Lia Chang 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

On Monday, May 7, 2012 at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York, Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang celebrated the release of his newly published play from TCG Books, Chinglish, which received its Broadway premiere in Fall 2011 and was named “Best American Play of 2011” by TIME magazine, and as one of the Top 10 Broadway shows of the year by Bloomberg Radio, NY1 and WNYC.

David Henry Hwang at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

The critically acclaimed Chinglish is set for the silver screen, and a tour which kicks off in the Fall at Berkeley Rep. Fast and Furious helmer Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, Finishing the Game), recently acquired the film rights to Chinglish and is set to begin shooting in 2013, with a screenplay by Hwang.
Filmmaker Justin Lin Acquires Film Rights to David Henry Hwang’s Critically Acclaimed Broadway Comedy Chinglish

WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

The play has been nominated for 3 Drama Desk Awards including – Outstanding Play for Hwang, Outstanding Actress in a Play for Jennifer Lim and Outstanding Set Design for David Korins. Chinglish opened at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in the summer of 2011, winning two Jeff Awards – for Hwang (New Work-Play) and scenic designer David Korins (Scenic Design-Large), before moving to Broadway.

Brian d’Arcy James, Leigh Silverman, David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, BD Wong, Jennifer Lim and Francis Jue at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

This Fall, Hwang succeeds Athol Fugard as Signature Theatre’s Residency One playwright for the 2012-2013 season at the company’s new home, The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between Dyer and 10th Avenues). Residency One is Signature’s core one-year playwright-in-residence program that produces a series of plays from the body of work of one accomplished writer. The Residency One: David Henry Hwang Series will feature revivals of Golden Child, directed by Leigh Silverman;The Dance and the Railroad, directed by May Adrales; and the world premiere of Kung Fu, a play which incorporates dance and music into an exciting new form, in which a young martial artist comes to America from Hong Kong in the 1960′s, with a dream as audacious as his talent: to become the biggest movie star in the world. To do so, he must struggle to overcome the West’s view of China as weak and backwards, and of Asian men as less than truly masculine. Directed by Silverman. David Henry Hwang Set as Signature Theatre’s Residency One Playwright for the 2012-2013 Season

Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater interviews David Henry Hwang at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater interviews David Henry Hwang at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

WNYC lived streamed the conversation with Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the Public Theater in New York and Hwang. Click here to view the video.

Leigh Silverman and David Henry Hwang at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Obie award winning director Leigh Silverman, who directed Chinglish and Yellow Face, helmed the theatrical segment of the program, which featured excerpts of M. Butterfly read by BD Wong and Brian d’Arcy James; of Yellow Face read by Hwang and Francis Jue; and of Chinglish read by Brian d’Arcy James and Jennifer Lim, who received a Theatre World Award on May 8, for her breakout Broadway debut.

BD Wong and Brian d’Arcy James read a scene from M. Butterfly at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

BD Wong and Brian d’Arcy James read a scene from M. Butterfly at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

BD Wong and Brian d’Arcy James read a scene from M. Butterfly at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Hwang’s plays often explore the Asian American experience and multiculturalism in contemporary society. He is the author of M. Butterfly (1988 Tony Award, 1989 Pulitzer Finalist), Golden Child (1996 Obie Award, 1998 Tony Nomination), Yellow Face (2008 Obie Award and Pulitzer Finalist), The Dance and the Railroad, Family Devotions and FOB (1981 Obie Award). His Broadway musicals include the books for Elton John & Tim Rice’s Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (revival, 2002 Tony Nomination), and Disney’s Tarzan. As America’s most-produced living opera librettist, he has written four works with composer Philip Glass, as well as Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards), Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland, and Bright Sheng’s The Silver River. He penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate, and Possession (co-writer), and co-wrote the song “Solo” with pop star Prince. Hwang attended Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama, and sits on the boards of the Dramatists Guild, the American Theatre Wing, and the Lark Play Development Center. From 1994-2001, he served by appointment of President Clinton on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

David Henry Hwang as D.H.H. and Francis Jue as H.Y.H. in a scene from Yellow Face
at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang as D.H.H. and Francis Jue as H.Y.H. in a scene from Yellow Face
at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang as D.H.H. and Francis Jue as H.Y.H. in a scene from Yellow Face
at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

On May 11, 2012, Hwang will receive the 2012 China Institute Blue Cloud Award at the China Institute Gala Benefit at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York. His recent accolades include the 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award, the 2011 Asia Society Cultural Achievement Award, and the 2011 PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award for a Master American Dramatist.
David Henry Hwang to Receive 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award
Photos: David Henry Hwang, John C. Whitehead, Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Asia Society Awards Dinner in New York

David Henry Hwang watches Brian d’Arcy James and Jennifer Lim in a scene from Chinglish at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang watches Brian d’Arcy James and Jennifer Lim in a scene from Chinglish at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang watches Brian d’Arcy James and Jennifer Lim in a scene from Chinglish at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang watches Brian d’Arcy James and Jennifer Lim in a scene from Chinglish at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

After the program, Hwang signed copies of Chinglish, Yellow Face, Flower Drum Song, Golden Child, and his anthology of selected plays, Trying to Find Chinatown, for a line of people which stretched the length of WNYC’s The Greene Space studio.

David Henry Hwang at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater interviews David Henry Hwang at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Brian d’Arcy James, Francis Jue, BD Wong and Jennifer Lim
at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang and Oskar Eustis at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang and BD Wong at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Chinglish cultural advisors Joanna C. Lee and Ken Smith at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

Brian D’Arcy James, Leigh Silverman and BD Wong at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

BD Wong at WNYC’s The Greene Space in New York on May 7, 2012, courtesy New York Public Radio. © 2012 Lia Chang

David Henry Hwang Articles:
WNYC’s The Greene Space presents “An Evening with David Henry Hwang” featuring Oskar Eustis, Brian d’Arcy James, BD Wong, Jennifer Lim, Francis Jue
Filmmaker Justin Lin Acquires Film Rights to David Henry Hwang’s Critically Acclaimed Broadway Comedy Chinglish
David Henry Hwang Set as Signature Theatre’s Residency One Playwright for the 2012-2013 Season
David Henry Hwang to Receive 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award
Photos & Video: Celebrate Chinese New Year with David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish
David Henry Hwang, Kathryn Layng and BD Wong at the Asian American Writers Workshop Literary Awards
Nothing is Sacred in David Henry Hwang’s Comedy of Mistaken Racial Identity
Francis Jue, At Home on the Stage
The Making of the Flower Drum Song Cast Album
Flower Drum Song, An American Story
The Literary Legacy of C.Y. Lee
Click here for more articles on David Henry Hwang.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Epic Theatre Presents Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths, starring Joel de la Fuente, May 20-21, 2012
Raymond J. Lee and Ali Ewoldt star in Concert Reading of Jason Ma’s Gold Mountain on May 21, 2012
BD Wong to Star in Live Concert Recording of HERRINGBONE for 2 Nights Only as a Benefit for Dixon Place, 5/21, 5/22
Emmy Award Winner Richard Thomas Hosts Give Kids a Shot! National Meningitis Association Gala 2012 at the New York Athletic Club
Photos: BD Wong, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tom Viola at “Passing It On: An Evening of Mentorship to Benefit Rosie’s Theater Kids”
Photos: BD Wong in Rehearsal for “Passing It On: An Evening of Mentorship to Benefit Rosie’s Theater Kids”
Photos: Alan Cumming, Sutton Foster, David Pittu, Jarlath Conroy and Gordana Rashovich at Charles Busch’s Judith of Bethulia
Photos: Highlights of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan (3pm) with Andre Bishop, Mary Beth Hurt, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Philip Kan Gotanda, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Richard Thomas, Jay O. Sanders, and more
Photos: Highlights of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan (8pm) with Oskar Eustis, Patti LuPone, Lisa Emery, Ann Harada, Paolo Montalban, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Henry Stram, Richard Thomas, John Weidman and more
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
The SFIAAFF30 Kicks Off with World Premiere of White Frog Featuring Booboo Stewart, Harry Shum, Jr., Joan Chen, Kelly Hu and BD Wong, at the Castro Theater on March 8
Photos: “How To Succeed” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway and John Larroquette at Lord & Taylor for Windows Unveiling
Multimedia: Promises, Promises’ Stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet, Tracee Chimo at Opening Night Party of Neil LaBute’s Break of Noon
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

WNYC’s The Greene Space presents “An Evening with David Henry Hwang” featuring Oskar Eustis, Brian d’Arcy James, BD Wong, Jennifer Lim, Francis Jue on May 7, 2012

On Monday, May 7th at 7pm, WNYC’s The Greene Space and Theater Communications Group will welcome Tony award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, whose latest Broadway comedy Chinglish received 3 Drama Desks nods today – Outstanding Play for Hwang, Outstanding Actress in a Play for Jennifer Lim and Outstanding Set Design for David Korins. The Greene Space is located at 44 Charlton Street at Varick Street in New York.

David Henry Hwang and Oskar Eustis (Photos by Lia Chang)

This evening will feature a conversation with Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the Public Theater in New York and readings by Hwang with guests Brian d’Arcy James, BD Wong, Jennifer Lim and Francis Jue. The event will be followed by a book signing including Hwang’s newly published play from TCG Books, Chinglish, which received its Broadway premiere in fall 2011 and was named “Best American Play of 2011” by TIME magazine.
Filmmaker Justin Lin Acquires Film Rights to David Henry Hwang’s Critically Acclaimed Broadway Comedy Chinglish

Jennifer Lim, BD Wong and Francis Jue (Photos by Lia Chang)

Tickets are $15 and available at www.thegreenespace.org. A live video webcast will be available to stream at www.thegreenespace.org.

David Henry Hwang’s plays often explore the Asian American experience in contemporary society. He is the author of the Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly, a finalist for the 1988 Pulitzer Prize. Other plays include Golden Child, FOB, The Dance and the Railroad, Family Devotions and Pulitzer Prize-finalist, Yellow Face; his opera libretti include three works for composer Philip Glass. From 1994-2001, he served an appointment of President Clinton on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

David Henry Hwang Articles:
Filmmaker Justin Lin Acquires Film Rights to David Henry Hwang’s Critically Acclaimed Broadway Comedy Chinglish
David Henry Hwang Set as Signature Theatre’s Residency One Playwright for the 2012-2013 Season
David Henry Hwang to Receive 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award
Chinglish Playwright David Henry Hwang Moderates “RepresentAsian: The Changing Face of New York Theater” at Pope Auditorium at Fordham University
Photos & Video: Celebrate Chinese New Year with David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish
Click here for more articles on David Henry Hwang.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Emmy Award Winner Richard Thomas Hosts Give Kids a Shot! National Meningitis Association Gala 2012 at the New York Athletic Club
Photos: A night out at Signature Theatre Company’s revival of Edward Albee’s The Lady From Dubuque
Photos: BD Wong, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Brandon Victor Dixon, Tom Viola at “Passing It On: An Evening of Mentorship to Benefit Rosie’s Theater Kids”
Photos: BD Wong in Rehearsal for “Passing It On: An Evening of Mentorship to Benefit Rosie’s Theater Kids”
Photos: Alan Cumming, Sutton Foster, David Pittu, Jarlath Conroy and Gordana Rashovich at Charles Busch’s Judith of Bethulia
Photos: Highlights of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan (3pm) with Andre Bishop, Mary Beth Hurt, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Philip Kan Gotanda, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Richard Thomas, Jay O. Sanders, and more
Photos: Highlights of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan (8pm) with Oskar Eustis, Patti LuPone, Lisa Emery, Ann Harada, Paolo Montalban, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Henry Stram, Richard Thomas, John Weidman and more
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
The SFIAAFF30 Kicks Off with World Premiere of White Frog Featuring Booboo Stewart, Harry Shum, Jr., Joan Chen, Kelly Hu and BD Wong, at the Castro Theater on March 8
Photos: “How To Succeed” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway and John Larroquette at Lord & Taylor for Windows Unveiling
Multimedia: Promises, Promises’ Stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet, Tracee Chimo at Opening Night Party of Neil LaBute’s Break of Noon
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

Lia Chang: Gary Wilmes and Scott Shepherd Set for Elevator Repair Service’s GATZ at The Public, March 14-May 6

Gary Wilmes. Photo by Lia Chang

Chinglish‘s Gary Wilmes and Scott Shepherd (Blood Knot, Hamlet) return to The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Patrick Willingham) in Elevator Repair Service’s GATZ, the award-winning, critically lauded theatrical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, directed by John Collins, with previews beginning on Wednesday, March 14 and running through Sunday, May 6, for 28 performances only in the Newman Theater. Single tickets, beginning at $160, are on sale now. (Extended through May 13.)
GATZ was created and developed by the Elevator Repair Service ensemble, which includes Laurena Allan (Myrtle), Frank Boyd (George), Jim Fletcher (Jim), Ross Fletcher (Henry C. Gatz), Mike Iveson (Ewing), Vin Knight (Chester),Annie McNamara (Catherine), Kate Scelsa (Lucille), Scott Shepherd (Nick), Susie Sokol (Jordan), Victoria Vazquez (Daisy), Ben Williams (Michaelis), and Gary Wilmes (Tom).

BLOOD KNOT's Colman Domingo, dialect coach Barbara Rubin and Scott Shepherd at The Pershing Square Signature Center in New York on February 13, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang

One morning in the office of a mysterious small business, an employee finds a copy of The Great Gatsby in the clutter of his desk. He starts to read it out loud and doesn’t stop. At first his coworkers hardly notice. But after a series of strange coincidences, it’s no longer clear whether he’s reading the book or the book is transforming him. GATZ is a theatrical and literary tour de force, not a retelling of the Gatsby story but an enactment of the novel itself. Over the course of a single 6 1/2 hour production, Fitzgerald’s American masterpiece is delivered word for word, startlingly brought to life by a low-rent office staff in the midst of their inscrutable business operations.

GATZ’s Associate Director is Steve Bodow and features scenic design by Louisa Thompson, costume design by Colleen Werthmann, lighting design by Mark Barton, and sound design by Ben Williams.

JOHN COLLINS (Director) founded Elevator Repair Service with his first production, Mr. Antipyrine, Fire Extinguisher. In the 20 years since, he has directed or co-directed all of the company’s shows. From 1993 to 2006 he worked for The Wooster Group as a sound designer, receiving two Drama Desk nominations and two Bessie Awards. As a lighting designer, he won a Bessie Award for his design of Elevator Repair Service’s Room Tone. John is the recipient of a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art, the 2011 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director and the 2010 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director for GATZ.

STEVE BODOW (Associate Director) is an ERS co-founder. Along with John Collins, Steve was Artistic Director of the Company from 1996-2004, co-directing pieces including Language Instruction, Total Fictional Lie, Cab Legs, Highway to Tomorrow, and Room Tone. Steve is Co-Executive Producer and former Head Writer for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where he recently won his ninth Emmy.

LAURENA ALLAN (Myrtle) has performed extensively in downtown New York. She performed internationally as Wife in Richard Maxwell’s House and is the creator of “Laurena’s Pancake Party.”

FRANK BOYD (George) has appeared with Elevator Repair Service in The Select (The Sun Also Rises), and Shuffle. New York credits include Architecting at The Public Theater; and Particularly in the Heartland. Film & TV credits include B.U.S.T, Dogs Lie, Yakima, and “Guiding Light.”

JIM FLETCHER (Jim) performed in Elevator Repair Service’s The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928) (tour). He has performed in many Richard Maxwell productions and with the New York City Players. He also works with the English theater group Forced Entertainment. He appears in the feature film Bass Ackwards, directed by Linas Phillips, which premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

ROSS FLETCHER (Henry C. Gatz) is a cardiologist and the Chief of Staff of Washington, D.C.’s VA Medical Center. Gatz is his first show with Elevator Repair Service.

MIKE IVESON (Ewing) previously appeared in the Elevator Repair Service productions of The Select (The Sun Also Rises), Shuffle and The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928). His other credits include Richard Maxwell’s Ode to the Man Who Kneels, Sarah Michelson’s Dover Beach, Sibyl Kempson’s Crime or Emergency, and Erin Courtney’s Black Cat Lost.

VIN KNIGHT (Chester) appeared in the Elevator Repair Service productions of The Select (The Sun Also Rises), Shuffle, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), and No Great Society. His other credits include The Temperamentals with Barrow Group, and over two dozen productions with the adobe theater company and performances at Clubbed Thumb, Andhow!, Soho Rep, HERE, New Georges and Theatreworks USA.

ANNIE MCNAMARA (Catherine) appeared in Elevator Repair Service’s The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928). Her recent credits in New York include That Pretty Pretty, or, The Rape Play; The Flea and the Professor; Nurses in New England with Half Straddle; God’s Ear and A Map of Virtue.

KATE SCELSA (Lucille) appeared in Elevator Repair Service’s The Select (The Sun Also Rises), Shuffle, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), and Show of Shows. Her New York stage appearances include City Council; Can I Help You; Say Uncle! at the Soho Playhouse; and Light Keepers, an ongoing collaboration with puppet artist Amanda Villalobos.

SCOTT SHEPHERD (Nick) returns to The Public, where he previously appeared as Nick in GATZ and as the title role in The Wooster Group’s Hamlet. He is currently in Blood Knot at Signature Theatre and his credits with Elevator Repair Service include McGurk: A Cautionary Tale, Shut Up I Tell You (I Said Shut Up I Tell You), Cab Legs, Total Fictional Lie, and No Great Society. He won Bessie and OBIE awards for his performance in The Wooster Group’s Poor Theater. Other Wooster Group credits include The Hairy Ape, North Atlantic, To You, the Birdie! Brace Up!, The Emperor Jones, La Didone, and Vieux Carré. He appears in Hal Hartley’s film Meanwhile.

SUSIE SOKOL (Jordan) has been a member of Elevator Repair Service since 1992 and has appeared in all ERS productions since 1993. She has also collaborated with theater artists Katherine Profeta, Tina Satter and Half Straddle, and Sibyl Kempson.

VICTORIA VAZQUEZ (Daisy) has been a member of ERS since 1996 and has appeared in The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), Total Fictional Lie, and Cab Legs. Other credits include: Richard Maxwell’s Caveman People Without History, Das Maedchen; The Voices with Forced Entertainment and Young Jean Lee’s, PULLMAN, WA.

BEN WILLIAMS (Michaelis) appeared in Elevator Repair Service’s The Select (The Sun Also Rises), Shuffle, The Sound and the Fury (April Seventh, 1928), and No Great Society. His other recent projects include Walse-Fantasie with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julia Jarcho’s American Treasure.

GARY WILMES (Tom) recently appeared on Broadway in Chinglish. His Off-Broadway credits include Red Light Winter; Brace Up!; More Lies About Jerzy; House and Boxing 2000 with Richard Maxwell; and Bad Boy Nietzsche and Paradise Hotel with Richard Foreman. He also appeared in the National production of August: Osage County with Steppenwolf at The Sydney Theatre Company. His film and television credits include A Mighty Heart, Afterschool, Salt, “Jon Benjamin Has A Van,” “Blue Bloods,” and “Nurse Jackie.”

ELEVATOR REPAIR SERVICE, a theater ensemble, was founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991. Since that time, ERS has built a body of highly acclaimed work and has appeared on stages in downtown New York and across the U.S. and Europe. ERS’s core artistic mission is to create original works, with a consistent ensemble, that explore and challenge the fundamentals of live performance. ERS shows are built around a broad range of subject matter including literary, dramatic and cinematic forms. They combine elements of hi-tech and lo-tech design, vaudeville, both literary and found text, found objects and discarded furniture, and the group’s own highly developed style of choreography. The company has generated a repertoire that includes 14 original full-length pieces and several short pieces and workshop productions. Their newest piece, The Select (The Sun Also Rises) had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2010, its U.S. premiere at the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival in September 2010, and its New York premiere in September 2011 with an extended ten-week run at New York Theatre Workshop. Elevator Repair Service is a member of TCG and A.R.T./New York.

Since its 2006 premiere at the Kunsten Festival des Arts in Brussels, GATZ has been seen on 18 stages, including at the American Repertory Theater (Boston, 2010), Sydney Opera House (2009), Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (2008), Vienna Festival (2007), The Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, 2006), and The Holland Festival (2006). Awards include Zürcher Theater Spektakel ZKB-Acknowledgement Prize (2006); Elliot Norton Awards for Outstanding Visiting Production, Outstanding Director – John Collins, and Outstanding Actor – Scott Shepherd (2010); Lortel Awards for Outstanding Alternative Theatrical Experience and an Outstanding Director Award for John Collins (2011); and an Obie Award for Scott Shepherd’s performance as Nick. GATZ also received a Drama Desk nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience; a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Production of a Play and a Distinguished Performance nomination for Scott Shepherd; Lortel nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design and Outstanding Sound design; and an Off-Broadway Alliance Award nomination for Best Theatrical Experience.

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Patrick Willingham, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation’s preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals and productions of classics at its downtown home and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public Theater’s mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day on stage and through extensive outreach programs. Each year, more than 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe’s Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public Theater’s productions have won 42 Tony Awards, 158 Obies, 42 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. Fifty-four Public Theater productions have moved to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; For Colored Girls…; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Passing Strange; the revival of HAIR; Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and The Merchant of Venice.

TICKET INFORMATION
GATZ runs Wednesday, March 14 through Sunday, May 6. Marathon performance tickets for GATZ begin at $160. Single tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at (212) 967-7555, www.publictheater.org, or in person at The Public Theater box office.

GATZ will be presented as a marathon theatrical event, with two intermissions and a dinner break, four times per week. Performances begin on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. ERS company members may alternate roles at select performances.

The Public Theater is located at 425 Lafayette Street. For more information, visit www.publictheater.org.

Other articles by Lia Chang:
Athol Fugard’s Blood Knot, starring Colman Domingo & Scott Shepherd in The Alice Griffith Jewel Box at The Pershing Square Signature Center through March 11, 2012
Photos: Laila Robins, Sean Dugan, C.J. Wilson, Peter Francis James, Bill Irwin and Tricia Paoluccio at Signature Theatre Company’s revival of Edward Albee’s The Lady From Dubuque
David Henry Hwang to Receive 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award
Tony award-winning actor BD Wong stars in NBC’s Awake; video preview and interview
David Henry Hwang to Receive 2012 William Inge Distinguished Achievement in the American Theatre Award
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Photos: Larry Bryggman, Denise Burse, Peter Jay Fernandez, Tim Hopper, Arliss Howard, Kobi Libii, Mary McCann, Neil Pepe, David Pittu, Steve Rosen, Sheila Tapia, Debra Winger at Atlantic Theatre’s Opening Night of Gabe McKinley’s CQ/CX
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Photos: “How To Succeed” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway and John Larroquette at Lord & Taylor for Windows Unveiling
Multimedia: Promises, Promises’ Stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet, Tracee Chimo at Opening Night Party of Neil LaBute’s Break of Noon
Multimedia: Exclusive photos and video of Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas -In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Celebrating my mom – AN ACTIVE VISION: BEVERLY UMEHARA…LABOR ACTIVIST…1945-1999
Coming to America through The Angel Island Immigration Station
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 lia@backstagepasswithliachang.com.

Victory Gardens appoints renowned director and playwright Chay Yew as its new Artistic Director

Chay Yew © 2011 Lia Chang

Congratulations to award-winning director and playwright Chay Yew, who has just been appointed as the new Artistic Director of the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Il. Yew will begin full-time with Victory Gardens in July, 2011.

Chay Yew’s appointment comes as Dennis Začek, VG’s Artistic Director of 34 years, retires from the post.

“We are extremely pleased and excited that Chay Yew has joined our company to continue the VG legacy that Dennis has developed over the past three decades,” said Board President Jeffrey Rappin. “He brings vast experience in new work development and, in partnership with Executive Director Jan Kallish, he will lead VG in bringing the best new work and artists to our stages. We are confident that our company is in good hands and that the mission of VG will be continued with Chay as artistic leader.”

“I’m excited and deeply honored to continue Dennis Začek’s vision in providing an artistic home for emerging and established theater artists in Chicago and around the country,” said Yew. “I plan to refine and amplify Victory Gardens’ mission of championing new plays and diversity as the mission remains close to my heart and everything I’ve done in American Theatre.”

Yew was the Founding Director of the Asian Theatre Workshop at the Mark Taper Forum and an Associate Artist, he also produced and presented several seasons at the Mark Taper Forum’s Taper Too. Some productions include Luis Alfaro’s Black Butterfly Jaguar Girl Pinata Woman and Other Superhero Girls Like Me, Jessica Goldberg’s Good Thing, Sunil Kuruvilla’s Rice Boy, Lynn Manning’s Weights, Ron Conboy’s Drive My Coche, a sixteen-playwright collaboration The Square, and John Walch’s The Circumference of a Squirrel.

While at the Taper’s Asian Theatre Workshop, he produced Alice Tuan’s Ikebana (with East West Players), Alec Mapa’s I Remember Mapa (With EWP, Asian American Theatre Company, Northwest Asian American Theatre), Sandra Tsing Loh’s Depth Becomes Her, HYMN TO HER: A Festival of Asian Female Performance, WORD UP! A Festival of Asian American Performance, Denise Uyehara’s Maps of Body and City (with Highways), Question 27 Question 28 (with EWP and Japanese American National Museum), A Beautiful Country (with Cornerstone Theatre Company and EWP) and annual play reading festivals of new Asian American work.

Yew is set to direct the world premiere of Dael Orlandersmith’s Black and Blue Boys at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Goodman Theatre. As a director, Chay Yew has directed world premieres by playwrights Jose Rivera, Naomi Iizuka, Kia Corthron, Julia Cho, David Adjmi and Jessica Goldberg, and performance artists Rha Goddess, Universes, Alec Mapa, Sandra Tsing Loh and Brian Freeman. He has also directed and developed new plays at the Sundance Institute, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Ojai Playwrights Festival, Public Theatre’s New Work Now, New Dramatists, Denver Theatre Center’s New Play Summit, Playwrights Horizons, Yale Rep’s Musical Theatre Institute, Goodman’s Latino Festival, South Coast Repertory Theatre’s Pacific Playwrights Festival, Lark Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop’s Dartmouth and Vassar Retreats, New World Theatre, Playwrights Center, Mark Taper Forum’s New Works Festival, A.S.K. Theatre Projects, among others.

He is a recipient of the OBIE and DramaLogue Awards for Direction. His productions have been cited by the Los Angeles Times and New York Times as one of the “Ten Best Productions of the Year;” Seattle Times and Strangers’ Best Achievement in Theatre; and was named Best Director by Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

As a playwright, Chay Yew’s plays include Porcelain and A Language Of Their Own, Red, Wonderland, Question 27 Question 28, A Distant Shore 17 and Visible Cities. His other work includes adaptations, A Winter People (based on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard) and Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba; a musical Long Season; and multimedia works, Vivien and the Shadows, Home: Places Between Asia and America and A Beautiful Country. His produced short plays include White, A Corner of the World, Blow, Faces of Ants, Gestures, Here and Now, Imelda and Cher at The Top of The World, Scissors, and Second Skin.

His work has been produced at the Public Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, Wilma Theatre, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Dallas Theatre Center, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Group Theatre. Studio Theatre, Perseverance Theatre, Dad’s Garage, Crowded Fire, Smithsonian Institute, North Carolina Performing Arts, amongst many others. Overseas, his work has been produced by the Royal Court Theatre (London, UK), Fattore K and Napoli Teatro Festival (Naples, Italy), La Mama (Melbourne, Australia), Four Arts (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Singapore Repertory Theatre, Toy Factory, Checkpoint Theatre, and TheatreWorks Singapore.

He is the recipient of the London Fringe Award for Best Playwright and Best Play, George and Elisabeth Marton Playwriting Award, GLAAD Media Award, Asian Pacific Gays and Friends’ Community Visibility Award, Made in America Award, AEA/SAG/AFTRA 2004 Diversity Honor, and Robert Chesley Award; he has received grants from the McKnight Foundation, Rockefeller MAP Fund and the TCG/Pew National Residency Program.

His plays are published in two titles, The Hyphenated American Plays and Porcelain and A Language of Their Own, by Grove Press; the latter was nominated for a Lamda Literary Award. His other plays are anthologized in Staging Gay Lives, Take Out, But Still, Like Air, I’ll Rise, Humana Festival 2002 and 2006: The Complete Plays and American Political Plays After 9/11. He is presently editing a new anthology Version 3.0: Contemporary Asian American Plays for TCG Publications.

His directing credits include Durango (Public Theater and Long Wharf); The Architecture of Loss (New York Theatre Workshop); Cool Dip in the Barren Sahara Crick (Playwrights Horizon); Low (Public Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pillsbury Theatre); Citizen 13559: The Diary of Ben Uchida (Kennedy Center); Universes’ Ameriville (Public Theater, Roundhouse Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Southern Repertory Theatre and Curious Theatre); Universes’ Eyewitness Blues (Goodman Theatre and Gala Hispanic Theatre); Our Town (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Brainpeople (American Conservatory Theatre); Boleros for the Disenchanted (Huntington Theatre); Antebellum (Woolly Mammoth Theatre); 36 Views (Portland Center Stage, Geva Theatre Center and Laguna Playhouse); Frozen, The Laramie Project and Strange Attractors (Empty Space); M. Butterfly, Golden Child, Sisters Matsumoto, Big Hunk O’ Burnin’ Love and Pointless (East West Players); Sex Parasite, Question 27 Question 28, Rice Boy, Sandra Tsing Loh’s Depth Becomes Her, Alec Mapa’s I Remember Mapa and Drama! (Mark Taper Forum); The House of Bernarda Alba (National Asian American Theatre Company); A Winter People (Theatre at Boston Court); Red (Singapore Repertory Theatre and East West Players); Last of the Suns (Ma Yi Theatre Company); A Beautiful Country (Cornerstone Theatre Company), Home: Places Between Asia and America and James Sie’s TALKING WITH MY HANDS (Northwest Asian American Theatre); Brian Freeman’s Civil Sex (Walk and Squawk); Denise Uyehara’s Maps of Body and City (Highways Performance Space); and David Schmader’s Straight (Theatre Rhinoceros, Highways and NWAAT). His opera credits include the world premieres of Osvaldo Golijov and David Henry Hwang’s Ainadamar (co-production with Tanglewood Music Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Rob Zuidam’s Rage D’Amors (Tanglewood).

An alumnus of New Dramatists, he has held residencies at Mu Lan Theatre Company, Northwest Asian American Theatre Company and East West Players.

He serves on the National Advisory Board at the Playwrights Center and the Artistic Advisory Board of Partial Comfort Theatre. He is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect and Vineyard Theatre Community of Artists. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Theatre Communications Group and is presently on the Executive Board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

About Victory Gardens Theater
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Dennis Začek and Executive Director Jan Kallish, Victory Gardens Theater is home to the bold voices of world premiere theater. The company features the work of its own 14-member Playwrights Ensemble, as well as that of exciting playwrights who are changing theater in the U.S. and abroad. Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. The company’s dedication to developing, supporting and producing new work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New Plays.

In 2006, Victory Gardens successfully completed an $11.8 million renovation of Chicago’s famed Biograph Theater, and moved two blocks north from its longtime venue at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue, to its beautiful new home in one of Chicago’s most celebrated historic landmarks. Renamed Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, the new venue is a state-of-the-art 299-seat mainstage which has greatly expanded the company’s artistic flexibility. In 2009, Victory Gardens completed the second phase of renovation at the Biograph, building an intimate, new, 109-seat studio theater on the second floor. On March 1, 2010, at a special launch event for Victory Gardens’ Campaign for Growth, the theater’s new studio was officially named the Richard Christiansen Theater, in honor of the Chicago Tribune chief critic emeritus and longtime champion of Chicago’s live theater scene. Visit www.victorygardens.org/campaignforgrowth for more details.

Articles on Chay Yew
Variety: Yew to lead Victory Gardens
Stage Directions.com: Chay Yew Named Artistic Director at Victory Gardens Theater
Latimes.com: Chay Yew named artistic director of Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater
Chicago Sun-Times: Victory Gardens picks Yew as Artistic Chief
chicagotribune.com: Victory Gardens announces new artistic director: Chay Yew
chicagoreader.com: Chay Yew Is New Artistic Director at Victory Gardens Theater
timeoutchicago.com: Victory Gardens Names Chay Yew to replace Dennis Zacek as Artistic Director
Victory Gardens Announces New Artistic Director Chay Yew
Theatermania: Chay Yew to become Artistic Director of Victory Gardens
playbill.com: Chay Yew Is the New Artistic Director of Tony-Winning Victory Gardens Theater
examiner.com: Chay Yew Is the New Artistic Director of Tony-Winning Victory Gardens Theater

Other Articles by Lia Chang
Working Theater Presents Staged Reading of Chay Yew’s Visible Cities at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row on 3/21
Alan Ariano, Rona Figueroa, Jose Llana, & Orville Mendoza in Chay Yew’s Long Season Ayala Foundation USA Gala in SF
New Dramatists Reading of Philip Kan Gotanda’s Love in American Times, directed by Chay Yew
Samrat Chakrabarti stars in Soham Mehta’s Fatakra, Shiva Shankar Bajpai’s Raju, and Rehana Mirza’s Zameer & Preeti at NYIFF
André De Shields stars in Chicago Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Victory Gardens 5/14-6/12
AEA celebrates Asian Heritage Month w/ Leviathan Lab’s Asian American Female Playwright’s Short Play Festival in NY, 5/12-13
National Museum of the American Indian in NY, ESSENTIALLY INDIGENOUS?: Contemporary Native Arts Symposium, 5/5-6
Nicholas Galanin featured in SEEING INDIGENOUS Indigenous Art and Media Arts on Film at the National Museum of the American Indian in NY on 5/7
LUCKYRICE Festival 2011 in New York includes Daniel Boulud, Susur Lee, Anito Lo, Masaharu Morimoto, May 2-8, 2011
Vikas Khanna’s Holy Kitchens Karma to Nirvana premieres at New York Indian Film Festival on 5/7 at Tribeca Cinemas
Ruby Dee, Alicia Keys, Sidney Poitier among honorees at Woodie King, Jr.’s New Federal Theatre’s 40th Anniversary Gala at Edison Ballroom on May 22
32nd Annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Festival at Union Square Park in NYC on May 8, 2011
11th Annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), May 4-8, 2011
Video: Aroon Shivdasani interviews Samrat Chakrabarti at Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council (MIAAC) Film Festival
Up Close and Personal with Darren Pettie, Star of The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore
House of Payne’s Denise Burse on the 2011 NAACP Image Awards & Season 7
Photos & Video Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas-In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.

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. Lia currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”. She has appeared in Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and “New York Undercover”.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY 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, 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.

Lia Chang Photos: David Henry Hwang, Eiko Ishioka, Kathryn Layng and BD Wong at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop Literary Awards

Playwright David Henry Hwang, his wife actress Kathryn Layng and actor BD Wong celebrate the 20th anniversary of M. Butterfly at the 11th annual Asian American Literary Awards Ceremony, produced by the Asian American Writers Workshop held at New York University's Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Film Center in New York on December 8, 2008.

Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian American Writers’ Workshop at the Eleventh Annual Asian American Literary Awards Ceremony from M. Butterfly costume and stage designer Eiko Ishioka, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his groundbreaking play M. Butterfly at New York University’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Film Center in New York, on Monday, December 8, 2008.

BD Wong and David Henry Hwang Photo by Lia Chang

Mr. Hwang and Law & Order SVU actor BD Wong, who dazzled audiences in his Broadway debut in M. Butterfly and garnered the Outer Critic’s Circle Award, Theatre World Award, Drama Desk Award, Clarence Derwent Award, and the Tony Award for his star turn, read passages from the play, followed by a chat moderated by Oskar Eustis, the Artistic Director of The Public Theater.

BD Wong, David Henry Hwang and Oskar Eustis Photo by Lia Chang

Eiko Ishioka presented David Henry Hwang with Asian American Writers’ Workshop Lifetime achievement award at the AAWW Literary Awards on December 8, 2008 in New York, Photo by Lia Chang

This year’s Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s Asian American Literary Award honorees include Fiction award-winner Mohsin Hamid for The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Nonfiction award-winner Vijay Prashad for The Darker Nations, and Poetry award-winner Sun Yung Shin for Skirt Full of Black. The Member’s Choice award was presented to Ed Lin for This is a Bust.

Eiko Ishioka presented David Henry Hwang with Asian American Writers’ Workshop Lifetime achievement award at the AAWW Literary Awards on December 8, 2008 in New York, Photo by Lia Chang

After the ceremony, David Henry Hwang and BD Wong signed complimentary copies of M. Butterfly, published by Plume, that all attendees of the ceremony were lucky enough to receive.

Eiko Ishioka presented David Henry Hwang with Asian American Writers’ Workshop Lifetime achievement award at the AAWW Literary Awards on December 8, 2008 in New York, Photo by Lia Chang

Eiko Ishioka Photo by Lia Chang

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:
A night out with Gordana Rashovich, Flora Goforth in The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore
André De Shields Set for World Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Indiana Rep, 3/22-4/10
Photos: De Shields, McClendon, Elisa, Glasco, Nemser, Phillips, Thompson at The Sovereign State of Boogedy Boogedy Reading
Photos of Lion Dancers in Los Angeles Chinatown
Photos: A.B. Cruz III and Lillian Kimura Receive 2011 AALDEF Justice in Action Awards
Photos of Lion Dancers in Los Angeles Chinatown
Photos: Chinese New Year Festival at The Huntington in San Marino
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
André De Shields leads cast of Charles Smith’s Knock Me A Kiss at Abrons Arts Center
STORIES FROM CHINESE AMERICA: The Arthur Dong Collection, Vol. 2 as 4 disc DVD Box Set
Multimedia: Exclusive photos and video of Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas -In the Makeup Chair with Thom Sesma
Photo Call: BD Wong and the Cast of Heading East at the Asia Society
cllick here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive.