Category Archives: Photography

Patrick Chen’s A FATHER’S SON, Starring Tzi Ma, Ronny Chieng, Perry Yung and Kathleen Kwan, wins 2023 ‘Audience Choice Award’ for Best Short Film at Katra Film Series

May 6, 2023 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Patrick Chen’s Chinatown noir thriller A Father’s Son, a short film/pilot based on characters from Henry Chang’s 90’s NYPD Detective Jack Yu crime series novels, has won the ‘Audience Choice Award’ for Best Short Film from Katra Film Series.

Katra Film Series’ screening of Patrick Chen’s A Father’s Son played to a sold-out house at Regal Essex Crossing in New York on April 26, 2023.

KATRA Film Series Founder Geoffrey Guerrero at Regal Essex Crossing in New York on April 26, 2023. Photo by Adam Lim

Filmmakers during the Q & A after the KATRA Film Series screening at Regal Essex Crossing in New York on April 26, 2023. Photo by Adam Lim

Wing Lee, Henry Chang, Patrick Chen. Photo by Adam Lim

Row 1: Vera Chow, Jinny Chung. Row 2: Yixin Cen, Kathleen Kwan, Perry Yung, William Hsieh. Row 3: Wing Lee, Adam Lim, Shuhei Kinoshita, Joey Orlando, Tim Liu, Henry Chang, Sean Lau, Karen Tsen Lee, Patrick Chen, Jason Chew, Joe Chan, Evan Lam, Dave Chan. Photo by Nano Leon

Henry Chang, Perry Yung, Wing Lee, Patrick Chen. Photo by Adam Lim

Jinny Chung, Karen Tsen Lee, Kathleen Kwan, Vera Chow. Photo by Nano Leon

Henry Chang shared, “Winning the ‘Audience Choice Award’ for BEST SHORT FILM demonstrates that viewers appreciate the efforts of cast and crew to portray not only an engrossing story but the culture and language of Chinatown as well. It means that audiences are ready for honest in-depth stories beyond the usual stereotypical fare that is offered. Everyone involved should be most proud. Thank you all!”

Filmmaker Patrick Chen and Henry Chang. Photo by Shuhei Kinoshita

Special thanks to the entire KATRA TEAM from A FATHER’S SON. Photo by Nanon Leon

A Father’s Son stars Tzi Ma (Rush Hour, The Farewell, Mulan) as Krang Li, Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians, “The Daily Show,” Netflix’s “Asian Comedian Destroys America”) as Detective Jack Yu, Perry Yung (“The Knick,” “Warrior,” “Boogie”) as Jack’s father, Wang Kei Yu and Kathleen Kwan as Lai Jean Li.

Perry Yung and Ronny Chieng in A FATHER’S SON. Photo by Lia Chang

The cast also features Christopher Randolph as Captain Salvatore Marino, Wai Ching Ho as Soo Hing Li, Cathy Salvodon as Crystal Jones, Adam Lim as Billy Bo, Tim Liu as Officer Dennis Wong.

Ronny Chieng, Wai Ching Ho, Tzi Ma, Kathleen Kwan and Madelyn Bae. Photo by Lia Chang

Set in the early ’90s when local street gangs terrorized Manhattan’s Chinatown, the story centers on Detective Jack Yu – torn between his identity of his community and the NYPD, Detective Jack Yu delivers news of a son’s murder to the victim’s parents at the height of a gang turf war in Manhattan’s Chinatown.

The latest awards tally for A Father’s Son include the 2022 Canada China International Film Festival Best Supporting Actor Award for A Father’s Son’s star Tzi Ma, a 2022 New York Shorts International Film Festival Special Mention Honors, A 2022 Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Filmfest Best Adaptation from a Book Award and a 2022 KAFFNY Infinite Cinema Short Film Audience Award.

Credits for teaser trailer include Patricia Ma (Editor), Phil Choe (Colorist), William Hsieh (Sound Designer), David Bettencourt (Graphics Designer), Mike J. Kelly (Music) and Film Composer CHOPSmusic.

The creative team includes music by Scott Chops Jung, Cinematography by Jason Chew, Film Editing by Xiaoya Ma, Production Design by Wing Lee, Costume Design by Vera Chow, Makeup Artists Glenda Remo Jinks and Jiamin Zhou, Belén Orsini (1^st Assistant Director), Yixin Cen (2^nd Assistant Director), Set Dresser Jinny Chung, Assistant Art Directors Melody Wong and Hu Yawen, Boom Operator and Sound Mixer Sebastian Hoist, Sound Designer/Supervisor William Hsieh, Fight Choreographer Lang Yip, Lia Chang (Still Photographer), Cindy Chen (1^st Assistant Camera), Derrick Chen (2^nd Assistant Camera), Arseniy Grobovnikov (Gaffer), Manoj Gurung (Gaffer), Brittany Jeffrey (Key Grip), Jason H. Kim (Key Grip), Bruna Lacerda (1^st Assistant Camera), Brandon Lee (2^nd Assistant Camera), Justine Onne (Key Grip), Samon (Grip), Chris Ungco (Steadicam Operator), Shannon Ko (Script Supervisor), David Bettencourt (Campaign Manager), Joe Chan (Dialect Coach), Grayson Chin (Key Production Assistant) and Oliver Chiu (Production Assistant).

Colorwebmag.com: ‘A Father’s Son’: Chinatown Takes Center Stage In New Trailer Starring Ronny Chieng, Tzi Ma, and Perry Yung A Father’s Son Kickstarter

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.

Events, Film, Photography, Theater

Apr. 26: Patrick Chen’s A FATHER’S SON, Starring Tzi Ma, Ronny Chieng, Perry Yung and Kathleen Kwan, will Screen in Katra Film Series at Regal Essex Crossing

April 16, 2023 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Patrick Chen’s Chinatown noir thriller A Father’s Son, a short film/pilot based on characters from Henry Chang’s 90’s NYPD Detective Jack Yu crime series novels, is an official selection of the Katra Film Series and will screen on Wednesday, April 26 at Regal Essex Crossing (129 Delancey Street) near Manhattan’s Chinatown at 6:15pm, after which there will be a filmmaker Q&A.

The cast also features Christopher Randolph as Captain Salvatore Marino, Wai Ching Ho as Soo Hing Li, Cathy Salvodon as Crystal Jones, Adam Lim as Billy Bo, Tim Liu as Officer Dennis Wong.

The Katra Film Series program will screen four other shorts including Never Forget, The Blue Line, OVERDUE, Rose, At Last…, Wendy, and The Hope Chest Has a Secret Drawer.

For more information and tickets, click here.

Colorwebmag.com: ‘A Father’s Son’: Chinatown Takes Center Stage In New Trailer Starring Ronny Chieng, Tzi Ma, and Perry Yung A Father’s Son Kickstarter

Events, Film, Photography, Theater

Video: BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang – 2022 BIV Inspiration Award Honoree DEATH OF A SALESMAN Star André De Shields and HADESTOWN star Lillias White’s Sardi’s Caricature Unveiling – Airs at 6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996, and Streams on MNN2

January 1, 2023 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, an award-winning filmmaker, and a photo activist and documentarian, who lifts up and amplifies BIPOC communities and artists and the institutions that support them. Bev’s Girl Films collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

Updated: 1/5/23

The seventeenth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, aired on January 1 at 6:30 pm (EST) 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.

André De Shields, LaChanze and Alex Lacamoire receive 2022 BIV Awards at BIV’s BETTER DAYS: Fundraising Cocktail Party and Award Ceremony in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre’s Penthouse Lobby in New York on October 24, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

This edition of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang celebrates Tony, Grammy and Emmy winning Death of A Salesman Star André De Shields and Tony, Obie and Emmy Award winning Hadestown star Lillias White.

Last October, Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV) honored Tony André De Shields (Death of a Salesman, Becoming Lincoln, Hadestown), Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple, Producer: TopDog/Underdog, Kimberly Akimbo), and three-time Tony Award winner Alex Lacamoire (VIVO, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton) for being true agents of INSPIRATION using the arts as a conduit for social change, at their BETTER DAYS: Fundraising Cocktail Party and Award Ceremony in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre’s Penthouse Lobby. Lillias White presented the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award to André.

2022 BIV Inspiration Award Honoree André De Shields and Lillias White. Photo by Lia Chang

On December 2, Lillias, who plays Mrs. Hermes in Hadestown, was honored with a Richard Baratz caricature, presented by Sardi’s owner Max Klimavicius at Sardi’s.

André De Shields and Lillias White pose with Lillias’ caricature at Sardi’s in New York on December 2, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

On Nov. 28, Lillias received a 2022 AUDELCO for Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in the New Group’s off-Broadway production of Tariq Trotter’s Black No More, which opened in January 2022. Lillias White’s performance in Cy Coleman’s Broadway musical, The Life, won her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She was nominated for a second Tony Award for her brilliant work in Fela! Additional Broadway credits include Barnum, Dreamgirls, Cats, Carrie, Once on This Island, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Chicago. Other Off-Broadway and regional credits include The Public Theater’s Romance in Hard Times, for which she won the Obie® Award, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (directed by Phylicia Rashad), for which she won the NAACP Award, and the Carnegie Hall Concert version of South Pacific, starring Reba McEntire, which was also broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances. In addition to receiving Broadway acclaim, White is internationally recognized for her TV and film work. She received the Daytime Emmy Award for her role as Lillian Edwards for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series on Sesame Street in 1992 and is beloved by audiences around the world for voicing the lead muse Calliope in Disney’s animated feature Hercules. Film credits include Pieces of April (starring Katie Holmes) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas (starring Jim Carrey). TV credits include the Baz Luhrmann-directed Netflix series “The Get Down,” as well as “Russian Doll” and “Search Party.” She has appeared in cabarets and concert halls around the world, including The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and the Sydney Opera House. She can be heard on several Broadway cast albums, in addition to her critically acclaimed albums Get Yourself Some Happy! and From Brooklyn to Broadway. She starred on Broadway in the musical, CHICAGO, as Matron “Mama” Morton and off-Broadway in Tariq Trotter’s Black No More, which opened in January 2022.

Lillias White with her guests after the unveiling of Lillias’ caricature at Sardi’s in New York on December 2, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

HIGHLIGHTS OF BETTER DAYS: Fundraising Cocktail Party and Award Ceremony in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre’s Penthouse Lobby. (Full coverage will be featured in an upcoming article)

McKinley Belcher III, André De Shields and Sharon D Clarke. Photo by Lia Chang

André De Shields, Allyson Tucker-Mitchell and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Photo by Lia Chang

André De Shields and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Photo by Lia Chang

Allyson Tucker-Mitchell and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Cassondra James, Grace Stockdale, Daniel J. Watts, Oneika Phillips and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Grace Stockdale, Lillias White, Daniel J. Watts, Oneika Phillips and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Lillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

John Eric Parker and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

LaChanze and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Alex Lacamoire, LaChanze and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Allen René Louis, Alex Lacamoire, LaChanze, André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Adriane Lenox, André De Shields and Angela Robinson. Photo by Lia Chang

Zane Mark and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

Lillias White presented the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award to André De Shields.

André De Shields receives the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award. Photo by Lia Chang

André De Shields, Celia Rose Gooding, LaChanze, Ileana Ferreras and Alex Lacamoire. Photo by Lia Chang

Broadway Inspirational Voices (BIV) is a diverse community choir of Broadway professionals united to change lives through the power of music and service. BIV is committed to supporting and strengthening communities in need.

Broadway Inspirational Voices. Photo by Lia Chang

Angela Grovey, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Allyson Tucker-Mitchell, Lillias White, André De Shields, Sharon D Charle and McKinley Belcher III. Photo by Lia Chang

McKinley Belcher III, Sharon D Clarke, LaChanze, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang

For more information – and for ways to DONATE – go to www.BIVoices.org. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at handle @BIVoices.

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, an Arts and Entertainment and Lifestyle program that airs on Sundays at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996, and streams at MNN2.

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. Her short film, When the World Was Young garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. 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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

Lia is the recipient of the 2022 Prospect Muse Award, 2000 OCA Chinese American Journalist Award, the 2001 AAJA National Award for New Media. Lia is an AAJA Executive Leadership Graduate (2000), a Western Knight Fellow at USC’s Annenberg College of Communications for Specialized Journalism on Entertainment Journalism in the Digital Age (2000), a National Press Photographers Association Visual Edge/Visual Journalism Fellow at the Poynter Institute for New Media (2001), a Scripps Howard New Media Fellow at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (2002), and a National Tropical Botanical Garden Environmental Journalism Fellow (2003).

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2023 Lia Chang Multimedia, unless otherwise indicated. 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, unless otherwise indicated. 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.

Events, Film, Photography, Theater

Video: BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang Featuring Henry Chang Reading at Yu & Me Books, A FATHER’S SON Awards Tally, Production Designer Wing Lee, Ali Ewoldt and Kylie Kuioka of A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES

December 24, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

Lia Chang and Henry Chang. Photo by Jason Chew

The sixteenth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, aired on December 25 at 6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996, and streamed on MNN2. If you missed the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel or you can watch below.

Lia Chang and Henry Chang. Photo by Lori Tan Chinn

This edition of Backstage Pass with Lia Chang feature a short story reading with Crime Novelist Henry Chang at Yu & Me Books; A Child’s Christmas in Wales‘ Featuring Ali Ewoldt and Kylie Kuioka; Latest Awards Tally for A Father’s Son; and Christmas with You Production Designer Wing Lee.

Kylie Kuioka, Ali Ewoldt and Lia Chang at A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES.

BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang: Ali Ewoldt and Kylie Kuioka Chat About Irish Repertory Theatre’s A CHILD’S CHRISTMAS IN WALES; Limited Holiday Run through Dec. 31

Updated 12/25/22 Watch the show below.

It was a dark and stormy night on the 1st Tuesday of December when I joined my friend, Crime Fiction Novelist Henry Chang at my favorite bookstore, Yu & Me Books located at 44 Mulberry St. in Manhattan’s Chinatown to read excerpts from his latest short story “A-LI-EN”.

A-LI-EN, a short story by Henry Chang, featured in the new anthology, The Perfect Crime. Photo by Lia Chang

Henry’s short story is part of an anthology called The Perfect Crime. From Lagos to Mexico City, Australia to the Caribbean, Toronto to Los Angeles, Darjeeling to rural New Zealand, London to New York – twenty-two bestselling crime writers from diverse cultures come together from across the world in a razor sharp and deliciously sinister collection of crime stories. Published by HarperCollins and edited by Vaseem Khan and Maxim Jakubowski.

Featuring Oyinkan Braithwaite, Abir Mukherjee, S.A. Cosby, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, J.P. Pomare, Sheena Kamal, Vaseem Khan, Sulari Gentill, Nelson George, Rachel Howzell Hall, John Vercher, Sanjida Kay, Amer Anwar, Henry Chang, Nadine Matheson, Mike Phillips, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Felicia Yap, Thomas King, Imran Mahmood, David Heska Wanbli Weiden and Walter Mosley.

Click here to order the book.

Other titles by Henry Chang. Photo by Lia Chang

I have been a fan of Henry’s crime fiction- the Detective Jack Yu Investigative Series – for years. The Series has been adapted to an award-winning short film – Patrick’s Chen’s A Father’s Son – starring Tzi Ma, Ronny Chieng, Perry Yung and Kathleen Kwan, and is dedicated to the Chinatown community where Chang still resides.

Author Ed Lin and Henry Chang. Photo by Lia Chang

Henry Chang and Clara Hsu. Photo by Lia Chang

Yixin Cen, Henry Chang and Jason Chew. Photo by Lia Chang

Henry Chang and friends. Photo by Lia Chang

Lia Chang and Henry Chang. Photo by Jason Chew

Henry Chang and Gloria Sangirardi Jung. Photo by Lia Chang

Lori Tan Chinn. Photo by Lia Chang

Lori Tan Chinn and Henry Chang. Photo by Lia Chang

Henry Chang and Vic Huey. Photo by Lia Chang

His debut novel Chinatown Beat garnered high praise from the New York Times Book Review, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, Mystery Newsand January Magazine among others. Additional stories have appeared in Murdaland, Asian Pulp, The NuYorAsian Anthology, On a Bed of Rice, The Usual Santas, and The Perfect Crime.

He has appeared in Chinatown “tours” via Henry Chang SinoVision (2017), Chinatown Beat New Yorker video (2021), and continues to advocate for the Community. Visit Henry Chang at “Detective Jack Yu Investigative Series”.

Henry Chang, Wing Lee, Ronny Chieng, Patrick Chen and Lia Chang attend the New York Shorts International Film Festival at Cinema Village in New York on Oct. 26, 2022.

Also a special shoutout to Wing Lee, our Production Designer for A Father’s Son and one of the co-producers , for his special mention in Variety for this work on the Netflix Holiday Movie, Christmas with You starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Aimee Garcia.

Joe Chan, Wing Lee and Lia Chang in ‘Grampa’s Mixed Nuts’ design by Wing.

Yu and Me books is the first female owned Asian-American bookstore in New York City located in historical Manhattan Chinatown at 44 Mulberry St.

Henry Chang and Lucy Yu. Photo by Lia Chang

Lucy Yu, the owner of Yu & Me Books, says that her dream was always to create a home that she never found in a bookstore growing up. Yu and Me Books is a bookstore / café / bar that focuses on the strong, diverse voices of our community, with a focus on immigrant stories. The initials of the bookstore, YM, are actually her mother’s initials to showcase the stories and love in different languages that have been passed down for generations.

Lucy’s dream was to create a space where we can dream together, share our passion, strive for change, and push systems closer to justice. There is a huge lack of representation within the literary space, and she has created a space where everyone feels welcomed and heard. It’s something special to read a story that you relate to and see yourself represented after a lifetime of not being able to.

Henry Chang, Lia Chang, Lori Tan Chinn and Lucy Yu. Photo by Gloria Sangirardi Jung

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2022 Lia Chang Multimedia, unless otherwise indicated. 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, unless otherwise indicated. 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.

Events, Film, Photography, Theater

Video: BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang – Asian American Artists Taking Center Stage in New York and Beyond

November 13, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

Arthur Dong and Lia Chang at the opening reception of HOLLYWOOD CHINESE: The First 100 Years at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in LA on Nov. 4, 2022. Photo by Tami Chang

The tenth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, aired on November 13 at 6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996. If you miss the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel.

Watch below:

On this edition of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, I’ll be shining the spotlight on my Asian American colleagues taking centerstage.

Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Arthur Dong has curated a terrific film series presented by The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Hollywood Chinese: The First 100 Years. Screenings of all 27 films in the series take place at the museum’s state of the art Ted Mann Theater in Los Angeles through Nov. 27.

The film series both critiques and celebrates Hollywood’s depictions of the Chinese, and presents groundbreaking Chinese American artists who navigated industry challenges from the beginning of film history to now.

On the opening weekend, I flew to LA to celebrate the 15th anniversary since the release of Arthur Dong’s Hollywood Chinese documentary, and it was screened as the kick-off of the 27-film series.

TOP: Joan Chen, James Hong, Nancy Kwan, Ang Lee, Christopher Lee.
MIDDLE: Luise Rainer, James Shigeta, Amy Tan, B.D. Wong, Wayne Wang.
BOTTOM: Tsai Chin, David Henry Hwang, Lisa Lu, Justin Lin, Turhan Bey.

I watched a double bill of Anna May Wong in Daughter of the Dragon and King of Chinatown and then reconnected with my Big Trouble in Little China cast mates James Hong, Peter Kwong, Dennis Dun and Gerald Okamura at a screening of the film, followed by Q & A.

Irene Tsu, Joycelyne Lew, Peter Kwong, Rhonda Wong, James Hong, Dennis Dun, Lia Chang, Gerald Okamura, Arthur Dong. Photo by Tami Chang

Click here for tickets and more information on the film series.

Click here to purchase Hollywood Chinese:The Chinese in American Feature Films.

Saturday evening served as a tribute to James Hong, which you can watch on my episode airing on Nov. 20.

Featured on the show:

Patrick Chen’s award winning short film, A Father’s Son, starring Tzi Ma, Ronny Chieng, Perry Yung and Kathleen Kwan.

Director Patrick Chen Receives 2022 NYSIFF Special Mention and 2022 QWFF Best Director for a Narrative Short Nomination; Queens World Film Festival will Screen A FATHER’S SON at MOMI on Nov. 4

Yilong Liu’s Good Enemy at Minetta Lane Theatre – through Nov. 27

Ryan Spahn, Ron Domingo, Chay Yew, Francis Jue, Yilong Liu, Geena Quintos, Jeena Yi, Tim Liu, Alec Silver, Emilia LaPenta – Producer of New Play Development and Commissions for Audible Theater. Photo by Lia Chang

Audible, Inc.’s production of Yilong Liu’s Good Enemy, directed by Chay Yew and featuring Francis Jue, Ron Domingo, Tim Liu, Geena Quintos, Alec Silver, Ryan Spahn and Jeena Yi.

A father learns that closing the door to his past means shutting his daughter out in Good Enemy, Yilong Liu’s haunting and hopeful new play. When Howard (Francis Jue) makes a surprise cross-country trip to visit his college-age, Tik Tok-loving daughter, he’s forced to confront the realities of their relationship and the rift between them—a rift caused by Howard’s refusal to face memories of his life as a young man in China. In a smart, thrilling story that deftly weaves two generations and two continents amidst sweeping social changes, Good Enemy explores the power of human connections…affirming that no one lives an “ordinary” life, no matter how hard they might try.

Performances at Minetta Lane Theatre through Nov. 27. Tickets from $35 for Good Enemy are on sale now at www.Audible.com/MinettaLane.

Audible Theater is proud to collaborate with TodayTix to offer $20 mobile rush tickets beginning at 10am each performance day. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis exclusively through the TodayTix app.

Opening Night of Yilong Liu’s GOOD ENEMY

Playwrights Horizons’ hosted a special AAPI night for Mia Chung’s Catch as Catch Can, directed by Daniel Aukin, which has performances through November 20.

Set deep in blue-collar New England, Catch as Catch Can centers on the Phelans and the Lavecchias as they welcome home a recently-engaged prodigal son-setting off an evolving crisis that reshapes their lives, and the play itself.

Cindy Cheung and Jon Norman Schneider in Playwrights Horizons' production of Mia Chung's CATCH AS CATCH CAN. Photo by Joan Marcus — Cindy Cheung and Jon Norman Schneider in Playwrights Horizons’ production of Mia Chung’s CATCH AS CATCH CAN. Photo by Joan Marcus

In this surprising, theatrically demanding work, actors double in roles of father and daughter, mothers and sons. As the families gather for the holidays, the weight of familial expectations bears down on the younger generation; such community pressure and the very meaning of family finds heightened expression in a theatrical high-wire act, as the actors acrobatically play across gender, generation, and race.

Rob Yang and Cindy Cheung in Playwrights Horizons’ production of Mia Chung’s CATCH AS CATCH CAN. Photo by Joan Marcus

Jon Norman Schneider, Cindy Cheung, Rob Yang. Photo by Lia Chang

The cast includes Cindy Cheung (Playwrights: Log Cabin; The Civilians’ The Great Immensity) as father Lon Lavecchia and daughter Daniela Lavecchia; Jon Norman Schneider (Awake and Sing!, The Oldest Boy) as mother Roberta Lavecchia and son Robbie Lavecchia; and Rob Yang (Succession, American Rust) as mother Theresa Phelan and son Tim Phelan.

Amaterasu Za is presenting Chushingura – 47 Ronin, adapted and directed by Ako Dachs, The production will be performed mainly in Japanese with English subtitles. Chushingura – 47 Ronin has been extended through November 13 at the A.R.T./New York Mezzanine Theater, 502 W. 53rd Street.

Chushingura – 47 Ronin is based on one of the most enduring stories in Japan. Portraying real events that took place in 1702-1703 during Japan’s Shogun-led Edo period, this sprawling story of honor, betrayal, clan loyalty, sacrifice, justice, and revenge has been told and retold in hundreds of ways in Japanese books, plays, movies, television dramas, and animated series. This new stage adaptation is performed mainly in Japanese with some English and supertitles translation throughout.

The cast includes Ako (FX’s “Shogun.” Off Broadway: God Said This -Lortel nom.), Yoshi Amao (TV: “Shogun,” “Mr. Robot.”), Saori Goda, (NBC’s “Love Your Selfie”), Tatsuo Ichikawa (Apple TV+, “We Crashed”), Rina Maejima (A Chorus Line), Jun Suenaga (Film: Mother’s Day), Yasu Suzuki (Film: College Road Trip. NETFLIX’s “Daredevil”), Hiroko Yonekura (Regional: Avenue Q), and Minami Yoshimura (Regional: Godspell).

For more information about Amaterasu Za, please visit www.AmaterasuZa.org

Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick, directed by Sam Pinkleton and starring Daniel K. Isaac, Linda Lavin, Marinda Anderson, Nate Miller and Ryan Landani Sanchez. Performances at the Laura Pell Theater through Dec. 13.

Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap at Oklahoma City Rep through Nov. 20

James Aaron Oh and Brian Kim McCormick. Photo by Edward T. Morris

First Look: Brian Kim McCormick, Jenelle Chu, William Langan, and James Aaron Oh in Oklahoma City Repertory Theater‘s Oklahoma Premiere of Lauren Yee’s THE GREAT LEAP; Performances through Nov. 20

Lloyd Suh’s The Far Country at Atlantic Theater Company – Nov. 17-Jan. 1
Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) is presenting the world premiere production of The Far Country, an Atlantic commissioned play by Guggenheim fellow Lloyd Suh, directed by Obie Award winner Eric Ting.

The Far Country features Ben Chase (Mondo Tragic), Jinn S. Kim (Race, Religion & Politics), Whit K. Lee (Assassins), Christopher Liam Moore (All The Way), Shannon Tyo (The Chinese Lady), Amy Kim Waschke (Off-Broadway debut), and Eric Yang (Legacy).

The Far Country begins performances on Thursday, November 17th, and will open Monday, December 5th, for a limited engagement through Sunday, January 1st, 2023 Off-Broadway at the Linda Gross Theater (336 West 20th Street).

An intimate epic that follows an unlikely family’s journey from rural Taishan to the wild west of California in the wake of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Schedule:
Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 7pm, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.
Monday evening performance on 12/26 at 7pm.
Wednesday matinee performance on 12/7, 12/21 & 12/28 at 2pm.
No Sunday evening performance on 12/11.
No performance on Saturday, 12/24 and Sunday, 12/25.

Tickets:
Regular tickets begin at $75. Order online at atlantictheater.org or by calling AudienceView at 646-989-7996.

Atlantic is committed to connecting deeply and authentically with audiences from a broad range of economic backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, and perspectives. Its access ticket initiative makes $25 tickets available to every preview performance in the 2022|2023 season. Access tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis via Atlantic’s website beginning 2 weeks prior to the first performance of each Atlantic Theater Company 2022|2023 production. $25 access tickets for The Far Country are on sale now.

Shannon Tyo, Whit K. Lee, Ben Chase, Jinn S. Kim, Christopher Liam Moore, Amy Kim Waschke and Eric Yang Set for Atlantic Theater Company’s World Premiere of Lloyd Suh’s THE FAR COUNTRY, Nov. 17-Jan. 1

Phil Wong, Sumi Yu, Lawrence-Michael C. Arias, Nick Nakashima, Katrina Lauren McGraw, Brandon Leland, Naima Alakham, Alia Hodge, and Lucca Troutman Set for TheatreWorks Silicon Valley‘s LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Thom Sesma in Classic Stage Company’s A Man of No Importance

Ken Leung in Will Arbery’s Evanston Salt Costs Climbing In previews

KPOP- Eddy Lee, Lina Lee, Kate Mina Lin, Jully Lee, Woo Sung Hyun ( kevin woo ), Zachary Noah Piser, Jinwoo Jung

Vichet Chum’s BALD SISTERS at Steppenwolf in Chicago – Dec. 1-Jan. 15, 2023

The cast of BALD SISTERS includes, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie,
Jennifer Lim, Coburn Goss, Wai Ching Ho and Nima Rakhshanifar.

Rehearsals are underway for Steppenwolf’s world premiere of BALD SISTERS, written by Vichet Chum, directed by Jesca Prudencio. The next show in their new in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Chicago, BALD SISTERS invites you to get up close and personal with all the family drama—and comedy. The cast includes Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Jennifer Lim, Coburn Goss, Wai Ching Ho and Nima Rakhshanifar. FF10 online to get $10 off TICKETS to any preview or regular public performances. Click here for more information regarding discounted tickets. Steppenwolf Theatre Company is located at 1650 N Halsted Ave, Chicago, IL 60614.

RECENTLY STAGED PRODUCTIONS

R.A. Shiomi’s Fire in the New World

Gregory Yang as Sam Shikaze and Anna Hashizume as Yumiko Alexander. Photo by LKBachman

Full Circle Theater presented the World Premiere of Fire in the New World, written and directed by Full Circle Co-Artistic Director R.A. Shiomi, at Park Square Theatre’s Proscenium Stage through Nov. 6.

The World Premiere was the third installment of Shiomi’s noir-style detective comedies featuring Sam Shikaze, the hard-boiled private eye who fights crime in Vancouver’s Japantown and beyond in the years after WWII. This time, Sam is up against a big time developer intent on bulldozing his community. But Sam is also hired to find the developer’s missing Japanese American wife. The play is a smart and fun detective comedy chock full of social commentary and sly intrigue.

The cast includes Gregory (Greg) Yang (he/him) as Sam Shikaze, Brian Joyce (he/him) as Jonathan Webster, Anna Hashizume (she/her) as Yumiko Alexander, Alice McGlave (she/her) as Rosie Ohara, Joe Allen (he/they) as Roderic Alexander, Keivin Vang (he/him), Song Kim (he/him) as Mas Matsumoto and Alec Berchem (he/him) as Tom Williams.

Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone at The Guthrie
In October, The Guthrie Theater presented Vietgone by Qui Nguyen, with original music by Shane Rettig and directed by Mina Morita on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at 818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis, MN.

Hyunmin Rhee, Rebecca Hirota, Eric Sharp, Viet Vo, and Emjoy Gavino in Qui Nguyen’s VIETGONE at The Guthrie Theater. Photo: Dan Norman

Part history play and part memoir, Nguyen’s irreverent, whip-smart comedy uses flashbacks and bursts of rap music to share a human-centered view of the Vietnam War and its aftermath. When Saigon falls in 1975, Vietnamese refugees Quang (Hyunmin Rhee) and Tong (Emjoy Gavino) find themselves living in the land of “cheeseburgers, waffle fries and cholesterol” (aka America) — an intoxicating adventure that leads them to question their futures, both together and in their new country.

The cast of Vietgone features Emjoy Gavino (Guthrie: A Christmas Carol) as Tong/Ensemble, Rebecca Hirota (Guthrie: debut) as Thu/Huong/Ensemble, Hyunmin Rhee (Guthrie: debut) as Quang, Eric Sharp as Nhan/Khue/Ensemble (Guthrie: A Christmas Carol, As You Like It) and Viet Vo (Guthrie: debut) as Playwright/Bobby/Giai/Ensemble.

Viet Vo, Eric Sharp, Hyunmin Rhee in Qui Nguyen’s VIETGONE at The Guthrie Theater. Photo: Dan Norman

Jiehae Park’s peerless

PRIMARY STAGES and 59E59 Theaters, in association with Jamie deRoy, is presenting peerless, by Jiehae Park (Hannah and the Dread Gazebo) and directed by Margot Bordelon (… what the end will be). peerless played a limited run at 59E59’s Theater A (59 E 59th Street) through Nov. 6.

The cast of peerless features Marié Botha as “Dirty Girl/Preppy Girl,” Anthony Cason as “BF,” Sasha Diamond as “M,” Benny Wayne Sully as “D/Brother” and Shannon Tyo as “L.”

A darkly comedic twist on Shakespeare’s Macbeth set in the cutthroat world of elite college admissions, Jiehae Park’s clever and incisive adaptation, peerless, is a comedy…until it’s not.

This new version of the classic story centers on M and L, twin Asian-American siblings who have given up everything to get into The College. When another classmate claims what they feel is rightfully “their spot,” the twins decide they have only one option: murder.

Shannon Tyo, Sasha Diamond, Marié Botha, Anthony Cason, and Benny Wayne Sully in Jiehae Park’s “peerless” at 59E59 Theaters

COST OF LIVING

David Zayas, Katy Sullivan, Kara Young and Gregg Mozgala. Photo by Zachary Maxwell Stertz

Manhattan Theatre Club extended the Broadway premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Cost of Living, written by Martyna Majok (Sanctuary City, Ironbound) and directed by Obie Award winner Jo Bonney, at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre through November 6.

Cost of Living‘s cast features acclaimed original stars Gregg Mozgala (Lucille Lortel Award winner for his performance) and Katy Sullivan (Theatre World Award winner for her performance), who reunite for the Broadway production; Tony Award nominee Kara Young (Clyde’s, The New Englanders at MTC); and David Zayas (“Dexter,” Anna in the Tropics).

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, Martyna Majok’s powerhouse play receives its Broadway premiere after a celebrated run at MTC’s Stage I. Hailed by The New York Times as “gripping, immensely haunting and exquisitely attuned,” this insightful, intriguing work is about the forces that bring people together, the complexity of caring and being cared for, and the ways we all need each other in this world. Kara Young and David Zayas join acclaimed original stars Gregg Mozgala and Katy Sullivan in this production, again directed by Obie Award winner Jo Bonney.

Jason Ma, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Jojo Gonzalez, Eileen Rivera, Nelson T. Eusebio III, Valérie Thérèse Bart, Lia Chang. Photo by Rani O’Brien

Kansas City Repertory Theatre production of Twelfth Night – chatting with Nelson Eusebio, composer Jason Ma, Jojo Gonzalez.

KCRep’s TWELFTH NIGHT Featuring Jojo Gonzalez, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Brandon Jones, Vanessa Severo, Eileen Rivera, Freddy Acevedo, Jimmy Kieffer, Darrington Clark, Sam Cordes, Manon Halliburton, and Chelsea Rolfes

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist and an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Lia is also the host and Executive Producer of BACKSTAGE PASS WITH LIA CHANG, a new Arts and Entertainment program that airs on Sundays at 6:30pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996.

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. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. 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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

Events, Film, Photography, Theater

Video: BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang – Opening nights of DEATH OF A SALESMAN and WINE IN THE WILDERNESS, Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite at New-York Historical Society

November 3, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

Lia Chang and André De Shields at the opening night of DEATH OF A SALESMAN at the Hudson Theatre in New York on October 9, 2022.

The ninth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, aired on October 30 at 6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996. If you miss the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel.

On this edition of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, I’ll be featuring a Backstage Pass to the opening nights of the Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman, directed by Miranda Cromwell, and starring Wendell Pierce, Sharon D Clarke, Khris Davis, McKinley Belcher III, André De Shields, Blake DeLong, Lynn Hawley, Grace Porter, Kevin Ramessar, Stephen Stocking, Chelsea Lee Williams, and Delaney Williams; Two River Theater’s production of Alice Childress’s Wine in the Wilderness, directed by Brandon J. Dirden and starring Crystal Dickinson, Brittany Bellizeare, Ricardy Fabre, Korey Jackson, and Keith Randolph Smith; and the New-York Historical Society’s opening reception of Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite.

Updated: 10/30/22

You can watch the episode below.

McKinley Belcher III, Sharon D Clarke, Wendell Pierce, André De Shields and Khris Davis at the opening night of DEATH OF A SALESMAN at the Hudson Theatre in New York on October 9, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

Keith Randolph Smith, Brandon J. Dirden, Korey Jackson, Crystal A. Dickinson, Brittany Bellizeare and Ricardy Fabre at the opening night curtain call of WINE IN THE WILDERNESS at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ on October 21, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

Multimedia: Opening Night of Alice Childress’s WINE IN THE WILDERNESS Starring Crystal A. Dickinson, Brittany Bellizeare, Ricardy Fabre, Korey Jackson, and Keith Randolph Smith at Two River Theater: Performances through Nov. 6

The opening night reception of Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, currently on view at New-York Historical Society through January 15, 2023. Photo by Don Pollard

Grandassa Models and the family of Kwame Brathwaite attend the opening reception of Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite at the New-York Historical Society in New York on October 19, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

The New-York Historical Society is the exclusive New York City is presenting the traveling exhibition Black Is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite, the first major show dedicated to this pivotal figure who helped launch and popularize the “Black Is Beautiful” movement of the 1960s. On view through January 15, 2023, the exhibition features 40 large-scale color and black-and-white photographs that document how Brathwaite helped change America’s political and cultural landscape during the so-called Second Harlem Renaissance, using his art to affirm Black physical beauty, celebrate African American community and identity, and reflect the vibrancy of Harlem’s jazz scene, local businesses, and events.

Organized by Aperture in partnership with Kwame S. Brathwaite, Brathwaite’s son and director of the Kwame Brathwaite Archive, the photographs—mostly shot in Harlem and the Bronx—tell a story of a movement and a time. Following its presentation at New-York Historical, the exhibition travels to the University of Alabama at Birmingham for the Abroms‐Engel Institute for the Visual Arts in February 2023.

The exhibition is accompanied by the first monograph dedicated to Kwame Brathwaite. Featuring essays by Tanisha C. Ford and Deborah Willis and more than 80 images, Kwame Brathwaite: Black Is Beautiful (Aperture, 2019) offers a long-overdue exploration of Brathwaite’s life and work and is available from the NYHistory Store.

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. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. 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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

All text, graphics, articles & photographs: © 2000-2022 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, unless otherwise indicated. 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.

Events, Film, Photography, Theater

Video: BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang – Opening nights of DEATH OF A SALESMAN and WINE IN THE WILDERNESS, Black is Beautiful: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite at New-York Historical Society

October 30, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

Updated: 10/30/22

You can watch the episode below.

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. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. 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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

Entertainment, Photography, Theater

Video: BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang: A Conversation with Nelson T. Eusebio III, Jason Ma and Jojo Gonzalez about KCRep’s TWELFTH NIGHT

September 17, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

Updated:

The third episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, aired on Sunday, September 18 at 3:30 pm (PST)/5:30pm (CST)/6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and MNN 2 .

After spending the summer with Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Afrofuturistic production of Twelfth Night helmed by Carl Cofield, I decided to take another trip to Illyria, this time heading to Kansas City, MO for KCRep’s production of Twelfth Night, which has performances through September 25, 2022.

Watch the interviews below:

I caught up with Nelson T. Eusebio III, who began his position as KCRep’s Associate Artistic Director last October, and is making his KCRep directorial debut withTwelfth Night featuring bold designs built around the identities of a multi-cultural cast.

Nelson T. Eusebio III and Jason Ma. Photo by Lia Chang

I also chatted with my frequent collaborator Jason Ma, who created new, original music for the production, as well as my dear friend, New York based actor Jojo Gonzalez, who plays Feste.

It is a reunion for the trio and a return to Twelfth Night, having worked on an all-Asian American cast version of Twelfth Night, produced by Leviathan Lab in New York in 2011. Eileen Rivera, who plays Maria in KCRep’s production, played Olivia in 2011.

The cast and creative team of Leviathan Lab’s Twelfth Night on the set at the Arclight Theater in New York on November 11, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Leviathan Lab founder Ariel Estrada, composer Jason Ma, director Nelson T. Eusebio III and choregrapher Dax Valdes. Photo by Lia Chang

Foreground Center: Jojo Gonzalez as Feste with the cast of Leviathan Lab’s TWELFTH NIGHT Photo by Bree Warner

L to R: Ka-ling Cheung as Maria, Eileen Rivera as Olivia and Tina Chilip as Viola in Leviathan Lab’s TWELFTH NIGHT in 2011. Photo by Bree Warner

KCRep’s Twelfth Night began preview performances on September 6, opened on Sept. 9 and will continue through Sept 25, 2022 at Spencer Theatre, located in the University of Missouri-Kansas City Volker Campus, 4949 Cherry St, Kansas City, MO 64110.Twelfth Night is a delightful comedy of mistaken identity, music, and the madness of love.

The cast features Francesca Fernandez McKenzie as Viola, Brandon Jones as Orsino, Freddy Acevedo as Sebastian, Vanessa Severo as Olivia, Jojo Gonzalez as Feste, Eileen Rivera as Maria, Jimmy Kieffer as Sir Toby, Darrington Clark as Fabian, Sam Cordes as Sir Andrew, Manon Halliburton as Malvolia, and Chelsea Rolfes as Antonia.

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie and Freddy Acevedo. Photo by Lia Chang

Freddy Acevedo and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

The design and production team for Twelfth Night includes VALÉRIE THÉRÈSE BART (Costume Design), LOGAN BLACK (Fight Choreographer), BURKE BROWN (Lighting Design), JORDAN CANON-KRUIS (Assistant Stage Manager), JENISE COOK (Movement and Intimacy Consultant), TRAVIS CRAFT (Assistant Projection Design), RACHEL DYER (Stage Manager), NELSON T. EUSEBIO III (Director), RANA ESFANDIARY (Scenic Design), HANA S. KIM (Co-Projection Design), JASON MA (Composer), ERIK MEIXELSPERGER (Associate Fight Choreographer), THOMAS NEWBY (Assistant Sound Design), RANI O’BRIEN (Associate Director), SARTJE PICKETT (Sound Design), ANN SLOTE (Co- Projection Design), TERRANCE VOLDEN (Automation Associate), and GAYLE VOSS (Hair, Wig, Makeup Consultant).

Darrington Clark, Brandon Jones and Jojo Gonzalez. Photo by Lia Chang

Jojo Gonzalez and Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie and Chelsea Rolfes. Photo by Lia Chang

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Jones, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie and Darrington Clark. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo and Jojo Gonzalez. Photo by Lia Chang

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Vanessa Severo. Photo by Lia Chang

Chelsea Rolfes and Freddy Acevedo. Photo by Lia Chang

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Jojo Gonzalez and Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Jones and Jojo Gonzalez. Photo by Lia Chang

Jimmy Kieffer and Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Jimmy Kieffer, Sam Cordes and Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Sam Cordes, Manon Halliburton, Jimmy Kieffer, Jojo Gonzalez, Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Jimmy Kieffer, Sam Cordes and Manon Halliburton. Photo by Lia Chang

Jimmy Kieffer, Francesca Fernandez Rivera, Jojo Gonzalez, Sam Cordes, Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Sam Cordes, Jimmy Kieffer, Jojo Gonzalez, Chelsea Rolfes, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Chelsea Rolfes, Darrington Clark and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Jimmy Kieffer, Darrington Clark, Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Jimmy Kieffer, Eileen Rivera, Sam Cordes. Photo by Lia Chang

Eileen Rivera and Vanessa Severo. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Freddy Acevedo, Vanessa Severo. Photo by Lia Chang

Eileen Rivera and Jimmy Kieffer. Photo by Lia Chang

Jojo Gonzalez, Eileen Rivera and Jimmy Kieffer. Photo by Lia Chang

Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Brandon Jones, Darrrington Clark, Chelsea Rolfes. Photo by Lia Chang

Freddy Acevedo, Chelsea Rolfes, Vanessa Severo, Brandon Jones, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Eileen Rivera, Vanessa Severo and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo, Sam Cordes, Jimmy Kieffer, Jojo Gonzalez. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

Freddy Acevedo, Vanessa Severo, Brandon Jones, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo, Freddy Fernandez, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo, Freddy Acevedo, Brandon Jones, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Freddy Acevedo, Vanessa Severo, Brandon Jones and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Brandon Jones and Francesca Fernandez McKenzie. Photo by Lia Chang

Vanessa Severo, Manon Halliburton, Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Jojo Gonzalez, Vanessa Severo, Manon Halliburton, Eileen Rivera. Photo by Lia Chang

Eileen Rivera, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Vanessa Severo and Chelsea Rolfes. Photo by Lia Chang

Freddy Acevedo, Jimmy Kieffer, Darrington Clark, Jojo Gonzalez, Sam Cordes and Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

Jojo Gonzalez, Darrington Clark and Brandon Jones. Photo by Lia Chang

The Company of KCRep’s TWELFTH NIGHT. Photo by Lia Chang

Eileen Rivera and Jojo Gonzalez. Photo by Lia Chang

Lia Chang, Nelson T. Eusebio III, Eileen Rivera, Stuart Carden, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Jojo Gonzalez, Jason Ma and Rani O’Brien.

Jason Ma, Francesca Fernandez McKenzie, Jojo Gonzalez, Eileen Rivera, Nelson T. Eusebio III, Valérie Thérèse Bart, Lia Chang

For more information about the 2022-2023 season, call Ticketing Services, 816-235-2700, or click here. Single tickets begin at $35.00. For group ticket sales, call 816-235-6122.

COVID Protocols
KCRep is ready to welcome patrons safely back to the theatre and will continue to follow local, national and union(s) COVID-19 guidelines. Please visit https://kcrep.org/safety/ for the latest information.

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. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. 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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

Entertainment, Photography, Theater

Video: Chatting with Nelson T. Eusebio III, Jason Ma and Jojo Gonzalez about KCRep’s TWELFTH NIGHT; Performances through 9/25

September 11, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

Lia Chang, co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, has launched her latest venture, BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, an Arts and Entertainment program produced weekly at the studios of MNN.org.

The third episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, will air on Sunday, September 18 at 3:30 pm (PST)/6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and MNN 2 .

I also chatted with my frequent collaborator Jason Ma, who created new, original music for the production, as well as my dear friend, New York based actor Jojo Gonzalez, who plays Feste.

Watch the interviews below:

For more information about the 2022-2023 season, call Ticketing Services, 816-235-2700, or click here. Single tickets begin at $35.00. For group ticket sales, call 816-235-6122.

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. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. 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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.

Awards, Entertainment, Film, Photography, Television, Theater

Video: BroadwayCon: Erin Quill’s AAPI Panel – WRITING OUR WAY OUT: writing our own stories featuring Playwright Daniel K. Isaac, Director Ralph B. Pena and KPOP Composer/Lyricist Helen Park

September 4, 2022 Lia Chang Leave a comment

On July 9, Erin Quill moderated a terrific AAPI Writer’s panel at BroadwayCon called Writing Our Way Out: writing our own stories, in the New Yorker Hotel – Grammercy Park Suite.

Helen Park and Erin Quill. Photo by Lia Chang

The panel featured Playwright Daniel K. Isaac (ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME), Director Ralph B. Peña and Composer/Lyricist Helen Park (KPOP, Over the Moon), who discussed writing pieces for those who do not fall into the traditional categories of how America sees leading roles.

Erin Quill shared, “These people, all three of them, have taken it upon themselves to incorporate into their work not only social justice, but stories for people to tell that are not White America.”

Click on the link below to watch the panel and a trailer for Ma-Yi Theater’s World Premiere of Daniel K. Isaac’s ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME, currently having a limited run at La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre through September 18.

Ralph B. Peña, Daniel K. Isaac, Helen Park and Erin Quill. Photo by Lia Chang

Playwright Daniel K. Isaac is an alumnus of SPACE on Ryder Farm, Page73’s Interstate 73, Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Youngblood, and a Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow. His play, Once Upon a (korean) Time opened on August 31 at La MaMa, produced by the Ma Yi Theater Company, and has a limited run through September 18. Click here for tickets.

Daniel K. Isaac and Helen Park. Photo by Lia Chang

As an actor, Isaac’s credits include The Chinese Lady (Ma-Yi/The Public/Barrington Stage), You Never Touched the Dirt (Clubbed Thumb), The Gentleman Caller (Abingdon), Sagittarius Ponderosa (NAATCO), Underland (59E59), La Divina Caricatura (La MaMa & St. Ann’s Warehouse), Anna Nicole the Opera (BAM). Regional: The Ballad of Little Jo (Two River), Miss Electricity (La Jolla Playhouse). Film/TV: Six seasons as ‘Ben Kim’ on “Billions” (Showtime); The Drummer (opposite Danny Glover); “The Expecting” (Quibi); “The Deuce;” “Crashing;” Too Big To Fail (HBO); Money Monster (dir. Jodie Foster); “The Jim Gaffigan Show” (TV LAND); “Person of Interest” (CBS); and ‘Jeremy’ on “The Other Two” (Comedy Central). Training: USCD, BADA. www.danielkisaac.com

Sasha Diamond, David Lee Huynh, David Shih, Daniel K. Isaac, Jillian Sun, Sonnie Brown, Teresa Avia Lim, Jon Norman Schneider at the opening night curtain call of ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME at La MaMa in New York on August 31, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang

Late Night with Playwright Daniel K. Isaac – Opening Night of Ma-Yi’s World Premiere of ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME

Sneak Peek: Sonnie Brown, Sasha Diamond, David Lee Huynh, Teresa Avia Lim, Jon Norman Schneider, David Shih, and Jillian Sun in Ma-Yi’s World Premiere of Daniel K. Isaac’s ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME at LaMaMa

Helen Park is a three-time Drama Desk nominee and recipient of the Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical and the Richard Rodgers Award. Her music has been described as “perversely addictive” (New York Times) and “infectious” (Hollywood Reporter).

Park wrote music and lyrics as well as orchestrated the score for the upcoming Broadway musical KPOP, which begins previews at Circle in the Square on October 13. The initial Off-Broadway production of the show received a sold-out, extended run at Ars Nova, and was the most nominated show of the 2017-2018 season. Other notable work include Over the Moon, an Oscar-nominated Netflix Original Animated Feature musical film directed by Academy Award winner Glen Keane, for which she wrote songs. Park recently debuted a song she wrote for Sesame Street the Musical at her 54 Below concert, and the show is set to open this fall. Park also wrote music for the one-act musical Baked Goods for which she won the 2018 Samuel French Short Playwriting Contest. Park is an alumnus of NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program and the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theater Workshop, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Helen Park. Photo by Lia Chang

54 Below Presented Helen Park: Light the Night with Special Guests Zachary Noah Piser, Luna, Julia Abueva, Toren Nakamura, Jiho Kang, Amy Keum, Lina Rose Lee, Abraham Lim, Kate Mina Lin

Ralph B. Peña is a Playwright and a Director whose list of accomplishments in both is vast. He is an advocate as well as the Producing Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater Company, which holds OBIE and Drama Desk Awards to their credit. Recent directing projects include Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady at The Public Theater, Felix Starro, Among The Dead, ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME (at La MaMa through Sept. 18), and the short film Vancouver. His work has been seen on the stages of The Public Theater, Long Wharf Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, Victory Gardens, La Jolla Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, and The Children’s Theater Company, among others. He is the recipient of an Obie Award for his work on The Romance of Magno Rubio. As a playwright he wrote FLIPZOIDS, This End Up, and Loose Leaf Bindings.

Ralph B. Peña and Daniel K. Isaac. Photo by Lia Chang

Erin Quill, Helen Park, Daniel K. Isaac and Ralph B. Peña. Photo by Lia Chang

Erin Quill is a graduate of CMU. She is an original Broadway cast member of Avenue Q. She has also been seen in the 50th Anniversary Production of Flower Drum Song as Madame Rita Liang and on tour in The King and I as Lady Thiang. She was in the Arena Stage production of DAVE, directed by Tina Landau. Her TV credits include: “John Mulaney and the Sacklunch Bunch,” “The Blacklist,” “The Other Two,” “Nurse Jackie,” “NYPD Blue,” and many more. As a writer, she is best known for her blog, The Fairy Princess Diaries, which champions inclusion and challenges theatrical norms. Check out all of Erin’s programming at BroadwayCon here.

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. BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, will air on Sundays at 3:30 pm (PST)/6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, Spectrum 56/1996 and MNN 2 .

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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.

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