EAST WEST PLAYERS SETS 33rd ANNIVERSARY MAINSTAGE SEASON: THE SOUND OF A VOICE

East West Players, the nation' s first and foremost Asian American theatre, announces its 33rd Anniversary mainstage season at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts in downtown Los Angeles. East West Players celebrates its second season of productions in its new Little Tokyo location at 120 N. Judge John Aiso Street (formerly N. San Pedro Street, between First and Temple Streets).

The season is entitled "THE SOUND OF A VOICE" in commemorating the last year before the next Millennium, which many describe will be the PACIFIC CENTURY. The Asian Pacific community has grown by leaps and bounds, particularly in Southern California, and our voice continues to grow louder and clearer in America. As we prepare for the celebration of the New Millennium, we will turn this voice into a presence that will be integral to our diverse community.

The Season opener will be the World Premiere of YOHEN, by Philip Kan Gotanda and directed by Anne Bowen. A co-production with the Robey Theatre Company, YOHEN will star Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, The Color Purple and the soon to be released Beloved) and Nobu McCarthy (Karate Kid II, The Wash and former artistic director of EWP) and is a story of an elderly African American-Japanese couple struggling to-maintain their marriage. YOHEN opens on January 13 and closes on January 31. Philip Kan Gotanda, the playwright of THE BALLAD OF YACHIYO, THE WASH and SONG FOR A NISEI FISHERMAN, will coincidentally be opening another world premiere at the same time, SISTERS MATSUMOTO, which will open at Seattle Repertory and then later at San Jose Repertory as a co-production with Asian American Theatre Company.

Opening on February 24 and closing on March 14 is the West Coast premiere of CARRY THE TIGER TO THE MOUNTAIN, written by Cherylene Lee. The play is the story of the brutal murder of Vincent Chin, which gives birth to the Asian Pacific American Civil Rights Movement. CARRY THE TIGER TO THE MOUNTAIN will star Beulah Quo (one of EWP's artistic founders and Co-Chair of the EWP New Theatre Campaign) as Lily Chin, Vincent Chin's mother who struggles for justice for the beating death of her son. Cherylene Lee has written such works a WONG BOW RIDES AGAIN and ARTHUR AND LEILA which have been produced at East West Players and various theatres around the country. CARRY THE TIGER TO THE MOUNTAIN is sponsored in part by a grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.

The World Premiere of HANAKO, by Chungmi Kim, opens on April 7 and closes on April 25. Directed by Tzi Ma, HANAKO is about a war atrocity kept silent for decades, which explodes in an emotional story about the Korean comfort women. Chungmi Kim is a Korean American poet and playwright whose works have been included in numerous anthologies, magazines and newspapers.

The final show of the season is the world premiere of BEIJING SPRING: A Musical Odyssey, music by Joel Iwataki and lyrics by Tim Dang. Opening on May 12 and closing on June 6, BEIJING SPRING is performed in commemoration of the 10~ Anniversary of the Tian An Men Square Massacre. The Pro-Democracy movement escalates into a demonstration beyond anyone's imagination, particularly for those right at the heart of it. The world watched and listened as the human spirit rose to fight for something that all of us take for granted: Freedom.

Lyricist Tim Dang is the producing Artistic Director of EWP and composer Joel Iwataki has collaborated with Dang on the highly successful original musical CANTON JAZZ CLUB at EWP and has composed music for EWP's revival production of F.O.B. by David Henry Hwang in 1996.

For season subscription information, please call East West Players at 213.625.7000.

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