East West presents M. BUTTERLFY

East West Players, the nation's premier Asian American theatre, completes its 38th Anniversary Season with M. BUTTERFLY by David Henry Hwang, directed by Chay Yew. It will be the play's first production by a professional Asian American theatre organization. Winner of the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for best play, M. BUTTERFLY took the theatre world by storm in its 1988 Broadway debut and established Hwang as a modern American playwright. M. BUTTERFLY also earned Tony Awards for featured actor and director.

Drawn from real life events, involving the strange tale of a French diplomat who carried on a 20-year relationship with a Chinese opera star without (he contended) being aware that his "perfect woman" was really a man. Bored with his routine posting in Beijing, and awkward with women, diplomat Rene Gallimard is easy prey for the subtle, delicate charms of Song Liling, a Chinese opera star who personifies Gallimard's fantasy vision of submissive, exotic oriental sexuality. He begins a 20-year affair with "her," during which time he passes along diplomatic secrets, an act which brings on his downfall and imprisonment. Interspersed with scenes between the two lovers are others with Gallimard‚s wife and colleagues, which underscore the irony of Gallimard‚s delusion and its curious parallel to the events of Puccini's famous opera MADAME BUTTERFLY.

"This innovative production directed by Chay Yew continues our long-time relationship with David Henry Hwang which started when his parents were volunteers with the theatre more than 30 years ago. M. BUTTERFLY's examination of the romanticized and clouded perceptions of Eastern culture by the West resonates with the Asian American community as we still battle the stereotypes of exoticized women and emasculated men," said East West Players Artistic Director Tim Dang.

Chay Yew is both a director and a playwright. He has directed at culturally specific organizations including East West Players, National Asian American Theatre Company, Ma Yi Theatre Company, Northwest Asian American Theatre, as well as New York Theatre Workshop, Portland Center Stage, Empty Space, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Cornerstone Theater Company and Highways Performance Space. As a playwright, Yew's work has been presented by the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater, Royal Court Theatre (London), Long Wharf Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Intiman Theater, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Dallas Theater Center, Cornerstone Theatre Company, The Group Theater, and TheatreWorks (Singapore), to name a few. A member of New Dramatists and board member of Theatre Communications Group, he is also the director of the Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theatre Workshop.

Playing the lead character of "Rene Gallimard" is actor Arye Gross, a 25-year veteran of Los Angeles theatre. Productions include CHEKOHOV X 4 (Antaeus Company); BLACK BOX, LOVE SUICIDE, PORTAGE TO SAN CRISTOBAL OF A.H. and CHICAGO CONSPIRACY TRIAL (Odyssey Theatre); SCREWBALL, LET‚S PLAY TWO, TIME OF YOUR LIFE and WILD OATS (South Coast Repertory); THREE SISTERS (LATC); THE SQUARE (Taper, Too); ROOM SERVICE (Pasadena Playhouse); and LA BETE and SLEEP, I WANT YOU TO SLEEP for Stages Theatre Center, where he served as Managing Artistic Director from 2000 to 2003. In 1997 Mr. Gross created the role of "Golden Buffalo" in the world premiere of David Henry Hwang's and Bright Sheng's celebrated chamber opera THE SILVER RIVER for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He has been heard in more than 20 productions for the radio with L.A. Theatre Works including their production of M. BUTTERFLY. Gross recently received a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for HBO's Six Feet Under.

Actor Alec Mapa returns to M. BUTTERFLY as "Song Liling," a role which he understudied on Broadway and performed during its national tour. Other Broadway credits include A LITTLE HOTEL ON THE SIDE and TIMONS OF ATHENS. Off-Broadway Mapa received rave reviews for his performances in New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater productions of A LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN and DOGEATERS. At East West Players Mapa earned a Theatre L.A. Ovation Award and Drama-logue Award for his performance in Chay Yew's PORCELAIN. Mapa has also earned Theatre L.A. Ovation, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Drama-logue and Back Stage West Garland Awards, and a special citation of excellent from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for his solo performances I REMEMBER MAPA, POINTLESS and DRAMA! Television credits include Seinfeld, Roseanne, NYPD Blue, Friends and the first gay Asian series regular on the short-lived CBS comedy Some of My Best Friends. He can currently be seen on UPN's Half and Half and the recently released movie Connie and Carla starring Nia Vardalos and Toni Colette.

The creative team for M. BUTTERFLY is set and costume designer Yevgenia Nayberg, lighting designer Jose Lopez, sound designer John Zalewski, property master Ken Takemoto and stage manager Winnie Lok.

All performances are in the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts, located in Little Tokyo at 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Opening night is June 9, 2004 (includes gala reception with the director, cast and crew) and closing is on July 4, 2004. Previews are June 3-6, 2004. Regular performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. There are no Saturday matinee performances on June 5 and 12. An American Sign Language-interpreted performance is scheduled for July 3, 2004 at 2 pm.

Ticket prices are $20 for Previews; regular performances are $38 in the orchestra and $33 for the balcony. Tickets can be purchased Monday through Saturday, 11 am 5 pm by calling (213) 625-7000 x20 or visiting www.eastwestplayers.org. Senior, student and group discounts are available.

M. BUTTERFLY by David Henry Hwang is presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., in New York.

Questions? Email



		East West Players presents the Tony Award-winning play M. BUTTERFLY By David Henry Hwang starring Arye Gross and Alec Mapa East West Players, the nation's premier Asian American theatre, completes its 38th Anniversary Season with M. BUTTERFLY by David Henry Hwang, directed by Chay Yew. It will be the play's first production by a professional Asian American theatre organization. Winner of the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for best play, M. BUTTERFLY took the theatre world by storm in its 1988 Broadway debut and established Hwang as a modern American playwright. M. BUTTERFLY also earned Tony Awards for featured actor and director. Drawn from real life events, involving the strange tale of a French diplomat who carried on a 20-year relationship with a Chinese opera star without (he contended) being aware that his "perfect woman" was really a man. Bored with his routine posting in Beijing, and awkward with women, diplomat Rene Gallimard is easy prey for the subtle, delicate charms of Song Liling, a Chinese opera star who personifies Gallimard's fantasy vision of submissive, exotic oriental sexuality. He begins a 20-year affair with "her," during which time he passes along diplomatic secrets, an act which brings on his downfall and imprisonment. Interspersed with scenes between the two lovers are others with Gallimard‚s wife and colleagues, which underscore the irony of Gallimard‚s delusion and its curious parallel to the events of Puccini's famous opera MADAME BUTTERFLY. "This innovative production directed by Chay Yew continues our long-time relationship with David Henry Hwang which started when his parents were volunteers with the theatre more than 30 years ago. M. BUTTERFLY's examination of the romanticized and clouded perceptions of Eastern culture by the West resonates with the Asian American community as we still battle the stereotypes of exoticized women and emasculated men," said East West Players Artistic Director Tim Dang. Chay Yew is both a director and a playwright. He has directed at culturally specific organizations including East West Players, National Asian American Theatre Company, Ma Yi Theatre Company, Northwest Asian American Theatre, as well as New York Theatre Workshop, Portland Center Stage, Empty Space, Singapore Repertory Theatre, Cornerstone Theater Company and Highways Performance Space. As a playwright, Yew's work has been presented by the New York Shakespeare Festival's Public Theater, Royal Court Theatre (London), Long Wharf Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Intiman Theater, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Dallas Theater Center, Cornerstone Theatre Company, The Group Theater, and TheatreWorks (Singapore), to name a few. A member of New Dramatists and board member of Theatre Communications Group, he is also the director of the Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theatre Workshop. Playing the lead character of "Rene Gallimard" is actor Arye Gross, a 25-year veteran of Los Angeles theatre. Productions include CHEKOHOV X 4 (Antaeus Company); BLACK BOX, LOVE SUICIDE, PORTAGE TO SAN CRISTOBAL OF A.H. and CHICAGO CONSPIRACY TRIAL (Odyssey Theatre); SCREWBALL, LET‚S PLAY TWO, TIME OF YOUR LIFE and WILD OATS (South Coast Repertory); THREE SISTERS (LATC); THE SQUARE (Taper, Too); ROOM SERVICE (Pasadena Playhouse); and LA BETE and SLEEP, I WANT YOU TO SLEEP for Stages Theatre Center, where he served as Managing Artistic Director from 2000 to 2003. In 1997 Mr. Gross created the role of "Golden Buffalo" in the world premiere of David Henry Hwang's and Bright Sheng's celebrated chamber opera THE SILVER RIVER for the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He has been heard in more than 20 productions for the radio with L.A. Theatre Works including their production of M. BUTTERFLY. Gross recently received a Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for HBO's Six Feet Under. Actor Alec Mapa returns to M. BUTTERFLY as "Song Liling," a role which he understudied on Broadway and performed during its national tour. Other Broadway credits include A LITTLE HOTEL ON THE SIDE and TIMONS OF ATHENS. Off-Broadway Mapa received rave reviews for his performances in New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater productions of A LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN and DOGEATERS. At East West Players Mapa earned a Theatre L.A. Ovation Award and Drama-logue Award for his performance in Chay Yew's PORCELAIN. Mapa has also earned Theatre L.A. Ovation, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Drama-logue and Back Stage West Garland Awards, and a special citation of excellent from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force for his solo performances I REMEMBER MAPA, POINTLESS and DRAMA! Television credits include Seinfeld, Roseanne, NYPD Blue, Friends and the first gay Asian series regular on the short-lived CBS comedy Some of My Best Friends. He can currently be seen on UPN's Half and Half and the recently released movie Connie and Carla starring Nia Vardalos and Toni Colette. The creative team for M. BUTTERFLY is set and costume designer Yevgenia Nayberg, lighting designer Jose Lopez, sound designer John Zalewski, property master Ken Takemoto and stage manager Winnie Lok. All performances are in the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts, located in Little Tokyo at 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Opening night is June 9, 2004 (includes gala reception with the director, cast and crew) and closing is on July 4, 2004. Previews are June 3-6, 2004. Regular performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm. There are no Saturday matinee performances on June 5 and 12. An American Sign Language-interpreted performance is scheduled for July 3, 2004 at 2 pm. Ticket prices are $20 for Previews; regular performances are $38 in the orchestra and $33 for the balcony. Tickets can be purchased Monday through Saturday, 11 am 5 pm by calling (213) 625-7000 x20 or visiting www.eastwestplayers.org. Senior, student and group discounts are available. M. BUTTERFLY by David Henry Hwang is presented by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., in New York. Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Library \| Plays Copyright 2004, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

East West Players presents the Tony Award-winning play M. BUTTERFLY By David Henry Hwang starring Arye Gross and Alec Mapa