The cast recording of Signature Theatre’s acclaimed production of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, featuring songs by Dengue Fever, will be released on May 8 by Yellow Sound Label. The album will be produced by Michael Croiter and Matthias Winter. It will be available on Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, and wherever music is sold. The album is currently available for pre-order at www.yellowsoundlabel.com.
Signature Theatre’s Artistic Director Paige Evans said, “We are thrilled to be able to share something joyful at this moment. The messages in Signature resident playwright’s award-winning Cambodian Rock Band around resilience and perseverance is so resonate today Lauren’s unique play will now live on not only through the script, but also through these exciting songs — which had audiences literally dancing by the end of the show.”
Signature Theatre’s Executive Director Harold Wolpert added, “Recording Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band will expose the play and the music it celebrates to audiences beyond our theatre. To be able to share this with everyone outside of those who saw the show at the Pershing Square Signature Center is just another way that we are able to deliver on our core value of access, which is more important now than ever.”
Track Listings
Disc: 1
The Cambodian Rock Band cast recording is the second cast recording in Signature’s history, coming on the heels of the release of the recording of Signature resident playwright Dave Malloy’s Octet, which was Signature’s first musical. The Octet cast recording was released by Nonesuch Records and can be found on all streaming platforms.
The Signature Theatre production of Cambodian Rock Band began performances February 4, opened on February 24, and was scheduled to run through March 22 on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues) before canceling performances on March 12.
The cast of Cambodian Rock Band includes Francis Jue as Duch, Abraham Kim as Rom/Journalist, Jane Lui as Pou/S21 Guard, Joe Ngo as Chum, Courtney Reed as Neary/Sothea and Moses Villarama as Ted/Leng/Cadre.
The creative team for Cambodian Rock Band includes Takeshi Kata (Scenic Design), Linda Cho (Costume Design), David Weiner (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Luke Norby (Projection Design), Matt MacNelly (Music Supervision) and Unkle Dave’s Fight-House (Fight Director). The Production Stage Manager is Charles M. Turner III and casting is by Caparelliotis Casting.
Guitars tuned. Mic checked. Get ready to rock! This darkly funny, electric new play with music tells the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in thirty years, as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia’s most infamous war criminals. Backed by a live band playing contemporary Dengue Fever hits and classic Cambodian oldies, this thrilling story toggles back and forth in time as father and daughter face the music of the past. Directed by Chay Yew, the New York premiere of this intimate rock epic about family secrets is set against a dark chapter of Cambodian history. It launches Steinberg Award-winning playwright Lauren Yee’s Residency 5.
Yellow Sound Label is an Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated, cutting-edge record company that produces established performers, up-and-coming artists and original cast recordings. The boutique label takes a hands-on approach in nurturing and producing passionate, focused performers and composers who create quality, noteworthy recordings.
About SIGNATURE THEATRE Signature Theatre celebrates playwrights and gives them an artistic home. Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright’s body of work, producing several plays by each resident writer and delivering an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright’s singular vision In 2014, Signature became the first New York City company to receive the Regional Theater Tony Award.
Signature serves its mission through its permanent home at The Pershing Square Signature Center, a three-theatre facility on West 42nd Street designed by Frank Gehry Architects to host Signature’s three distinct playwrights’ residencies and foster a cultural community. At the Center, opened in January 2012, Signature continues its original Playwright-in-Residence model as Residency 1, a year-long intensive exploration of a single writer’s body of work. Residency 5, the only program of its kind, was launched at the Center to support multiple playwrights as they build bodies of work by guaranteeing each writer three productions over a five-year period. The Legacy Program, launched during Signature’s 10th Anniversary, invites writers from both residencies back for productions of premiere or earlier plays.
The Pershing Square Signature Center is a major contribution to New York City’s cultural landscape and provides a venue for cultural organizations that supports and encourages collaboration among artists throughout the space. In addition to its three intimate theatres, the Center features a studio theatre, a rehearsal studio and a public café, bar and bookstore.
Through the Signature Ticket Initiative: A Generation of Access, Signature has also made an unprecedented commitment to making its productions accessible by underwriting the cost of the initial run tickets through 2031.
Founded in 1991 by James Houghton and now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans and Executive Director Harold Wolpert, Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, María Irene Fornés, Athol Fugard, Stephen Adly Guirgis, John Guare, A.R. Gurney, David Henry Hwang, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, Naomi Wallace, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company. Lynn Nottage is the current Residency 1 playwright. Signature’s Residency 5 playwrights are Annie Baker, Martha Clarke, Katori Hall, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dave Malloy and Dominique Morisseau; Will Eno completed his Residency 5 in 2016. Signature’s productions and its resident writers have been recognized with the Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, Lucille Lortel, Obie, Drama Desk and AUDELCO awards, among many other distinctions. For more information, please visit www.signaturetheatre.org.
Delta Air Lines is the Official Airline of Signature Theatre.
For more information, please visit www.signaturetheatre.org.
Inside Asian American Night at Signature’s First Preview of Lauren Yee’s CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND
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. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
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Backstage Pass with Lia Chang 