Cindy Cheung in SPEAK UP CONNIE. Photo by Lia Chang

Cindy Cheung debuts her solo show SPEAK UP CONNIE, at Stage Left Studio, 214 W. 30th St., 6th Fl. in New York from January 17 – 25, 2012.

In SPEAK UP CONNIE, the versatile Cheung writes, performs, and provides original music and lyrics in a comedy about getting a word in edgewise, under the direction of BD Wong. Performances are Tuesday, January 17th, Wednesday, January 18th, Sunday, January 22, Tuesday, January 24, and Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20. ($2 ticketing surcharge will be added). Click here for tickets.
* limited number of $9 tickets available through TDF

Cindy Cheung’s theater credits include Middletown (The Vineyard),The Seagull, (NAATCO), Goodbye Cruel World (Roundtable), Sides: The Fear Is Real… (Ma-Yi/Miyagi),Antigone(NAATCO), Masha No Home (E.S.T.),W;t (Florida Studio Theater), The First Picture Show (A.C.T.), A Christmas Carol (South Coast Rep),Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods (East West Players). Film and TV credits include: Children of Invention(Sundance 2009), Lady In The Water, Robot Stories, “Bored To Death,” “White Collar,” “Fringe,” “Law and Order,” “L&O:SVU,” “L&O: Criminal Intent,” “One Life To Live” and “Sex and the City”. She holds an MFA from A.C.T.

On Wednesday, January 11, 2012, Tony Award-winning and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), whose hilarious and sexy new comedy CHINGLISH is currently on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street) in New York, will receive the 2011 Cultural Achievement Award at the Asia Society New York Awards Dinner, at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue in New York.

The 2011 Global Vision Award will be presented to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leading pro-democracy opposition leader in Myanmar. The evening is also a celebration of the 90th birthday of John C. Whitehead, Former Deputy Secretary of State, who will be presented with the Global Vision Award. Comedian and actor, Dan Nainan will emcee the festivities, which will feature a special performance by members of the Silk Road Ensemble.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Global Vision Award
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the leading pro-democracy opposition leader in Myanmar and the daughter of Aung San, a martyred national hero, and Khin Kyi, a late Burmese diplomat. She has spent most of the past two decades...

I caught up with musicologist Joanna C. Lee and veteran music journalist Ken Smith at the Longacre Theatre in New York, after the post-show talkback following the 100th performance of Chinglish, by Tony Award-winning and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright David Henry Hwang, which was recently named by TIME Magazine, Bloomberg Radio, NY1 and WNYC as one of the Top 10 Broadway shows of the year.

Smith and Lee were tapped as cultural advisors by the playwright when Chinglish, his play about an American businessman looking to land a deal in provincial China, had its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Smith writes about their participation as resident Chinglish cultural advisors here.

The husband and wife team are co-authors of the Pocket Chinese Almanac and co-directors of Museworks Ltd., a Hong Kong-based cultural consulting company offering...

Congratulations to Mu Performing Arts, currently celebrating its 20th Anniversary mainstage season, which continues its string of ‘Best of’ top end of year picks with last year’s musical offering, Little Shop of Horrors. In the last three seasons, seven out of nine productions have been listed on end of year lists.

Graydon Royce of The Minneapolis Star Tribune, writes,
“Little Shop of Horrors,” Mu Performing Arts
“Heart, charm and humor wrapped up in a dopey musical about a human-eating plant.This show demonstrated how far Mu has come. Jennifer Weir directed and actors Randy Reyes, Sara Ochs and Kurt Kwan led the cast.”
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/stageandarts/136113038.html

Dominic P. Papatola of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes,
“Theater 2011: ‘Best’ missed the test. Here are 10
productions that made a difference”
“As I wrote in my March review, “If you’re in the mood to call out differences, you could note that Mu Performing Arts’ production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ features an Asian-American cast and that the role of homicidal houseplant Audrey II — usually voiced by a deep-voiced male — is played by a sultry femme fatale. But if you’re simply in the mood to enjoy a top-notch production of Howard Ashman’s comedy-horror musical, then nothing in the above...