Mu’s landmark 21st Season features a brand new Taiko Concert, Lauren Yee’s The Tiger Among Us, and Rick Shiomi’s Award-Winning comedy Yellow Fever

Mu Performing Arts has announced the lineup for its 21st season of theater and taiko from the heart of the Asian American experience. This season marks founding Artistic Director Rick Shiomi’s final year at the helm of the company. Events celebrating Shiomi’s work in taiko and theater will coincide with the opening weekend of each production throughout the 2012-2013 season. These events will include special guests and retrospectives focusing on Shiomi’s development as an artist and administrator starting in the early days of the Asian American theater movement.

Rick Shiomi (Photo by Lia Chang)

Rick Shiomi was already an accomplished playwright, taiko drummer, and community organizer when he co-founded Theater Mu in 1992, which premiered its first New Eyes Festival of staged readings at Intermedia Arts in downtown Minneapolis. Since that time, Mu Performing Arts has grown to become one of the largest Asian American performing companies in the nation, garnering critical acclaim and a burgeoning audience base along the way. Mu’s company model is unique in North America in that it encompasses both a taiko drumming ensemble (Mu Daiko) and a professional theater company (Theater Mu).

The first production in the 3-show subscription series is Mu Daiko at the Cowles Center (November 9-11, 2012). Following last season’s record-setting concert and statewide tour, Mu Daiko Artistic Director Iris Shiraishi leads the Japanese drumming ensemble in their Cowles Center debut. The concert will feature a medley of works composed by Mu Daiko founder Rick Shiomi and all of the heart pounding high energy rhythms and movement that audiences have come to expect from Mu Daiko.

In January 2013, Mu Performing arts welcomes award-winning playwright Lauren Yee back to the Twin Cities with the world premiere of her newest play, The Tiger Among Us (January 25-February 10, 2013). Presented at Mixed Blood Theatre, the play looks at the cultural disconnect felt by an isolated Hmong American family living in rural Minnesota as two siblings seek to blend traditional Hmong family values with modern life. Yee has been a Dramatists Guild fellow, a MacDowell Colony fellow, and a member of the Public Theater Emerging Writers Group. She has also been a finalist for the Heideman Award, the Jerome Fellowship, the PEN USA Literary Award for Drama, and the Wasserstein Prize. This production is funded and commissioned by the MAP Fund. Mu produced Yee’s comedy, Ching Chong Chinaman, to great audience and critical acclaim in spring 2009. Katie Ka Vang (Playwright/Performer: WTF, Hmong Bollywood) will serve as Assistant Director and Cultural Consultant.

R.A. Shiomi’s award-winning play Yellow Fever.

Mu closes its mainstage season with R.A. Shiomi’s Yellow Fever (March 9-24, 2013). Rick Shiomi will direct the noir comedy in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater. Yellow Fever launched Shiomi’s theatrical career when it was produced Off-Broadway in 1982. Later produced at Theater Mu in 1994, the plot follows Sam Shikaze, a Japanese Canadian detective in Vancouver as he attempts to solve the disappearance of the Cherry Blossom Queen. Along the way Shikaze wrestles with bitter memories of the internment of Japanese-Canadians, racist organizations and an unexpected romance. New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow said the show “scores both as parody and a comedy mystery” and selected it as a Critic’s Choice. The cast includes Mu regulars Kurt Kwan (Sam Shikaze), Sara Ochs, and Eric Sharp, as well as Wade Vaughn and others. Yellow Fever will mark the fourth Mu production to be presented in the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio.

The three show subscription series includes:
Mu Daiko at the Cowles Center
Iris Shiraishi, Mu Daiko Artistic Director
November 9-11, 2012
The Cowles Center for Dance

World Premiere Commission
The Tiger Among Us
by Lauren Yee
directed by TBA
January 25-February 10, 2013
Mixed Blood Theatre

The Guthrie Theater presents a Mu Performing Arts production of
Yellow Fever
by R.A. Shiomi
directed by Rick Shiomi
March 9-24, 2013
Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater

Tickets on sale now for Mu Daiko at the Cowles Center and Yellow Fever. Tickets go on sale Oct. 1 for The Tiger Among Us.
For more information or to purchase tickets call 651.789.1012 or online at www.muperformingarts.org

In 2011, Mu Performing Arts published a new anthology of plays through Temple University Press, Asian American Plays for a New Generation. Six of the seven plays included were commissioned and/or produced by Mu. Each season, Mu produces three mainstage plays and one mainstage taiko concert, along with numerous artist development programs and other special events. Celebrating its 21th Anniversary mainstage season, Mu Performing Arts continued its string of ‘Best of’ top end of year picks by The Minneapolis Star Tribune and St. Paul Pioneer Press, with last year’s musical offering Little Shop of Horrors. In the last three seasons, seven out of nine productions have been listed on end of year lists. www.muperformingarts.org.

Other articles on Mu Performing Arts:
Up Close and Personal with Rick Shiomi, Award-winning Playwright & Artistic Director of Mu Performing Arts
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Rick Shiomi helms Mu Performing Arts’ Asian American Cast of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, July 17-August 5, 2012
Randy Reyes Embraces his Passion for Storytelling as an Actor, Director and Theater Educator
Randy Reyes directs Mu Performing Arts’ production of EDITH CAN SHOOT THINGS AND HIT THEM by A. Rey Pamatmat at Mixed Blood Theatre, March 13-April 1, 2012
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Photos: Opening Night of Mu Performing Arts’ Katie Hae Leo’s Four Destinies
Photos: Backstage at Mu Performing Arts’ Four Destinies by Katie Hae Leo
Photos: On the town with Rick Shiomi, Co-Editor of “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, in D.C. & NY
Temple Press: Rick Shiomi recounts his tour for “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”
Mu Blog: Rick Shiomi’s Book Tour Logbook
knightarts.org: Reading on the road inside the book tour
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 “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, A New Anthology of Asian American Plays Is Subject of Book Talk
Click here for more articles on Rick Shiomi.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Epic Theatre Ensemble Presents New York Premiere of Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths Starring Joel de la Fuente at the Theatre at the 14th Street Y, October 12-November 18, 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
Manu Narayan, Johnny Wu, Peter Maloney, Jeff Marlow, Matt MacNelly, Kevin Skousen & Ray Anthony Thomas Set for La Jolla Playhouse’s Glengarry Glen Ross, September 18- October 21, 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
The Old Globe’s Production Photos of George Takei, Lea Salonga, Telly Leung and Paolo Montalban in World Premiere of Allegiance – A New American Musical
Three Year Swim Club, Encounter, TEA, Christmas in Hanoi and Chess set for East West Players 47th Anniversary Season
André De Shields Returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre with I Put A Spell on You, October 5 and 12
Photos: Tonya Pinkins, André De Shields, S. Epatha Merkerson, Billy Porter and George C. Wolfe at 54 Below
Raul Aranas, Kate Baldwin, Brian d’Arcy James, P.J. Griffith, Bobby Steggert and Michele Pawk Set for New York Premiere of GIANT at The Public Theater, October 26-December 2, 2012
Video: Academy Award Winner Chris Tashima Talks About His Roles in Lily Mariye’s Model Minority and Lil Tokyo Reporter
Photos: 4 Wedding Planners’ Illeana Douglas, Kimberly-Rose Wolter and Michael Kang at Screen Actors Guild Foundation Conversations Series in NY
10 minutes with Sullivan & Son’s Jodi Long, Award Winning Actor and Filmmaker
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
Photos: 4 Wedding Planners’ Illeana Douglas, Kimberly-Rose Wolter and Michael Kang at Screen Actors Guild Foundation Conversations Series in NY
André De Shields Returns to The Laurie Beechman Theatre with I Put A Spell on You, October 5 and 12
MTC’s An Enemy of The People Starring Boyd Gaines and Richard Thomas Begin Previews at Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Tony Award – winning Playwright Terrence McNally to be Honored at Westport Country Playhouse Annual Gala, September 24, 2012
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
10 minutes with Sullivan & Son’s Jodi Long, Award Winning Actor and Filmmaker
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
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: © 2000-2012 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 Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast

Christmas came early for me this year, in the form of R.A. Shiomi’s award-winning play Yellow Fever, when I played the lead, Japanese-Canadian gumshoe, Sam Shikaze, in an all-female cast reading of the play at the home of Julie Azuma and Tamio Spiegel on December 5, 2011.

Playwright and co-director Rick Shiomi, Cindy Cheung, Susan Dalton Quinn, Amanda Galang, Ako, Katie Lee Hill, Lia Chang, Gyu Jin Lim and co-director Raul Aranas.

The reading was co-directed by playwright Rick Shiomi and actor/director Raul Aranas, who helmed Pan Asian Repertory Theatre’s critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production in 1982. It was an exhilarating and historic evening to be performing in my favorite play with my longtime colleagues Cindy Cheung (Captain Kadota) and Ako (Rosie); in addition to Susan Dalton Quinn (Sergeant Mackenzie), Katie Lee Hill (Nancy Wing), Gyu Jin Lim (Chuck Chan) and Amanda Galang (Superintendent Jameson, Goldberg).

Rick Shiomi, Julie Azuma and Tamio Spiegel Photo by Lia Chang

In the house to support- Reme Grefalda, curator of ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection; actors BD Wong, Gordana Rashovich, Jarlath Conroy and Karen Tsen Lee; Heading East lyricist and librettist Robert Lee, novelist Ed Lin, photographer Brianne Michelle Planko; and Mina Manalac.

Rick Shiomi, Lia Chang, Robert Lee and BD Wong. Photo by Masao

On March 10, 1982, Yellow Fever premiered at the Asian American Theater Company and garnered Shiomi numerous awards including a 1982 Bay Area Theater Circle Critics Award and a 1982 “Bernie” for new play from the San Francisco Chronicle. The play opened in New York on December 1, 1982, and has received productions around the world including Los Angeles, Toronto (1984 Ontario Multicultural Theater Award), Seattle and in Japan.

Raul Aranas, Reme Grefalda and Rick Shiomi Photo by Lia Chang

Yellow Fever‘s Sam Shikaze is a Japanese-Canadian private eye from the Sam Spade School of life who lives and works on Powell Street in Vancouver. In Sam’s words, “Being a private eye doesn’t give you that nine-to-five respectability, but you call your own shots and you don’t have to smile for a living…and that’s the way I like it.” Sam’s life is complicated by the disappearance of the local Cherry Blossom Queen. Hired to find her, he soon falls into a maelstrom of deception, racism, and political intrigue, all of which lead him to the Sons of the Western Guard.

Reme Grefalda, Rick Shiomi and Lia Chang

R.A. Shiomi's award-winning play Yellow Fever. Photo by John To

When Yellow Fever was produced in New York by Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in 1982, Mel Gussow of The New York Times wrote, “As a playwright, Mr. Shiomi is his own crafty private investigator, making his points through indirection and droll humour….Mr. Shiomi’s Yellow Fever is so captivating that it makes one eager for further adventures of the inimitable Sam Shikaze.”

Edith Oliver of the New Yorker wrote, “Yellow Fever is a funny mystery-a real mystery, that is, which parodies private eye movies and also tucks in quite a lot of social comment without ever breaking its own comic mood.”

Lia: Where did you get the idea for an all-female cast?
Rick: This idea for an all-female cast reading of Yellow Fever came from Raul Aranas. And candidly my first reaction was that would be odd, because the play comes from such a deep male perspective and reflects many of those old fashioned male values (think detectives and film noir).

But when I saw Raul at a performance of Twelfth Night produced by Leviathan Theatre Lab in New York in November, he urged me to consider it again and I decided to pursue the idea. And as I thought about it and talked with my peers, the idea became more and more fascinating. We were quickly able to put together the reading with actors we both knew.

Lia: What were you thinking as the evening unfolded?
Rick: It was a mind opening experience to realize how the universal qualities of the characters and story could be embodied by the female actress in a new way, and not simply women trying to be men. The reading became a new way to look at the play and the performers and that was exciting.

I want to thank the cast for their participation and instant willingness to dive into this reading with great skill and enthusiasm.

Gordana Rashovich, Lia Chang and Jarlath Conroy. Photo by Robert Lee

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Photos: Playwright Lonnie Carter Talks TRIM, The Tiger Woods What If Story, The Romance of Magno Rubio and The Lost Boys of Sudan
Up Close and Personal with Rick Shiomi, Award-winning Playwright and Artistic Director of Mu Performing Arts
Photos: Opening Night of Mu Performing Arts’ Katie Hae Leo’s Four Destinies
Photos: Backstage at Mu Performing Arts’ Four Destinies by Katie Hae Leo
Photos: On the town with Rick Shiomi, Co-Editor of “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, in D.C. & NY
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 “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, A New Anthology of Asian American Plays Is Subject of Book Talk
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Crafting a Career
Nurse Lia on One Life to Live
Click here for more articles on Rick Shiomi.
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang as Sam Shikaze in Rick Shiomi's Yellow Fever Photo by Lia Chang

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

Lia made her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden, and has since documented her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism as a photographer and videographer, collaborating with other artists, organizations and companies to establish their documentary photo archive and social media presence.

Lia 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.

Her Off-Broadway credits include: Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott’s Marie Laveau (Castillo Theatre), Jeff Weiss’ Obie Award winning Hot Keys (Naked Angels), Raunchy Asian Women (Ohio Theatre), The Confirmation (The Vineyard), Behind Closed Doors (MCC), Lonnie Carter’s Gulliver opposite Andre De Shields (La MaMa Etc.), Power Play (Billie Holiday Theatre), Two Gentlemen of Verona, Underground Soap, and Famine Plays (Cucaracha Theatre). Film and TV credits include: Wolf, New Jack City, Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman, “As the World Turns,” “Another World,” and “New York Undercover”. Lia currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”.

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.

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.