New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) and PRISON DANCER LIVE presents Romeo Candido and Carmen De Jesus’ Prison Dancer The Musical, helmed by Jenn Rapp, with music supervision by Alexander Rovang, at Off-Broadway’s Theatre at St. Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street in New York, Friday, July 20-Saturday, July 28, 2012.
The
cast
features
Jose
Llana
(Bdwy: Wonderland, The
25th
Annual
Putnam
County
Spelling
Bee, Flower
Drum
Song, Martin
Guerre)
as
Christian
Bagets,
Jeigh
Madjus
(US
Tour
2011 Le
Cage
Aux
Folles)
as
Lola,
Marc
delaCruz
(1st
National
Tour: Disney’s
High
School
Musical)
as
Hookaps,
Catherine
Ricafort
(Bdwy:Mamma
Mia)
as
Cherish,
Moses
Villarama
(Romeo
&
Juliet,
National
Theatre
Cons.; King
Lear,
Denver
Theatre
Co.)
as
Shakespeare,
Cosmo
Clemens
(Regional: 25th
Annual
Putnam
County
Spelling
Bee,
McLeod
Summer
Playhouse,
Carbondale,
IL;
)as
Oo
Oo,
Enrico
Rodriguez
(Off
Bdwy: Fame
on
42nd
Street,
Zanna,
Don’t!)
as
Nana,
Albert
Guerzon
(Bdwy: Ghost
the
Musical,
Mamma
Mia!)
as
Tondo,
Andrew
Eisenman
(Twelfth
Night,
Leviathan
Lab; Mother
Courage,
Ma-Yi
Theatre
Company)
as
Warden,
and
Nathan
Ramos
(Fever/Dream,
Cleveland
Public
Theatre)
as
Swing/Prison
Guard.
Dian Kobayashi, Emily Kuroda and Jeanne Sakata are at the idyllic Sundance Resort in Utah, rehearsing A Cage of Fireflies, a new play by Honolulu-based playwright Daniel Akiyama, which has been selected as one of the eight projects out of nearly 900 submitted to be developed at the 2012 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, July 9-29, 2012. It was simultaneously a finalist for this summer’s Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.
The play tells the story of three elderly sisters of the kibei generation – sent as children to be raised in Okinawa, then returned to live and work in Hawai‘i. Two of the sisters confine themselves to their small Honolulu apartment, enacting the rituals of daily life as they cling to a dream of returning to Okinawa. The third, charged with running the family’s orchid nursery, has inherited a title that is not hers. As long-hidden hopes and regrets surface, the sisters discover what is both selfish and selfless in their love for each other.
The 35th Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF), presented by Asian CineVision (ACV), runs July 25 - August 5, 2012 with screenings at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas, Asia Society and Museum, and The Museum of Chinese in America in New York.
“On the event of our 35th year we honor our roots–showcasing the best and most recent achievements by Asian American film and video makers while looking to future by nurturing emerging talents and embracing transformative technologies” says ACV Executive Director John C. Woo. More than half of the Festival selection is made in the US or is a co-production. Many are first time directors, including actress turned director Lily Mariye’s Model Minority, telling the story of an underprivileged teenage girl surviving the treacherous world of peer pressure, drug dealers and dysfunctional families in L.A. There are also a number of returning filmmakers, including H.P. Mendoza’s horror film I am a Ghost, about a girl trapped in a repetitive routine in Victorian times. And Rich Wong’s raunchy new film Yes, We’re Open, a sharp-witted comedy about a modern couple testing their boundaries of love, sex and honesty. “We are extremely happy to see the number of Asian American filmmakers making quality work in a truly independent fashion which AAIFF continues to champion,” adds Martha Tien, AAIFF Program Director.
On Thursday, July 26, 2012, the New York Foundation for the Arts is presenting an evening with Tony Award-winning playwright of M. Butterfly David Henry Hwang at the East 86th St. Barnes & Noble at 7pm, to celebrate the TCG publication of his most recent Broadway comedy Chinglish, which played at the Longacre Theatre last season.Chinglish is about an American businessman who heads to Asia to score a lucrative contract for his family’s firm – but the deal isn’t the only thing getting lost in translation as he collides with a Communist minister, a bumbling consultant, and a suspiciously sexy bureaucrat.
Chinglish was
named
“Best
American
Play
of
2011”
by TIME magazine,
and
as
one
of
the
Top
10
Broadway
shows
of
the
year
by Bloomberg
Radio,
NY1 and WNYC.
The
West
Coast
premiere
of Chinglish at
Berkeley
Rep
starring
Michelle
Krusiec
and
Alex
Moggridge,
begins
performances
August
24,
2012. West
Coast
Premiere
of
David
Henry
Hwang’s
Chinglish
at
Berkeley
Rep
stars
Michelle
Krusiec
and
Alex
Moggridge,
August
24-October
7,
2012 .
In
April,
filmmaker
Justin
Lin
acquired
the
film
rights
to
the
critically
acclaimed
play,
which
is
slated
to
begin
shooting
in
2013. Filmmaker
Justin
Lin
Acquires
Film
Rights
to
David
Henry
Hwang’s
Critically
Acclaimed
Broadway
Comedy
Chinglish
Shanghai
Calling,
a
romantic
comedy
set
between
Shanghai
and
NYC,
written
and
directed
by
Daniel
Hsia
(Psych)
and
produced
by
Janet
Yang
(Larry
Flint
vs.
The
People)
opens
the
Asian
American
International
Film
Festival
(AAIFF’12)
on
Wednesday,
July
25,
2012
at
the
Asia
Society
and
Museum,
725
Park
Avenue
in
New
York.
The film stars Daniel Henney (X Men Origins: Wolverine), Eliza Coupe (Happy Endings) , Bill Paxton (“Big Love”), Alan Ruck (Greek, Extraordinary Measures, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), Geng Le (Desires of the Heart) and Zhu Zhu (What Women Want, MTV-China)