive artist whose virtuoso skills on the ukulele transformed the instrument’s understood potential and whose YouTube videos catapulted him into stardom. LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS, which reveals the cultural and personal influences that have shaped the man and the musician, screens on Saturday, May 4 at the DGA.

The LAAPFF is pleased to welcome back director Arvin Chen (AU REVOIR TAIPEI, Festival 2010 Opening Night) with his new feature film, WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW?, as the Film Festival’s International Centerpiece Fresentation. Fresh from its hit world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, this romantic comedy reveals Chen’s growth in filmmaking, and confirms his place as one of Taiwan’s next generation of talented new filmmakers. WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? tells the story of Weichung, a 39-year-old husband and father; who lives an idyllic life, with a doting wife and adorable young son. As he approaches his 40th birthday, he realizes that he has lost all recollection of the younger gay man that he used to be. It will screen on Sunday, May 5 at the DGA.

“Films like LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS and WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? reflect the diverse talent across the broad, global spectrum of Asian American cinema,” says Anderson Le, Festival Artistic Director. “This is what we strive to bring our audiences every year, and we are proud to showcase these works in Los Angeles.”

The Festival’s closing night gala presentation is Japanese director Kenji Uchida’s award winning screwball comedy KEY OF LIFE. A satirical take on identity theft and finding one’s true self, the film stars Japan’s award winning Masato Sakai as a failed actor who contemplates suicide after being dumped by his girlfriend. But before committing suicide Sakurai heads off to a public bathhouse. At the bathhouse, he then witnesses a man named Kondo (Teruyuki Kagawa) slip on a bar of soap and knocked out, right in front of Sakurai. On a sudden whim, Sakurai switches locker keys with Kondo and takes his identity. Kondo, on the other hand, is whisked to the hospital where he suffers amnesia. He is then given the contents in Sakurai’s locker and soon embodies his strange, new life. Unbeknownst to Sakurai, he soon realizes that his new identity has yakuza ties. The film received its World Premiere at the 2012 Shanghai International Film Festival and will be released in U.S. cinemas in June.

This year, the LAAPFF will present a number of outstanding award winning films from some of the world’s most prestigious film festivals. This year’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary World Cinema, A RIVER CHANGES COURSE by San Francisco-based director Kalyanee Mam will have its Los Angeles premiere on May 4 at the DGA. Her beautiful and important first feature film covers the lives of three young Cambodians struggling to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing and overwhelming debt working and living on the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia. Mam was the director photography for the Oscar® winning film INSIDE JOB.

Other global festival favorites include: JISEUL by O Muel (winner, World Cinema Narrative Grand Jury Award, 2013 Sundance Film Festival); FALLEN CITY by Zhao Qi (2013 Sundance Film Festival); ABIGAIL HARM by Lee Isaac Chung (2012 Busan International Film Festival) starring Amanda Plummer; WHEN I WALK by Jason DaSilva (2013 Sundance Film Festival); THE PLAYBACK SINGER by Suju Vijayan (New Visions Award Winner, 2013 CineQuest Film Festival); SAKE-BOMB by Junya Sakino (2013 SXSW Film Festival); and COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING by Anja Daelemans, Nick Bonner and Kim Gwang Hun (Toronto International Film Festival/Busan International Film Festival/Pyongyang International Film Festival).

“The LAAPFF has become one of the main stops on the festival circuit for these major award winning festival films,” states Abraham Ferrer, LAAPFF Senior Programmer. “We are honored to showcase these important voices from our filmmakers from around the world bringing their films to Southern California.”

In addition to features, documentaries and short films, the Festival also presents content from the burgeoning New Media space. Two productions, made especially for online distribution, are highlighted in this year’s program — NICE GIRLS CREW, from award-winning director Tanuj Chopra (PUNCHING AT THE SUN) and creator-producer Christine Kwon, returns to the Festival with a second season of comedy between three frenemies (played with zeal and zaniness by Asian American actresses Michelle Krusiec, Lynn Chen and Sheetal Sheth), who bond, fight, and cry together in their own solitary book club. For this new season, the cast has grown to accommodate the talents of Leonardo Nam (THE PERFECT SCORE, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS) and Parvesh Cheena (OUTSOURCED).

The second web-based project presented at this year’s Festival is an adaptation of award-winning play and produced by Justin Lin’s YOMYOMF Network on YouTube. YELLOW FACE is about DHH (Ryun Yu), an Asian American playwright who casts Marcus (Christopher Gorham), a Caucasian actor, in his new show after mistakenly believing Marcus is part Asian. An entertaining mix of fact and fiction that defies any easy categorization, Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang’s play — a planned YouTube adaptation — features a distinguished cast including a mix of veterans and newbies from film, TV, theater and YouTube. This “work-in-progress” presentation will be followed by a panel discussion led by Bing Chen, Global Creator Development & Management Lead at YouTube, Philip W. Chung, creative director of the YOMYOMF Network, Jeff Liu, the director of this project, and members of the cast.

“New media is a sector that Asian American content creators have thrived through innovation and capturing dedicated audiences. With the likes of Ryan Higa, KevJumba, Freddie Wong, and Wongfu Productions who have huge followings and have managed to monetize their content on YouTube, online media is where its at,” says Anderson Le, the Festival’s Artistic Director. “The YOMYOMF Network is doing innovative things by becoming a defacto entertainment network that can do a plethora of content, from reality competition shows, to music videos, to broad comedies. YELLOWFACE and NICE GIRLS CREW are two examples of now trying to carve specific niches within the broad world of Asian American online consumers, who are looking for diversified and prestige content.”

As independent film continues to grow and change at a rapid pace with respect to funding and getting productions off the ground, so do the available resources for filmmakers. Once again, Visual Communications, through the LAAPFF, will also host PROJECT CATALYST, a film and TV project development initiative specifically designed to help usher in new stories and ideas into production and distribution. PROJECT CATALYST serves as a launchpad for filmmakers of Asian descent to showcase their narrative feature and TV spec projects to Financiers, Producers, Production Companies, Artists, Agents, Managers and Industry Executives. At last year’s Project Catalyst (previously known as Project Market), filmmakers, combined, had over 140 meetings and numerous networking engagements, enabling them with the contacts, information and confidence they need to make their film. This year, in an effort to find unique and visionary stories nine narrative projects have been chosen to participate in this unique opportunity. In addition to participating in the panels, a pitch session with the Jury and one-on-one industry meetings, a cash prize will be awarded. This award will be determined by an esteemed panel of jurors and will be announced at the closing ceremonies of the Festival.

“At Visual Communications, it is our goal to ensure that our stories are being told by our artists,” states Executive Director and Festival Executive Producer Shinae Yoon. “PROJECT CATALYST is a unique opportunity to provide resources and access to help nurture and incubate our Asian Pacific American talent. We are looking forward to the scripts and potential projects that our filmmakers will present this year with the hope of discovering new talent and new stories.”

With over 60 women directors showcased this year, the LAAPFF celebrates the voices of women filmmakers. Festival goers will be able to interact with the WOMEN GOT THE POWER! panel on Sunday, May 5 at the DGA which focusses on female producing talent who have put their stamp on the current landscape by claiming their own voice in a very male-dominated industry. A new generation of Asian Pacific American women producing talent will be featured including Soojin Chung; Vera Miao; and Suju Vijayan and others to be confirmed.

The LAAPFF 29th Edition will mark the 10th Anniversary of the passing of Visual Communications’ visionary Executive Director, Linda Mabalot with the special program HOWZIT! A VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS TRIBUTE TO LINDA MABALOT. The program will be dedicated to her policy of nurturing the next generation of Asian Pacific American filmmakers. The program will include a screening of select past recipients of the LINDA MABALOT NEW DIRECTORS/NEW VISIONS AWARD, a LAAPFF juried award recognizing innovative use of cinematic language; and will culminate with the inaugral presentation of the LINDA MABALOT LEGACY FUND SCHOLARSHIP to a woman filmmaker whose work reflects Mabalot’s deep commitment to community justice and social issue documentary filmmaking. This will take place on May 5 at the DGA.

Continuing last year’s success, the LAAPFF expands to the South Bay during the Closing weekend. On Saturday May 11, select works will be presented at the historic Art Theatre of Long Beach including encore presentations of Film Festival award-winners and curated films from Pacific Islander, Taiwanese, Filipino and Native Hawaiian communities. This Festival extension will showcase TONGUES OF HEAVEN by Anita Chang; TO WEAVE A NAME (E Haku Inoa) by Christen Marquez; THE HAUMANA by Keo Woolford; and HARANA by Benito Bautista.

This year’s competition of Asian American feature films reflect a varied group of compelling story tellers.

The 2013 documentary competition line-up includes:
A RIVER CHANGES COURSE – Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia/United States)
HARANA – Benito Bautista (Philippines/United States)
JAKE SHIMAUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS – Tadashi Nakamura (United States)
LINSANITY – Evan Jackson Leong (United States)
RASKAL LOVE – Byron Q (United States)
STATELESS – Duc Nguyen (United States)
TO WEAVE A NAME (E Haku Inoa) – Christen Marquez (United States)
TONGUES OF HEAVEN – Anita Chang (United States / Taiwan)
WHEN I WALK – Jason DaSilva (United States/Canada)
XMAS WITHOUT CHINA – Alicia Dwyer (United States)

The 2013 narrative competition line-up includes:
ABIGAIL HARM – Lee Isaac Chung (United States)
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER – Brea Grant (United States)
CHINK – Stanley Yung (United States)
THE HAUMANA – Keo Woolford (United States)
THE PLAYBACK SINGER – Suju Vijayan (United States)
SAKE-BOMB – Junya Sakino (United States)
SOMEONE I USED TO KNOW – Nadine Truong (United States)

The 2013 international showcase line-up includes:
COMRADE KIM GOES FLYING – Kim Gwang-hun, Nicholas Bonner, Anja Daelemans (North Korea/Belgium/United Kingdom)
DREAMS FOR SALE (Yume Uru Futari) – Miwa Nishikawa (Japan)
FALLEN CITY – Zaho Qi (People’s Republic of China)
JISEUL – O Muel (South Korea)
KEY OF LIFE (Kagi Dorobo no Mesotdo) – Uchida Kenji (Japan)
THE SOUND OF CRICKETS AT NIGHT (Ainikien Jidjid ilo Boñ) – Jack Niedenthal, Suzanne Chutaro (Marshall Islands)
TOKYO BOY – Sato Yoshinori (Japan)
TOUCH OF THE LIGHT – Chang Jung-Chi (Taiwan, ROC)
WHAT ISN’T THERE (Ang Nawawalang) – Marie Jamora (Philippines)
WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? – Arvin Chen (Taiwan, ROC)

The 2013 line-up of special presentations includes:
DEAD DAD – Ken J. Adachi (United States)
HAFU: THE MIXED RACE EXPERIENCE IN JAPAN – Lara Perez Takagi, Megumi Nishikura (Japan)
NICE GIRLS CREW: SEASON 2 – Tanuj Chopra (United States)
YELLOWFACE – Jeff Liu (United States)
“Secret Screening Presentation” – (United States, South Korea)
For program information, a complete listing of sponsors and partners, and to purchase tickets, log on to www.vconline.org/festival or contact Visual Communications at (213) 680-4462 x59. Tickets go on sale on April 5, 2013.

The Festival is honored to partner once again with the Directors Guild of America as its main screening venue during the Festival’s Opening Weekend. This state-of-the-art theater is where the Festival will screen its Opening Night Film as well as its Centerpiece Presentations.

The Festival will also screen at CGV Cinemas, situated in the heart of Los Angeles Koreatown. Festival screenings will begin on Friday May 3, through the Closing Night Gala, and wrap on May 12.

The screenings in Long Beach will be held at the historic Art Theatre on Saturday, May 11.

ABOUT THE LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL
The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival presented by Visual Communications is the Southland’s premier showcase for the best and brightest of Asian Pacific cinema. Since 1983, the Film Festival has presented over 3,400 films and videos by Asian international and Asian American artists, and additionally features seminars and panels, in-person guest appearances, and filmmaker awards.

ABOUT VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS
Visual Communications (VC), the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, was established in 1970. The organization has established a lengthy track record of pioneering achievements in producing, presenting, and preserving more honest and accurate representations of Asian and Pacific Islander communities in America. Visual Communications is also recognized as an incubator of emerging Asian Pacific American cinematic talent. The organization’s works have been exhibited in numerous venues and broadcast outlets around the world. The mission of Visual Communications is to promote intercultural understanding through the creation, presentation, preservation and support of media works by and about Asian Pacific Americans.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
David Henry Hwang and FOX Entertainment Japan’s Dan Smith Among Judges for 2013 72-Hour Shootout; Pre-Shootout Events
Asians on Film Festival 2013 Winners Announced; Screenings are February 15 – 17, 2013
World Premiere Screening of Lil Tokyo Reporter Starring Chris Tashima at Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, September 14-16, 2012
Jose Llana, Ruthie Ann Miles, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Conrad Ricamora, Kelvin Moon Loh and More Set for World Premiere of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s Here Lies Love at The Public, April 2 – May 19, 2013
Photos: All-Access Pass to August Wilson’s Two Trains Running with John Earl Jelks, Harvy Blanks,Chuck Cooper, Anthony Chisholm, Owiso Odera, Roslyn Ruff and James A. Williams
Signature Theatre’s 2013-14 Season Features New Works by Albee, Hwang, Enos, Taylor, Wilson, Clarke and Jacobs-Jenkins
Keith David, January LaVoy, John Douglas Thompson, Glynn Turman, Lillias White and More Set for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the CTG/Mark Taper Forum, April 24 – June 9, 2013
Chay Yew Directs A.C.T.’s World Premiere of Stuck Elevator, April 4-28, 2013
East West Players Presents Chess at the David Henry Hwang Theater, May 9 – June 9, 2013
Signature Theatre’s Revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Set for Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China, May 9-12, 2013
Paul Giamatti Leads Yale Rep’s Production of Hamlet, March 15-April 13, 2013
Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night
Harlem Nights with Lorey Hayes, Actress, Director and Award-Winning Playwright of Power Play and Massinissa
Manu Narayan Dazzles as Richard Roma in La Jolla Playhouse’s Revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2013 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Chay Yew Directs A.C.T.’s World Premiere of Stuck Elevator, April 4-28, 2013

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is presenting the world premiere of Stuck Elevator at A.C.T.’s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco), April 4–28, 2013. Press night is Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Tickets (starting at $20) are on sale now and may be purchased online at act-sf.org or by calling 415.749.2228.

Stuck Elevator is a visionary musical work based on the true story of Guāng (光), a Chinese deliveryman who was trapped in a Bronx elevator for 81 hours. Sounding the alarm will open the doors to freedom, but calling for help also means calling for attention—with dire consequences for this undocumented immigrant. Suspended between the upward mobility of the American dream and the downward plunge into an empty abyss, Guāng delves into memories of his past and into nightmares of present predicament, all within the confines of a 4′ by 6′ by 8′ metal box.

Chay Yew. Photo by Lia Chang

Inventively staged by internationally acclaimed artist Chay Yew—and introducing the prodigious work of composer Byron Au Yong and librettist Aaron Jafferis—Stuck Elevator unleashes an evocative collision of stories, sounds, instruments, and ideas.

Featuring a hybrid of musical theater, opera, and solo performance, Stuck Elevator will feature Julius Ahn (Madame Butterfly at Nashville Opera; Turandot at Seattle Opera) in the tour-de-force role of Guāng. He is joined by an extraordinary ensemble of performers—all of whom play multiple roles—including Raymond J. Lee (Anything Goes and Mamma Mia! on Broadway) as Wáng Yuè (王越), Guāng’s 8-year-old son; Marie-France Arcilla (Working at Off-Broadways’ 59E59 Theaters; Sondheim on Sondheim at the Cleveland Playhouse) as Míng (明), Guāng’s wife; Joel Perez (In the Heights , 1st national tour; Fun Home at the Public Theater) as Marco, the wisecracking Mexican deliveryman; and Joseph Anthony Foronda (Pacific Overtures and Miss Saigon on Broadway) as Zhōng Yi (忠佚), Guāng’s brother-in-law.

Says A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff: “I discovered this remarkable piece at the Sundance Playwrights Lab, where it leapt to the fore because of its astonishing originality. Who would have thought you could turn the true story of a frightened Chinese deliveryman stuck in an elevator into a hilarious and heartbreaking musical about hunger, immigration, family, dreams, and duck sauce? This richly imagined piece of musical theater is a wonderful tribute to San Francisco’s vibrant Chinese culture and a thrilling example of a commitment to new work that defies the boundaries and uses all the tools of theater to create something entirely new.”

A.C.T. will offer numerous InterACT events—many of which are presented free of charge—in association with Stuck Elevator that will give patrons opportunities to get closer to the action while making a whole night out of their evening at the theater:

Audience Prologue: Tue., April 9, at 5:30 p.m.
Before the curtain goes up, get behind the artistic process at this fascinating preshow discussion with the director and artistic staff.

Theater on the Couch: Fri., April 12, following the 8 p.m. performance
Led by Mason Turner, chief of psychiatry at San Francisco’s Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, this exciting postshow discussion series explores the minds, motives, and behaviors of the characters and addresses audience questions.

Audience Exchanges: Tue., Apr. 16, at 7 p.m. | Sun., Apr. 21, at 2 p.m. | Wed., Apr. 24, at 2 p.m.
After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors and artists who create the work onstage.

OUT with A.C.T.: Wed., April 17, following the 8 p.m. performance
The best LGBT night in town! Mingle with the cast and enjoy free drinks and treats at this popular afterparty. Visit www.act-sf.org/out for information about how to subscribe to OUT nights (and other InterACT events) throughout the season.

Wine Series: Tue., April 23, at 7 p.m.
Before the show, raise a glass at this wine tasting event featuring leading sommeliers from the Bay Area’s hottest local wineries.

PlayTime: Saturday, April 27, at 12:30 p.m.
Before this matinee performance, get hands-on with theater with the artists who make it happen at this interactive workshop.

The creative team for Stuck Elevator includes scenic designer Daniel Ostling (Endgame and Play and Once in a Lifetime at A.C.T.; Clybourne Park on Broadway), costume designer Myung Hee Cho (Lackawanna Blues at A.C.T.; Emotional Creature at Berkeley Rep); lighting designer Alexander V. Nichols(Endgame and Play at A.C.T.; Hugh Jackman Back on Broadway and Wishful Drinking on Broadway); video designer Maya Ciarrochi (Sweet Bird of Youth at The Goodman Theatre; Arthur Miller’s All My Sons at the Huntington Theater Company); and sound designer Mikhail Fiksel (Black n Blue Boys at Berkeley Rep; In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) at St. Louis Repertory).

A.C.T.’s production of Stuck Elevator is sponsored by BNY Mellon Wealth Management. Stuck Elevator is made possible by executive producers Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation; producers Richard Davis and Bill Lowell; Don and Judy McCubbin; David and Carla Riemer and Nola Yee; and associate producer Martha Hertelendy. A.C.T. would like to acknowledge its 2012–13 company sponsors The Bernard Osher Foundation; Ms. Joan Danforth; Ray and Dagmar Dolby; Frannie Fleishhacker; Priscilla and Keith Geeslin;Marcia and John Goldman; James C. Hormel and Michael P. Nguyen; Koret Foundation; Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation; Burt and Deedee McMurtry; Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock;Patti and Rusty Rueff; Ms. Kathleen Scutchfield; Mary and Steven Swig; Doug Tilden and Teresa Keller; and Jeff and Laurie Ubben.

BIOGRAPHIES
BYRON AU YONG (Composer) combines folk and avant-garde music to create theatrical works that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer calls “a beguiling hybrid of cultures.” His works have been performed in theaters, museums, and site-specific locations that include the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, the Tokyo Art Museum, and the Seattle Aquarium. Projects include Farewell: A Fantastical Contemplation on America’s Relationship with China (Spectrum Dance Theatre/Seattle Theatre Group), Yiju 移居: Songs of Dislocation (an audio night-garden developed at the Jack Straw New Media Gallery), and Tzu Lho: Simmering Songs (The Esoterics, Stanford Chorale). International events include Salt Lips Touching (premiered outside a Confucian Temple at the Jeonju Sanjo Festival), and Forbidden Circles (Fukuoka Gendai Hogaku Festival, International House of Japan). Learn more at his website: www.hearbyron.com.

AARON JAFFERIS (Librettist) is a hip-hop poet and playwright whose works include Kingdom (Old Globe, ReVision Theatre; Richard Rodgers Award; Best Musical and Best Book of 2008–09 (Newark Star-Ledger); Most Promising New Musical (2006 New York Musical Theatre Festival); Shakespeare: The Remix (TheatreWorks/Palo Alto, St. Louis Black Rep, Capital Rep, Zachary Scott Theatre, International Festival of Arts & Ideas); and No Lie (Nuyorican Poets Café, H.E.R.E., Passage Theatre). He has performed his poetry at Madison Square Garden, the Kennedy Center and the National Poetry Slam Championships, where he is a former Open Rap Slam champion. His poetry has been performed by the Urban Bush Women and published in The Nation. For the last decade he has taught playwriting, poetry, and hip-hop theater in urban high schools, middle schools, and detention centers in his hometown of New Haven, CT. Learn more at his website: www.aaronjafferis.com.

CHAY YEW (Director) has directed world premieres by José Rivera, Naomi Iizuka, Kia Corthron, Julia Cho, David Adjmi, Rha Goddess, Universes, Alec Mapa, and Brian Freeman. He is a recipient of the OBIE Award and DramaLogue Award for Direction. Directing credits include Brainpeople (A.C.T.); Durango (Public Theater and Long Wharf); The Architecture of Loss (New York Theatre Workshop); Cool Dip in the Barren Sahara Crick (Playwrights Horizons); Low (Public Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pillsbury Theatre); Citizen 13559: The Diary of Ben Uchida (Kennedy Center); Universes’ Ameriville (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Public Theater, Round House Theatre, Southern Repertory Theatre and Curious Theatre); Our Town (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Boleros for the Disenchanted (Huntington Theatre); and Antebellum (Woolly Mammoth Theatre).

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Party 3.0, Scenes from Version 3.0, A New Anthology of Asian American Plays, Edited by Chay Yew at Zacek McVay Theater
Version 3.0, a major new collection of contemporary Asian American plays edited by Chay Yew
Victory Gardens appoints renowned director and playwright Chay Yew as its new Artistic Director
Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row
Photos: All-Access Pass to August Wilson’s Two Trains Running with John Earl Jelks, Harvy Blanks,Chuck Cooper, Anthony Chisholm, Owiso Odera, Roslyn Ruff and James A. Williams
Paper Dolls at the Tricycle Theatre Extends through April 28, 2013
NAATCO Presents A Dream Play at Here, March 22 – April 13, 2013
Signature Theatre’s 2013-14 Season Features New Works by Albee, Hwang, Enos, Taylor, Wilson, Clarke and Jacobs-Jenkins
Signature Theatre’s Revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Set for Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China, May 9-12, 2013
Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2013 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Albee, Hwang, Enos, Taylor, Wilson, Clarke and Jacobs-Jenkins Set for Signature Theatre’s 2013-14 Season

Signature Theatre’s 2013-14 season features plays by Edward Albee, David Henry Hwang, Will Eno, Regina Taylor, August Wilson, Martha Clarke and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at the company’s Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues). All subscriber tickets for the 2013-14 Season are $25 each as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. Subscription packages start at just $125.

David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

The Residency One: David Henry Hwang Series continues during the 2013-14 season with the previously announced world premiere of his latest work Kung Fu, directed by Leigh Silverman. Residency One is the continuation of Signature’s core Playwright-in-Residence program that produces a series of plays from the body of work of one accomplished writer.

Signature’s Legacy Program, a homecoming for past Signature Playwrights-in-Residence, will feature the world premiere of Edward Albee’s new play Laying an Egg, directed by David Esbjornson. Signature devoted its 1993-94 Season to Edward Albee, with the world premiere of Fragments, New York premieres of Marriage Play, Counting the Ways and Listening, Sand: Box, The Sandbox, and Finding the Sun. Albee returned to Signature in the 2001-2002 10th Anniversary Season for the presentation of Edward Albee’s Occupant, later also staged in the 2007-2008 Season. His play The Lady from Dubuque was presented at the new Pershing Square Signature Center as part of the Inaugural 2012 season and was extended for three weeks.

Edward Albee. Photo by Lia Chang

The Legacy Program will also include the New York premiere of How I Learned What I Learned by August Wilson. Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who directed Signature’s acclaimed production of Wilson’s The Piano Lesson this fall, will appear in Wilson’s one-man show, with Todd Kreidler directing. Signature’s 2006-07 Season was devoted to the late August Wilson, with productions of his plays Seven Guitars, Two Trains Running and King Hedley II. Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Piano Lesson was presented in the 2012-13 season and was extended for six weeks.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson

Residency Five is Signature’s newest program, a groundbreaking program that provides a group of playwrights with the full range of Signature’s resources for a period of five years to create and produce new work, and guarantees each playwright a minimum of three world premieres at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Residency Five enables a diverse community of playwrights to build bodies of work, and provides them with a significant cash award, full health benefits and a stipend to attend theatre. Annie Baker, Martha Clarke, Will Eno, Katori Hall, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kenneth Lonergan and Regina Taylor are the program’s current playwrights.

The 2013-14 Season will feature the previously announced World Premiere of Regina Taylor’s —- and potatoes, which will be directed by the playwright, along with the world premiere of Cheri, conceived, directed and choreographed by Martha Clarke, and new plays from Will Eno, whose Title and Deed was extended for two weeks during Signature’s Inaugural Season at The Pershing Square Signature Center, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Mare Winningham, James Houghton and Lois Smith at The Pershing Square Signature Center in New York for the opening night party of Old Hats, starring Bill Irwin, David Shiner and Nellie McKay, on March 4, 2013. Photo by Lia Chang

Bill Irwin, Nellie McKay and David Shiner at The Pershing Square Signature Center in New York for the opening night party of their show Old Hats on March 4, 2013. Photo by Lia Chang

Founding Artistic Director James Houghton says “We are thrilled to announce our 2013-2014 season of all-premiere works. The season offers an exciting cross-section of our three Residency programs as we introduce new artists and collaborators and welcome home Signature veterans. It is a rich and rewarding season, and we look forward to sharing it with our growing community here at The Pershing Square Signature Center.”

Signature’s current season continues with The Dance and the Railroad by David Henry Hwang (extended through March 24), Old Hats created and performed by Bill Irwin and David Shiner (extended through May 9) and The Mound Builders by Lanford Wilson, which has been extended through April 14.

Subscriptions to the 2013-14 Season are on sale now by calling the Box Office at 212-244-7529 or visiting www.signaturetheatre.org.

Playwright David Henry Hwang is flanked by his The Dance and The Railroad stars Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu. Photo by Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang Articles:
Signature Theatre’s Revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Set for Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China, May 9-12, 2013
Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night at Signature Theatre
Signature Theatre extends David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad starring Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu through March 24, 2013
Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu Set for Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad, February 5 – March 17, 2013
Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge Star in David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish at South Coast Repertory, January 25 – February 24, 2013
Photos: Partying with the Cast of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child; Extended Run Ends December 16, 2012
Signature Theatre’s Production of Golden Child by David Henry Hwang has been extended through December 16, 2012
Greg Watanabe, Julyana Soelistyo and Jennifer Lim Lead the Cast of Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child, October 23-December 2, 2012
David Henry Hwang to Receive the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award at the 5th Annual Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” Awards on October 29, 2012
Berkeley Rep’s Production Photos of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, Starring Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge, Extends through October 21, 2012
Photos: David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, BD Wong, Brian d’Arcy James, Francis Jue, Jennifer Lim and Leigh Silverman at WNYC’s The Greene Space
Click here for other articles on David Henry Hwang.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: All-Access Pass to August Wilson’s Two Trains Running with John Earl Jelks, Harvy Blanks, Chuck Cooper, Anthony Chisholm, Owiso Odera, Roslyn Ruff and James A. Williams
Hold These Truths Opening Night at Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s Tenney Theatre with Daniel Dae Kim, Joel de la Fuente and Jeanne Sakata
Ron Domingo, Francis Jue and Jon Norman Schneider Join the Cast of the World Premiere of Paper Dolls at the Tricycle Theatre, February 28 – April 13, 2013
Signature Theatre’s World Premiere of Sam Shepard’s Heartless Starring Lois Smith, Gary Cole, Jenny Bacon, Betty Gilpin, and Julianne Nicholson Extends through September 30, 2012
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. She is a Signature Theatre alumni who was in the cast of Sam Shepard’s Chicago, during his Signature 1996-1997 Playwright-in-Residence Season.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2013 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Signature Theatre’s Revival of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Set for Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China, May 9-12, 2013

Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang just returned from Hong Kong, where the West Coast production of his hit Broadway play Chinglish, starring Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge, played to soldout houses at the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Ruy Iskandar, David Henry Hwang and Yuekun Wu. Photo by Lia Chang

In May, he’ll head back to Asia, when Signature Theatre’s critically acclaimed revival of Hwang’s play THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD, directed by May Adrales, will have a limited run at The Inaugural Wuzhen Theatre Festival in Wuzhen, China, May 9-12, 2013. The entire production, which features Ruy Iskandar as Ma and Yuekun Wu as Lone, ends its extended run at The Pershing Square Signature Center on March 24, 2013 and will make the transfer. This marks the first time that a play by David Henry Hwang has been performed in mainland China.

The Wuzhen Theatre Festival will be China’s window to the world’s recent theatre. It will also be an incubator for new creative works by young artists on timely subjects. With a generous award system, it will heighten the profile of theatre and take its place as Asia’s premiere theatre festival. The festival will last for ten days and shows will be performed in both brand new theatres and refurbished ancient stages, ready to meet theatre fans from all over the globe. THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD will be performed in the newly restored Ancient Courtyard Theatre.

In response to the announcement, David Henry Hwang said: “Though my plays have been performed in many Asian countries, The Dance and the Railroad will be my first work to be produced in Mainland China, and I am very grateful to the Wuzhen Festival and Signature Theatre for their dedication and hard work in making this possible. Wuzhen sits just outside Shanghai, where my late Father was born and raised. I think my Dad would be very happy to know that the work of his Chinese American son will be coming home at last.”

On a California mountaintop in 1867 near the Transcontinental Railroad, two Chinese workers struggle through poverty and hunger to reconnect with the traditions of their homeland. THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD follows the twice-extended GOLDEN CHILD as the second production in the Residency One: David Henry Hwang Series.

The design team includes Mimi Lien (Scenic Design), Jennifer Moeller (Costume Design), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Design), Broken Chord (Sound Design), Huang Ruo (Music), Qian Yi (Chinese Opera Consultant), Leah J. Loukas (Wig Design) and Grace Zandarski (Vocal Coach). Casting by Telsey + Company, William Cantler CSA. The production stage manager for the New York production is Cole P. Bonenberger. The production stage manager for the Wuzhen production will be Michael Rico Cohen.

THE DANCE AND THE RAILROAD will continue to play through Sunday, March 24 in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

To purchase tickets for all Signature Productions, call the Signature Theatre Box Office (212-244-7529) or visit signaturetheatre.org.

David Henry Hwang Articles:
Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night at Signature Theatre
Signature Theatre extends David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad starring Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu through March 24, 2013
Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu Set for Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad, February 5 – March 17, 2013
Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge Star in David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish at South Coast Repertory, January 25 – February 24, 2013
Photos: Partying with the Cast of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child; Extended Run Ends December 16, 2012
Signature Theatre’s Production of Golden Child by David Henry Hwang has been extended through December 16, 2012
Greg Watanabe, Julyana Soelistyo and Jennifer Lim Lead the Cast of Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child, October 23-December 2, 2012
Berkeley Rep’s Production Photos of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, Starring Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge, Extends through October 21, 2012
Photos: David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, BD Wong, Brian d’Arcy James, Francis Jue, Jennifer Lim and Leigh Silverman at WNYC’s The Greene Space
Click here for other articles on David Henry Hwang.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
AALDEF Honors Congressman John Lewis, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Simone Wu with 2013 Justice in Action Awards
Hold These Truths Opening Night at Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s Tenney Theatre with Daniel Dae Kim, Joel de la Fuente and Jeanne Sakata
Ron Domingo, Francis Jue and Jon Norman Schneider Join the Cast of the World Premiere of Paper Dolls at the Tricycle Theatre, February 28 – April 13, 2013
Harlem Nights with Lorey Hayes, Actress, Director and Award-Winning Playwright of Power Play and Massinissa
Signature Theatre’s World Premiere of Sam Shepard’s Heartless Starring Lois Smith, Gary Cole, Jenny Bacon, Betty Gilpin, and Julianne Nicholson Extends through September 30, 2012
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. She is a Signature Theatre alumni who was in the cast of Sam Shepard’s Chicago, during his Signature 1996-1997 Playwright-in-Residence Season.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2013 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com

Lia Chang Photos: David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad Opening Night at Signature Theatre

On Monday, February 25, 2013, Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) celebrated the opening night performance of Signature Theatre’s revival of The Dance and The Railroad starring Ruy Iskandar as Ma and Yuekun Wu as Lone, and directed by May Adrales, in The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street in New York.

Ruy Iskandar, David Henry Hwang and Yuekun Wu. Photo by Lia Chang

The Dance and The Railroad premiered as part of a commission by the New Federal Theatre in 1981, and had its professional debut on July 16, 1981 Off-Broadway at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. It was directed by John Lone, with Lone and Tzi Ma in the cast. The Dance and The Railroad is set on a California mountaintop in 1867 near the Transcontinental Railroad where two Chinese workers struggle through poverty and hunger to reconnect with the traditions of their homeland. The play was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for a 1982 Drama Desk Award. The Dance and The Railroad follows the twice-extended Golden Child as the second production in the Residency One: David Henry Hwang Series.

Ruy Iskandar, David Henry Hwang and Yuekun Wu. Photo by Lia Chang

The design team includes Mimi Lien (Scenic Design), Jennifer Moeller (Costume Design), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Design), Broken Chord Collective (Sound Design), Huang Ruo (Music), Qian Yi (Chinese Opera Consultant), Leah Loukas (Wig Design) and Grace Zandarski (Vocal Coach). Casting by TELSEY + COMPANY, William Cantler CSA. Cole P. Bonenberger is Production Stage Manager.

May Adrales and David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

Hwang was joined by his wife Kathryn Layng, his daughter Eva Hwang, his sister Grace Hwang, and composer Lucia Hwong-Gordon, who created the score for the 1981 production of The Dance and The Railroad.

Eva Hwang, David Henry Hwang and Kathryn Layng. Photo by Lia Chang

Eva Hwang, David Henry Hwang and Kathryn Layng. Photo by Lia Chang

Lucia Hwong-Gordon, David Henry Hwang and Kathryn Layng. Photo by Lia Chang

Siblings Grace Hwang and David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

Among the guests to congratulate Hwang at the opening night party were playwrights Edward Albee, John Guare, Bruce Norris; actors Coleman Domingo, John Earl Jelks, James A. Williams and Will Rogers; director Leigh Silverman; casting director Will Cantler; Rachel Cooper, Director Global Performing Arts Cultural Initiatives; and Signature Theatre’s founding artistic director Jim Houghton.

Edward Albee and David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

John Guare, David Henry Hwang and Bruce Norris. Photo by Lia Chang

Coleman Domingo, James A. Williams and John Earl Jelks. Photo by Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang, James A. Williams, John Earl Jelks and Leigh Silverman. Photo by Lia Chang

Jim Houghton and David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

Lucia Hwong-Gordon, David Henry Hwang and Rachel Cooper. Photo by Lia Chang

John Earl Jelks, Will Cantler and Ruy Iskandar. Photo by Lia Chang

Will Rogers and Leigh Silverman. Photo by Lia Chang

Signature Theatre’s revival of The Dance and The Railroad, originally scheduled to run through through March 17, 2013, has been extended until March 24, 2013. All tickets for the initial run of the production are $25 as part of the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access. Purchase Tickets All tickets for the extension are $50.

David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

Chinese American playwright David Henry Hwang has been described by the New York Times as “a true original” and by TIME magazine as “the first important dramatist of American public life since Arthur Miller.” Hwang’s plays include Bondage, Chinglish (2012 Drama Desk Award nomination), The Dance and the Railroad (1982 Drama Desk Award nomination), Family Devotions (1982 Drama Desk Award nomination), FOB (1981 Obie Award), Golden Child (1997 Obie Award, 1998 Tony Award nomination), M. Butterfly (1988 Tony Award, 1989 Pulitzer Prize finalist), and Yellow Face (2008 Obie Award, 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist).

David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang

According to Opera News, Hwang is America’s most-produced living opera librettist. He wrote the libretti for three Broadway musicals: Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida (co-author), Disney’s Tarzan, and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (revival, 2002 Tony Award nomination). In opera, his libretti include four works with composer Philip Glass – 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, Icarus at the Edge of Time, Sound and Beauty, and The Voyage – as well as Howard Shore’s The Fly, Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards), and Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland (Opernwelt 2007 World Premiere of the Year). Hwang penned the feature films Golden Gate, M. Butterfly, and Possession (co-author), and co-wrote the song “Solo” with Prince. His current projects include writing The Forgotten Arm with singer/songwriter Aimee Mann and Paul Bryant, based on her album, for the Public Theatre, Bob’s Gang for Dreamworks Animation, as well as the movie adaptation of Chinglish, to be directed by Justin Lin (Fast and Furious). He sits on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, and served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities by appointment of President Clinton. In 2012, Hwang received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre, the Asia Society Cultural Achievement Award, as well as the Steinberg Award for playwriting, the largest monetary prize in the American theater.

Jim Houghton, Lia Chang and David Henry Hwang.

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist. She is a Signature Theatre alumni who was in the cast of Sam Shepard’s Chicago, during his Signature 1996-1997 Playwright-in-Residence Season.

Yuekun Wu and Ruy Iskandar. Photo by Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang Articles:
Signature Theatre extends David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad starring Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu through March 24, 2013
Ruy Iskandar and Yuekun Wu Set for Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and The Railroad, February 5 – March 17, 2013
Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge Star in David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish at South Coast Repertory, January 25 – February 24, 2013
Photos: Partying with the Cast of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child; Extended Run Ends December 16, 2012
Signature Theatre’s Production of Golden Child by David Henry Hwang has been extended through December 16, 2012
Greg Watanabe, Julyana Soelistyo and Jennifer Lim Lead the Cast of Signature Theatre’s Production of David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child, October 23-December 2, 2012
David Henry Hwang to Receive the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award at the 5th Annual Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” Awards on October 29, 2012
Berkeley Rep’s Production Photos of David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, Starring Michelle Krusiec and Alex Moggridge, Extends through October 21, 2012
Photos: David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, BD Wong, Brian d’Arcy James, Francis Jue, Jennifer Lim and Leigh Silverman at WNYC’s The Greene Space
Click here for other articles on David Henry Hwang.

John Earl Jelks and Lia Chang. Photo by Gregory Costanzo

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Kenny Endo and Kaoru Watanabe Celebrate New CD, Convergence with Concerts in Washington D.C. on February 27 and in New York on March 5, 2013
AALDEF Honors Congressman John Lewis, Jose Antonio Vargas, and Simone Wu with 2013 Justice in Action Awards
Hold These Truths Opening Night at Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s Tenney Theatre with Daniel Dae Kim, Joel de la Fuente and Jeanne Sakata
Ron Domingo, Francis Jue and Jon Norman Schneider Join the Cast of the World Premiere of Paper Dolls at the Tricycle Theatre, February 28 – April 13, 2013
Kumu Kahua Theatre Presents World Premiere of Daniel Akiyama’s A Cage of Fireflies, January 24-February 24, 2013
Harlem Nights with Lorey Hayes, Actress, Director and Award-Winning Playwright of Power Play and Massinissa
Signature Theatre’s World Premiere of Sam Shepard’s Heartless Starring Lois Smith, Gary Cole, Jenny Bacon, Betty Gilpin, and Julianne Nicholson Extends through September 30, 2012
Photos: All-Access Pass to Disney’s Aladdin at The Muny with Thom Sesma, Francis Jue, Robin De Jesus, John Tartaglia, Jason Graae, Curtis Holbrook, Eddie Korbich, Samantha Massell and Ken Page
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lucia Hwong-Gordon, David Henry Hwang and Lia Chang. Photo by Vic Huey

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at liachangpr@gmail.com