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On the advocacy front: I was deeply honored to receive "The Wai Look Award for Outstanding Service in the Arts" from the Asian American Arts Alliance in October of 2012. |
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Quicktime
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| In the Fall I played "Lady Thiang" (for the first time) at The Harbor Lights Theatre Company, in Staten Island, New York. Another beautiful R & H score! It was a joy to explore this story with a lovely cast. I will be performing the role again this summer at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City from July 9th thru the 13th. |
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On television, I did a guest spot on the new (sadly now cancelled) ABC show, 666 PARK AVENUE, as one of Vanessa Williams' upper east side friends who she tries to (successfully) scare at a Halloween party. It was fun to be glamorous (and not a doctor)! Air date was: October 28, 2012.
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Our film (and TRANSCENDING T-shirts) are now on sale in the gift shop at
MOCA, Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre Street, NYC
Since
its debut, our documentary film,
TRANSCENDING – THE
WAT MISAKA STORY
has made some powerful waves and continues to find new audiences:
On August 7, 2009, Wat Misaka’s profile was
finally added to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in
Springfield, Massachusetts
On October 14, 2009, President Barack Obama invited
Wat to be present at the signing of his Executive Order restoring
an Asian American and Pacific Islander initiative, and acknowledged
Wat’s achievements in his introductory remarks.
On December 20, 2009, the New York Knicks celebrated Wat on the court at Madison Square Garden, recognizing,
at long last, his place in basketball history.
It was honored by the
Honolulu International Film Festival with the Gold Kahuna Award, the Emerging Eye Directorial Discovery Award from the Roving Eye Documentary Film Festival and was an official selection of the Rhode Island International Film Festival, the Carmel Art and Film Festival, the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the Chicago Asian Showcase, opened the 2010 Houston APA Film Festival, and was a centerpiece film in 2012’s RightsFest Film Festival here in NYC.
Dreams do come true.
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Library of Congress
Asian Pacific American
Performing
Arts Collection
A portfolio of my plays (and
our film) were inducted into the Library of Congress
Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection in 2010. I am so
thrilled that the Library of Congress, in creating the APA
Playwright Series, is acknowledging the importance of the Asian
American playwright in the landscape of American storytelling
-- and of course honored beyond belief to be a part of this
collection!
This
anthology of plays is now available on Amazon.com.
Click
here to order yours today!
It is also available at MOCA, Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street, NYC
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| News about my plays (for details about
and synopses of my plays, click here): |
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EYE D, my documentary-style theatre piece, had its debut at Symphony Space/Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (95th St and Broadway) on Monday, December 3, 2012. Combining dramatized interviews (done with over 50 Asian American, Latin and African-American women), song, and spoken word, EYE D takes a look at real stories about race, ethnicity and the beauty of Michelle Obama. Direction was Mino Lora. Musical direction by Amanda Morton. Songs by Kirsten Childs, Gloria Estefan and Julie Gold. With Sarita Covington, Maria-Jose Fajardo, Deidre Goodwin, Jaygee Macapugay, Suni Reyes, and Dawn Saito. A post-show discussion followed the play with Vivian Lee of NY-1 and Dr. Lynn Roberts, Community Health professor from Hunter College.
EYE D was sponsored by the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of Actors' Equity Association, and was also made possible in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, as well as with support from The Open Meadows Foundation and The Puffin Foundation.
Also, through a generous grant from Asian Women Giving Circle and in collaboration with People's Theatre Project, EYE D will reach college students in the CUNY (City University of New York) system, on Wednesday, March 13 -- and my hope is to continue to travel to other colleges in the future, with student casts taking over the storytelling. |
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HALO HALO BIRTHDAY, a new one-person 10-minute play that I wrote for Leviathan Lab's MIGRATION NATION, a site-specific project about Overseas Filipino Workers, was given a tour-de-force performance by Jaygee Macapugay at Space on White in NYC on October 26 and 27, 2012. Hopefully, we will have a chance to do this piece in many other venues! |

Jaygee Macapugay in Halo Halo Birthday - photo by Jason DeCrow |
| INTERNAL BLEEDING made its Atlanta debut at the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival in October 2012. This play was previously developed with Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey in their 2010 Genesis Festival and in a 2011 NYC workshop starring Daryl "Chill" Mitchell. |
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WELCOME TO TELEVISION was part of The Barrow Group Theatre Company's FAB Women Reading Series in January, 2012.
SECONDARY IMPACT had developmental workshops in NYC at the National Dance Institute in December 2011 and March 2012.
EMPRESS MEI LI LOTUS BLOSSOM, a new 30-minute comedy, was commissioned by Gorilla Rep, and excerpts were read at the inaugural Playwrights Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem, in May, 2012.
ADVENTURES OF A FAUX DESIGNER HANDBAG was developed in August, 2010 with Leviathan Lab in NYC and was part of the 2011 Playwriting Curriculum at Wesleyan University.
TANFORAN was produced by the Barrow Group Theatre Company in February, 2011, was part of the International Art of Public Memory Conference in April, 2011 and Leviathan Lab's Asian American Women Writers Workshop Short Play Festival in May, 2011.
DO THESE GENES MAKE ME LOOK FAT? was supported by a grant from the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance in January, 2011.
PEACE PLAZA was part of Leviathan Lab's Dark Night Series in November, 2011, with research supported by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program.
THE NEW DEAL was given the honor of being the first play to be developed by the Roundabout Theatre Company in its "Different Voices" program in June 2006. Based on my family's life in the restaurant business as well as my own cultural epiphany as a proud Asian American, it was a joy to see it come to life in that setting.
THE NEW DEAL's prequel, PAPER SON, is included in the "Multi-cultural Drama" curriculum at the University of Michigan/Flint, and has been in the Playwriting curriculum at Wesleyan University.
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I am excited to launch The Asian American Composers and Lyricists Project. An ongoing initiative, The Asian American Composers and Lyricists Project will highlight works created and sung by Asian American musical theatre artists as a creative response to the misperception that opportunities for Asian American artists are low because we don't exist.
Together with a group of Asian American singers, we will highlight works created and sung by Asian American artists, to not only nurture our own community, but to create opportunities for increased visibility and have a hand at telling our own stories, with authenticity. Please check back for upcoming performances.
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Also, I continue to serve on the Board of the Tony-honored Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, and with my colleagues at AAPAC - the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (http://www.aapacnyc.org). AAPAC's mission is to is to expand the perception of Asian American performers in order to increase their access to and representation on New York City’s stages. Our work towards inclusion has been spreading its wings, though, and is now going international. |
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JACL Honor
On September 16, 2010, I was honored by the
JACL (Japanese American Citizens League, the nation's oldest and
largest Asian American civil rights organization) in their "Salute
to Champions". It was an amazing evening and I am so humbled
by the JACL's faith in me and my work. The other very distinguished
honorees were Senator Dianne Feinstein, Community leader Etsu Mineta
Masaoka and journalist Roxana Saberi. My brilliant husband Bruce
made this video for my introduction |

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Quicktime
If unable to view this video please click
here to watch on YouTube |
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I join such luminaries
as the late great Lloyd Richards, Jane Alexander and Tina Howe in
a wonderful, comprehensive book called" THE WORLD OF
THEATRE, Tradition and Innovation". My profile is an
interview about a subject near and dear to my heart: Non-traditional
Casting.
I am also now listed in "Who's Who of
American Women".
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