tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42655768483933047932024-02-19T08:56:39.613-08:00Artists at PlayArtists at Play (AAP) is a collective of creative professionals who have come together to curate quality theatre in Los Angeles. Our aim is to present theatrical productions missing from the local landscape that tells the stories of communities underrepresented in Los Angeles theatre. The audience experience is our priority, and we strive to make theatre accessible to everyone.Peter J Kuohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15394810921090710793noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-88394784471003611792021-01-05T10:49:00.001-08:002021-01-05T10:49:09.625-08:00New Artists at Play Website<p>Welcome! </p><p>We have moved our website to a new location with a new look and will no longer be updating this site. </p><p>Follow/bookmark our new website at <a href="http://www.artistsatplay.org">http://www.artistsatplay.org</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://artistsatplay.org" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="589" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMZGolsmjluLLlR_s8ZmiY3KATifP0C7Ao02BcdW2sx0IhApE57JonejoAYa0g1Ckmpun-K32uBZ1Fja8bdurhNLNrFHHsg1VpfDQj2qf8vvk0ni9Coz_-t6IwI0J2Ge4ToYXkS5t8mI/w400-h266/new-website-2.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-84503582679051270822020-07-07T16:18:00.001-07:002020-07-07T16:18:25.775-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Join Artists at Play for a weekend of online events celebrating our 2011 inaugural production, the Los Angeles premiere of </span><em style="font-family: inherit;">Ching Chong Chinaman</em><span style="font-family: inherit;"> by Lauren Yee, directed by Peter J. Kuo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Saturday, July 18 at 1 pm PST</strong><br />Explore the characters and themes of <em>Ching Chong Chinaman</em> in a special “book club” conversation with special guests including director Desdemona Chiang, professor Rena Heinrich and AAP founder Peter J. Kuo.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Sunday, July 19 at 1 pm PST</strong><br />Actors Julia Cho, Elizabeth Ho, Stephen Hu, Ken Narasaki, Helen Ota and director Peter J. Kuo reunite on the Artists at Play “stage” to talk about their work and experience on Ching Chong Chinaman.<br /><br /><em>RSVP details to follow. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ArtistsAtPlay/" target="_blank">Follow us on Facebook to stay up to date.</a></em></span>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-9696367431766398952020-07-05T16:19:00.000-07:002020-07-07T16:20:58.147-07:00In Support of Black Lives and Social Reform<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Creating change within a country, a city, an industry takes more than words. Black lives matter and Artists at Play must take part in the rebuilding of a just, equitable, and inclusive society. But how does AAP fit in with all of this? What can we do? How do we hold ourselves and our community accountable?</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Artists at Play stands in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement along with those in our own city of Los Angeles and across the country seeking justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black lives that have been unjustly taken. Building upon our original objectives of highlighting Asian American voices and combating lack of representation, we commit to taking a stronger stance of anti-racism in the work that we do and in our daily lives. We know we can do more and we can do better with regard to further diversifying our collective of performers, designers, and collaborators. We know that within our Asian American community, we also have to confront issues of anti-Black racism, the Model Minority Myth, decolonizing our practices and unlearn so much of what white supremacy has embedded in us.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">As an Asian American organization, we want to mindfully seek out ways we can support Black artists, leaders, and voices, and help make an impact. Knowing that we need to go beyond just saying the words "Black Lives Matter," we will continue to use art as our tool for activism, be mindful of keeping our work intersectional, and provide learning opportunities for our community.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Below we share a few resources, keeping in mind the intersectionality of our audience—both of the Asian American and theatre communities:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race" style="color: #d97b55; font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank">National Museum of African American History and Culture’s “Talking About Race”</a> - an online portal helping families, individuals, and communities talk about race and commit to anti-racism; with digital tools, online exercises, video instructions, scholarly articles and more than 100 multi-media resources</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.theconsciouskid.org/" style="color: #d97b55; font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank">The Conscious Kid</a> - geared toward kids and families; an education, research, and policy organization dedicated to reducing bias and promoting positive identity development in youth</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://tokentheatrefriends.com/" style="color: #d97b55; font-weight: bold; overflow-wrap: break-word !important;" target="_blank">Token Theatre Friends</a> - a weekly podcast, plus original essays and reported articles, all through a POC lens. Diep Tran and Jose Solís, theatre critics and writers, want to reimagine how we talk about art with the belief that it is more than entertainment.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">Please check back with us and share any questions or thoughts or suggestions you may have. We know we don't have all the answers but remain committed to collectively working toward a more equitable industry, city, and country.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Yours in solidarity,</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Artists at Play</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Julia Cho, Katherine Chou, Stefanie Lau, Nicholas Pilapil, Marie-Reine Velez</span></span>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-48622215567619630812020-07-01T11:39:00.000-07:002020-06-26T14:35:22.668-07:00Stay at Home with Artists at Play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dear friends, supporters, and fellow artists,<br />
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We hope you're all staying safe—and sane!—during these unprecedented times. Who would've thought you'd ever hear us say we don't want you to come out to an Artists at Play show right now? Like all other organizations, we are trucking along, working (remotely) on how to make necessary adjustments while sticking to our original plans as best we can. As it is our foremost mission to highlight the work of Asian American theatre artists, AAP is actively looking for new ways to achieve those goals while adjusting to the new normal. Feel free to ask us any questions you may have about theatre or what we do or if you're interested in collaborating somehow. Now's as good a time as any!<br />
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Our first touring show, <i>Allos: The Story of Carlos Bulosan</i> written & directed by Giovanni Ortega, is our most immediately affected program. Originally slated for performances in May to coincide with Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we are now rescheduling the tour for October 2020—which happens to be Filipino American History Month!<br />
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We are currently exploring a podcast/audio version of our annual Spring Readings. There are so many talented Asian American writers that we want to support, trying to see if even private in-house readings or one-on-one meetings could provide assistance at the developmental level.<br />
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Artists at Play's 2020 Summer Salon is a special event commemorating our 10th Season. We will present a reading of our 2011 inaugural production, <i>Ching Chong Chinaman</i> by Lauren Yee, reuniting director (and AAP co-founder) Peter J. Kuo with the original cast: Julia Cho, Elizabeth Ho, Stephen Hu, Ken Narasaki, Helen Ota, and Scott Keiji Takeda. Slated for Sunday, July 19 at Inner-City Arts.<br />
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Also still on the calendar is our Fall Mainstage, the world premiere of <i>This Is Not a True Story</i> by Preston Choi, directed by Reena Dutt. AAP presented this play at last year's Spring Readings as well as the National Asian American Theater ConFest in Chicago to a standing ovation and rousing post-show discussion. What happens when Madame Butterfly, Kim from Miss Saigon, and Kumiko the Treasure Hunter cross paths, realizing they're doomed to relive their (Western-patriarchy-enforced fetishized-Orientalist) lives over and over again?<br />
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Oh, and we’re also getting to work on finally becoming a non-profit in order to combat the effects of AB5—and now a pandemic—but mainly in hopes of making more of a financial investment back into our Asian American theatre community.<br />
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If you’re a fan of Artists at Play, we’d really appreciate your support. One way to help us is to <a href="http://bit.ly/AAPFracturedAtlas" target="_blank">make a tax-deductible donation</a> via Fractured Atlas. We want to weather this and we also truly want to keep showcasing amazing work for our amazing community. The magic of live theatre doesn't solely come from the performance, but the connection to others—which is definitely limited right now. It's tough on us to be separated, but it merely confirms that people like being together. (Okay, most people. We see you, our introvert friends!) When this passes, the need to gather together will be stronger than ever. And when that happens, AAP and the rest of Los Angeles theatre hope to be ready.<br />
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In the meantime, please take care of yourself and your loved ones, make those difficult calls in the name of safety and health knowing that it’s truly for the good of humanity, and remember that at some point in the not-so-distant future we’ll all be convening at another show, hugging and catching up, impressed that we were able to make it to the other side.<br />
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And if you need a little distraction, here's a fun look back at <a href="https://youtu.be/ykMBvgH2dKk" target="_blank">"5 Years of Artists at Play."</a> (Can you believe that was 5 years ago??)Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-41099647484150193712020-06-24T11:51:00.001-07:002020-06-26T11:46:51.083-07:00A Call for Action<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://www.change.org/p/los-angeles-times-la-theatre-demands-the-los-angeles-times-hires-bipoc-critics-4b5fdb54-d46f-46b7-8d10-136c8028a98d?fbclid=IwAR2_APxFvrMYxzXYtB53Qj9WO--rjcpzIVd7Q2kra9UE2uaErroGFq3gqeE" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sign the petition!</span></a></h3>
Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-41357767630157737652019-11-25T11:47:00.001-08:002019-11-25T11:47:29.892-08:00The Producing Associateby Katherine Chou<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OGZThEzkSwrwjPT1pgP21QPH5bwpKips_PM_BzOxg7_ey3oChyphenhyphen2NJjSfjDohqreuK5uMqc-OW2NhXzRkE_tSlerad0wncGrEtydUx6LqUiq3Pu_N5seustiQmnkcLWNMZJPYf9gk1B8/s1600/69703999_3049867468388172_5653813988320870400_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="960" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-OGZThEzkSwrwjPT1pgP21QPH5bwpKips_PM_BzOxg7_ey3oChyphenhyphen2NJjSfjDohqreuK5uMqc-OW2NhXzRkE_tSlerad0wncGrEtydUx6LqUiq3Pu_N5seustiQmnkcLWNMZJPYf9gk1B8/s400/69703999_3049867468388172_5653813988320870400_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AAP Producing Associate Katherine Chou (center)</td></tr>
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I had never been an associate anything before Artists at Play. An associate is someone James Bond is told to meet, someone who is always seen in profile lurking behind pillars before they ultimately betray him and are killed for making their own plans. An associate is the craggy old guy flanking the mafia kingpin with a velvet-lined briefcase full of money. But here I am, a Producing Associate at Artists at Play, and not a single briefcase or pillar has been made available to me.<br />
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What has been made available, beyond new friendships and connections, is room and permission to grow. With each production, Artists at Play has handed me new roles I sometimes struggle to picture myself inhabiting. With their trust, however, all I have to do is step into them. This is one gift Artists at Play has given me, but there are other ways in which joining this small theater company has affected my work that go beyond personal ambition.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katherine Chou</td></tr>
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What I cherish the most about my work with Artists at Play is the chance to step outside my own cultural circles. As a writer and filmmaker, every project is deeply, even painfully personal. The emotional stakes are always so high. It is both a privilege and a relief to be able to champion other people’s work.<br />
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And while emotion and personal ties are what lead me to latch onto a particular project as a producer, I relish the chance to step back and tell stories that live outside my experience. For me, there is as much joy in getting to know the nuances of other communities as there is in weaving my own specific cultural knowledge into our production of <i>The Chinese Lady</i>.<br />
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The desire for representation comes from a self-centered place, a desire to see oneself reflected in storytelling. When I write, I am compelled to think of my own story as the Most Important Story. But the truth is, we will only reach real representation through a multiplicity of voices. We are stronger when we amplify each other, because representation is not a zero-sum game.<br />
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In fact, having a bounty of stories to look to alleviates the pressure on all of us as individual creators. If there’s a full table at the potluck, that makes your very specific and kind of mediocre pina colada banana bread (a real recipe I have seen on Pinterest) less of a crisis.<br />
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As a young artist, I have often been on the receiving end of others’ generosity, and I have asked myself how I might pay it forward in turn, with so little at my disposal. With Artists at Play behind me, I have the reach, resources and know-how to support creators who excite me. Being able to help tell stories that are not my own through Artists at Play has become a vital part of my creative practice. Wherever our individual paths take us in the future, I am proud to have been associated with them.<br />
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<a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Support AAP, the work that we do, and the opportunities we provide by making a tax-deductible donation.</a><br />
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-38997358626262374812019-11-25T11:22:00.000-08:002019-11-25T11:22:57.179-08:00The New AAP Logo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Artists at Play is proud to unveil a new logo as we enter our ninth season in 2020.<br />
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We’ve had the good fortune of working with designer Chris Komuro since our start in 2011. When it came time to rebrand, he shared this: “For this logo I wanted to do a modern take on the Asian ‘chop stamp’...without being too literal. I used a contemporary sans serif typeface and a bright, vibrant color palette.”<br />
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Chop stamps have been around for centuries throughout Asia, originating in China and spreading early on to places like Korea and Japan. In their most common form, they are small personal seals carved from wood, ivory, or jade. They have been used by emperors and commoners alike, and can be used as a marker of one’s given name, chosen names, or organization. <br />
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In East Asia, personal seals are used to stamp documents in lieu of or in combination with a signature. From the stamped image to the seal itself, they can be as elaborate or as simple as you can imagine. Chinese emperors would use them as seals of approval on works of art and calligraphy. The Qing Dynasty emperor Qianlong was known to be quite zealous about his art appreciation, covering the work itself with red self-asserting squares. Today in Japan, you can buy seals with common names ready-made for purchase, like novelty license plates at a souvenir shop, if novelty license plates were legally binding.<br />
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While the role and legal authority of the chop stamp is in flux around Asia, artists like Takuma Yamazaki have introduced its next iteration: QR codes. It’s a reminder that although Asian culture is often positioned in the past by the West, even by Asian-Americans ourselves (as the land we left behind, etc.), it is living, breathing, and ever-evolving.<br />
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Because even though chop stamps have become iconic and evocative of cultures across Asia, they are also just a functional part of everyday life. And they change as our lives change. The stories we tell at Artists at Play try to bridge the same line: tackling the enormous burden of representation while sharing the minutiae that make up our individual experiences.<br />
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A seal is, after all, a representation of self. The beauty of our new logo is that we can play around with looks while remaining undeniably Artists at Play.<br />
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We hope you give it your seal of approval.<br />
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<a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Support AAP, the work that we do, and the opportunities we provide by making a tax-deductible donation.</a><br />
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-18013555781110973762019-11-19T19:10:00.001-08:002019-12-05T16:05:45.829-08:00A Conversation with Min Kahng<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigm6Ua2WuN6PD2RjM0rYdKMUPSTk1J5BSKu5ByDY67gWOGR5k6b0yfCoE_Izw2uH17himKl4j7zUKUqTE45NC2NrVeFjhY4GoaPyFm-gIppLFEPqe8Ri5QnmOd3Cqa-7E9BfGTONpMFs0/s1600/jcmk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="612" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigm6Ua2WuN6PD2RjM0rYdKMUPSTk1J5BSKu5ByDY67gWOGR5k6b0yfCoE_Izw2uH17himKl4j7zUKUqTE45NC2NrVeFjhY4GoaPyFm-gIppLFEPqe8Ri5QnmOd3Cqa-7E9BfGTONpMFs0/s200/jcmk.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julia Cho and Min Kahng</td></tr>
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<b>Julia Cho</b>: Alright there, Min Kahng. (laughter) First of all, thoughts on our upcoming collaboration of <i><a href="http://visionsandvoices.usc.edu/events/listing.php?event_id=30284056674046" target="_blank">The Four Immigrants</a></i>?<br />
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<b>Min Kahng</b>: Mmhmm.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: Mmhmm, we’re excited, rehearsals are about to begin …<br />
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<b>MK</b>: Yeah!<br />
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<b>JC</b>: Yeah! What are your immediate thoughts as that event is coming up, what are you looking forward to, what are you concerned about?<br />
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<b>MK</b>: I think there are two kind of realms in which I’m thinking about it. One is from a just as a writer development standpoint, I think this is a very interesting opportunity to revise a couple things from the previous version, as well as presenting it in this reading format takes a lot of pressure off of it being about how it’s being presented and let’s me focus in on how the words and the songs are flowing. There have definitely been some revisions made to this version and this will be a chance to hear how those revisions are working, both in the rehearsal room and during the presentation itself.<br />
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And the other realm that I’m thinking about this event is just spreading the word about the show. I think just being able to work with a team, a production company so to speak, plus a new group of actors—basically new people working on it that I have not been connected with before is exciting and will help spread the word in a region I'm not really known in. So this is also a chance to invite some folks to get to hear about the show. But even after the event, my hope is that whoever else was involved will be able to tell other people who might be interested in this project.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: In terms of you not being known in this region, you do have your South Coast Repertory show coming up ... I kind of feel like you're maybe on the verge of becoming a much more well-known artist in LA. I mean, how did that South Coast Repertory workshop come about?<br />
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<b>MK</b>: Um, well, I hope that's the case is my first response. (chuckle) I hope that’s the case because I think I'm pretty known here in San Francisco and part of my focus has been on trying to reach national recognition. And so in LA, <i><a href="https://www.scr.org/calendar/view?id=10665" target="_blank">Where the Mountain Meets the Moon</a></i> is the show that South Coast Repertory will be producing in February, but that came about purely through my Theatre for Young Audiences circles. I have a few works that been produced by<br />
Bay Area Children’s Theatre<br />
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When Bay Area Children’s Theatre was remounting it, that’s when South Coast Repertory was interested in producing it themselves. So that honestly happened through the TYA circles that I’m in, not so much that I was in LA and trying to get my name out there. So it’s just kind of a lucky thing that has happened, it kind of is happening in close proximity to this upcoming reading for The Four Immigrants. Hopefully both of these events will get people just interested in the work that I do.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: Let’s talk about how this Artists at Play/<i>Four Immigrants</i> collaboration came about in the first place.<br />
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<b>MK</b>: Mmhmm. Well, I ran into somebody named Julia Cho, not the playwright (laughter) at the CAATA conference, the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists, which has a bi-annual gathering. In 2018 they gathered in Chicago and I ran into somebody who I went to college with and we were in the same Rhetoric—I think it was Rhetoric and Theater class, The Rhetoric of Theatre class? …<br />
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<b>JC</b>: Oh, it was cross-listed?<br />
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<b>MK</b>: I was a Rhetoric major, but you were ...<br />
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<b>JC</b>: No, I was both!<br />
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<b>MK</b>: See, I wouldn’t have been in that class if I wasn’t a Rhetoric major. But that’s where you and I met. And I was also further aware of you, just ‘cause even in college I had secret longings of doing theatre and I think I saw you in <i>The Vagina Monologues</i>. Right?<br />
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<b>JC</b>: (laughing) I definitely did my fair share of <i>Vagina Monologue</i> productions.<br />
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<b>MK</b>: And I believe at CAATA, I didn’t understand why, but it seemed like both of us were nervous around each other. In my head, I was like ‘oh, she’s in LA. she’s been on stuff, I’ve seen her on TV’ She’s gonna be like, ‘Who's this guy trying to talk to me, like trying to get something out of me…’<br />
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<b>JC</b>: (laughter) Min Kahng and I had been keeping tabs in your career and to me you were a legit multi-hyphenate and here he is in the flesh! Will he remember me from Cal all those years ago? (laughing)<br />
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<b>MK</b>: And I did! I absolutely I did, because I had been low-key following your career. So that was nice that we both kind of entered into the conversation and got over that kind of awkwardness and just catching each other up. So that was the reunion piece and as a result of those conversations you had said ‘send me your’—I think I gave you the cast album for The Four Immigrants.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: You did, and it was on repeat in my car for the longest time and I was like I am so in love with this music, I am seeing the show in my head—There was the world premiere with TheatreWorks, but there was just something—<br />
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The music really kind of makes or breaks a musical, does it not? And these songs were immediately catchy, and there are some that moved me to my tears, and it was just such a fun fun show. And I, with my producing cap on—I mean, Artists at Play we're always looking for artists and shows that deserve to be seen by a wider audience and this definitely fit that bill.<br />
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<b>MK</b>: Yeah, and I appreciate that and I remember kind of, you know, I shared with you but in my head I thought 'eh,' You know, I don’t know what—because Artists at Play is a smaller company, I don't know if this means anything to her but here it is.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: It kind of just seemed like here is an example of my work so you know I’m legit. And I was like yes and yes.<br />
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<b>MK</b>: And I so appreciate that. I think I’m so impressed and excited about the fact that—It was like you and Artists at Play started to look for ways to support me and look for ways to help me. It wasn’t—You know, oftentimes a company that may be smaller and I have a show that’s like a larger cast size they can’t handle or a musical element they can’t handle, it’s like 'oh I love your work but keep me updated’ and that’s where it ends. But I feel like with Artists at Play the conversation moved forward to ‘we want to help,’ what can we do and that’s where the conversation led next to this partnership with USC and Visions & Voices.<br />
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I was just so honored and impressed by that, that it wasn’t just an end of the conversation how we do figure something out to help me and help this show, to get to its next level.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: Thank you for that, And we're just as excited and that's kind of what propels us, right? Because none of us are really making any big bucks off of this, so I think it's that passion and excitement for the work that keeps us going towards that finish line. If anything, because we are such a smaller group, because we are so limited in our resources, it forces us to be more creative and a little more resourceful to what can we still accomplish. And this is a great example of that. And it's something new for us! Once our mainstage show is done in the fall, okay, taking a break, let’s regroup and plan out next season. So the fact that we're tacking on one more event for the year and it's a musical … I mean, yes, in a unique version and capacity. But tackling a musical has always been something we've wanted to do. We know we are not able to put on a full production, but again how can we tackle presenting a musical? And The Four Immigrants came along and now here we are about to launch into rehearsals. And we’re already at capacity for the venue!?<br />
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<b>MK</b>: Yes. That was crazy. Like within a week really.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: I know! And I know we wondered about maybe moving into a bigger venue? I hope this isn't the last occurrence of this piece in LA. So I mean fingers crossed for a fantastic event and hopefully life beyond.<br />
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<b>MK</b>: What I guess I’m proud of—maybe I should wait until after the event (laughter)—is the fact that this is an event that has been made free to students. And that’s always been a thing wherever I go—My career right now has brought me to a place where I travel a lot and I often find myself in situations where I’m connecting particularly with other Asian American artist types. Like I was invited to speak at Harvard University once, and then this musical theatre writer who is Asian American, she just reached out to me and we had coffee and I got to share bits and pieces of my career. And in New York recently, somebody I had taught when he was in middle school, I taught a theatre class, he reached out to me and he wanted to pick my brain about what it was for me to make a career in the arts. So similarly, I feel like making this available to students fulfills this mentorship element that I like to bring into my work and what I do.<br />
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And I think it’s awesome because this isn’t the first time AAP has done community-oriented, right? Sure, there’s your mainstage stuff and that’s always community-oriented in that sense of putting Asian American representation before audiences. But also you’ve partnered with other organizations before. So it was totally in just the fabric of your organization to partner with USC to make this something that's not just an opportunity for us as theatre artists but also an opportunity for audiences to come. ’Cause it’s also going to be preceded by a conversation about the show so there’s a little bit more of a glimpse into the artistic process. So I’m excited about all of that and that this isn't just me scratching my own back (chuckles) but it’s hopefully going to be a meaningful thing for audiences to come and see.<br />
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<b>JC</b>: Yeah, yeah, I hope so as well. And something that's important to us, and something we’re not always able to do, is to make theatre as accessible as we can. But just the logistics of producing and funding from our end, it does make it hard. We wish we could more, we wish we could do better. But yeah, this partnership with USC is very exciting for us as well. Because of our various USC connections, we’ve been able to have students and professors come see our shows but this is very unique, being on campus ... Yeah, we hope everyone who comes enjoys it.<br />
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You’ve said lovely things about Artists at Play, which I very much appreciate. Anything else you’d want to add?<br />
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<b>MK</b>: No, not really, other than that … you know, I recognize that you're a small budget organization with limited but very excited, involved staff and people—I don't even know if you have a staff technically—<br />
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<b>JC</b>: (laughter) It’s just us! What is it, like four producers and two associates.<br />
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<b>MK</b>: To anybody who comes to this event or otherwise gets connected to you, yes, support your smaller local theatre companies. (laughter)<br />
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<b>JC</b>: That works. Thanks so much, Min! Okay, now going off the record ...<br />
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<b>MK</b>: (laughter)<br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Support AAP, the work that we do, and the opportunities we provide by making a tax-deductible donation.</b></a><br />
<br />Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-79086302577076571452019-11-12T16:51:00.000-08:002019-11-12T16:55:27.914-08:00Artists at Play and the Impostor Syndromeby Producing Artistic Leader Julia Cho<br />
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On the day that Artists at Play opened our eighth mainstage show, I was honored and privileged to represent our organization in a special conversation between Theater Leaders of Color. Hosted by artEquity and Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this was a two-day gathering all recorded as part of a podcast series. And throughout almost the entirety of that experience, I could not stop thinking that my being there was definitely a mistake.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeh9U3MPAJTY66rts6qwPg4TP3wJwB40sCxedJZHM7s4B-8K8wVBJMQ4MnM-eXd5NnNn0t46A98KcDCDhUlPMHcJNLODogpKo4BxmVkEUv7cj5rJkMJbxuzLP73zR0nKJzT_e__9z8Kkg/s1600/20190908_174331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeh9U3MPAJTY66rts6qwPg4TP3wJwB40sCxedJZHM7s4B-8K8wVBJMQ4MnM-eXd5NnNn0t46A98KcDCDhUlPMHcJNLODogpKo4BxmVkEUv7cj5rJkMJbxuzLP73zR0nKJzT_e__9z8Kkg/s320/20190908_174331.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As an actor first and foremost, I never imagined my theatre producing career (career?!) would lead me to this point. When Sharifa Johka of OSF first emailed me with the invitation, I enthusiastically said yes but also had to cap off my response with “I want to make sure you don't think I'm the WRITER Julia Cho. If so, no offense taken!” Sharifa confirmed the invite was “indeed for you,” and I eventually was transported to a fancy home in the hills of Topanga Canyon with a bountiful culinary spread, the likes of which I’ve never experienced on any set as an actor. I then found myself the company of such esteemed colleagues (colleagues?!) as Torange Yeghiazarian, Executive Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions; José Luis Valenzuela, Artistic Director of the Latino Theatre Company and the Los Angeles Theatre Center; and Wren T. Brown, Founder and Artistic Director of Ebony Repertory Theatre; along with our moderator, the inimitable Carmen Morgan. This was Session 1: People of Color Leading Theaters of Color. <i>I was/am a Person of Color Leading a Theater of Color?! </i><br />
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Then the next day, Session 2: People of Color Leading Theaters of Color in Conversation with People of Color Leading Predominantly White Institutions. The previous day’s group was now joined by Jacob Padrón, Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre; Hana Sharif, Augustin Family Artistic Director of Repertory Theatre St. Louis; Eric Ting, Artistic Director of Cal Shakes; and Nataki Garrett, the new artistic director of OSF—who shook MY hand and said, “Your reputation precedes you” and I somehow managed not to melt into a fangirl puddle while silently screaming in my head, <i>‘OH MY GOD SHE THINKS YOU’RE THE PLAYWRIGHT NO WAIT SHE’S NATAKI GARRETT SHE MUST KNOW THE OTHER JULIA CHO SHE’S TALKING ABOUT *YOU* SHE’S TALKING TO *YOU* DON’T BREAK EYE CONTACT.’</i><br />
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Over two days, thoughts were shared, dialogues were introduced, and mutual respect abounded in these discussions regarding the challenges of working within and under the "rules" of predominantly white theatre institutions. With these astounding POC at the helm of their respective organizations, I am hopeful for what's to come in Los Angeles theatre, American theatre, Asian American theatre.<br />
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After floating down to the real world from that magical weekend, I now choose to outwardly express my great pride in Artists at Play, not shy away from acknowledging how hard we work and what we’ve accomplished. At the podcast recording, we were asked about what keeps us hopeful and one of my answers was the fact that my AAP family is still here (and remain friends) after each show, every year. Won’t you support AAP with a monetary contribution? Please join me in saying THANK YOU to this team for all that they do—for me, for each other, for every AAP program, for the local and national landscapes of theatre. I remain grateful for my AAP cohorts, who have helped guide and continue to shape my producer self.<br />
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P.S. I'm finally done calling myself a "dumb actor" now.<br />
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<a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Support AAP, the work that we do, and the opportunities we provide by making a tax-deductible donation.</a><br />
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-14105648640657275882019-11-05T10:37:00.000-08:002019-11-05T10:37:24.158-08:00Support AAP in 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="1093" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2wUGukjbzSnyj6MkvEswgCCykWBlWlJaLpzLy3Y7b4cgoxdU39pSZwIML5mTz_ti0F3dOh6GwKZtOzp8H71HYMvs8aels_DDyZ4h1oz6ktyOO6FH6s5SN9emUB5uzmr6q9bxgwZcxzI/s400/AAP_fb_cover2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Artists at Play is dedicated to presenting stories of underrepresented communities in Los Angeles. We are passionate about theatre – it is our tool for activism. We believe bearing witness to diverse perspectives and stories builds compassion and empathy that bridges the differences that divide us. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Ticket sales only cover about 50 percent of our costs. Supporters like you help ensure we have the resources available to continue producing plays that explore the varied experiences of the Asian American community. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>We hope you'll <a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" target="_blank">make a year-end tax-deductible</a> donation to support our mission.</b> In 2020, your contribution will help us:</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Launch a theatrical tour where our work can reach new communities and young audiences.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Increase salaries and stipends to artists.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Provide additional resources for new play development.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Strengthen our fiscal health and future.</span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">When Artists at Play was founded in 2011, our main goal was to present plays written by Asian American playwrights that weren’t being produced locally. Since then, our programming has grown to include new play development, partnerships with Los Angeles arts organization and advocacy for diversity in American theatre. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">The scope of our work demonstrates our commitment to telling compelling stories that reflect the unique communities we live in. We are honored that you believe in our mission and programming, and are our partners in curating quality, diverse theatre in Los Angeles. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Thank you,</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Julia, Stefanie, Marie, Nicholas, Katherine & Jessica</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white;">Artists at Play</span></span>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-64808349836085833752019-10-29T17:49:00.003-07:002019-10-29T17:53:53.651-07:00Artists at Play at The Four Immigrants: Continuing the Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-EGhPAxhBsHWtmZWrX0bDjVjfDmNFPIq_HfhbXF27XNeWTxkbMNH-OE9kUYCoRlpLL02pdMyyQKH7EYUNNNGo2bFXIamLZlqVFScbKMEV7jAvl3-x9WYgsdXxUcdwUx2Z7r89tIsV88/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="448" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-EGhPAxhBsHWtmZWrX0bDjVjfDmNFPIq_HfhbXF27XNeWTxkbMNH-OE9kUYCoRlpLL02pdMyyQKH7EYUNNNGo2bFXIamLZlqVFScbKMEV7jAvl3-x9WYgsdXxUcdwUx2Z7r89tIsV88/s320/Untitled.png" width="205" /></a>Since our inception as Artists at Play, we have been dedicated to providing artistic opportunities for underrepresented communities in Los Angeles theatre, and more specifically, to increase the visibility of Asian Pacific American artists and stories in our cultural landscape. While there have always been some opportunities for these artists in Los Angeles, the work of equity, diversity and inclusion in the arts don’t end at some opportunities.<br />
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Whether we are producing, developing, or introducing new or new-to-Los Angeles plays to local audiences, we are always working to fulfill our vision of creating opportunities, presenting narratives that will challenge, engage and broaden perspectives and experiences, and supporting the larger community of Asian Pacific American artists.<br />
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So, it’s very exciting that we are entering new territory with the upcoming presentation of <i><a href="http://visionsandvoices.usc.edu/events/listing.php?event_id=30284056674046" target="_blank">The Four Immigrants: An American Musical Manga</a></i>, and working with author/composer Min Kahng! This show received its world premiere at TheatreWorks in San Jose in 2017 and it should be seen beyond the Bay Area. Being a small organization, we may not have the resources to put up a full production, but we can offer to use the resources we do have to give this musical a boost in visibility and help foster new opportunities for <i>The Four Immigrants</i> and its creators.<br />
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We are so grateful to Min for bringing this thoughtful, smart and heartwarming show to our attention – and he is also a thoughtful, responsive and generous artist! Additionally, we are beyond thrilled to partner with USC Visions and Voices, an arts and humanities initiative at the University of Southern California – we would not be able to present the November 20 concert of The Four Immigrants without their support.<br />
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Do you also believe in providing artistic opportunities to underrepresented artists and presenting stories that challenge, engage and broaden audience perspective? <a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" target="_blank">Please consider supporting Artists at Play with a tax-deductible donation for our year-end giving campaign.</a> Your support will go toward 2020 programming including our spring reading series, fall mainstage production and special events. Thank you!Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-88732021764699762072019-10-16T23:12:00.001-07:002019-10-16T23:14:18.383-07:00AAP Community<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Artists at Play is dedicated to producing quality work on stage, and providing a professional working environment for our artists and volunteers. We’ve had the privilege of collaborating with talented, hard working individuals since our founding in 2011:<br />
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<b>Trieu Tran, actor</b><br />
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"As both an actor and a theatregoer, I am a believer in Artists at Play’s mission and vision. To be a part of a collective of Asian American creative professionals who are telling the stories on stage of underrepresented communities was affirming and inspiring. In <i>The Chinese Lady</i>, we were able to not only entertain the audience, but also to educate them on the history of Chinese immigrants coming to America. In turn, this helped raise awareness of the plight of most all ethnic groups that have immigrated to America in the past and in the present. Producing quality theatre is not an easy task. It requires dedication, passion and competence, which I witnessed firsthand from the producers at Artists at Play. Support from all of us through donations and ticket buying is imperative to their continued success in getting our important stories seen and heard."<br />
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<b>Rebecca Wear, director</b><br />
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<a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play" target="_blank">Support AAP, the work that we do, and the opportunities we provide by making a tax-deductible donation.</a><br />
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<br />Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-85684069329413304682019-10-01T15:43:00.000-07:002019-10-01T12:24:44.177-07:00THE CHINESE LADY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play/campaigns/2799" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="540" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzhyTVTEuUureLjPgIR3LXzJVSNUPiDlulVCAPI1Kj3pfz1vPtAa0rrZI209tMoWi-94Jy3XertvSFGsWpdPbWU-qmN7MAgczaoMkrVBqCTOqzoZl4MFu8KScmP5UQ9_WLx56QPAqpNA/s400/safe_image.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">by Lloyd Suh</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">directed by Rebecca Wear</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">September 7 – 29, 2019</span></div>
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A Co-Production with Greenway Arts Alliance</div>
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at the Greenway Court Theatre</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Inspired by the true story of America’s first female Chinese immigrant, THE CHINESE LADY is a dark, poetic, yet whimsical portrait of America through the eyes of a young Chinese woman. Afong Moy is fourteen years old when she’s brought to the United States from Canton in 1834. Allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been bought and put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.” For the next half a century, she performs for curious museumgoers, showing them how she eats, what she wears, and the highlight of the event: how she walks with bound feet. As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity.</span><br />
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-29497439850492185052019-09-30T12:20:00.000-07:002019-10-01T12:24:13.503-07:00A Brief History of THE CHINESE LADY, Afong Moyby Katherine Chou<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUylqZwVrahKktte4WItbPwNRG2GsPzDkLtbPpOrnQou3bFkRkYEuq86yDt7xLkBfj5Pi-J-bTx-iyEVWeMBqIzUyK_8jWDzxuGwiteRRZYpy7DuvwmTgw_qu1EEGqJNER1xtsu3REqA/s1600/69876005_3077024339005818_2228530930711003136_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="637" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAUylqZwVrahKktte4WItbPwNRG2GsPzDkLtbPpOrnQou3bFkRkYEuq86yDt7xLkBfj5Pi-J-bTx-iyEVWeMBqIzUyK_8jWDzxuGwiteRRZYpy7DuvwmTgw_qu1EEGqJNER1xtsu3REqA/s320/69876005_3077024339005818_2228530930711003136_n.jpg" width="318" /></a>Afong Moy was brought to New York City in 1834 at fourteen years old. She was the first Chinese woman to set foot in the United States. Exhibited as "The Chinese Lady," she performed an hourly demonstration of how she spoke, how she ate using chopsticks, and most sensationally, how she walked in her bound feet.<br />
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Afong was instantly met with the American public’s fascination. At the time, China was largely unknown, with all international trade flowing through a single port city, Canton (now Guangzhou). Most Chinese immigrants to the United States were bachelors seeking their fortunes in order to send money home to their families. A Chinese woman was an exotic rarity. Afong’s exhibition and subsequent tours around the country, including a meeting with President Andrew Jackson, were covered extensively in the press.<br />
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Over the years, American views of China shifted due to the Opium Wars, the opening of more ports to trade, and the perceived weakening of the country. By extension, Afong’s show fell out of popularity and was incorporated into P.T. Barnum’s sideshow empire. By 1850, Afong had dropped from historical record. We do not know if she ever returned to China, as was originally intended after two years, or if she spent the rest of her life in the United States.<br />
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The Chinese Lady highlights the ways in which history repeats itself and reminds us of what is at stake if we do not learn from our past. Chinese immigrants of Afong’s time were used as cheap labor. They farmed land, mined, and built the Transcontinental Railroad, but were never truly welcomed as Americans. Eventually, the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act banned immigration from China outright. Afong herself was only ever allowed to be an object of curiosity to be gawked at and othered.<br />
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These experiences resonate through time to the present day. What is currently happening with immigration and xenophobia in this country is not new. This play raises important, evergreen questions about how we determine “value” in our fellow human beings, how we police entry into certain spaces, and how men in power build infrastructures to disenfranchise others. The Chinese Lady was a product of her time, as we are a product of ours. This play, the story of her life on display, is a space - a Room - where the two can meet.Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-22600944268270477582019-09-01T12:44:00.000-07:002020-01-08T12:46:20.642-08:002019 Donors<h3 style="text-align: center;">
Thank you to the individuals who have contributed to Artists at Play in 2019. (Listing as of December 31, 2019.)</h3>
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Rosalinda Acojido</div>
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Joyce Sharlene Adgate</div>
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Lynn Arthurs</div>
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Albert E. Aubin</div>
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Ria Dolly Barbosa</div>
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Melissa Barbour</div>
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Michael Barnum</div>
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Yvonne Bell</div>
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Jay Bevan</div>
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Ysabel Brazal</div>
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Lucy Burns</div>
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Kaci Burrow</div>
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Jonathan Castanien</div>
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Paul & Christina Chang</div>
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Parvesh Cheena</div>
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Michael Cheng</div>
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Feodor Chin</div>
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Carla Ching</div>
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Tim Chiou</div>
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Michael Chiu</div>
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Christine Chong</div>
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Alejandra Cisneros</div>
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Jennifer Cleary</div>
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Ashley Clements</div>
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Elizabeth Cloyd</div>
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Kimberly Colburn</div>
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Latisha Conto</div>
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Tim Dang</div>
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Snehal Desai</div>
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Pam & Mark DiMaria</div>
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Margaret Dunlap</div>
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Ricardo Figueroa</div>
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Marilynn Fong</div>
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Kelsey Geller</div>
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Michael Golamco</div>
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Amy Guei</div>
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Martha Guiditta</div>
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Theresa Hardjadinata</div>
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Susan Harloe</div>
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Judge Ernie Hiroshige</div>
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Howard Ho</div>
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Isaac Ho</div>
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Teresa Huang</div>
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Chloe Hung</div>
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Phoebe Hyun</div>
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Karen Ito</div>
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Angela Jay</div>
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Kelly Jue</div>
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Chen Chen Julian</div>
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Aileen Kamoshita</div>
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Kelvin Kao</div>
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traci kato-kiriyama</div>
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Denise Kaliko Kauahi</div>
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Rosalyn Kawahira</div>
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Nardeep Khurmi</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nancy Kim</div>
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Kathie Kingett</div>
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Andrew Knight</div>
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Peter J. Kuo</div>
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Suellen & Munson Kwok</div>
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Juliet Ladines</div>
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Ann Lau</div>
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Felix Lau</div>
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Jean Lau</div>
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Linda Lau</div>
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Anjeanette LeBoeuf</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Annette Lee</div>
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Cecil Lee</div>
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Edmund Lee</div>
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Jully Lee</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lloyd Lee</div>
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Monica Lee</div>
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Nelson Lee</div>
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Kimmy Leung</div>
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Amy Lew</div>
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Edward Liu</div>
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Darica Louie</div>
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Marcus Louie</div>
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Andy Lowe</div>
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Lulu Lu</div>
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Bonnie Lui</div>
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Nancy Ma</div>
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Camille Mana</div>
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Cary Patrick Martin</div>
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Dr. Alma Martinez</div>
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Daniel Mayeda</div>
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Gyorgy Mezo</div>
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Tim Miller</div>
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Ronalee Miyasaki</div>
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Kavior Moon</div>
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Jeffrey Morris</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lex Nakashima</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
VyVy Nguyen</div>
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Michael Oberlitner</div>
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Glenn Omatsu</div>
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Tricia Ong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thomas Oshiro</div>
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Helen Ota & Mike Palma</div>
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Lina Patel</div>
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Meropi Peponides</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jennifer Perez</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Katie Porter</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Tori Pulkka</div>
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Samantha Quan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Uday Ram</div>
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Monika Ramnath</div>
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Cesar Ramos</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nathan Ramos</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mandy Ratliff</div>
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Jesus Reyes</div>
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Socorro Robbins</div>
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Alan C. Ruesicky</div>
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Madhuri Shekar</div>
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Freda Shen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Bo Shim</div>
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Peter Shimamoto</div>
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Vicki & Paul Shinto</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jenny Song</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jennifer Standke</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Michelle Sugihara</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Peggy Sun</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Norm Takeda</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Scott Takeda</div>
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Joyce Tamanaha</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dorothy Tamashiro</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Randy Tamura</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Roger Tang</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Anais Thomassian</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lisa Thong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Ellen Thornton</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hoang To</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Amy Tofte</div>
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Marilyn Tokuda</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Kathy Tokudomi</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Tamlyn Tomita</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jennifer Tsao</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sandy Velasco</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mariano Velez</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Hudson Warren</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Zane Wayneright</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Erin Wert</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dore Wong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Kristina Wong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Shannon Wong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Steve Wong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Victoria Wong</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Grace Wu</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Wu Yan</div>
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Howard & Jane Yata</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J. Sharon Yee</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nancy Yen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Anabel Young</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Daria Yudacufski</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dr. Gay Yuen</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Jennifer Zheng</div>
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Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theatre</div>
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If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Artists at Play, please visit our non-profit fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas: <a href="http://bit.ly/AAPFracturedAtlas">http://bit.ly/AAPFracturedAtlas</a></div>
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To explore other ways to support Artists at Play, please contact us at ArtistsAtPlayLA@gmail.com</div>
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-10911133727134409302019-07-10T09:58:00.000-07:002019-09-08T20:00:52.359-07:00THE CHINESE LADY: Now and Thenby Marie-Reine Velez<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEj2jRhlCsQ_vqDC2AE6G2OfmN6Ck_Kvkq4I1ItG2PEJpWjbggr2uqrvyErfd7QdsVGNxAFRQtDiaeLDMpKxeZIb1hPftLkfyP8oIc5C1w-U1PNX5SjgYfCNx63lKdlcQ0tmeI60lQe4/s1600/afong-moy-actual-picture-of-her-in-newspaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="661" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikEj2jRhlCsQ_vqDC2AE6G2OfmN6Ck_Kvkq4I1ItG2PEJpWjbggr2uqrvyErfd7QdsVGNxAFRQtDiaeLDMpKxeZIb1hPftLkfyP8oIc5C1w-U1PNX5SjgYfCNx63lKdlcQ0tmeI60lQe4/s320/afong-moy-actual-picture-of-her-in-newspaper.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1869 Advertisement for Afong Moy</td></tr>
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<i>Go back to where you came from…</i><br />
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This phrase that has flooded the news recently, makes me feel sad, among other feelings. Like, really sad. Because it calls into question our origins, our diasporas, our sense of belonging--as people of color, as immigrants, and as descendants of immigrants. It erases our different histories in this country, our struggles and our celebrations, and what people have gone through to get to this point in time.<br />
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This phrase sets a frame around people of color as not belonging, with no history and no home here in America; when the reality is that we have deep roots in this country, regardless of how long we may have been here individually. We own businesses, we vote, we marry, we do good things and bad, we make our lives here.<br />
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The story of <i>The Chinese Lady</i> begins in 1834, and the play is based on the story of the first Chinese woman to set foot on American soil--bought and brought to New York as a museum curiosity, as an object to be observed and wondered at. And with that very specific frame of othering this woman, I can’t help but think about how that “first impression” of Chinese women, influenced how mainstream Americans viewed and may continue to view Asian and Asian American women.<br />
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What I love about <i>The Chinese Lady</i> is how it explores and imagines Afong Moy’s experience as an object on display, and her journey from being that object to being something, someone, more than what people originally saw. And then there’s the question of representation: what did it mean for this woman to represent a whole country, and all by herself?<br />
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These are the questions and the stories that deeply move us as producers, and as people who love theatre. We have this wonderful opportunity to bring together amazing, talented, and dedicated artists, and their vision for this work needs your support. We aren’t able to do this without our community, so <a href="https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/artists-at-play/campaigns/2799" target="_blank">please donate to Artists at Play and our campaign for <i>The Chinese Lady</i>.</a>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-53618666895078504762019-03-04T10:58:00.001-08:002019-03-05T10:34:21.593-08:002019 Artists at Play Readings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />April 4 at 7 p.m.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Bonobos </i>by Lina Patel</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">April 11 at 7 p.m.</span><br />
<i style="font-family: inherit;">This is Not a True Story </i><span style="font-family: inherit;">by Preston Choi</span><br />
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USC Pacific Asia Museum<br />
46 N Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, California 91101<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Bonobos</i></span></div>
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by Lina Patel<br />
directed by Sara Israel<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>This is Not a True Story</i></span></div>
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by Preston Choi<br />
directed by Reena Dutt</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Continuing our mission to present stories of underrepresented communities, Artists at Play will develop and showcase these new works to the Los Angeles theatre community. In the midst of a national discussion on the lack of diversity and representation, we are proud to present two new plays by emerging playwrights of Asian descent with distinct voices that feature diverse casts. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The readings will be at <a href="https://pacificasiamuseum.usc.edu/" target="_blank">USC Pacific Asia Museum</a>. <i>Bonobos</i> will be presented on Thursday, April 4, at 7 p.m., and <i>This is Not a True Story</i> on Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/595286900938164" target="_blank">Each reading is FREE and will be followed by a talkback. </a></span></div>
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-12110017744753217222019-01-09T13:18:00.000-08:002019-02-27T15:29:20.041-08:002018 Donors<h3 style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Artists at Play would like to give special acknowledgement to the following donors who provided exceptional support in 2018:</span></h3>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Randy & Mari Tamura</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Dr. Gay Q. Yuen</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Monique Kim</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Lindsey Willis</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Aaron & Tori Pulkka</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Anaïs Thomassian & Voki Kalfayan</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Michael Golamco</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Suellen & Munson Kwok</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Alan Pao</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Thank you to the individuals who have contributed to Artists at Play in 2018. </span>(Listing as of December 31, 2018.)</h3>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Aaron Takahashi</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Aaron & Tori Pulkka</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Aileen Kamoshita</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Alan Pao</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Albert E. Aubin</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Alejandra Cisneros</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Alexander Choi</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Alma Martinez</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Aly Mawji</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Amber Benson</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Amy & Peter Guei</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Amy Lew</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Amy Tofte</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Anaïs Thomassian & Voki Kalfayan</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Andrew Crabtree</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theatre</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Bonnie Lui</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Camille Mana</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Carla Ching</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Cecil Lee</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Cesar Ramos</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Chloé Hung</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Charity Wu</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Christian Mante</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Christina O'Connell</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Christine Linnell</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Cynthia Tam</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Daniel Vincent Gordh</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Daria Yudacufski</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Denise Iketani</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Dennis Yen</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Dore Wong</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Dorothy Tamashiro</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Elaine Loh</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Ellen Thornton</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Erin Wert</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Fran de Leon</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Freda Shen</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Glenn Omatsu</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Greg Watanabe</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Helen Ota & Michael C. Palma</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Howard & Sumi Yata</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">J. Sharon Yee</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jane & Ryan Sands</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jeffery Mio</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jennifer Perez</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jennifer Tsao</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jennifer Zheng</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jenny Song</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Joy Regullano</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Joyce Liu-Countryman</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Joyce Tamanaha</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Joyce Sharlene Adgate</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Julianne Tetreault</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Jully Lee</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Karen Ito</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Kathie Kingett</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Katie Porter</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Kelly & Robert Jue</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Kelly O’Neil</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Ken Mu</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Kimiko Miyashima</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Linda Lau</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Lindsey Willis</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Lloyd Lee</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Lynn Arthurs</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Madhuri Shekar</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Magdalena Guillen</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Maggie Ham</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Mandy Ratliff</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Mariano Velez</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Marilynn Fong</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Mark J. Pascual</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Melissa Barbour</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Michael Cheng</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Michael Golamco</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Miki Yamashita</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Monica Lee</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Monique Kim</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Naomi Hirahara</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Nicole & Daniel Callahan</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Noel Joven</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Parvesh Cheena</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Paul Kikuchi</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Peter J. Kuo</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Philip & Frances Chinn</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Phoebe Hyun</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Randy & Mari Tamura</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Rebecca Wear</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Ricardo Figueroa</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Roger Tang</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Ronalee Miyasaki</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Sarah Lau</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Steven D. Wong</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Suellen & Munson Kwok</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Tara McPherson</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Tatiana Jimenez</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Teresa Huang</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Theresa Hardjadinata</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Thomas Wong</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Tim Dang</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Tim Miller</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Tina Huang</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">traci kato-kiriyama</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Tricia Ong</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Vicki & Paul Shinto</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">Zonia Evidente</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to Artists at Play, please visit our non-profit fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas: </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://bit.ly/AAPFracturedAtlas">http://bit.ly/AAPFracturedAtlas</a></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif;">To explore other ways to support Artists at Play, please contact us at ArtistsAtPlayLA@gmail.com</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-91140527362569690462018-10-01T12:06:00.000-07:002019-10-01T12:07:58.601-07:002018 Press<b><u>Press Releases</u></b><br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JHbItandcK61ryWi2fKrCQEMHzhLG_aK/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">9-18-18 Two Mile Hollow Reimagines Dysfunctional Family Stories with Sharp Biting Satire</a><br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/131R-2ZqmoyjU7_ZwlYx_7RUHxJds97nZ/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">3-28-18 Artists at Play to Present New Works by Emerging Playwrights of Asian Descent</a><br />
<br />
<b><u>Press Coverage</u></b><br />
<a href="http://dailybruin.com/2018/10/11/comedic-parody-two-mile-hollow-a-challenging-commentary-on-race-privilege/" target="_blank">10-11-18 Daily Bruin <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Comedic parody <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> a challenging commentary on race, privilege)</span></a><br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/Al7Kn2vz2zE" target="_blank">10-11-18 Backstage and Behind the Scenes <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Actor Tim Chiou talks <i>Two Mile Hollow</i>)</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.rafu.com/2018/10/first-world-problems-with-an-added-dash-of-color/" target="_blank">10-10-18 Rafu Shimpo <span style="font-size: x-small;">(First-world problems with a dash of color)</span></a><br />
<a href="https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/04/26/82552/11-awesome-things-to-do-this-weekend/" target="_blank">4-27-18 89.3 KPCC <span style="font-size: x-small;">(17 awesome things to do this weekend - Theater Pick)</span></a><br />
<a href="http://usa.inquirer.net/11488/nicholas-pilapils-play-love-among-dumb-high-school-kids" target="_blank">4-10-18 Inquirer.net <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Nicholas Pilapil’s play: Love among dumb high school kids)</span></a>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-31089542974336367482018-08-20T16:22:00.002-07:002018-11-05T10:17:50.447-08:00TWO MILE HOLLOW<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSa5ZjdrblpupZkvXgH1adXx8D0Y-eSCNWBEyf6RDBtFVHsRHMHEMtCXyw_rmaoNTH3QZpwuIpvfVGMH9Zi228CphUrtKvht0nqNAvnhyeEJJ53Q52SW_OLBqH8hs0Ya5tZYN5w2V7tVU/s1600/TMH_extended_square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSa5ZjdrblpupZkvXgH1adXx8D0Y-eSCNWBEyf6RDBtFVHsRHMHEMtCXyw_rmaoNTH3QZpwuIpvfVGMH9Zi228CphUrtKvht0nqNAvnhyeEJJ53Q52SW_OLBqH8hs0Ya5tZYN5w2V7tVU/s320/TMH_extended_square.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://bit.ly/AAPTMH" target="_blank">Two Mile Hollow</a></i></span></b></div>
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By Leah Nanako Winkler</div>
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Directed by Jeff Liu</div>
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October 11 – November 11, 2018</div>
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When the Donnellys convene for a weekend in the Hamptons to gather their belongings from their recently sold estate, both an internal storm and literal storm brew. As this brood of famous, longing-to-be-famous, and kind of a mess but totally Caucasian family comes together with their non-white personal assistant, Charlotte, some really really really really really complicated and totally unique secrets are revealed (over white wine). A parody coupled with moments of disorienting sincerity, <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> explores the dysfunctional family genre with brutality, awe, and compassion.<br />
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c.parentNode.insertBefore(cp, c); })(); </script><noscript><span>New Gallery 2018/10/18</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Tim Chiou, Emily Kuroda, Jessica Jade Andres,
Parvesh Cheena, Julia Cho</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 960</span><span>height</span><span> 640</span><span>Tim Chiou, Emily Kuroda, Julia Cho</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 960</span><span>height</span><span> 640</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Parvesh Cheena, Julia Cho</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 960</span><span>height</span><span> 640</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Tim Chiou, Parvesh Cheena, Julia Cho</span><span>focallength</span><span> 38</span><span>flash</span><span> 16</span><span>cameramake</span><span> Canon</span><span>height</span><span> 3265</span><span>fnumber</span><span> 4.5</span><span>exposuretime</span><span> 0.005</span><span>orientation</span><span> 1</span><span>camerasoftware</span><span> Picasa</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 10/10/2018 11:50:02 PM</span><span>width</span><span> 4898</span><span>cameramodel</span><span> Canon EOS 5D Mark II</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Jessica Jade Andres, Parvesh Cheena</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 960</span><span>height</span><span> 640</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Tim Chiou, Julia Cho</span><span>focallength</span><span> 70</span><span>flash</span><span> 16</span><span>cameramake</span><span> Canon</span><span>height</span><span> 3265</span><span>fnumber</span><span> 4</span><span>exposuretime</span><span> 0.008</span><span>orientation</span><span> 1</span><span>camerasoftware</span><span> Picasa</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 10/11/2018 1:56:35 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 4898</span><span>cameramodel</span><span> Canon EOS 5D Mark II</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Julia Cho and Parvesh Cheena</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 960</span><span>height</span><span> 640</span><span>Photo by Nardeep Khurmi</span><span>Tim Chiou, Emily Kuroda, Parvesh Cheena, Julia Cho</span><span>originaldate</span><span> 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM</span><span>width</span><span> 960</span><span>height</span><span> 640</span></noscript>
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<h4 style="text-align: center;">
<u>Featuring</u></h4>
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Jessica Jade Andres, Parvesh Cheena, Tim Chiou, Julia Cho and Emily Kuroda, </div>
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with Eddie Liu, Rosie Narasaki and Rona Par</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDiDTOHb4UQtaoLjOVVjkQGiuOtj1T_f9R6mG0i3L2mWwqcbfjJ1gXjUJFE6H76F9NO0EBCpqQ48rIQEgqrzMHu3DSPTWXrhQOwsdWIAz8rEEHn4kSDjYp18JG1N76ZZgMH3GNJwxF_fQ/s1600/tmh+cast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="447" data-original-width="907" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDiDTOHb4UQtaoLjOVVjkQGiuOtj1T_f9R6mG0i3L2mWwqcbfjJ1gXjUJFE6H76F9NO0EBCpqQ48rIQEgqrzMHu3DSPTWXrhQOwsdWIAz8rEEHn4kSDjYp18JG1N76ZZgMH3GNJwxF_fQ/s400/tmh+cast.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<u><br /></u></h4>
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<u>Creative Team</u></h4>
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Scenic Design by Justin Huen</div>
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Costume Design by Ashphord Jacoway</div>
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Lighting Design by Martha Carter</div>
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Sound Design & Music Composition by Howard Ho</div>
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Properties by Michael O'Hara</div>
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Stage Manager Brandon Hong Cheng</div>
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Asst. Set Designer Austin Kottkamp</div>
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Asst. Stage Manager Lydia Runge</div>
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<b><u>Performances</u></b></h4>
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Thursday – Saturday at 8 pm</div>
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Sunday at 2 pm</div>
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<b><u>Tickets</u></b></h4>
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$20-$40</div>
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Groups (10+) e-mail AAP.BoxOffice@gmail.com for discounted tickets.</div>
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<a href="http://bit.ly/AAPTMH" target="_blank">BUY TICKETS</a></div>
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<b><u>Theatre</u></b></h4>
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The Lounge Theatre 1</div>
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6201 Santa Monica Blvd.</div>
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Los Angeles, CA 90038</div>
<br />Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-59344856569647582202018-08-15T21:51:00.000-07:002018-09-27T14:16:21.029-07:00TWO MILE HOLLOW Cast Q&A: Tim Chiou<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHZw2HoGpaykFkP4JeGnh3aOd65KYOpKonwhIqNxDSnf_LXaIDKnN86_kZ2_vKrvlBh1DMXS1563SdObmP5JVWM0cX2FedxiXzLTKsk8NqnWhVSo9qof-jZj6eUiJOb7HOn1RpPMM5K4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-09-18+at+9.45.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="626" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizHZw2HoGpaykFkP4JeGnh3aOd65KYOpKonwhIqNxDSnf_LXaIDKnN86_kZ2_vKrvlBh1DMXS1563SdObmP5JVWM0cX2FedxiXzLTKsk8NqnWhVSo9qof-jZj6eUiJOb7HOn1RpPMM5K4/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-09-18+at+9.45.58+PM.png" width="238" /></a>
<b>What drew you to <i>Two Mile Hollow</i>?</b><br />
<br />
Actually, Artists at Play. Their interest in the work led ME to be interested in the work because I know that they have a great eye on talent and are excellent at fostering incredible stories. Anything they are interested is always worth a look. Then I saw Leah Nanako Winkler’s <i>Kentucky</i> and was immediately blown away by her unique voice as a playwright. It is at once so raw and fresh and so witty and sophisticated. I told myself that it would be an achievement for me to be a good enough actor to pull off a play of hers, and so I took the opportunity when it came. So far, I'm failing wonderfully.<br />
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<b>How would you describe your character?</b><br />
<br />
I play Christopher Donnelly, the son of a famous movie star, and the epitome of privilege. He's handsome, charming, and rich — which for the right/white person is often more than enough to be successful in life. Of course, he's not without his own hang-ups, and just like the rest of the Donnellys, he's very good at convincing everyone around him that his struggles are incredibly deserving of your attention and sympathy. Rich, beautiful people have their problems too.<br />
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<b>Why do you do theatre with small companies like Artists at Play?</b><br />
<br />
What I like about small companies like Artists at Play is that they have such a pure respect for the artistry involved. Often times, the complexities of business and politics can shape the way a company will go about telling stories in theater. But the communities that surround smaller companies are quite direct and immediately connected to the art and the artists involved. When everyone involved — from the producers to the crew and the actors to the audiences — are so passionate about what is happening between them, there is such an incredible freedom to make magic happen. I think of companies like Artists at Play as the Kogi taco truck of the theatre scene: It may be different, you may be getting your theater without silverware, and you gotta eat on the curb, but there is absolutely no doubt that what is being served up is fresh and inspired.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFWTJMO8rgOR9I22oHkg5I-gjxxN9KTYcvrPWeOfN6y3Oe7IM5N0JRw2QllJwJVZIDgOJ-8Z-qcXe4ddOi9Nl6bdRfSnytBJkuP7JBa-HqQ65FHbBgWgEU21KhocCofHipVT3YO1yIS4/s1600/11257844_940019079373032_5304015824673217100_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTFWTJMO8rgOR9I22oHkg5I-gjxxN9KTYcvrPWeOfN6y3Oe7IM5N0JRw2QllJwJVZIDgOJ-8Z-qcXe4ddOi9Nl6bdRfSnytBJkuP7JBa-HqQ65FHbBgWgEU21KhocCofHipVT3YO1yIS4/s400/11257844_940019079373032_5304015824673217100_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tim Chiou and Freda Foh Shen in the 2015 AAP Salon<br /><i>Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike</i> </span></td></tr>
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<b><br />What is your favorite "white people by the water play" and why?</b><br />
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Surprisingly, the number of "white people by the water plays" I have been exposed to (that sounds dirty, doesn't it?) is quite small. But I remember becoming aware of the genre when I saw that multiple productions of On Golden Pond were happening around me. I distinctly remembered discovering that it was such a beloved story, and both theater companies and audiences alike were excited to revisit the story. I looked up what the basic plot of the play was, and thought to myself, “Yo is it me, or is this EVERY play that is not a musical or August Wilson?” (Yes, I say “Yo” to myself.) Then I realized: as an Asian actor, this is an entire segment of theater that I just CANNOT be a part of. Flash forward many years later, and here I am, and it is kind of amazing. Now if there was only a way for me to do an August Wilson play ...<br />
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<a href="http://artistsatplayla.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-mile-hollow.html" target="_blank"><b>Learn more about <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> and buy tickets.</b></a>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-65692702358655542412018-08-14T23:12:00.000-07:002018-10-01T22:39:38.266-07:00TWO MILE HOLLOW Cast Q&A: Julia Cho<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCwfbz703qFGdTc0qg5rzkM3vRH9_bp2Mm0Zf0Y1rRmlrRfRm66oYxf4BYD5zVnLF0q6VLrNfSznysYz-o0gTielhPMDBo_akhyCjmxGmkMQEL8TkmSnqbdxkZWVbHO6XVTvxIBZZIKM/s1600/Julia+Cho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizCwfbz703qFGdTc0qg5rzkM3vRH9_bp2Mm0Zf0Y1rRmlrRfRm66oYxf4BYD5zVnLF0q6VLrNfSznysYz-o0gTielhPMDBo_akhyCjmxGmkMQEL8TkmSnqbdxkZWVbHO6XVTvxIBZZIKM/s320/Julia+Cho.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<b>What drew you to Two Mile Hollow?</b><br />
As soon as I was introduced to playwright Leah Nanako Winkler and her work, I loved the deft handling of uproarious comedy with dark themes. When <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> was first shared with Artists at Play, the family was written as white to be played by white actors but because part of AAP's mission is to showcase and provide opportunities for local artists of color, I had asked Leah if she would be open to more diverse casting. It's incredible to know that the script now mandates that these characters need to be played by POC. It does make the satire much more satirical!<br />
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<b>How would you describe your character?</b><br />
Mary is just so sad and creepy. But underneath that, she wants to be loved. And maybe that’s something that comes with a privileged upbringing where the parental figures aren’t as present or involved? She is saddled by a lot of issues but also maybe likes to wallow in playing the victim. I feel like there are so many female characters like that (usually white), those you find yourself wanting to yell at, “Get it together, girl!”<br />
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<b>Why do you do theatre with small companies like Artists at Play?</b><br />
Besides the fact that I'm one of the producing members? Unlike most TV or film sets, doing theatre especially with a smaller company provides such a communal familial experience. I also appreciate the smart, relevant, and exciting work being done by small companies. How many times do we need be to subject to the umpteenth production of whatever Western “classic” or touring production from New York—still cast with all or mostly white actors?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dian Kobayashi, Julia Cho and Parvesh Cheena <br />
in <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> (AAP Readings 2016)</td></tr>
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<b>What do you think a play like this contributes to Los Angeles theatre?</b><br />
<i>Two Mile Hollow</i> is a great subversion of tired old tropes (including theatre itself!) but also a great gateway for those new to theatre. I love that it pokes fun at the very art form we work so tirelessly for. So those who are regular theatregoers will pick up on all the inside jokes. But even those who are not can enjoy this play and its eccentric characters, anyone who is familiar enough with the "white people problem" storylines so prevalent in media and society at large. We also have an incredible cast of Asian American actors plus a diverse creative team, to show that we're here, talented, and more than capable ... in case anyone claims they can't find us!<br />
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<b>What is your favorite white TV family and why?</b><br />
I naturally gravitated towards black family sitcoms when I was younger, because that was the closest I had to any sort of reflection of my family until <i>All-American Girl </i>was on for a hot second. I really did love <i>The Cosby Show</i>, which I can't really watch anymore for obvious reasons. I am kind of obsessed with <i>The Crown</i>. Talk about the ultimate white family! It's just fascinating to see how f*cked up people can be even with all that power and privilege.<br />
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<b>What is your favorite “white people by the water play” and why?</b><br />
I have a soft spot for <i>Escape From Happiness</i> by Charles Mee, though that family was firmly working class. Fun fact: I was the only non-white actor in the cast of my college production. It was a great source of pride for me, until I heard that there were fellow Asian American students in a theatre class complaining about why the lone Asian actor had to play “the crazy one.” But that's the thing: Everyone in that family was crazy, and yet they loved it each other fiercely.<br />
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<a href="http://artistsatplayla.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-mile-hollow.html" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Learn more about <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> and buy tickets.</b></a><br />
<br />Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-71502918962286246152018-08-14T22:04:00.000-07:002018-10-08T22:04:27.428-07:00TWO MILE HOLLOW Q&A: Director Jeff Liu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbH7n7_QwTmyVXssDYObOjo9rhHg4iKuUqlC-Oua3QkEyBA33by_I4QOJydLG38CvYUTMHzrtG8sNBPiHlE6Z3PG9HUl7zDDOeajrn399ywnSLvtRsRvrFSmwRk5L6G3gOI2EOozotc-M/s1600/Jeff_Liu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1148" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbH7n7_QwTmyVXssDYObOjo9rhHg4iKuUqlC-Oua3QkEyBA33by_I4QOJydLG38CvYUTMHzrtG8sNBPiHlE6Z3PG9HUl7zDDOeajrn399ywnSLvtRsRvrFSmwRk5L6G3gOI2EOozotc-M/s320/Jeff_Liu.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
<b>What drew you to <i>Two Mile Hollow</i>?</b><br />
The script was so smart and funny, and it was a chance to work with my colleagues at AAP.<br />
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<b>How is the process different between working on a world premiere versus a published play? </b><br />
There is much greater participation from the writer on a world premiere. So you have privileged access to help figure out what they were thinking.<br />
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<b>What's the best part about working on this show? Biggest challenges?</b><br />
On each show, you get to put together the best possible team to come together in a room to tell a story, which is to say, to go on a marvelous new adventure with. I suspect this is why many of us love theater. The biggest challenge was figuring out how to fit a play this ambitious and grand into a relatively small space. But that's also part of what makes LA intimate theater so special.<br />
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<b>What do you think a play like this contributes to Los Angeles theatre?</b><br />
Works that have a distinctly diverse sensibility continue the mission of encouraging our field to more accurately reflect the city and country that it claims to serve and represent. In this instance, it's also a showcase for the wonderful talent in the Asian American community.<br />
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<a href="http://artistsatplayla.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-mile-hollow.html" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Learn more about <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> and buy tickets.</b></a>Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-16494831362091714982018-08-14T21:59:00.000-07:002018-10-08T21:59:43.968-07:00TWO MILE HOLLOW Cast Q&A: Jessica Jade Andres<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgw3Yee4OAixiOasPxmc8cCc-tys-E8CXhL1F2R6TgoRCZyVCfQMmztUS4WfBzzxCwj0to59BWP7uVWiUK_rhWEcleOt1MrpLhPinn9zV_KLWq0ujC4zTsbGUni8pEAZmijP5j66aBTA/s1600/Jessica+Jade+Andres.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="934" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgw3Yee4OAixiOasPxmc8cCc-tys-E8CXhL1F2R6TgoRCZyVCfQMmztUS4WfBzzxCwj0to59BWP7uVWiUK_rhWEcleOt1MrpLhPinn9zV_KLWq0ujC4zTsbGUni8pEAZmijP5j66aBTA/s320/Jessica+Jade+Andres.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<b>What drew you to <i>Two Mile Hollow</i>?</b><br />
I love Leah and I love Artists at Play so the two combined was too irresistible to pass up!<br />
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<b>Describe your character Charlotte.</b><br />
Idealistic yet realistic, on edge yet has everything under control, codependent yet an individual; clever, lonely, intelligent and confused. Kind. Charlotte is complicated. 😊<br />
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<b>Why do you do theatre with small companies like Artists at Play?</b><br />
I like doing theatre with small theatre companies because they aren’t beholden to anyone. They have control over the message they are sending and the content they are producing. <br />
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<b>What is your favorite "white people by the water play" and why?</b><br />
Most plays feel like white people plays to me ... only recently do you have playwrights stipulating POC casts. But I’m not familiar enough with any “water” plays to have a favorite!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessica Jade Andres in <i>Two Mile Hollow </i><br />rehearsal with Parvesh Cheena</td></tr>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;"><a href="http://artistsatplayla.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-mile-hollow.html" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><br />Learn more about <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> and buy tickets.</a></b><br />
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4265576848393304793.post-64208084713414088732018-08-14T21:47:00.000-07:002018-10-06T02:11:47.005-07:00TWO MILE HOLLOW Designer Q&A: Ashphord Jacoway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbAuY_EtHwluIX42FSfX3nbIEoxqbjINjHOFX5p3mvwhNhZmWIn1uKRiws5GiJljZb0U5MJhKak6OnfNTf84603y5OnaPywE5YcsjGcBs044xquJMCYfE72Ub62KwHHGVKH7BvOi6PAYs/s1600/AJ_072+-+Copy+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="467" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbAuY_EtHwluIX42FSfX3nbIEoxqbjINjHOFX5p3mvwhNhZmWIn1uKRiws5GiJljZb0U5MJhKak6OnfNTf84603y5OnaPywE5YcsjGcBs044xquJMCYfE72Ub62KwHHGVKH7BvOi6PAYs/s320/AJ_072+-+Copy+%25281%2529.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<b>What drew you to <i>Two Mile Hollow</i>?</b><br />
I was immediately drawn to the underlying dialogue of the play, which is calling out the underrepresentation of People of Color in casting decisions, specifically Asian Pacific Islander. I liked the idea of these POC playing White characters, as many movies as of late have had the reverse where White actors were cast to play characters culturally known to be POC (<i>Ghost in the Shell</i>, <i>Doctor Strange</i>, <i>Aloha</i>, etc.). I think it’s an important dialogue of our time and this play gives the opportunity to show POC can bring in the sales and numbers to a production.<br />
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<b>What was your design inspiration for the show?</b><br />
When I was asked what direction I would take if offered the design position, I shared this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmvqb9Uzu8k" target="_blank">music video by Dumbfoundead</a>. Take a moment to check it out. I'll wait ... So, the opening shot of the family really inspired me. Seeing POC playing outside their race for political effect. The use of blonde wigs, that looked natural and not forced. The Preppy clothing style, that harks to "Old Money" and its legacy. I really liked the aesthetic. With that being said, I also went to middle and high school right next to the University of Virginia and Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's Plantation) and thus, I grew up around lots of Prep style, and Ya'll, UVA is Classic Prep and Old Money with an Ivy League feel and a dash of conservatism. (In its defense, six months after the far right rallies and tragedies of last year, they elected their first <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/07/charlottesville-virginia-nikuyah-walker-interview" target="_blank">Black Female Mayor</a>). Overall I was inspired by my home in Charlottesville, and Prep Culture. Which goes a lot deeper than I thought. I wanted to do justice to the art of dressing Prep and my experiences growing up.<br />
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<b>What's the best part about working on this show? Biggest challenges?</b><br />
I love that I am in a diverse setting where we can dialogue about anything. I am also fortunate that I have previously worked with multiple people in the cast and production team. It really feels like home. I also love it when my designs become a reality during the first fitting. It’s exciting to see all your hard work come to fruition. Honestly, there are two big challenges to this production. One is making these characters look wealthy and Preppy without going bankrupt. Two is drawing the line between caricature and honest representation of Preppy White Culture. The costumes can't be comical, they must be true and real. If they are overdone we run the risk of portraying Whiteface, so I have to find a balance that is honest yet recognizable by the audience. As for making these characters look wealthy, I give this example. A popular staple in Prep culture/style is a 3-button Navy Blazer. One of the preferred places to purchase one is Brooks Brothers. This simple, non-fitted blazer starts at $373.00 … On. Sale. Let that sink in. It has not been easy trying to find classic natural fiber pieces for a discount. My friends have been thrift stores in specific locations, where people who normally wear Preppy fashion may donate.<br />
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<b style="text-align: center;">What do you enjoy most about being a costume designer?</b><br />
As I had mentioned above, I really do enjoy seeing my designs come to life. That first fitting reaffirms all that I do. It means I can break down a character, take measurements to successfully find clothing that fits another human, and confirms my research. What it really comes down to is, I love to create something from nothing. I enjoy taking base ingredients and making something new. It's why I enjoy sewing. When it comes to design, I think of The Text as my base. The Text informs my research and then I can create a design, which in turn becomes the base for all the outfits I pull. I think of my designs as a puzzle, I get to figure out where I can find what, and it’s like this really fun game where I get to draw a picture and recreate it. That's what I love about costume design.<br />
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<a href="http://artistsatplayla.blogspot.com/2018/08/two-mile-hollow.html" style="background-color: white; color: #9b1355; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><b>Learn more about <i>Two Mile Hollow</i> and buy tickets here.</b></a><br />
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Artists at Playhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13400191806818809963noreply@blogger.com0