The twenty first episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, airs on February 22 at 6pm and February 26 at 1pm (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.
David Lee Hyunh, Kristina Wong, Daniel K. Isaac and Lia Chang attend the 2023 Doris Duke Artist Awards Ceremony at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York on February 13, 2023.
On this edition of Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, Kristina Wong came to New York to receive the 2023 Doris Duke Artist Award which included $550,000.
Lia Chang and Perry Yung
I sat down with actor Perry Yung to chat about his latest film, The Harvest; enjoyed many family friendly Lunar New Year and Year of the Rabbit activities at The Metropolitan Museum of Art with Laura Brandel and her daughter, Haven Tuesday, including visiting with Sesame Street’s Alan Muraoka and puppeteers Jennifer Barnhart and Pam Arciero. The Met’s Lion Dancers were the Chinese Center on Long Island’s Lion Dancer Troupe, and the AAPI Jazz Collective played several sets in the Main Hall. My extra bonus – heading down to New York Chinatown and catching up with Lion Dancers from the NY Chinatown Freeman Athletic Club and the Chinatown Community Young Lions.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival recently screened the World Premiere of Caylee So’s THE HARVEST on February 12 and 13.
Written by and starring Doua Moua (Mulan,Gran Torino), the cast also features Perry Yung (“Warriors,” “The Knick”), Dawn Ying Yuen, Chrisna Chhor, Lucas Velazquez, Hua Lee, Alfonso Caballero, Saikong Yang, Tomas K Thao, Mai Moua, Tsabmim Xyooj, Kue Lee, Chai Yang, ZhongKhang Yang, Mary Ly, Amery K Thao, Anneston Pisayavong, Arianna Rivas, Tin Tin, Blake Kevin Dwyer, Greg Yoder, Christine Lin, and Tress Glenn.
After a car accident leaves his family in need of his help, Thai returns home to Southern California, only to find his whole world in disarray. With mounting medical bills and secrets of their own, the family watches as Cher, a tough and stubborn Hmong father, suffers through the devastating effects of kidney failure. Thai struggles to chose between his fractured relationship with his family, or a life free from the burdens of traditions.
Check out my interview with Perry and all of my Lunar New Year fun.
Lia Chang at the Museum of Broadway with the display of Winter Wonderland Gingerbread Houses currently on view through December 31, 2022. Photo by Erich McMillan-McCall.
THE HARVEST is produced by John Houselog and Doua Moua; with Executive Producers Yoson An and Money Vang. The production team includes Director of Photography Brian Nguyen, Composer Roman Molino Dunn, Editor Frank Martinez, Production Designer Christy Gray, Makeup by Dou Pothmolita, Costumes by
Juliette Lunger and Casting Director Dea Vise.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian, corporate photographer 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 on 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).
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is screening the World Premiere of Caylee So’s THE HARVEST on Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 7:40pm at the Fiesta 5 Theatre Aud #4, 916 State Street; and on Monday, February 13 at 2:20pm at the Metro 4 Theatre Aud #2, 618 State Street in Santa Barbara.
Written by and starring Doua Moua (Mulan,Gran Torino), the cast also features Perry Yung (“Warriors,” “The Knick”), Dawn Ying Yuen, Chrisna Chhor, Lucas Velazquez, Hua Lee, Alfonso Caballero, Saikong Yang, Tomas K Thao, Mai Moua, Tsabmim Xyooj, Kue Lee, Chai Yang, ZhongKhang Yang, Mary Ly, Amery K Thao, Anneston Pisayavong, Arianna Rivas, Tin Tin, Blake Kevin Dwyer, Greg Yoder, Christine Lin, and Tress Glenn.
After a car accident leaves his family in need of his help, Thai returns home to Southern California, only to find his whole world in disarray. With mounting medical bills and secrets of their own, the family watches as Cher, a tough and stubborn Hmong father, suffers through the devastating effects of kidney failure. Thai struggles to chose between his fractured relationship with his family, or a life free from the burdens of traditions.
SBIFF’s Education Center (Box Office/Will Call, Volunteer HQ) – 1330 State Street Suite 101
THE HARVEST is produced by John Houselog and Doua Moua; with Executive Producers Yoson An and Money Vang. The production team includes Director of Photography Brian Nguyen, Composer Roman Molino Dunn, Editor Frank Martinez, Production Designer Christy Gray, Makeup by Dou Pothmolita, Costumes by
Juliette Lunger and Casting Director Dea Vise.
The nineteenth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, airs on January 15, 2023 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.
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:
Helmed by Richard Amelius, the concert features musical direction by Geraldine Anello on keys, Paul Adamy on bass, and Sarah Gooch on drums.
The episode includes:
“Lily’s Eyes” (from The Secret Garden) – Pearl Sun, Morgan James
“Lost in the Wilderness” (from Children of Eden) – Tamika Lawrence
Tamika Lawrence. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence. Photo by Lia Chang
“Being Alive” (from Company) – Morgan James
Morgan James. Photo by Lia Chang
“Mister Cellophane” (from Chicago) – Pearl Sun
Geraldine Anello, Paul Adamy, Pearl Sun, Sarah Gooch. Photo by Lia ChangGeraldine Anello, Paul Adamy, Pearl Sun, Sarah Gooch. Photo by Lia ChangGeraldine Anello, Paul Adamy, Pearl Sun, Sarah Gooch. Photo by Lia Chang
“I Who Have Nothing” (from Smokey Joe’s Café) – Tamika Lawrence
Tamika Lawrence. Photo by Lia Chang
“I Believe” (from The Book of Mormon) – Ellyn Marie Marsh
Geraldine Anello, Paul Adamy, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Sarah Gooch. Photo by Lia ChangEllyn Marie Marsh. Photo by Lia ChangEllyn Marie Marsh. Photo by Lia Chang
“Pilate’s Dream” (from Jesus Christ Superstar) – Orfeh
Orfeh. Photo by Lia Chang
“Gethsemane” (from Jesus Christ Superstar) – Morgan James
Geraldine Anello, Paul Adamy, Morgan James, Sarah Gooch. Photo by Lia Chang
“Beautiful City” (from Godspell) – Morgan James
Morgan James. Photo by Lia ChangOrfeh and Pearl Sun. Photo by Lia Chang
TALKBACK
Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius, Torya Beard. Photo by Lia ChangOrfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence, Orfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius, Torya Beard. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence, Orfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius. Photo by Lia ChangOrfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius, Torya Beard. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence, Orfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence, Orfeh. Photo by Lia ChangOrfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence, Orfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius. Photo by Lia ChangMorgan James, Pearl Sun, Richard Amelius. Photo by Lia ChangTamika Lawrence, Orfeh, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Morgan James and Pearl Sun. Photo by Lia Chang
The concert also included “Everybody Says Don’t” (from Anyone Can Whistle) sung by Morgan James; “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story) sung by Pearl Sun; “Fight From the Heart” from Rocky sung by Orfeh; and “Hold Me in Your Heart” from Kinky Boots sung by Ellyn Marie Marsh.
Lia Chang at the Museum of Broadway with the display of Winter Wonderland Gingerbread Houses currently on view through December 31, 2022. Photo by Erich McMillan-McCall.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian, corporate photographer 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 on 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).
Lia Chang at the Museum of Broadway with the display of Winter Wonderland Gingerbread Houses currently on view through December 31, 2022. Photo by Erich McMillan-McCall.
The eighteenth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, airs on January 8 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.
This eighteen episode features Winter Wonderland Gingerbread House contest winners at Museum of Broadway; Theatre Communications Group to honor THE PIANO LESSON’s Director LaTanya Richardson Jackson and star, Samuel L. Jackson on 1/9; Hadestown star Eva Noblezada in performance – 1/12-14 at Audible’s Minetta Lane Theater; Previews of Steppenwolf’s production of Vichet Chum’s BALD SISTERS; Tour Launch of Lauren Yee’s CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND at Alley Theater; limited runs of DEATH OF A SALESMAN on Broadway and BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL: The Photography of Kwame Brathwaite at New York Historical Society through 1/15.
Project1Voice’s Erich McMillan-McCall with the Winter Wonderland Gingerbread Houses on view at Museum of Broadway through December 31, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangALMOST FAMOUS, WICKED, INTO THE WOODS, MUSEUM OF BROADWAY and HAMILTON. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, activist, documentarian, corporate photographer 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 on 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).
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
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 ChangAndré De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields, Allyson Tucker-Mitchell and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Photo by Lia ChangAllyson Tucker-Mitchell and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangCassondra James, Grace Stockdale, Daniel J. Watts, Oneika Phillips and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangGrace Stockdale, Lillias White, Daniel J. Watts, Oneika Phillips and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangJohn Eric Parker and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLaChanze and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLaChanze and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAlex Lacamoire, LaChanze and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAllen René Louis, Alex Lacamoire, LaChanze, André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAdriane Lenox, André De Shields and Angela Robinson. Photo by Lia ChangZane Mark and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Lillias White presented the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award to André De Shields.
Lillias White. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangLillias White and André De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields receives the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields receives the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields receives the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields receives the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields receives the 2022 BIV Inspiration Award. Photo by Lia ChangAndré De Shields, Celia Rose Gooding, LaChanze, Ileana Ferreras and Alex Lacamoire. Photo by Lia ChangAndré 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 ChangAndré De Shields. Photo by Lia ChangAngela Grovey, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Allyson Tucker-Mitchell, Lillias White, André De Shields, Sharon D Charle and McKinley Belcher III. Photo by Lia ChangMcKinley 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).
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
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.
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.
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.
The Perfect Crime. Photo by Lia Chang
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.
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.
Henry Chang. Photo by Lia Chang
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.
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.
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.
Yu & Me Books. Photo by Lia Chang
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
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).
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 Maulik Pancholy at the Books of Wonder Book Launch of his new middle grade novel, NIKHIL OUT LOUD in New York on October 11, 2022.
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.
The twelfth episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, will air on November 27 at 6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996. If you miss the episode, it will be archived on my youtube channel.
Books of Wonder in New York. Photo by Lia Chang
On this edition of Backstage Pass with Lia Chang, I observed “National Coming Out Day” at Books of Wonder in New York with the launch of Nikhil Out Loud, the sophomore offering by Award winning actor and author Maulik Pancholy, that tells the story of a gay Indian American boy who learns the power of using his voice.
Maulik Pancholy at the New York Book Launch of his new middle grade novel, NIKHIL OUT LOUD, at Books of Wonder on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Maulik was joined by his friend and colleague, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, best known for his role as Mitchell on “Modern Family,” who received the 2022 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, and can been seen in the remounted Broadway revival at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre through February 5, 2023. They chatted about Maulik’s inspiration for writing the book, the power of representation and so much more.
Maulik Pancholy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy and Jesse Tyler Ferguson at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Maulik’s husband, Ryan Corvaia, Founder & Owner, Dish Food & Events, surprised him with these adorable Nikhil Out Loud cookies.
Ryan Corvaia surprised his husband, Maulik Pancholy with NIKHIL OUT LOUD cookies. Photo by Lia ChangRyan Corvaia surprised his husband, Maulik Pancholy with NIKHIL OUT LOUD cookies. Photo by Lia ChangRyan Corvaia surprised his husband, Maulik Pancholy with NIKHIL OUT LOUD cookies. Photo by Lia Chang
The crowd who came for the book launch filled Books of Wonder to capacity and included his mom, his in-laws, cousins, friends and fans.
Maulik Pancholy with his mom at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy with his mom, husband, Ryan Corvaia and in-laws at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy with his HarperCollins Team at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Maulik was signing books for a line that spanned the length of the store when I left early to make my 8:00pm curtain for the Broadway revival of the Tanya Richardson Jackson helmed The Piano Lesson starring Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Danielle Brooks, Michael Potts and more.
The packed house at Books of Wonder for Maulik Pancholy’s Book Talk with Jesse Tyler Ferguson in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia ChangMaulik Pancholy signing a copy of NIKHIL OUT LOUD at Books of Wonder in New York on October 11, 2022. Photo by Lia Chang
Since the launch in New York, Maulik has been on a book tour across the country. Tonight, Maulik will discuss and sign his new middle grade novel Nikhil Out Loud with Linda Hurtado Bond at 6:30 p.m. at the Oxford Exchange, 420 W Kennedy Blvd., Tampa. Click here for Tickets – $5 for admission or $17.99 for admission and a copy of the book.
Maulik’s debut middle grade novel, The Best At It, is a Stonewall Honor Award winner and is in development for television at HBO Max.
About the book:
Thirteen-year-old Nikhil Shah is the beloved voice actor for Raj Reddy on the hit animated series Raj Reddy in Outer Space. But being a star on TV doesn’t mean you have everything figured out behind the scenes. . . .
When his mom temporarily moves them to the small town in Ohio where she grew up to take care of Nikhil’s sick grandfather, Nikhil feels as out of orbit as his character.
Nikhil’s fame lands him the lead in the school musical, but he’s terrified that everyone will realize he’s a fraud once they find out he has stage fright. And when a group of conservative parents start to protest, making it clear they’re not happy with an openly gay TV star being in the starring role, Nikhil feels like his life would be easier if only he could be Raj Reddy full-time.
Then Nikhil wakes up one morning and hears a crack in his voice, which means his job playing Raj will have to come to an end. Life on earth is way more complicated than life on television. And some mysteries—like new friendships or a sick grandparent or finding the courage to speak out about what’s right—don’t wrap up neatly between commercial breaks.
Maulik Pancholy is an award-winning actor whose career has spanned hit television shows, animated series, the Broadway stage, and films.
He played Alec Baldwin’s intrepid assistant Jonathan on the Emmy®, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning NBC comedy 30 Rock; Sanjay on the Showtime hit series Weeds; and Neal on the NBC comedy Whitney. His numerous recurring and guest starring roles include Only Murders in the Building, The Good Fight, Dynasty, Star Trek: Discovery, Elementary, Friends from College, The Good Wife, Web Therapy, The Comeback, The Sopranos, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. For his work on television, he has been nominated for and won the Screen Actors Guild Award on multiple occasions.
Pancholy has entertained both children and adults as the voice of Baljeet on the Emmy® award-winning Disney animated series Phineas & Ferb, and as the title voice of Sanjay on Nickelodeon’s Sanjay & Craig. He is the voice of Ranjeet on Disney Junior’s Mira, Royal Detective and can be heard on the Netflix series Q-Force and the upcoming Netflix series Ghee Happy.
He has appeared in blockbuster films such as 27 Dresses and Hitch, and his many theater credits include starring on Broadway opposite Matthew Broderick and Martin Short in Terrence McNally’s It’s Only A Play, playing opposite Ed Harris in David Rabe’s Good For Otto, and starring in the Tony-nominated production of Bess Wohl’s Grand Horizons at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway. Most recently, he starred in J.C. Lee’s To My Girls at 2nd Stage Theater, directed by Stephen Brackett.
Lia Chang
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. 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.
The eleventh episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, aired on November 20 at 6:30 pm (EST) on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996. If you missed the episode, it is archived on the BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang youtube channel or click below.
On this edition of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, you’ll meet prolific Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Arthur Dong who has curated a terrific film series presented by The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Hollywood Chinese: The First 100 Years.
Lia Chang and Arthur Dong at the reception and screening of “Hollywood Chinese” Nov. 4, 2022, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Tami Chang
On the opening weekend of the series, I flew to LA for to celebrate the 15th anniversary since the release of Arthur Dong’s Hollywood Chinese documentary and finally got my signed copy of Arthur’s book, Hollywood Chinese:The Chinese in American Feature Films. You can get your copy here.
Arthur Dong and Lia Chang at the reception and screening of “Hollywood Chinese” Nov. 4, 2022, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Tami Chang
Here’s a recap of my 24 hours in LA. Nov. 4 at 3:30 p.m. A late lunch at Petit Trois, Ludo Lefebvre’s L.A. Bistro with Jeanne Sakata and her husband, Timothy Patterson.
Petit Trois
We noshed on the heartiest French Onion Soup I’ve ever had made with veal broth, gruyère and emmental cheeses, carmelized onions and croutons, and a Belgian Endive Salad (walnut, avocado, anchovy, formaggio di fossa, lemon zest, sherry vinaigrette).
Lia Chang, Timothy Patterson and Jeanne Sakata at Petit Trois.
Jeanne Sakata and the French Onion Soup at Petit Trois. Photo by Lia Chang
Belgian Endive Salad. Photo by Lia Chang
Jeanne Sakata and Lia Chang. Photo by Timothy Patterson
6:00pm Ted Mann Theater at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 6067 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Lia ChangAcademy Museum of Motion Pictures. Photo by Lia Chang
My first visit to the Academy Museum began with a opening night reception for the film series Hollywood Chinese: The First 100 Years, followed by a screening of Hollywood Chinese (2007) and a post-screening conversation with the film’s director and series guest programmer Arthur Dong, moderated by Academy Museum Director and President Jacqueline Stewart.
Hollywood Chinese: The First 100 Years showcases films that both critique and celebrate Hollywood’s depictions of the Chinese, as well as spotlight groundbreaking Chinese and Chinese American artists who have navigated an industry often ignorant of race.
Lia Chang and Tami Chang. Photo by Zand Gee
Nov. 5 – The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures
2:00pm – I watched a double bill of Anna May Wong in Daughter of the Dragon and King of Chinatown, featuring a primer by Arthur and an introduction by Anna May Wong’s niece, with my sister, Tami Chang.
4:00 pm – I had a few hours to explore the museum, which I will feature in an upcoming article.
Lia Chang and Donna Noguchi in John Carpenter’s BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986).
7:00 pm -I played a Wing Kong guard in John Carpenter’s cult classic, Big Trouble in Little China, which was featured on a double bill along with Black Widow at the Academy Museum as part of the opening weekend of Hollywood Chinese: The First 100 Years film series.
The Q & A that followed included Arthur moderating a panel with Big Trouble in Little China cast members James Hong, Dennis Dun (Wang Chi) and Peter Kwong (Rain).
Click here for tickets and more information on the film series.
Special thanks to my sister, Tami Chang who got me back to LAX to catch my redeye back to New York.
Lia Chang and Tami Chang. Photo by Zand Gee
Check out the full lineup below and the remaining screenings.
• Nov. 20, 2022 | 7:30 pm | The Sand Pebbles
• Nov. 25, 2022 | 7:30 pm | Flower Drum Song –In person: Nancy Kwang, Irene Tsu
• Nov. 26, 2022 | 3 pm | Our Gang: Baby Blues with Charlie Chan in Honolulu – In person: Margie Chun Moon, original Charle Chan kid
• Nov. 26, 2022 | 7:30 pm | The Joy Luck Club -Special guests TBA
• Nov. 27, 2022 | 2 pm | The Arch with Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl – In person: Joan Chen
• Nov. 27, 2022 | 7:30 pm | The Last Emperor – In person: Joan Chen
TICKETS Tickets to the Academy Museum are available only through advance online reservations via the Academy Museum’s website and mobile app.
Film screening tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors (age 62+), and $5 for students and children (age 17-). Matinees are $5 for all. Ticket prices for Academy Museum members are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $4 for students, children, and matinee-goers. Use promo code VC2022 for $2 off every ticket.
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.
SCREENING DETAILS
Nov. 4, 2022 | 7: 30 pm | Hollywood Chinese: With a treasure trove of clips from over 90 films, Hollywood Chinese traces the American film industry’s representation of the Chinese during its first 100 years. Scenes ranging from the first feature film made by Chinese Americans in 1917 to breakout Oscar wins are interwoven with interviews of Chinese and Chinese American artists who reveal stories of working in Hollywood. White actors, such as Luise Rainer and Christopher Lee, recall their yellowface performances to explain the now-controversial practice. Hollywood Chinese, produced and directed by series Guest Programmer Arthur Dong, is a fitting roadmap to embark on the upcoming film series.
Nov. 5, 2022 | 2 pm | Daughter of the Dragon: After Anna May Wong’s breakthrough romantic role in The Toll of the Sea (1922), Hollywood relegated her
to mostly stereotypical villainous parts, including the sadistic daughter of the evil Fu Manchu in Daughter of the Dragon. Wong stars opposite silent film idol Sessue Hayakawa, both in their first sound film, with both speaking standard English at a time before Hollywood latched on to the common practice of directing Asian characters to deliver dialogue in overblown, accented broken English.
King of Chinatown: Under contract with Paramount, Anna May Wong embarked on a series of films upon which she exercised more input, starting with Daughter of Shanghai (1938), about which Wong declared, “We have the sympathetic parts for a change.” King of Chinatown casts Wong as a prominent Chinese American doctor
raising funds for the Red Cross in war-torn China, inspired by the real-life Chinese American physician Dr. Margaret Chung. This fictionalized crime drama features Korean American actor Philip Ahn as Wong’s romantic interest, playing a lawyer out to expose corruption in the underbelly of Chinatown.
Nov. 5, 2022 | 7:30 pm | Big Trouble in Little China: James Hong gives a show stopping performance as sorcerer Lo Pan in this cult favorite. Directed by horror-meister John Carpenter, Big Trouble in Little China takes a supernatural spin on Hollywood’s Chinatown tropes, populating the neighborhood with mystical beings Kurt Russell plays an antihero, but he’s not the typical white savior—he’s an outsider who’s clueless without his Chinese American friend Wang Chi, portrayed with modest aplomb by Dennis Dun Veteran actor Victor Wong offers crusty comic relief as a sorcerer-cum-tour bus driver. Special guests: James Hong, Dennis Dun and Peter Kwong in conversation following the Big Trouble in Little China screening.
Black Widow: With over 500 acting credits to his name, including scene-stealing performances in Chinatown (1974), Blade Runner (1982), and Kung Fu Panda (2008), James Hong counts Black Widow as one of his favorites. In this crime drama centered on the case of a murderess, Hong first appears mid-point a sa drug addicted investigator. For the role, the actor drew upon his improvisation training and bi-cultural background: “I just say the lines that are in my head, and of course what’s in my head is cussing out in Chinese to Debra Winger—all patterned after all those Chinese people who came to my dad’s herb store in Minnesota.”
Nov. 6, 2022 | 7:30 pm | Lost Horizon: This Frank Capra-directed classic is emblematic of how Hollywood constructed paradise—by way of China. The Oscarwinning art direction presents an opulent Shangri-La, yet the story is predicated on the subjugation of the Chinese by white saviors and colonialist, missionary ideals. The National Film Registry considered the film differently, however, when in 2016 it honored the film as “an emotional respite to an American public seeking escape from the Depression and yearning for their own personal utopias.” Lost Horizon received seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and produced wins for Film Editing (Stephen Goosson) and Art Direction (Gene Havlick, Gene Milford).
Nov. 11, 2022 | 7:30 pm | Walk Like a Dragon: James Shigeta was a Japanese American singer whom Hollywood studios recruited to shape into a leading man— even casting him opposite white lovers. In the western Walk Like a Dragon, Shigeta portrays a Chinese immigrant who defies racism in 1870s California, winning a shoot-out against Mel Tormé and winning the girl, a formerly enslaved Chinese woman (Nobu McCarthy) who was previously saved by Jack Lord’s character Linc Bartlett. Lead roles for Shigeta diminished after Flower Drum Song (1961) as theHollywood studio system faded—but that didn’t stop Shigeta from working, including as the iconic Joseph Takagi in Die Hard (1988).
Pre-screening conversation with Nancy Kwan where she will discuss working with James Shigeta and Bruce Lee.
Enter the Dragon: Martial arts films were popular with Chinese audiences since the 1920s but it took Bruce Lee’s star power for the genre to catch fire worldwide. Born in San Francisco, Lee ignited his movie career in Hong Kong, experienced a frustrating career in the United States, and returned to Hong Kong where he directed and starred in hit films that caught the attention of Warner Bros. This all culminated with Lee’s seminal blockbuster, Enter the Dragon. “For Asian Americans, Bruce Lee wasn’t just exciting and cool. He was somebody who very deeply moved us, because he was us.”—Nancy Wang Yuen, media scholar
Nov. 12, 2022 | 2 pm |
Six Early Films, 1900-1929: For much of the history of Hollywood filmmaking, movies often portrayed Chinese as the “other” in a “them vs. us” hierarchy. Early movies, in particular, exploited this dichotomy, illustrated by the now-absurd—but no less damning—examples in this program. Yet, this era also saw productions from pioneering- Chinese American filmmakers who aspired to elevate onscreen representations of themselves. The films are as follows: Massacre of the Christians by the Chinese, The Heathen Chinese and the Sunday School Teachers, That Chink at Golden Gulch, The Curse of Quon Gwon, Lotus Blossom, and The Letter.
Special guests: Family members of filmmaker James B. Leong will join us for a post-screening conversation.
Nov. 12, 2022 | 7:30 pm | The Tong-Man: Japan-born silent screen idol Sessue Hayakawa produced and starred as the titular Tong-Man. Ostensibly a love story set in San Francisco Chinatown, the film’s infusion of lurid hatchet murders and opium tong wars sparked the first legal action known to be filed by the Chinese American community against Hollywood’s depiction of the Chinese. The effort failed, and instead created free publicity and soaring box office receipts. Ironically, the film was supposed to be Hayakawa’s path away from racialized Hollywood typecasting.
Year of the Dragon: With a screenplay co-written by Oliver Stone and director Michael Cimino, this violent vision of 1980s New York Chinatown gang wars triggered nationwide protests by the Asian American community for its racist and sexist portrayals. Bowing to pressure, distributors added a disclaimer denying any intent to denigrate Asian Americans. No yellowfaced white actors were used, but Asian American cast members were caught in a controversial crossfire. The film, ultimately, was a box office flop.
Nov. 13, 2022 | 7:30pm | 7 Faces of Dr. Lao: Tony Randall portrays multiple identities in George Pal’s fantasy set in 1800s Arizona. The title character, Dr. Lao, features Randall in yellowface as he cunningly switches between broken and codespeak English to challenge corruption and intolerant attitudes. Artist and sculptor Wah Ming Chang served on the team that created the film’s Oscar-nominated special visual effects (Jim Danforth received the nomination for this achievement). Chang was also on the team responsible for the Oscar-winning visual effects in The Time Machine (1960). An honorary Oscar was awarded to William Tuttle for his makeup work on 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, yellowface included.Nov. 18 | 7:30 pm |
M. Butterfly: A cross-dressing Peking opera performer-cum-spyand a delusional French diplomat are unlikely lovers in David Henry Hwang’s explosive re-visioning of East/West sexual dynamics in M. Butterfly. Based on Hwang’s Tony Award-winning play set during China’s Cultural Revolution, John Lone and Jeremy Irons portray two men who convolute Western ideals of femininity and masculinity, where the East is submissive and the West is dominant, and where Asian men are feminized and more desirable as female than as male. David Cronenberg directed this richly designed production, which was inspired by a true story.
The Wedding Banquet: Before Ang Lee directed his heartrending examination ofrepressed homosexuality in the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain (2005), he directed The Wedding Banquet, a playful comedy of manners involving a gay Chinese American New Yorker and his white boyfriend who fake a heterosexual
marriage to quell nagging parents. The scheme sets the stage for lighthearted explorations of family, self-identity, cultural values, and sexual politics. The US/Taiwan co-production earned an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film, propelling Lee’s career worldwide.
Nov. 20, 2022 | 7:30 pm | The Sand Pebbles: Robert Wise’s follow-up to The Sound of Music (1965) netted eight Oscar nominations, including a Best Supporting Actor mention for Mako’s endearing portrait of a Chinese coolie. Hong Kong and Taiwan provide the locations for this widescreen spectacle—an exotic 1920s China in revolutionary turmoil, where Chinese women are prostitutes and Chinese men are ruthless, where colonialism and missionaries are the norms, and the leading man is always a white savior. The Sand Pebbles kickstarted Mako’s distinguished career in film, stage, and television, and as co-founder of the nation’s leading Asian American theater group, the East West Players, in Los Angeles. Fellow founders James Hong and Beulah Quo also appear in The Sand Pebbles.
Nov. 25, 2022 | 7:30 pm | Flower Drum Song: Flower Drum Song represents a Hollywood milestone for Chinese American representation with its all-dancing, allsinging, and almost all-Asian cast, headlined by James Shigeta, Oscar-winner Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo, Benson Fong, Patrick Adiarte, and Nancy Kwan in her follow-up to The World of Suzie Wong (1960); Juanita Hall reprised her yellowfaced Broadway portrayal of Madame Liang. This lavish romantic comedy gave many Americans their first look at Chinatown beyond tourist facades and was later inducted into the National Film Registry for its stories of immigration and cultural assimilation. The musical, with joyful tunes by Rodgers and Hammerstein, earned five Oscar nominations for art direction, cinematography, and costumes, as well as its music scoring, and sound. Hermes Pan choreographed the lively routines.
Special guest: Post-screening conversation with actress Nancy Kwan
Nov. 26, 2022 | 3 pm | Our Gang: Baby Blues: “Every 4th child is born Chinese.” This questionable Almanac factoid ignites Our Gang member Mickey’s fears that his unborn sibling will end up being Chinese. What’s he afraid of? Perhaps he’ll learn something from Eddie and Jennifer Lee, two veteran Hollywood movie extras who portray the parents of a boy rescued from racist bullies by the kids in Our Gang. The Lees’ real-life daughters, Faye and Margie, appeared as Charlie Chan’s kids in Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1939). Anti-Asian violence, racial slurs, Confucianism, and white saviorism: it’s all packed into this ten-minute short that, in the end, is a call for tolerance.
Charlie Chan in Honolulu: Just one of over forty films in the popular Charlie Chan detective franchise, Charlie Chan in Honolulu emphasizes family, with the plot bookended by the birth of a grandchild. A raucous family meal with Chan’s kids opens the film, pushing the patriarch to command, “Save football tactics for gridiron!” Audience members who cringe at the sight of yellowfaced white actors might want to wear blinders and earplugs when Sidney Toler appears as Chan, replete with slanted eyes and dubious aphorisms, in order to enjoy some spirited scenes with Victor Sen Yung and Layne Tom Jr. as his all-American sons.
Nov. 26, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
The Joy Luck Club: In the history of Hollywood studio films, only a handful have centered on contemporary Chinese American characters and cast with mostly Asian actors: Flower Drum Song (1961), The Joy Luck Club (1993), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), The Farewell (2019), and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Based on Amy Tan’s novel about mother/daughter relationships, The Joy Luck Club was guided by Tan as co-producer and co-writer and Janet Yang as executive producer, with auteur Wayne Wang directing what became his pivot into main-stream studio filmmaking. Hiring white performers in yellowface was off-limits, and the film boasts an ensemble cast of trailblazing Asian American actors from two generations: veteran actresses Tsai Chin, Kieu Chinh, Lisa Lu, and France Nuyen portrayed the mothers, while Rosalind Chao, Tamlyn Tomita, Lauren Tom, and Ming-Na Wen played the daughters.
Nov. 27, 2022 | 2 pm | The Arch: Lisa Lu’s first Hollywood role was as a bar girl in China Doll (1958). Frustrated with typecasting, Lu travelled to Hong Kong for The Arch, portraying a woman in 1700s China confined by rules of chastity. The film was made by one of Hong Kong’s earliest female directors, Tang Shu Shuen, and considered the region’s first art film to reach international audiences. Mixing naturalism with techniques like freeze frames and double exposures, the black-and white film was co-edited by Les Blank and co-photographed by Satyajit Ray’s frequent cinematographer Subrata Mitra. The Arch launched Lu’s distinguished acting career in Asia, which then thrived transnationally in America (The Last Emperor, The Joy Luck Club, Crazy Rich Asians).
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl: After her breakthrough appearance in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (1987), Joan Chen was offered parts that mainly exploited her ethnic allure. She recalled, “If I didn’t leave Hollywood, I would have never directed Xiu Xiu”—and leave she did to direct and co-write Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl. The independently produced film centered on a young girl relocated to the countryside during China’s Cultural Revolution. Exquisitely shot on location in Tibet, Xiu Xiu won seven Golden Horse Awards, including director and writer nods for Chen.
Special guest: Post-screening conversation with writer/director Joan Chen.
Nov. 27, 2022 | 7:30 pm | The Last Emperor: In 2015, #OscarsSoWhite went viral and fueled a movement that exposed the decades-long scarcity of Academy Award nominations for people of color in acting categories. In the Oscars’ 94-year history, only three Best Picture winners featured mostly Asian casts, and none of these received any acting nominations: Parasite (2019), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), and The Last Emperor, which won nine of nine nominations. This presentation of The Last Emperor not only celebrates the breathtaking imagination of director Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic vison of China, but also gives audiences a chance to reconsider the Academy’s omission of honors for its brilliant cast.
Special guest: Post-screening conversation with writer/director Joan Chen.
General admission tickets for the museum’s exhibitions are $25 for adults, $19 for seniors (age 62+), and $15 for students. Admission for visitors ages 17 and younger, and for California residents with an EBT card is free.
COVID PROTOCOL
Visitors are required to follow all current COVID-19 public health guidelines by the state of California and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in place at the time of their visit.
ABOUT THE ACADEMY MUSEUM
The Academy Museum is the largest institution in the United States devoted to the arts, sciences, and artists of moviemaking. The museum advances the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema through inclusive and accessible exhibitions, screenings, programs, initiatives, and collections. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the museum’s campus contains the restored and revitalized historic Saban Building—formerly known as the May Company building (1939)—and a soaring spherical addition. Together, these buildings contain 50,000 square feet of exhibition spaces, two state-of-the-art theaters, Shirley Temple Education Studio, and beautiful public spaces that are free and open to the public. These include: The Walt Disney Company Piazza and the Academy Museum Grand Lobby, which houses the Spielberg Family Gallery, Academy Museum Store, and Fanny’s restaurant and café. The Academy Museum exhibition galleries will be open seven days a week, with hours Sunday through Thursday from 10am to 6pm and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 8pm.
Academy Museum film programming supported by the Richard Roth Foundation.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. Donors to the Academy Museum’s fund in support of Asian American Pacific Islander programming include Esther S. M. Chui-Chao, Julia and Ken Gouw, and Dr. Peter Lam Kin Ngok of Media Asia Group Holdings Limited.
Lia Chang
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. Lia is the 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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 MarcusJon 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).
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.
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
Sasha Diamond, Benny Wayne Sully, Shannon Tyo in Jiehae Park’s peerless. Photo: James Leynse
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.
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.
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.
On the heels of their indie hit “Life After You,” which was released to national audiences in April through Freestyle Digital Media, Sarah T. Schwab and Brian Long, principals of Cardinal Flix (CFI), the New York-based company that specializes in independent films are pleased to announce that A Stage of Twilight, starring Karen Allen (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Starman) and William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption, Die Hard 2), is an official selection of the Big Apple Film Festival. The film will screen on Friday, November 18 at 8:15 PM at Quad Cinema, 34 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011. Click here for tickets.
“Cora,” (Allen) and “Barry,” (Sadler) are a retired couple enjoying life in their 70s when Barry receives fatal news about his health, prompting a challenging decision for them both. His hope for a dignified death proves to be a dispiriting struggle for Cora, especially when “Joey,” (Marlon Quijije), a 17- year-old neighbor who acts as a surrogate son to the childless couple, enters the picture.
Rounding out the cast are Alfredo Narciso (Demolition), Alexander Flores (The Maze Runner), Yetta Gottesman (Rabbit Hole) and Emily Kratter (Life After You).
Alfredo Narciso in A STAGE OF TWILIGHT
Watch the trailer below.
Click here for more information about A Stage of Twilight.
WINNER: Best Narrative Feature Film – Mystic Film Festival
WINNER: Best Lead Actor: William Sadler – Rhode Island International Film Festival
WINNER: Best Performance: Karen Allen & William Sadler – Woods Hole Film Festival
WINNER: Best Emerging Director: Sarah T. Schwab – Woods Hole Film Festival
RUNNER UP: Best Narrative Feature Film – Woods Hole Film Festival
Lia Chang
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, photo activist, documentarian, 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.
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
Nov. 4, 2022 | 7: 30 pm |
Nov. 5, 2022 | 2 pm |
Nov. 6, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
Nov. 11, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
Enter the Dragon: Martial arts films were popular with Chinese audiences since the 1920s but it took Bruce Lee’s star power for the genre to catch fire worldwide. Born in San Francisco, Lee ignited his movie career in Hong Kong, experienced a frustrating career in the United States, and returned to Hong Kong where he directed and starred in hit films that caught the attention of Warner Bros. This all culminated with Lee’s seminal blockbuster, Enter the Dragon. “For Asian Americans, Bruce Lee wasn’t just exciting and cool. He was somebody who very deeply moved us, because he was us.”—Nancy Wang Yuen, media scholar
Nov. 12, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
Year of the Dragon: With a screenplay co-written by Oliver Stone and director Michael Cimino, this violent vision of 1980s New York Chinatown gang wars triggered nationwide protests by the Asian American community for its racist and sexist portrayals. Bowing to pressure, distributors added a disclaimer denying any intent to denigrate Asian Americans. No yellowfaced white actors were used, but Asian American cast members were caught in a controversial crossfire. The film, ultimately, was a box office flop.
Nov. 13, 2022 | 7:30pm |
Nov. 18 | 7:30 pm |
Nov. 20, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
Nov. 25, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
Nov. 26, 2022 | 3 pm | 
Nov. 26, 2022 | 7:30 pm |
Nov. 27, 2022 | 2 pm |
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 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).
Phil Wong
Bev's Girl Films 