Leviathan Lab’s Women Writer’s Group: MIGRATION NATION: IMPORTED AND EXPLOITED at Space on White, October 26 – 27, 2012

The latest installment in Leviathan Lab’s 2nd season is MIGRATION NATION: IMPORTED AND EXPLOITED, featuring 9 world-premiere plays from Leviathan’s Women Writer’s Group exploring the experiences of immigrant Filipinos who have taken jobs as overseas workers (OFW’s) worldwide. Performances are at 7pm and 9pm on October 26th and 27th at Space on White, 81 White Street in New York. Tickets are $15 each. Pre-show talk at 6:15pm both nights. To buy tickets, click here: http://bpt.me/281856 or call 212.227.8600 for more information.

Karen Tsen Lee

OFWs, the majority of them women, constitute the Philippines’ largest export, totaling 11% of the Philippine economy. These women, without the benefit of citizenship or workers’ rights, suffer a huge number of human rights abuses, including rape, torture, and death. MIGRATION NATION seeks to explore the experiences of these workers in a new context by creating a theater experience like none other.

Jaygee Macapugay

“Migration Nation is an attempt to theatrically re-create the experience of the OFW,” said Leviathan Lab Artistic Director Nelson T. Eusebio III. “We feel that by bringing the audience into this experience – an entire house of their stories, reflecting the diasporatic experience of the OFWs – that it will enable us to both engage, enlighten and entertain our audiences. The goal of the event is to merge the political theatrical aspirations of Brecht with the voyeuristic and inclusionary experience of ‘Sleep No More’.”

“We are thrilled to be able to perform and be part of Filipino history month. These stories not only mean a tremendous amount to our community, but are stories of humanity and our rights as human beings. We hope that Migration Nation will help bring focus to a largely underserved and overlooked community,” said Executive Director and company Founder Ariel Estrada.

Christine Toy Johnson Photo by Bruce Alan Johnson

The playwrights of MIGRATION NATION include Nancy Eng, Christine Toy Johnson, Dorim Lee, Karen Lee, Marisa Marquez, May Nazareno, Kristine M. Reyes, Eileen Rivera and Nandita Shenoy. The plays will be directed by Tea Alagic, Jo Cattell, Elyzabeth Gorman, Larissa Lury and Kira Onodera. The cast includes Leanne Cabrera, Kitty Chen, Patricia Cancio, Claro de los Reyes, Ariel Estrada, Karen Tsen Lee, Jaygee Macapugay, Jake Myers, Mizuo Peck, Diane Phelan, Krystal Seli, Kurt Uy and Yan Xi.

MIGRATION NATION has successfully completed their 40 DAYS TO $4000 campaign; From Leviathan: “We ask you to help share these important stories with our community, and ask you to give what you can; your tax-deductible donation will go toward sets, costumes, performer and technician stipends, and more. MIGRATION NATION is funded, in part, by generous support from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Yet even with their funding, this ambitious live performance work is in need of your support. To make a contribution, go http://bit.ly/PEAKZR

MIGRATION NATION is made possible by a grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Community partners for this project are FAHNS, NAFAA and UniPro.

Website: www.leviathanlab.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeviathanLab

Twitter: @LeviathanLab

Help Leviathan Lab reach their goal of 40 Days to $4K www.leviathanlab.com

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Mel Sagrado Maghuyop, Tamara Jenkins, Christine Toy Johnson and Ron Domingo Lead the Cast of Harbor Lights Theater Company’s Production of The King and I, directed by Alan Muraoka, November 2-18, 2012
Tina Chilip, Jojo Gonzalez, Marcus Ho and More in Leviathan Lab’s Twelfth Night Production Photos
Tina Chilip and Jojo Gonzalez Star in Leviathan Lab’s Dynamic Hong Kong Re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night Featuring an All-Asian American Cast, at the Arclight in NY, 11/3-11/19, 2012
Photos: Ching Valdes-Aran: New and Selected Work on View at the Philippine Center Gallery in New York, October 22-November 2, 2012
Lorey Hayes’ Power Play Reading at Schomburg Center with Pauletta Pearson Washington, Roscoe Orman, Lia Chang, Lorey Hayes, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney and Jeff Wallner, October 18, 2012
Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor Hosts 1st Annual Varli Culinary Awards with Co-hosts Manu Narayan and Pooja Kumar in New York on November 15, 2012
Multimedia: Manu Narayan Dazzles as Richard Roma in La Jolla Playhouse’s Revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross
Photos: Maurice Hines, Jonathan Groff, Mercedes Ellington, Charles Randolph Wright at The Laurie Beechman for André De Shields’s I PUT A SPELL ON YOU
Signature Theatre’s Production of Golden Child by David Henry Hwang has been extended through December 9, 2012
David Henry Hwang to Receive the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award at the 5th Annual Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” Awards on October 29, 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. Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2012 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

Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga Leads Stellar Cast in First All-Filipino Concert for Philippine Development Foundation, “PhilDev Celebrates Broadway: Suites by Sondheim” at Alice Tully Hall

Lea Salonga

Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga leads stellar cast in first All-Filipino concert to benefit the Philippine Development Foundation (“PhilDev”), PhilDev Celebrates Broadway: Suites by Sondheim,” directed by Victor Lirio, on Monday, November 7th, 2011 at 7:30PM,at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York. Tom Myron will serve as conductor and music director.

PhilDev, a US-based non-profit organization, develops much-needed programs and supports initiatives that accelerate the sustainable social and economic growth in the Philippines through science and technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In addition, it is the major conduit for Filipino Americans to support education and training, arts and culture, enterprise and livelihood, the environment, healthcare, rural development, governance, persons with special needs, and women’s and children’s issues in the Philippines.

Orville Mendoza

The concert—conceived and co-produced by actor, director, and producer Victor Lirio, artistic director of Diverse City Theater Co. (DCT), and PhilDev Trustee Ronna Reyes Sieh—will be the first New York gala for PhilDev. It also marks the first all-Filipino concert at Lincoln Center presenting top Filipino-American talents who have all made marks on Broadway in leading roles.

Rona Figueroa

The evening’s repertoire will be devoted to the works of internationally celebrated American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim and will include songs from some of Sondheim’s iconic musicals such as Anyone Can Whistle, Company, A Little Night Music, Merrily We Roll Along, Saturday Night, Sunday in the Park with George, Sweeney Todd, West Side Story, among others.

Ariel Estrada

In a letter Sondheim wrote to Lirio, he expressed: “I am delighted that you want to devote an evening to my work. Thank you so much for the compliment.”

Tony® Award winner Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Flower Drum Song, Disney’s Mulan and Aladdin) leads an impressive cast of Filipino-American Broadway stars. Joining her are Joan Almedilla (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables); Alan Ariano (Miss Saigon, The Encounter); Emy Baysic (Miss Saigon, Mamma Mia); T.V. Carpio (Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, Across the Universe); Angel Desai (Company, The Tempest); Ali Ewoldt (Les Miserables, West Side Story); Rona Figueroa (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Lennon, Nine); Lydia Gaston (The King & I, Miss Saigon); Adam Jacobs (Les Miserables, The Lion King); Jose Llana (The King & I, Spelling Bee, The Flower Drum Song opposite Lea Salonga, Wonderland); Orville Mendoza (Pacific Overtures, Miss Saigon); Paolo Montalban (Pacific Overtures, The King & I, ABC/Disney’s Cinderella as Prince Charming opposite Brandy); Emily Morales (Lincoln Center’s South Pacific); Jennifer Paz (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables, Joseph … Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar); Diane Phelan (South Pacific, West Side Story) and company members Aaron Albano, Marie France Arcilla, Ester Barroso, Billy Bustamante, Liz Casasola, Karl Josef Co, Marc dela Cruz, Ariel Estrada, Albert Guerzon, Joanne Javien, Brian Jose, Jaygee Macapugay, Mel Maghuyop, Jake Manabat, Adam Marcelo, JP Moraga, Lora Nicolas, Catherine Ricafort, Enrico Rodriguez, Chris-Ian Sanchez, and Melissa Singson.

Jaygee Macapugay

Victor Lirio, who also produced Salonga’s sold-out and critically-acclaimed Carnegie Hall concert debut in November 2005, commented: “Sondheim’s works are some of the greatest in the musical theater canon and it is a privilege to breathe life into some of his iconic works. I am grateful to him for giving us this tremendous opportunity. We are looking forward to sharing with the New York audiences our expression of his work.”

Alan Ariano

He added: “A vital part of PhilDev’s mandate is to raise the profile of the Filipinos in the global landscape. This is a dream cast. I am grateful to be working with them again in support of PhilDev’s mission. Furthermore, this concert will underscore the contributions Filipino artists have made to America’s rich and diverse theater culture.”

Last year, Lirio produced the first New York Filipino-American theater festival, The Pearl Project, at Theatre Row. He also directed a concert presentation of a musical based on Filipino writer and revolutionary Carlos Bulosan, Long Season, by Chay Yew and Fabian Obispo at PhilDev’s 2010 gala in San Francisco, attended by Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III.

Victor Lirio

Lirio founded Diverse City Theater, a non-profit theater company in New York City, in 2003. He directed the New York Times-acclaimed production of Warren Bodow’s Race Music, award-winning playwright Cassandra Medley’s Noon Day Sun (Time Out New York Critic’s Pick) earning several nominations for the Audelco Awards including Best Dramatic Production of the Year and Best Play. For DCT, he has developed and produced over 18 original plays, in nine critically-acclaimed productions in six seasons, since 2005.

Joan Almedilla

Music director Tom Myron is an American composer, arranger, and conductor who is active in the fields of live concert performance and independent film. Tom’s work is heard regularly at Carnegie Hall and Jazz at Lincoln Center where he has written charts for singers Marilyn Horne, Kate Pierson, Rosanne Cash, Andrea McArdle, Phyllis Newman, Kelli O’Hara, Christiane Noll, among others; composer/pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi; cellist/composer David Darling; and popular ensembles such as the New York Pops, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and the band Le Vent du Nord. His film scores include Wilderness & Spirit, A Mountain Called Katahdin, and Henry David Thoreau: Surveyor of the Soul.

Jose Llana

Tickets can be purchased at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center box office located at 70 Lincoln Center Plaza in New York City, online at www.lincolncenter.org, or by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500. Ticket prices are $100, $150, $250, and $500. Limited patron/VIP subscriber seats of $1,000 are available which includes a pre-concert VIP reception by contacting Rene Encarnacion at rene@phildev.org or 650-288-3937. 100% of net proceeds will benefit Philippine Development Foundation.

Adam Jacobs

ABOUT PHILDEV:
Formerly known as Ayala Foundation USA, PhilDev is a public charity registered with the United States Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt organization. It focuses on building an ecosystem of science and technology-based entrepreneurship and innovation for social and economic development in the Philippines. As part of its commitment to diaspora philanthropy, PhilDev also generates resources from U.S.-based donors for non-profit organizations in the Philippines.
For more information about PhilDev, visit www.phildev.org.

Other articles by Lia Chang
Portraits of New York Chinatown After 9/11 Featured in “Post 9/11”: Commemorative Display at Library of Congress Asian Reading Room, 8/30-9/15
Up Close and Personal with Rick Shiomi, Award-winning Playwright & Artistic Director of Mu Performing Arts
Goodman Theatre World Premiere of David Henry Hwang’s Broadway Bound “Chinglish” Scores 5 Jeff Award Nods
Mu Performing Arts 2011-2012 20th Anniversary Season: Four Destinies, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, Into the Woods, & Mu Daiko 15th Anniversary Concert
Photos: Christine Toy Johnson, Angela Lin, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Jake Manabat, David Shih in Jen Silverman’s Crane Story at The Cherry Lane
The Playwrights Realm Presents Jen Silverman’s CRANE STORY at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 9/6-10/1
The Play Company Presents the Off-Broadway Run of Jonas Hassen Khemiri’s INVASION! at The Flea featuring Francis Benhamou, Andrew Guilarte, Bobby Moreno, Nick Choksi, 9/6-10/1
Henry Chang, Paula Bomer, Juliann Garey & Alex Shakar during Lit Crawl at Scratcher on 9/10
Extended through 8/23- “In Rehearsal” Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Featuring Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, Thom Sesma as Scar in The Lion King Las Vegas
Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Features Photos of Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas, Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug! on View Through August 2
OCA Awards Gala Photos: David Henry Hwang, Tamlyn Tomita, BD Wong, Dr. Bobby Fong & Tammy Duckworth
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Photos: Rick Shiomi Checks out Performing Arts Playwrights Series in the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of Library of Congress; Attends “Asian American Plays for a New Generation” Book Signing in NY on 7/29
broadwayworld.com: Chinglish in Rehearsal
Coming to America through The Angel Island Immigration Station
Celebrating my mom – AN ACTIVE VISION: BEVERLY UMEHARA…LABOR ACTIVIST…1945-1999
H I R O S H I M A in Benefit Concert for Japan on 9/21 at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in NY
Photo Preview of BD Wong and the Cast of Heading East at the Asia Society, May 24-26, 2010
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.
As a photographer and videographer, Chang has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden. Chang was featured as Joy in the Signature Theater Company’s revival of Sam Shepard’s 1965 Obie award winning play, Chicago directed by Joseph Chaikin at the Public Theater. She has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon and Taxman. Chang currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”.

Chang’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post.
Selections of Chang’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection. Photographs by Lia Chang are in the permanent collections of the Angel Island Immigration Station, Asian American Federation of New York (AAFNY), the Chinese Historical Society of America (CHSA) in San Francisco, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation Art Collection and the New York Historical Society.
A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Chang is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

Lia Chang Multimedia: Photos and video of Leviathan Lab’s reading of Christine Toy Johnson’s Adventures of a Faux Designer Handbag

HANDBAG Director Victor Lirio (far right) in rehearsal with cast. Photo by Lia Chang, Copyright 2010.

On August 9, I popped into Center Stage NY for the workshop reading of Christine Toy Johnson’s ADVENTURES OF A FAUX DESIGNER HANDBAG, presented by Leviathan Lab, and directed by Diverse City Theater Company Artistic Director Victor Lirio.

ADVENTURES OF A FAUX DESIGNER HANDBAG Cast (from L to R): Ali Ewoldt, Moses Villarama, Jaygee Macapugay, Kurt Uy, Nancy Eng, and Judy W. Chen. Photo by Lia Chang Copyright 2010.

The audience was delighted with this new comedy in development which featured Judy W. Chen, Nancy Eng, Ali Ewoldt, Jaygee Macapugay, Kurt Uy and Moses Villarama reading from their scripts on music stands. I laughed out loud alot.

Jaygee Macapugay as Cassandra and Kurt Uy as Paul. Photo by Lia Chang, Copyright 2010.

In ADVENTURES OF A FAUX DESIGNER HANDBAG, three friends frantically try to find a replacement for a priceless special edition handbag.On their journey, they are catapulted through space and time from the maze of Chinatown, New York, to the Splendid China theme park in Orlando, Florida, where they learn if authenticity is really in the eye of the beholder.

HANDBAG Talkback (from L to R): Nancy Eng, Ali Ewoldt, Moses Villarama. Photo by Lia Chang, Copyright 2010.

During the talkback which followed the reading, they peppered ADVENTURES OF A FAUX DESIGNER HANDBAG playwright Christine Toy Johnson, who is also an award-winning actress and a filmmaker, and the cast with questions.

(L-R) Nancy Eng, Victor Lirio, Moses Villarama, Christine Toy Johnson, Kurt Uy, Ali Ewolt, Jaygee Macapugay and Judy W. Chen backstage at Center Stage NY for the workshop reading of Christine Toy Johnson’s ADVENTURES OF A FAUX DESIGNER HANDBAG, presented by Leviathan Lab, and directed by Victor Lirio. Photo by Lia Chang

The play will continue to be developed by Leviathan Lab throughout 2010 and 2011.
Click on the video below for excerpts from the Q & A

For more info about Leviathan Lab, visit www.leviathanlab.com.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2010 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 liachang@hotmail.com.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Christine Toy Johnson, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Etsu Mineta Masaoka, Roxanna Saberi to be honored by JACL
Christine Toy Johnson Plays Christmas Eve in AVENUE Q at Weston Playhouse Theatre in Vermont
Dr. Leroy Chiao and Wat Misaka to Receive 2010 OCA Pioneer Awards in Houston
Screening of “Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story”, Kicks Off OCA National Convention and 6th Annual Houston APA Film Festival on June 17; Wat Misaka and Dr. Leroy Chiao to Receive 2010 OCA Pioneer Awards
Harada, Leung, Llana, Johnson, Takara Et Al. Sing Once On This Island on May 16 at Theatre at Saint Peter’s Church
A Helluva Town DVD Release Celebration and Fundraising Concert for Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story
New York Knicks to Honor Wat Misaka at Madison Square Garden
Offical List of Films for the 2009 San Diego Film Festival
Making Work Now: The Asian American Artistic Community
Transcending: The Wat Misaka Story Screens at Rhode Island International Film Festival on 8/8 Wat Misaka: First Person of Color Drafted in NBA
Christine Toy Johnson’s Paper Son at Queens Theatre in the Park Studio Theatre
Christine Toy Johnson Kicks Off Pan Asian Rep’s Newworks >
Playwright Edgar Mendoza awarded Kennedy Center’s inaugural Paul Stephen Lim Asian-American Playwriting Award for his play Blue Note Run
Crafting a Career
AsianConnections.com’s Ben Fong-Torres & Suzanne Joe Kai to be honored as Pioneering Journalists by AAJA
Fox 5 News NY WNYW-TV’s Ti-Hua Chang Receives AAJA National Journalism Award – story on Asian American Poverty
Andre Dé Shields is having a Devilishly Good Time in Damn Yankees at The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport
Portrait of Secretary Norman Y. Mineta to Be Presented at the National Portrait Gallery
Making the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution Bill a Reality
Photos by Lia Chang at the Shanghai World Expo 2010’s USA Pavilion, Library of Congress and Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection in L.A.Hollywood Chinese: The Arthur Dong Collection Exhibition at the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles, has been extended through November 7, 2010
Photo Call: BD Wong and the Cast of Heading East at the Asia Society
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.

Photo by Lia Chang

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

As a photographer and videographer, Lia collaborates with artists, organizations and companies in establishing their documentary photo archive and social media presence. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden.

This year, selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space will become part of newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, Gourmet, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, VIBE, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, Life & Style, OUT, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, thelmagazine.com, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.