Time
Magazine
has
named
David
Henry
Hwang’s
sexy
and
hilarious
new
play Chinglish the
number
three
show
out
of
the
Top
10
Broadway
shows
of
the
year.
Chinglish
will
feature
special
audience
post-show
talkbacks
with
the
cast
and
creative
team
members
at
the
Longacre
Theatre
in
New
York.
Beginning Wednesday, December 14th after the evening show, the cast will come out to answer audience questions. The mostly bi-lingual and multi-cultural cast will also be answering questions in Mandarin and maybe give a lesson or two. In addition to the 14th, talkbacks will be held after the show on December 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th, 29th.
After the post-show talkbacks, head to the front of the orchestra and you’ll have the opportunity to meet the cast members.
Chinglish is a new comedy about the misadventures of miscommunication. It is the story of an American businessman desperate to launch a new enterprise in China. There are only three things standing in his way: He can’t speak the language. He can’t learn the customs. And he’s falling in love with the one woman he absolutely can’t have.
The Chinglish cast features Jennifer Lim, Gary Wilmes, Angela Lin, Christine Lin, Stephen Pucci, Johnny Wu and Larry Lei Zhang.
December 28, 2011
This one is all about Asian connections.
It
began
at
Bellaken
Garden,
a
skilled
nursing
care
facility
in
East
Oakland,
where
my
mother,
Connie,
has
been
staying
since
August.
I’ve
been
visiting
there
twice
a
week,
crossing
the
Bay
Bridge
from
San
Francisco
and
popping
in
with
potstickers
from
a
nearby
takeout
restaurant.
For months, I’d seen this thin, white-haired woman seated in the lobby area, across from one of the dining rooms. After a while, we’d exchange smiles and hellos. I’d noticed her mainly because she always had a transistor radio with her. Being a radio columnist and occasional DJ, I asked what she was listening to. “Baseball,” she said. She was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, kept notes on their games, and kept their radio schedule close to her, all on a shelf of her walker. Her son, Jonathan, I would learn, works as a concessions cashier for both the Giants and the 49ers, so she was a football fan, too. We could talk.
I decided to do a little shout-out to her in my Radio Waves column in the San Francisco Chronicle, learned her name – June Kwei – and told her to watch for the mention. She appeared delighted, although I never properly introduced myself. Bad manners. (In Cantonese, “bad” is pronounced “kwei.”) Anyway, on December 11, the item ran, ending with “Holiday cheers to June Kwei.”
If you know Rain, BoA (shown left), and Sistar, then you already know K-Pop, Korea’s contemporary pop music and its artists.
K-Pop music is one of the fastest growing music genres in the world, and along with Korea’s popular TV drama serials, films and comic books are a growing source of export revenue for Korea.
The growing global fan base of Korea's entertainment and cultural offerings, known as "Hallyu" or the "Korean Wave" feels more like a tidal wave in some countries. In France, for example, fans mostly in their youth sold out a concert in Paris reportedly in fifteen minutes. Several hundred fans who missed out on tickets held a rally and danced to K-Pop music in front of the Louvre Museum campaigning for a second concert. They got their wish for a second concert which also sold out in minutes. Aflash mob as witnessed by this YouTube video shows hundreds of fans from all ethnicities crowding the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris last June, 2011 to welcome their favorite K-Pop artists. (image right)
On
December
31,
2011
Korea's
Culture,
Sports
and
Tourism
Minister
Choe
Kwang-shik announced
a
2012
policy
to
expand
support
of
Hallyu,
to
help
keep
the
wave
of
Korean
pop
culture
surging
across
its
borders.
The
Korean
government
also
hopes
to
attract
more
Hallyu
fans
into
the
areas
of
food,
tourism,
fashion
and
other
cultural
and
entertainment
offerings.
Mu Performing Arts presents Mu Daiko, Minnesota’s foremost taiko drumming ensemble, as it returns to the Mcknight Theatre At Ordway Center For Performing Arts,345 Washington St. in St Paul, MN., to present its 15th anniversary concert. Starring Hanayui from KODO, legendary Odaiko soloist, Yoshikazu Fujimoto and featuring North American guest artists, Tiffany Tamaribuchi and Megan Chao Smith.
The first weekend of performances (Feb. 9-12) will feature Mu Daiko in concert. The second weekend (Feb. 16-19) will feature Mu Daiko along with special guest appearances including:
Hanayui from KODO: The top founders and artists from legendary group, KODO, come together to bring the best of Japanese taiko to the Minnesota stage. Long recognized as visionaries of the artform world-wide, Hanayui features three top female artists in traditional and fresh new performances of dance, drumming and song. Also featured is Yoshikazu Fujimoto, long-considered the best Odaiko performer in the world.
Tiffany Tamaribuchi: Grand Champion, 2002 All Japan Odaiko Contest. With her two signature strengths of power and form, Tamaribuchi was proclaimed by contest judges to have “a perfect hit.” She brings 22 years experience touring and training professionally with several top companies and folk artists throughout Japan.
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.