The 26th episode of BACKSTAGE PASS with Lia Chang, executive produced and hosted by Lia, airs on March 19 at 1:30pm and 6:30pm and March 22 at 6:00pm on FIOS 34, RCN 83, and Spectrum 56/1996, and streams on MNN2. If you miss the episode, it is archived on my youtube channel.
I’m celebrating Asian American women in leading roles by sharing three of Bev’s Girl Films short films, written and directed by Garth Kravits – When the World Was Young starring Virginia Wing, Jason Ma, Lia Chang which deals with how siblings deal with their mother’s memory loss; Belongingness starring Isabela Sanchez and Lia Chang which follows a young girl’s search for identity and a sense of belonging, which comes from an expected source; Rom-Com Gone Wrong starring Lia Chang, Eric Elizaga and Brian Kim McCormick.
Rom-Com Gone Wrong is a short produced by Bev’s Girl Films and Cut & Dry Films. Written and directed by Garth Kravits, the films stars Lia Chang, Eric Elizaga and Brian Kim.
A romantic encounter, ten years in the making.
Official Selection of Disorient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon and 10th Annual Queens World Film Festival.
Eric Elizaga and Brian Kim. Photo by Lia Chang
Eric Elizaga quit his medical sales and marketing job in his home state of Hawaii to go to acting school in New York. Since then, he has appeared in over a dozen television shows including Elementary, Orange Is The New Black, Hawaii 5-0, FBI, as well as recurring roles on Law & Order: SVU and Gotham. Eric also wrote and directed a short film called The Beach House for which he won the best short film director award at the Bergen International Film Festival. The Beach House was also an official selection at the 2019 Disorient Film Festival.
Lia Chang in Rom-Com Gone Wrong.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman, Balancing Act, Belongingness, When the World was Young and Hide and Seek.
Isabela Sanchez makes her film debut in BELONGINGNESS.
Bev’s Girl Films presents Belongingness, a new short film starring Isabela Sanchez and Lia Chang.
Written, directed and edited by Cut & Dry Films’ Garth Kravits, Belongingness follows a young girl’s search for identity and a sense of belonging, which comes from an expected source.
Original Score by John Tyler Kent.
Official Selection of the Asian Film Festival.
Bev’s Girl Films presents WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG, starring Virginia Wing, Jason Ma and Lia Chang. The cast also features Jo Yang, Daniel Dunlow, Michelle Miller and Mark York.
Jo Yang, Garth Kravits, Virginia Wing, Jason Ma and Lia Chang attend Asian American Night of CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND at Pershing Square Signature Center in New York on February 9, 2020. Photo by Alex Sanchez
When siblings Benjamin and Audrey return home to confront their Mother’s memory loss, they discover a hidden key to her past.
Jason Ma, Virginia Wing and Lia Chang in WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG. Photo by Garth Kravits
Written and directed by Garth Kravits, the film is Executive Produced by Bev’s Girl Films, with producers Garth Kravits of Cut & Dry Films and Eric Elizaga. Hair and makeup by Dorothy Bhadra. Special thanks to Karen Elizaga and Daniel Dunlow.
Virginia Wing. Photo by Lia Chang
Virginia Wing (Virginia) is a Chinese-American actress whose ancestors came to the “Gold Mountain” from Canton (now Guangdong) in the mid-1800s, lured by the Gold Rush and the building of the railroads. She is currently writing about growing up Southern in the Mississippi Delta, where she was born and raised.
Professionally, she has run the gamut from opera, theatre, cabaret, TV, film, playwriting, directing and producing to script analysis. She modeled in her youth and is in the Breck Girl Hall of Fame. She was the model in the Mitsouko by Guerlain ad in the 60s, which won awards internationally. She was a nominee for Best Actress in the Hollywood NAACP Image Awards. She is most proud of this film because the characters did not have to have Chinese accents, did not have to speak Chinese or refer to themselves as being Chinese. They were not written as Exotic or Other, but as Americans who happen to be Chinese, caught up in a universal story. At last! She can be seen in NYTW’s production of Three Sisters in the Spring of 2020. Click on the Performing Arts Legacy Website for more about Virginia Wing.
Jason Ma (Benjamin) is a son of an immigrant family, and a grateful descendant of a long line of those who were able to persist, overcome and succeed on their way to becoming Americans. He wrote book, music and lyrics for Gold Mountain and is the 2017 recipient of the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter Award for his work as a composer/lyricist. Along with writing, he is an actor who has been seen on Broadway and Off-Broadway stages, in regional theaters and many international venues. Please visit: www.goldmountainthemusical.com
Garth Kravits is an actor, singer, musician, composer and award winning filmmaker, director and editor. He made his Broadway debut in the Tony award winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone and originated the role of Ritchie in the Broadway show Gettin’ the Band Back Together’.
His Off-Broadway credits include Old Jews Telling Jokes, Toxic Audio and Smart Blonde. He has appeared regionally in Gettin’ The Band Back Together, Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play, and It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, (Bucks County Playhouse) Kravits has appeared on TV in “Mr. Robot,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” HBO’s “Divorce,” “30 Rock,” “The Blacklist,” “Nurse Jackie,” “The Carrie Diaries,” “Hostages” and in the new TV shows “The Hunters” (Amazon Prime) and “Tommy” (CBS).
MSquared Productions’ May I Take It Your Plate, a short film written, directed and starring Martín Solá, and featuring Heather Botts, Lee Zarrett, Ionnis Pazianas, Gilbert D. Sanchez, Jackson Moran, Gary Leimkuhler, Kevin C. Martinez, Susan Molloy, George Pappas and Gary West, has been garnering awards on the film festival circuit.
Martín Solá and Michelle Liu Coughlin.
The film is a humorous yet uncomfortable glimpse into the life of Martín, an actor of color, as he encounters negative stereotyping during an acting audition.
Husband and wife duo, Martín Solá and Michelle Liu Coughlin, have collaborated on many projects (onstage and on screen). May I Take It Your Plate is their fifth film together. Their upcoming projects include a short-form series and a feature film.
On November 13, 2022, Veronica Caicedo, Founder and CEO of the International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival awarded honors to May I Take It Your Plate for Live Action Short Film along with presenting Martín Solá a Best Actor Award for his work in the film.
Michelle Liu Coughlin and Martín Solá with International Puerto Rican Heritage Film Festival Director Xavier Santiago.
On December 4, 2022, Michelangelo Alasa, Founder of the NYC Downtown Short Film Festival awarded Best Latino Film to May I Take It Your Plate along with a Best Actor Award to Martín Solá for his work in the film.
Martín Solá
Martín Solá: an actor, singer, and teacher living in New York City. His passion for those disciplines has led him to balance his career in those three areas for close to 30 years. 2022 was a breakout year for Martín as he portrayed Father Russo on the NETFLIX hit-series ARCHIVE 81. He also made appearances as IAB Captain Jerome Garibaldi on FBI (CBS), and Angél Garcés on LAW AND ORDER SVU (NBC). And in the fall, he appeared in the new Suzan Lori Parks work, PLAYS FOR THE PLAGUE YEAR at The Public Theater in NYC.
Martín has been an active member of the Tony Award Winning BROADWAY INSPIRATIONAL VOICES since 2019. He also serves as a singing instructor at YALE UNIVERSITY, through the Shen Curriculum for Musical Theater since 2021; and he has maintained a private voice studio for over 30 years. He also teaches acting classes with his wife Michelle Liu Coughlin. For more info : www.martinsola.com
Michelle Liu Coughlin: a multi-faceted AAPI actress, singer, and producer with over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. Her television and film credits include: FBI (CBS), New Amsterdam (NBC), Madam Secretary (CBS), The OA (NETFLIX), Sand Dollar Cove (HALLMARK). On stage, she has performed in many New York City venues such as City Center, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theatre and the York Theatre; she has also performed in several national tours and regional theatres throughout the country. As a producer, her films “2B” and “Over-throne” part of the Asian American Film Labs 72 Hour Shootout won best of the fest awards in 2008 & 2020.
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 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, 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.
Rom-Com Gone Wrong is a short produced by Bev’s Girl Films and Cut & Dry Films. Written and directed by Garth Kravits, the films stars Lia Chang, Eric Elizaga and Brian Kim.
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:
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 |
Bev's Girl Films 