East West Players announces 2006-07 season

East West Players brings the artist to the forefront in a season that features new and classic works exploring the struggles and triumphs of actors, singers and dancers both on- and off-stage. “In presenting productions that turn the company back to its original mission in performing arts, it is particularly fitting to dedicate our upcoming season to the memory of Founding Artistic Director, Mako,” says Artistic Director Tim Dang.

The 41st season will start off with the West Coast premiere of SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL, a side-splitting look at actor auditions gone horribly wrong. Produced in association with Mr. Miyagi’s Theatre Company in New York, SIDES has been lauded as “A bull’s eye…high-speed whip smart comedy” by the Wall Street Journal and hailed as “…consistently entertaining satire…” by the New York Times

The season continues with the world premiere of SURFING DNA written and performed by Jodi Long, directed by Lisa Peterson. Born in a trunk to vaudevillian parents on the Chop Suey circuit, Jodi Long, winner of LA's Ovation award for her role in Flower Drum Song, surfs a hilarious and poignant voyage from the Ed Sullivan Show to medieval Japan to the Scottish Highlands, inescapably steered by the forces embedded in her DNA.

East West Players third production of the 41st Anniversary Season is Tony Award winner MASTER CLASS by Terrence McNally, sponsored by the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players. Maria Callas is teaching a master class in front of an audience (us). She's glamorous, commanding, larger than life – and drop-dead funny. Maria coaxes, prods, and inspires students – “victims” she calls them – into giving performances of their lives while revealing her own. Emotional explosions, cutting wit and soaring music brought to life by the Tony Award winning author of Love! Valour! Compassion!

The fourth play of the season is I LAND, a solo performance written and performed by Keo Wolford; directed by Roberta Uno; hula choreography by Robert Cazimero and hip-hop choreography Rok-A-Fella; and sponsored by the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players. I LAND expands on the Hawaiian tradition of talk story, combining theater and dance, bringing dramatic narrative, comedy, hula, and hip-hop dance together to tell a unique and compelling story. Co-commissioned by the Asia Society and Ma-Yi Theater Company in New York City.

East West Players concludes its 41st season with the world premiere of YELLOW FACE by Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang. A co-production of Center Theatre Group Mark Taper Forum and The Public Theater of New York in association with East West Players, YELLOW FACE will have its world premiere as the final production of the Taper’s 40th season. Hwang writes himself into the middle of his play, which is launched with the backstage revelations of an earlier play he had written that flopped infamously on Broadway. It appears that a white actor had been unknowingly cast in the role of an Asian, which is especially embarrassing for Hwang who had led the Asian American uproar when a Welsh actor was cast as a Eurasian in the 1991 Broadway opening of Miss Saigon.

SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL, SURFING DNA, MASTERCLASS and I LAND will be held at the David Henry Hwang Theater. YELLOW FACE will be held at the Mark Taper Forum in the Los Angeles Music Center.

For more information, call (213) 625-7000 or email info@eastwestplayers.org. All plays and dates subject to change.

As the nation’s premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players produces outstanding works and educational programs that give voice to the Asian Pacific American experience.

East West Players
David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts
120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 625-7000 phone | (213) 625-7111 FAX

Questions? Email



	The 41st Anniversary Season is dedicated to the memory of EWP Founding Artistic Director Mako. East West Players brings the artist to the forefront in a season that features new and classic works exploring the struggles and triumphs of actors, singers and dancers both on- and off-stage. “In presenting productions that turn the company back to its original mission in performing arts, it is particularly fitting to dedicate our upcoming season to the memory of Founding Artistic Director, Mako,” says Artistic Director Tim Dang. The 41st season will start off with the West Coast premiere of SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL, a side-splitting look at actor auditions gone horribly wrong. Produced in association with Mr. Miyagi’s Theatre Company in New York, SIDES has been lauded as “A bull’s eye…high-speed whip smart comedy” by the Wall Street Journal and hailed as “…consistently entertaining satire…” by the New York Times The season continues with the world premiere of SURFING DNA written and performed by Jodi Long, directed by Lisa Peterson. Born in a trunk to vaudevillian parents on the Chop Suey circuit, Jodi Long, winner of LA's Ovation award for her role in Flower Drum Song, surfs a hilarious and poignant voyage from the Ed Sullivan Show to medieval Japan to the Scottish Highlands, inescapably steered by the forces embedded in her DNA. East West Players third production of the 41st Anniversary Season is Tony Award winner MASTER CLASS by Terrence McNally, sponsored by the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players. Maria Callas is teaching a master class in front of an audience (us). She's glamorous, commanding, larger than life – and drop-dead funny. Maria coaxes, prods, and inspires students – “victims” she calls them – into giving performances of their lives while revealing her own. Emotional explosions, cutting wit and soaring music brought to life by the Tony Award winning author of Love! Valour! Compassion! The fourth play of the season is I LAND, a solo performance written and performed by Keo Wolford; directed by Roberta Uno; hula choreography by Robert Cazimero and hip-hop choreography Rok-A-Fella; and sponsored by the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players. I LAND expands on the Hawaiian tradition of talk story, combining theater and dance, bringing dramatic narrative, comedy, hula, and hip-hop dance together to tell a unique and compelling story. Co-commissioned by the Asia Society and Ma-Yi Theater Company in New York City. East West Players concludes its 41st season with the world premiere of YELLOW FACE by Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang. A co-production of Center Theatre Group Mark Taper Forum and The Public Theater of New York in association with East West Players, YELLOW FACE will have its world premiere as the final production of the Taper’s 40th season. Hwang writes himself into the middle of his play, which is launched with the backstage revelations of an earlier play he had written that flopped infamously on Broadway. It appears that a white actor had been unknowingly cast in the role of an Asian, which is especially embarrassing for Hwang who had led the Asian American uproar when a Welsh actor was cast as a Eurasian in the 1991 Broadway opening of Miss Saigon. SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL, SURFING DNA, MASTERCLASS and I LAND will be held at the David Henry Hwang Theater. YELLOW FACE will be held at the Mark Taper Forum in the Los Angeles Music Center. For more information, call (213) 625-7000 or email info@eastwestplayers.org. All plays and dates subject to change. As the nation’s premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players produces outstanding works and educational programs that give voice to the Asian Pacific American experience. East West Players David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 625-7000 phone \| (213) 625-7111 FAX Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Library \| Plays Copyright 2006, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

The 41st Anniversary Season is dedicated to the memory of EWP Founding Artistic Director Mako.