What's happened in the past
Newsbytes on Asian American theatre

East West Players land $1 million gift

(1/97) Congratulations (and we do mean CONGRATULATIONS) to East West Players for landing a $1 million gift for their capital campaign to build a new theatre space in LA's Little Tokyo. Malaysian entrepreneur Vinod Sekhar gave the gift, and will have the building's front courtyard named after his daughter, Petra. This came on the heels of East West's revival of Cabaret, which Sekhar's wife just saw last fall.

Much of this gift also had to do with the presence of East West's campaign co-chair, George Takei. Yes, THAT George Takei, who doesn't get near enough recognition for his work promoting other Asian American theatres such as East West Players.

Ooops.

Sorry, but the deadline for East West's New Voices Playwrights' contest was April 1, NOT April 30. Sorry for the confusion (though I know more than a few theatres who'd be happy to see ANY submissions).

Exit the Dragon script now available

Actor/Writer Eric Michael Zee (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman) has published his script Exit the Dragon, a three man performance examining the pop culture stereotypes of the Asian American male. The script is published by Imerg, Inc., a production company headed by Zee and actress Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy, The Joy Luck Club,"Streetfighter, ER), and can be purchased for $6.00 plus tax (if applicable) and S&H by calling Imerg, Inc. at 310/441-7987.

Exit the Dragon centers around three struggling actors coming to terms with themselves and their identity in an increasingly multicultural society. It takes an insightful and often humorous look at the stereotypes, insecurities and viewpoints facing young Asian American men today, as well as problems and attitudes among the "Twenty-Something Generation."

The characters are Jun-Li Chow, a militantly pro-Asian law graduate; Vien Vu, a Vietnamese immigrant, Bruce Lee wannabe; and Dave Woo, a drama school graduate in denial of his Asian American heritage.

The LA Weekly describes Exit the Dragon as a "cleverly ironic-entertaining evening," and Drama-Logue calls it "... a genuine ensemble effort that pleases its audience." The Oakland Tribune says, "In Exit the Dragon, Asian men bare their souls and become sexual emotional characters instead of stereotypical inscrutable male figures."

Exit the Dragon was first performed at Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica, CA in 1993. Since then, Zee and cast has performed for standing-room only audiences across the country, including The Harmon Avenue Theater (Hollywood, CA), The Berkeley Repertory Theater, University of Texas,University of Illinois, and University of Indiana.

For ordering information, or to schedule a performance, contact Imerg, Inc., at tel/fax: 310/441-7987 or email: imerginc@aol.com.

To order publications, print and fill out the form below, and send to:

Imerg, Inc.
505 South Beverly Drive Suite 831

ALL INDIVIDUAL ORDERS MUST BE PREPAID

Send me _____________ _ copies of "Exit the Dragon" (@ $6 per book)

Name_________________________________________________________
Mailing address_________________________________________________
City_______________________________ _________________
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_________________Subtotal
_________________CA Residents add 8.25% sales tax
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UPS Ground Service (exclude tax and discounts, if applicable)

$49.99 or less: $3.00
$50-$99.99: $6.00
$100-$199.99: $9.00
$200-$299.99: $12.00
$300-$399.99: $15.00
$400-$499.99: $18.00

Call 310-441-7987 for Fed Ex Overnight Rates.

Bookstore orders: Please fax purchase order to 310-441-7987. An invoice will be included with shipment. Book orders of 25 to 49 receive a 15% discount. Orders of 50 or more receive a 25% discount.

EWP RELEASES ITS FIRST-EVER CD: "EAST WEST OVERTURES"

(1/97) East West Players, the nation's first and foremost Asian Pacific American theatre, has just released a new compact disc of music featuring its best talent singing the songs of America's most celebrated musical theatre composer, Stephen Sondheim. EAST WEST OVERTURES: EWP SINGS SONDHEIM contains 15 songs from five of the musicals East West Players has produced during its 31-year history. Songs from the musicals PACIFIC OVERTURES, COMPANY, INTO THE WOODS, SWEENEY TODD, and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG are presented in both classic Sondheim style and in unique new interpretations.

Over fifty singers who have performed at EWP have come together to lend their time and talent to the CD. Many original cast members from EWP's Sondheim productions have returned to contribute to the album, including founding artistic director Mako, who reprises his Tony-nominated role as the Reciter in PACIFIC OVERTURES. The Sond*eim Review has called this CD, "remarkable: bracingly professional, recorded with great care and sensitivity, enthusiastically performed and easily the equal of any big-label Broadway cast album." The CD is sure to be a collector's item for all musical-theatre lovers and Sondheim enthusiasts.

EAST WEST OVERTURES is available for purchase only through East West Players. The cost is $20.00 plus postage and handling. Proceeds of the sales of the compact discs will go to benefit EWP's new theatre campaign. The CD is produced by Lawrence O'Connor and Linda Igarashi. Musical direction and engineering is by Scon Nagatani and Joel Iwataki.

For more information, please contact East West Players, 4424 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, California, 90029, or call 213-660-0366.

East West plans Awards dinner

(4/97) East West Players (Americas' first Asian Pacific American theatre company) celebrated its 31st Anniversary April 28, 1997 by honoring Asian Pacific artists in the community. Among the honorees were George Takei (community leader and "Captain Sulu" from Star Trek), John Woo (director of Hardboiled and Broken Arrow), David Henry Hwang (playwright and Tony Award winner of M BUTTERFLY), Amy Hill (actor, All American Girl and The Pauly Shore Show), Soon-Tek Oh (veteran actor and founding Member of EWP), Wakako Yamauchi (playwright, AND THE SOUL SHALL DANCE), and Saachiko and Dom Magwili (community leaders and EWP conservatory directors). Hosting the awards show were be Ming-Na Wen (The Single Guy and Joy Luck Club) and Steve Park (Fargo and In Living Color).

Proceeds from this event went to benefit EWP's operations and artistic programming which includes the Theatre for Youth, educational programs, and mainstage productions.

New Years bring new awards

(1/97)There are always year-end reviews of "Best ofs" handed out by the local drama critics. The various Asian American theatres across the country won more than their share of such kudos. The most recent of these went to the Northwest Asian American Theatre, whose set, lighting and costume design for The Dream of Kitamura won a Best-Of-Seattle recognition from the Seattle Times's Misha Berson.

As well, NWAAT is hosting award winning playwright Chay Yew as Artist In Residence, as he coordinates the creation of an all-new collaborative performance peice between Asian and Asian American artists on the meaning of home.

Also congratulations to Asian American Theater Company (San Francisco), for their Media Access Award from the California Governor's Committee for the Employment of Disabled Persons. This award was for the work of Liane Yasumoto in the Spring 1996 production of S.A.M. I Am. Her part didn't call for the actor to be in a wheelchair...but then again, there was nothing that ruled out an actor in a wheelchair, either. [Wonder if mainstream theatres would get the point about Asian actors, hmmm?]

News from Chicago:

(8/96) Li Wen Huang tells me the Asian American theatre scene is up and busy. Just finishing is a showcase of short plays, produced by Greg Nishimura and North Avenue Productions, which featured writings by Chicago-area Asian American playwrights. In the future, Angel Island alum Quincy Wong is working on a new production called Three Non-Blonds, which is a series of skits/short plays, which they hope to take on a college tour in the spring. Other folks include Joe Yau and Kim Hsieh.

M. Butterfly reprised

(8/96) Miss the original production of M. Butterfly, the award winning play and one of the most widely acclaimed Asian American plays? LA Theatre Works has produced a radio version which is available on casette tape with the original stars (John Lithgow [also seen on Third Rock from the Sun] and B. D. Wong) and other members of the Broadway casts (David Dukes and Kathryn Layng). Other actors include Margaret Cho, Arye Gross (Ellen) and Joanna Frank. For catalog and ordering information, call 1-800-708-8863.

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