The 26th episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, airs on March 19 at 1:30pm and 6:30pm and March 22 at 6:00pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996, and streams on MNN2. If you miss the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel.
I’m celebrating Asian American women in leading roles by sharing three of Bev’s Girl Films short films, written and directed by Garth Kravits – When the World Was Young starring Virginia Wing, Jason Ma, Lia Chang which deals with how siblings deal with their mother’s memory loss; Belongingness starring Isabela Sanchez and Lia Chang which follows a young girl’s search for identity and a sense of belonging, which comes from an expected source; Rom-Com Gone Wrong starring Lia Chang, Eric Elizaga and Brian Kim McCormick.
Rom-Com Gone Wrong is a short produced by Bev’s Girl Films and Cut & Dry Films. Written and directed by Garth Kravits, the films stars Lia Chang, Eric Elizaga and Brian Kim.
A romantic encounter, ten years in the making.
Official Selection of Disorient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon and 10th Annual Queens World Film Festival.
Eric Elizaga quit his medical sales and marketing job in his home state of Hawaii to go to acting school in New York. Since then, he has appeared in over a dozen television shows including Elementary, Orange Is The New Black, Hawaii 5-0, FBI, as well as recurring roles on Law & Order: SVU and Gotham. Eric also wrote and directed a short film called The Beach House for which he won the best short film director award at the Bergen International Film Festival. The Beach House was also an official selection at the 2019 Disorient Film Festival.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman, Balancing Act, Belongingness, When the World was Young and Hide and Seek.
Bev’s Girl Films presents Belongingness, a new short film starring Isabela Sanchez and Lia Chang.
Written, directed and edited by Cut & Dry Films’ Garth Kravits, Belongingness follows a young girl’s search for identity and a sense of belonging, which comes from an expected source.
Original Score by John Tyler Kent.
Official Selection of the Asian Film Festival.
Bev’s Girl Films presents WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG, starring Virginia Wing, Jason Ma and Lia Chang. The cast also features Jo Yang, Daniel Dunlow, Michelle Miller and Mark York.
When siblings Benjamin and Audrey return home to confront their Mother’s memory loss, they discover a hidden key to her past.
Written and directed by Garth Kravits, the film is Executive Produced by Bev’s Girl Films, with producers Garth Kravits of Cut & Dry Films and Eric Elizaga. Hair and makeup by Dorothy Bhadra. Special thanks to Karen Elizaga and Daniel Dunlow.
Virginia Wing (Virginia) is a Chinese-American actress whose ancestors came to the “Gold Mountain” from Canton (now Guangdong) in the mid-1800s, lured by the Gold Rush and the building of the railroads. She is currently writing about growing up Southern in the Mississippi Delta, where she was born and raised.
Professionally, she has run the gamut from opera, theatre, cabaret, TV, film, playwriting, directing and producing to script analysis. She modeled in her youth and is in the Breck Girl Hall of Fame. She was the model in the Mitsouko by Guerlain ad in the 60s, which won awards internationally. She was a nominee for Best Actress in the Hollywood NAACP Image Awards. She is most proud of this film because the characters did not have to have Chinese accents, did not have to speak Chinese or refer to themselves as being Chinese. They were not written as Exotic or Other, but as Americans who happen to be Chinese, caught up in a universal story. At last! She can be seen in NYTW’s production of Three Sisters in the Spring of 2020. Click on the Performing Arts Legacy Website for more about Virginia Wing.
Jason Ma (Benjamin) is a son of an immigrant family, and a grateful descendant of a long line of those who were able to persist, overcome and succeed on their way to becoming Americans. He wrote book, music and lyrics for Gold Mountain and is the 2017 recipient of the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award for his work as a composer/lyricist. Along with writing, he is an actor who has been seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway stages, in regional theaters and many international venues. Please visit: www.goldmountainthemusical.com
Garth Kravits is an actor, singer, musician, composer and award winning filmmaker, director and editor. He made his Broadway debut in the Tony award winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone and originated the role of Ritchie in the Broadway show Gettin’ the Band Back Together’.
His Off-Broadway credits include Old Jews Telling Jokes, Toxic Audio and Smart Blonde. He has appeared regionally in Gettin’ The Band Back Together, Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play, and It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, (Bucks County Playhouse) Kravits has appeared on TV in “Mr. Robot,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” HBO’s “Divorce,” “30 Rock,” “The Blacklist,” “Nurse Jackie,” “The Carrie Diaries,” “Hostages” and in the new TV shows “The Hunters” (Amazon Prime) and “Tommy” (CBS).
All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2023 Lia Chang Multimedia. All rights reserved. All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Lia Chang. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. For permission, please contact Lia at backstagepasswithliachang@gmail.com.
On this edition of Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, Morgan James was in concert at The Glade on Little Island on July 31, 2022, and was joined by four cast members from her all-female JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR studio cast recording: Tamika Lawrence, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Orfeh and Pearl Sun for her EVERYBODY SAYS DON’T Concert, interpreting lyrics assigned to other male characters in musicals, and makes a compelling case for nontraditional casting as it relates to gender. Watch below:
Steppenwolf Theatre Company Extends the World Premiere of Vichet Chum’s BALD SISTERS Featuring Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Coburn Goss, Wai Ching Ho, Jennifer Lim and Nima Rakhshanifar through Jan. 21
Bev's Girl Films 