On Monday, March 21, 2011, Working Theater presents a staged reading of Visible Cities by Chay Yew, directed by Mike Donahue, at The Studio Theatre on Theatre Row, 410 W 42nd St. (between 9th & 10th Aves in New York. The cast features Joanna Adler, Josh Barrett, Jackie Chung, Jennifer Ikeda, Natalie Martin, Quentin Maré, Orville Mendoza, Steve Park and Gordana Rashovich.

Chay Yew’s plays include Porcelain, A Language of Their Own, RED, Wonderland, Question 27 Question 28, A Distant Shore, 17, America and A Beautiful Country. His other work includes adaptations, A Winter People (based on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard) and Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba, and a musical Long Season. His plays have been produced at the Public Theatre, Royal Court Theatre (London), Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club, Long Wharf Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Intiman Theatre, Wilma Theatre, Studio Theatre, Portland Center Stage, East West Players, Cornerstone Theatre Company, Perseverance Theatre, Dad’s Garage, La Mama (Melbourne, Australia), Singapore Repertory Theatre and TheatreWorks Singapore, amongst others.

He is also the recipient of the London Fringe Award for Best Playwright and Best Play, George and Elisabeth Marton Playwriting Award, GLAAD Media Award, Asian Pacific Gays and Friends’ Community Visibility Award, Made in America Award, AEA/SAG/AFTRA 2004 Diversity Honor, Robert Chesley Award and an OBIE Award for...

“The early Sixties have been good to me lately,” said Darren Pettie, whose diverse roles circa 1960′s include his turn as Lucky Strike scion Lee Garner, Jr. in several episodes of the critically acclaimed and award winning AMC TV series “Mad Men”; as James in Atlantic’s Off-Broadway production of Harold Pinter’s The Collection penned in 1961; and as Christopher Flanders in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s current production of Tennessee Williams’ The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, with Olympia Dukakis, set in 1962. 

Erik Haagensen of Backstage.com describes Christopher Flanders as a “former poet, aging pretty boy, and professional houseguest,” and notes, “as Chris, Darren Pettie is properly fraying at the edges, an intriguing mix of calculation, sympathy, arrogance, and sexual magnetism.”

Williams’ haunting drama takes place in Flora Goforth’s picturesque Italian mountaintop home, where the wealthy American widow, in denial over her impending demise, has sequestered herself from the world in order to write her memoirs. Pettie’s character is a handsome and mysterious young poet who arrives without warning to keep Flora company in her final hours. It is a dreamlike play that blossoms into a fascinating meditation on life and death.

This production of Williams’The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore is actually a compilation of different drafts woven together by director Michael...

“I love Tennessee Williams’ women, because they are giants with tremendous appetites for life,” shared Obie-award winning actress Gordana Rashovich, as she dined on a dish of fried calamari and sipped a glass of Lillet at Un Deux Trois with cast mates, after her Wednesday night performance as Flora Goforth, in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, by Tennessee Williams, at the Laura Pels Theatre, at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre.

Delighted to be working with director Michael Wilson again, who directed her as Lady Torrance in Orpheus Descending at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Ms. Rashovich can be seen as Flora on Wednesday, March 30th at 7:30pm.

Williams’ haunting drama takes place in Flora’s picturesque Italian mountaintop home, where the wealthy American widow, in denial over her impending demise, has sequestered herself from the world in order to write her memoirs. When Christopher Flanders (Darren Pettie), a handsome and mysterious young poet arrives without warning to keep Flora company in her final hours, this dreamlike play blossoms into a fascinating meditation on life and death.

Ms. Rashovich appeared in the Broadway productions of Old Acquaintance, Cymbeline and Conversations with my Father. She received a Drama Desk nomination and Obie Award for playing Luisa, a Holocaust survivor in A Shayna...

As violence is escalating against journalists working in war-torn countries, low profile or nearly invisible still and video cameras, and content capture and distribution technologies are becoming necessary survival gear.

  The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported an unprecedented number of casualties: eleven journalists have been killed this year worldwide, eight of the eleven in the Middle East, one in Vietnam, one in the Philippines, and one in Mexico. CPF reports that there have been more than 300 attacks on journalists covering the recent political unrest in the Middle East.

CNN's Anderson Cooper and his camera crew were attacked by pro-government supporters on February 2, 2011 in Cairo while covering the Egyptian conflict. A video shot by Cooper for CNN's AC360 can be seen on this link. Cooper was able to keep his small Flip video camera recording, as he was escaping from his attackers. While Cooper was able to broadcast his reports and fly back to New York, many other journalists have not been as lucky. Some have been jailed, brutally beaten, stabbed or shot, their equipment destroyed, or worse - killed.

The large, conspicuous shoulder mounted video cameras have quickly been replaced by low profile gear such as the miniature Flip video cameras. Laptops are being replaced in the field by iPhones and other cell phones which can transmit still images, audio and video, and update blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Al Jazeera online producer...

On Sunday April 10th, Chef Arnold Wong is hosting a Special Benefit for Japan Night at E&O Trading Co. 314 Sutter Street in San Francisco to aid Japan following the country’s devastating natural disaster. This amazing evening brings together San Francisco’s finest restaurants, wineries and mixologists to raise funds for the victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami that hit Japan on March 11th.

Liam Mayclem of Eye on the Bay will preside as emcee from 5-9pm, live entertainment will feature local favorite Chef Joey Altman & The Backburner Blues and burlesque dancers, and the Bon Vivants will be mixing up amazing cocktails during this evening of great food, wines, spirits, live music, entertainment and a silent auction.

Tickets for the event are priced at $75 and 100% of proceeds from the evening will be donated directly to Give2Asia. …Representatives from Give2Asia will be in attendance to speak about their involvement with the Japanese community and outreach underway. Click here to purchase tickets. Tickets will also be available at the door based on capacity!

http://www.give2asia.org/documents/Give2Asia-JapanTsunami-HowToHelp.pdf

Participating Restaurants:
Betelnut
Butterfly
Contigo
Range
Slanted Door
Grand Cafe
StarBelly
Beast & Hare
One Market
Tres
Citizen’s Band
Live Sushi
Le Soleil
Basil Canteen
& More

Desserts:
Cocotutti
Kara’s Cupcakes
Nash Baker’s
Raison d’etre Bakery
Pinky’s Bakery
Namu Restaurant

Beverages:
Southern Wine &...