Lia Chang: Joan Almedilla, Alan Ariano, Rona Figueroa, Adam Jacobs, Jose Llana, and Orville Mendoza Set for Concert version of Long Season at Ayala Foundation USA Gala in SF on 9/25

Rona Figueroa

On September 25, 2010, Filipino-American Broadway stars will be featured in a concert version of an original Filipino musical, Long Season, at the Ayala Foundation USA gala to be held at The Palace Hotel, 2 New Montgomery St. in San Francisco. The gala is part of the first ever Philippine Development Forum & Gala to bring together Filipino and Filipino-American thought leaders from both sides of the Pacific to discuss solutions to the Philippine’s most pressing development problems. AF-USA has invited no less than newly-elected Philippine President Benigno Aquino III as Keynote Speaker.

Orville Mendoza

Jetting in from New York and various cities to perform in the concert are a talented ensemble of Filipino-American leading men and women who all have played the “Great White Way” as leading players: Joan Almedilla (Miss Saigon, Les Miserables), Alan Ariano (M. Butterfly, Pacific Overtures), Rona Figueroa (Nine, Lennon), Adam Jacobs (Les Miserables, The Lion King), Jose Llana (The King & I, Flower Drum Song), and Orville Mendoza (Miss Saigon, Pacific Overtures). It is a show you won’t want to miss.

Alan Ariano

Long Season tells the story of a Filipino idealist, Allos (based on Carlos Bulosan), who leaves everything behind in the old country in the Philippines—including a beloved—to find life anew on American shores. In America, he is confronted by struggles for equality and justice alongside a company of manongs.

Joan Almedilla

Set in Alaska in 1928, Long Season features rich, romantic and hauntingly poignant music by celebrated Filipino composer Fabian Obispo, with book and lyrics by award-winning playwright Chay Yew. Diverse City Theater Company’s Artistic Director, actor Victor Lirio will produce and direct the concert, and Albin Konopka will serve as music director.

Victor Lirio

“We are honored to be part of this inaugural event that celebrates Filipino excellence, and addresses opportunities for economic development back home. I find it thrilling and inspiring to be part of an event that features highly successful professionals in various fields such as academe, government, industry, venture capital, and business. And the inclusion of Filipino American artists at the gala is quite exciting,” said Victor Lirio.

Jose Llana

Exchanging ideas and viewpoints on improving the plight of our countrymen are some of the great Filipino and Filipino-American minds: Felipe Medalla from the UP School of Economics, Dean Rowena Guevara of the UP College of Engineering, Arthur Tan, CEO of Integrated Microelectronics, Inc., Venture Capitalist Winston Damarillo of G2IX, Internet Entrepreneur Sheila Lirio Marcelo of Care.com, and Fernando Zobel de Ayala of Ayala Corporation. Its distinguished list of Honorary Chairs includes Mayor Gavin Newsom, Jaime and Bea Zobel de Ayala, Ken and Josie Natori, Antonio and Gail Alvarez, and Tony Winner Lea Salonga.

Adam Jacobs

Tickets for the Philippine Development Forum and Gala are:
Forum and gala: $350
Forum only: $150
Gala only: $200
To buy tickets, visit http://phildevgala.eventbrite.com/.
For more about the Philippine Development Forum and Gala, visit www.af-usa.org or call 650-598-3126 or email info@af-usa.org.
About AF-USA
Ayala Foundation USA is registered in the US as a 501c3 public charity, specifically a diaspora philanthropy foundation. For the past ten years, with the support of thousands of Filipinos, friends of the Philippines, corporations, and foundations, it has developed into a mature, independent institution that can now better reflect the richness of the Filipino diaspora community in its adopted land.

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All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2011 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 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, 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.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are 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.

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.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
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
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!
Up Close and Personal with Darren Pettie, Star of The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore
Marva Hicks to Star in Concert of Pat Holley’s R&B/Pop Musical, Me & Caesar Lee at Triad Theatre, 3/27, 4/3 & 4/10
André De Shields Set for World Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Indiana Rep, 3/22-4/10
Photos:The Working Theater’s Off-Broadway production of HONEY BROWN EYES by Stefanie Zadravec at The Clurman
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet,Tracee Chimo opening night of Neil LaBute’s The Break of Noon
Multimedia: Exclusive photos and video of Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas -In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.

Lia Chang: Randy Gener Receives George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism

Randy Gener is a Senior editor for American Theatre magazine.

Congratulations to Randy Gener, Senior Editor of American Theatre Magazine, who will be presented with the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, this country’s highest award for dramatic criticism and one of the most distinguished awards in the American theatre on Monday, March 9 at the Philippine Consulate Center, 556 Fifth Avenue at 7pm. Actors Victor Lirio and Rona Figueroa are the evening’s emcees.

Gener, the first Asian American to receive this award, will be celebrated with performances by Broadway leading men Jose Llana (“25th Annual Putnam Valley Spelling Bee”, Paolo Montalban (“Cinderella” and Roundabout’s “Pacific Overtures”) and Orville Mendoza (“The Romance of Magno Rubio” and Sondheim’s “Road Show”).  The musical performance will include a new medley of songs in the style of a serenade (harana), specially arranged by composer Fabian Obispo, and is an excerpt from a new musical THE LONG SEASON about Philippine immigration in the U.S., with lyrics and book by Chay Yew. It will be produced in April at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J.

The festivities will take place from 7 to 9 pm Monday March 9 at the Kalayaan Hall (Freedom Hall) of the Philippine Consulate Center, 556 Fifth Avenue in New York City (near 45th Street). Ellis Hanson, Chair of the Cornell English Department, will present the award to Gener. Hon. Cecilia Rebong, Consul General of the Philippines, will be on hand.

The Nathan Awards Committee was particularly impressed by Gener’s writings in American Theatre magazine. The Committee’s citation for Gener reads, “He has used that venue [America Theatre Magazine] and others to draw our attention to largely ignored voices and visions on the international theatrical scene, to the work of Filipino-American playwright Jessica Hagedorn, to a small but lively Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, and to the future of theatrical criticism itself in essays that wed critical intelligence with a beat reporter’s love of the telling and unruly fact. In one piece, Gener argues that, at its best, criticism is ‘a cultural asset, one of the bases on which democracy and community are built.’ He fulfills that lofty goal by implicitly reminding us of how much that is excellent in theater here and abroad is ignored by a critical fraternity which, during this age of globalization, seems more parochial than ever.”

The prize for the Nathan Award consists of the annual net income of half of Mr. Nathan’s estate. The annual award now amounts to $10,000, making it the richest as well as one of the most distinguished in the American theater. In addition, the winner receives a trophy symbolic of the award. For a complete description of the Nathan award and its origins, visit
http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/awards/nathan/.

Source: Broadway World Article

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