Susan Soon He Stanton’s TAKARAZUKA!!! featuring Jennifer Ikeda, Brooke Ishibashi, Paul Juhn, Glenn Kubota, and Angela Lin kicks off Clubbed Thumb’s 17th annual SUMMERWORKS at Here, May 26-June 4

Clubbed Thumb’s 17th annual SUMMERWORKS season of new plays kicks off with Susan Soon He Stanton’s TAKARAZUKA!!!, directed by Lear deBessonet, about the real-life all-female Japanese theatre troupe from May 26-June 4 at HERE Arts Center, 145 6th Ave in New York.

Angela Lin

Angela Lin


The cast of TAKARAZUKA!!! includes Jennifer Ikeda (TOP GIRLS, Manhattan Theater Club; TITUS ANDRONICUS, The Public), Brooke Ishibashi (THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G, Ma-Yi Theater Company in association with Vampire Cowboys Theater Company), Paul Juhn (“30 Rock”), Glenn Kubota (Pan Asian Rep) and Angela Lin (CHINGLISH). For tickets, priced $18, phone (212) 352-3101 or visit HERE.org. HERE Arts Center is located 145 Sixth Ave at Dominick. Showtime is at 8:30, there is no performance on May 30, 2012.

Part ghost story, part love story, TAKARAZUKA!!! tracks the career sunset of Yuko, the star of a Japanese theater that stages all-female Western style musical extravaganzas. But when you take away her partner, her fans, and her tux, who will she be?

SUSAN SOON HE STANTON’s plays include AMERICAN PIG PEN, CYGNUS, FURBALL, THE THINGS ARE AGAINST US, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JOHN BOY KIHANO?, THE UNDERNEATH, THE ART OF PRESERVATION and others. She is a member of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writer’s Group and Ma-Yi Playwrights Lab. Awards include the 2011 Van Lier Fellowship at The Lark, and The Sloan Foundation feature film development grant. MFA: Yale Playwriting. From Honolulu, Susan lives in New York City. This is Susan’s first NYC production.

LEAR deBESSONET Original works have been produced by Lincoln Center Theatre, the Old Globe Theatre, the Intiman Theatre, Joe’s Pub, and Performance Space 122. She has worked with writers Marcus Gardley, Naomi Iizuka, Todd Almond, Deborah Stein, and Lucy Thurber. She most recently conceived and directed ODYSSEY at the Old Globe, featuring a cast of nearly 200 performers including local choirs, marching bands, and park rangers.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Shinsai: Theaters for Japan Photos: (3pm) with André Bishop, Mary Beth Hurt, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Richard Thomas, Jay O. Sanders, and more
C.J. Wilson navigates armor and swordplay in Signature Theatre Company’s World Premiere of Kenneth Lonergan’s Medieval Play
Photos: In Rehearsal with BD Wong at Dixon Place for Live Concert Recording of Herringbone
David Henry Hwang Set as Signature Theatre’s Residency One Playwright for the 2012-2013 Season
Performing Arts Images from the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection on Display at the Library of Congress to Celebrate APA Heritage Month
Photos: David Henry Hwang, Oskar Eustis, BD Wong, Brian d’Arcy James, Francis Jue, Jennifer Lim and Leigh Silverman at WNYC’s The Greene Space
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang. Photo by Brianne Michelle Photography

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: Photos of AEA’s Asian Heritage Celebration, featuring the Leviathan Lab Asian American Women Writers Workshop

The playwrights and producing team of AEA's Asian Heritage Celebration, featuring the Leviathan Lab Asian American Women Writers Workshop (L to R) Kristine M. Reyes, May Nazareno, Leanne Cabrera, Dorim Lee, Christine Toy Johnson, Nancy Eng, Marisa Marquez, Siho Ellsmore, Nelson Eusebio, Ji Hyun Lee, Ariel Estrada, Elaina Erika Davis, Eileen Rivera. © Lia Chang

The playwrights and producing team of AEA's Asian Heritage Celebration, featuring the Leviathan Lab Asian American Women Writers Workshop (L to R) Kristine M. Reyes, May Nazareno, Leanne Cabrera, Dorim Lee, Christine Toy Johnson, Nancy Eng, Marisa Marquez, Siho Ellsmore, Nelson Eusebio, Ji Hyun Lee, Ariel Estrada, Elaina Erika Davis, Eileen Rivera. © Lia Chang

On May 12th and 13th, AEA’s Eastern Region Equal Employment Opportunity Committee in collaboration with Leviathan Lab’s Asian American Women Writers’ Workshop, celebrated Asian Heritage Month with a salon of concert readings of new monologues and 10 minute plays, at the AEA Audition Center in New York. Leanne Cabrera, Nora Chau, Elaina Erika Davis, Siho Ellsmore, Nancy Eng, Christine Toy Johnson, Dorim Lee, Marisa Marquez, May Nazareno, Kristine M. Reyes, Eileen Rivera and Susan Soon He Stanton were among the playwrights featured.
Tanforan playwright Christine Toy Johnson (center) is flanked by her cast (L-R) Jennifer Prescott, Valerie Wright, Charlotte D'Amboise, and director JoAnn Hunter. © Lia Chang

Tanforan playwright Christine Toy Johnson (center) is flanked by her cast (L-R) Jennifer Prescott, Valerie Wright, Charlotte D'Amboise, and director JoAnn Hunter. © Lia Chang

The Festival was the brainchild of Christine Toy Johnson (Playwright/Actor and Co-chair of AEA’s EEOC), Ariel Estrada (EEOC member and founder of Leviathan Lab), Nelson T. Eusebio III (Resident Director at Leviathan Lab), and Ji-Hyun Lee (playwright) who joined forces to create a platform for Asian American female playwrights.
 Cast and crew of AEA’s Asian Heritage Celebration. © Lia Chang

Cast and crew of AEA’s Asian Heritage Celebration. © Lia Chang


Siho Ellsmore in Nora Chau's Akiko Runs. © Lia Chang

Siho Ellsmore in Nora Chau's Akiko Runs. © Lia Chang

Mariana Newhard in Elaina Erika Davis' Sakura, or Cherry Blossoms. © Lia Chang

Mariana Newhard in Elaina Erika Davis' Sakura, or Cherry Blossoms. © Lia Chang


Nancy Eng in Dorim Lee's Eye for an Eye. © Lia Chang

Nancy Eng in Dorim Lee's Eye for an Eye. © Lia Chang


Cast of Susan Soon He Stanton's Don't Think Twice, Angela Lin and James Chen, Directed by Jesse Jou © Lia Chang

Cast of Susan Soon He Stanton's Don't Think Twice, Angela Lin and James Chen, Directed by Jesse Jou © Lia Chang


Cast of Kristine M. Reyes' Ready, Aim...Fire!, Zack Griffiths and Helen Farmer, Directed by Victor Lirio  © Lia Chang

Cast of Kristine M. Reyes' Ready, Aim...Fire!, Zack Griffiths and Helen Farmer, Directed by Victor Lirio © Lia Chang


Cast of Siho Ellsmore's The Goddesses (L to R) Brent Yoshikami, Leanne Cabrera, and Cindy Cheung, Directed by Peter Kim. © Lia Chang

Cast of Siho Ellsmore's The Goddesses (L to R) Brent Yoshikami, Leanne Cabrera, and Cindy Cheung, Directed by Peter Kim. © Lia Chang


Bing Magoto in Leanne Cabrera's Infarct, Directed by May Nazareno. © Lia Chang

Bing Magoto in Leanne Cabrera's Infarct, Directed by May Nazareno. © Lia Chang


Cast of May Nazareno's From My Very Real Life (L to R) Jaygee Macapugay, Eileen Rivera, Jo Jo Gonzales and John Christopher Jones, Directed by Dax Valdes. © Lia Chang

Cast of May Nazareno's From My Very Real Life (L to R) Jaygee Macapugay, Eileen Rivera, Jo Jo Gonzales and John Christopher Jones, Directed by Dax Valdes. © Lia Chang


Cast of Eileen Rivera's Til Death, (L to R) Angela Lin, Joshua Spafford, Sandi Carroll and Jake Meyers, Directed by Nelson Eusebio. © Lia Chang

Cast of Eileen Rivera's Til Death, (L to R) Angela Lin, Joshua Spafford, Sandi Carroll and Jake Meyers, Directed by Nelson Eusebio. © Lia Chang


The Cast of Marisa Marquez's "White Tiger," Directed by Adam Zaremberg (L to R) Brent Yoshikami, Susan Quinn, Satomi Blair, Marisa Marquez, and Adam Zaremberg. © Lia Chang

The Cast of Marisa Marquez's "White Tiger," Directed by Adam Zaremberg (L to R) Brent Yoshikami, Susan Quinn, Satomi Blair, Marisa Marquez, and Adam Zaremberg. © Lia Chang


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

Related Articles
AEA celebrates Asian Heritage Month w/ Leviathan Lab’s Asian American Female Playwrights Short Play Festival in NY, 5/12-13
Daryl “Chill” Mitchell and Ann Harada to Star in Staged Reading of Internal Bleeding by Christine Toy Johnson
THE NEW DEAL & other plays from The Christine Toy Johnson Portfolio & TRANSCENDING: THE WAT MISAKA STORY
Photos:Leviathan Lab’s reading of Christine Toy Johnson’s Adventures of a Faux Designer Handbag

Other Articles by Lia Chang

Bookmark and Share

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.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
“In Rehearsal”: Lia Chang Theater Portfolio Features Rehearsal Photos of David Henry Hwang’s Broadway Bound Chinglish and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s “Bakwas Bumbug! on View in the Asian Division Reading Room at Library of Congress through 8/2
My portrait of “Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation into Scar in The Lion King” on view in HHC’s New York City: IN FOCUS, Vol. 2
Photos: Playwright David Henry Hwang in rehearsal at the Goodman Theatre for World Premiere of Chinglish
David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish is Broadway Bound this Fall; Goodman Theatre Photo Feature
Photos: Christmas in June w/ Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s “Bakwas Bumbug” at The Wild Project in NY
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
2011 Asian American International Film Festival Kicks Off w/ John Sayles’ AMIGO on 8/10; AAIFF’11 Lineup, 8/10-14
Photos: André De Shields leads the cast of Charles Smith’s Knock Me A Kiss at The National Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC, 8/2-8/4
Photos: “How To Succeed” stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway & John Larroquette at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
Photos: Phylicia Rashad, Michael McElroy, Marva Hicks in Broadway Inspirational Voices “Wondrous Grace” Concert in NY
Photos: Willie Reale, Frances McDormand, Lewis Black, Bela Fleck, Renee Goldsberry, Duncan Sheik, Lisa Benavides, Abigail Washburn, Tim Blake Nelson at The 52nd Street Project Benefit
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet, Tracee Chimo at Opening Night Party of Neil LaBute’s Break of Noon
Multimedia: Promises, Promises’ Stars Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes at Lord & Taylor Fifth Ave
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 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 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: AEA celebrates Asian Heritage Month with Leviathan Lab’s Asian American Female Playwright’s Short Play Festival in NY, May 12, 13

Elaina Erika Davis

Elaina Erika Davis

Leanne Cabrera, Nora Chau, Elaina Erika Davis, Siho Ellsmore, Nancy Eng, Christine Toy Johnson, Dorim Lee, Marisa Marques, May Nazareno, Kristine M. Reyes, Eileen Rivera and Susan Soon He Stanton are the playwrights whose new works will be featured in the first Asian American Female Playwrights Short Play Festival on May 12th and 13th at the AEA Audition Center, 165 West 46th Street in New York at 7 pm.
Christine Toy Johnson Photo by Bruce Alan Johnson

Christine Toy Johnson Photo by Bruce Alan Johnson


Presented by AEA’s Eastern Region Equal Employment Opportunity Committee and Leviathan Lab in celebration of Asian Heritage Month, the Asian American Female Playwrights Short Play Festival was the brainchild of Christine Toy Johnson (Playwright/Actor and Co-chair of AEA’s EEOC), Ariel Estrada (EEOC member and founder of Leviathan Lab), Nelson T. Eusebio III (Resident Director at Leviathan Lab), and Ji-Hyun Lee (playwright) who joined forces to create a platform for Asian American female playwrights.

Admission is free, RSVP to AEA Business Representative Pearl Brady: eeo@actorsequity.org

May 12, 13
AEA Audition Center
165 W. 46th St
New York
7pm

Related Articles
Daryl “Chill” Mitchell and Ann Harada to Star in Staged Reading of Internal Bleeding by Christine Toy Johnson
THE NEW DEAL & other plays from The Christine Toy Johnson Portfolio & TRANSCENDING: THE WAT MISAKA STORY
Photos:Leviathan Lab’s reading of Christine Toy Johnson’s Adventures of a Faux Designer Handbag
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 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

Other Articles by Lia Chang
Sixth Annual Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival – Ajay Naidu’s Ashes Screens on May 11 & May 15 in Edgewood, PA
Samrat Chakrabarti stars in Soham Mehta’s Fatakra, Shiva Bajpal’s Raju, and Rehana Mirza’s Zameer & Preeti at NYIFF
Victory Gardens appoints renowned director and playwright Chay Yew as its new Artistic Director
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 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
André De Shields stars in Chicago Premiere of Charles Smith’s The Gospel According to James at Victory Gardens 5/14-6/12
32nd Annual Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Festival at Union Square Park in NYC on May 8, 2011
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
Marva Hicks and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra light up the Southern Theatre with a “A Night at the Apollo”
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 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.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 43 other followers