Due to breaking news events in New York this weekend, Spectrum News NY1 and the Drama Desk organization have made the decision to postpone tonight’s planned airing of The 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards. More details on a rescheduled date and time will be made available soon. For the latest information, visit dramadeskawards.com.
“The Drama Desk celebrates all that’s outstanding in the work of New York’s diverse theater artists and craftspeople. We regret the postponement of our awards ceremony tonight but, as an organization committed to the principle that all voices must be heard, we stand together with our black colleagues against the racial injustice and violence in our nation and city. We are grateful to Spectrum News NY1 for its comprehensive news coverage of this painful moment.” —Drama Desk Co-Presidents Charles Wright & David Barbour
Founded in 1955, the Drama Desk Awards honor outstanding achievement by professional theatre artists on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway. The Drama Desk Awards are voted on and bestowed by theatre critics, journalists, editors, publishers, and broadcasters covering theatre.
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.
Fellow Asian Artists, we know you’re as gutted as we are by the latest murders of black folx by racist cops and cop associates groomed by a system that must change.
Today is the last day of AAPI month. Will you consider making a donation to CAMPAIGN ZERO and let our black colleagues and the black community know we stand with them, today and always?
CAMPAIGN ZERO was started by black activists in response to critics of the BLM movement who asked for specific proposals for police reform. They’ve been gathering data since 2015 and used it to create a 10-point plan to end police violence in America. They propose & track the progress of federal, state and local policy; they’re compiling an easily-accessible Police Scorecard for every state; and they’re aggressively pushing 2020 presidential candidateson their plans to demilitarize the police.
We know times are tough. Anything you can give shows our solidarity, and that we’re all truly in this together. Click here to donate.
Love & safety to you all,
The #HamilAsians
Ari Afsar, Marcus Choi, Jon Viktor Corpuz, Marc delaCruz, Jin Ha, Julia Harriman, Eddy Lee, Dorcas Leung, Lily Ling, Yvette Lu, Alaina Vi Maderal, Taeko McCarroll, Joseph Morales, Preston Mui, Shoba Narayan, Stephanie Park, Jen Sese, Roberto Sinha, Charlotte Wen, Kendyl Yokoyama and Jess McLeod
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.
Adventure Theatre MTC is presenting a celebration of API Heritage with a full lineup of API Heritage Month storytimes, interviews, and digital presentations. These online events honor the creativity, tradition, and innovation of the Asian Pacific Islander population and focus upon the impact they continue to make daily through their art. All presentations are free and available streaming live on Facebook.
May 31, 2020
1pm: Storytime with children’s book author Ginger Park
2pm: Digital Presentation of the play, The Dance and the Railroad, by Tony Award & OBIE Award recipient David Henry Hwang
Executive Director Leon Seemann, Education Director Margo Brenner Collins, and Artistic Director Chil Kong shared that this Sunday’s lineup brings highlights the contemporary artists who are adding to our history as a society.
Says Artistic Director, Chil Kong, of this weekend’s presentations, “Our conversation with David Henry Hwang on May 17th was so impactful, we had to follow it up with one of his beautiful plays. The Dance and the Railroad showcases how cultural knowledge can be educational and artistic all at the same time.”
Artistic Director Chil Kong would also like to note that this Obie Nominated Play is a period play about 2 Chinese men in the United States in the 1800’s. Their struggles and the terminologies they used to both celebrate and acknowledge those struggles may not be suitable for all ages.
API HERITAGE SERIES: MAY 31 PRESENTATIONS:
On May 31 at 1pm EST, local chocolatier and children’s book author Ginger Park reads from one of her beloved books she co-authored with her sister, Frances Park. Together, they have written five children’s books including The Have A Good Day Cafe , Where On Earth is My Bagel?, My Freedom Trip, The Royal Bee, and Good-bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong. website
On May 31 at 2pm EST, Adventure will offer a sneak peek at a potential show for the 2020/2021 season, The Dance and the Railroad, which was originally commissioned as a Theatre for Young Audiences play in 1982. Set in 1867 on a California mountaintop, The Dance and the Railroad tells the story of two Chinese workers who struggle through poverty and hunger to reconnect with the traditions of their homeland. The Obie-nominated play by by David Henry Hwang rejects the stereotype of submissive immigrant laborers, and depicts assertive men who demanded their rights despite great personal risk.
David Henry Hwang. Photo by Lia Chang
David Henry Hwang is best known as the author of M. BUTTERFLY, which won the 1988 Tony, Drama Desk, John Gassner, and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and was a Finalist for the 1989 Pulitzer Prize. It ran on London’s West End and has been produced in over three dozen countries. A revival, directed by Julie Taymor, starring Clive Owen and Jin Ha, ran on Broadway in 2017. Most recently, SOFT POWER, written with composer Jeanine Tesori, premiered at Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre, where it won six Ovation Awards, including Best New Production. Its subsequent run at the Public Theatre in NYC received four Outer Critics Honors, eleven Drama Desk Nominations, and was a Finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize in Drama.
His other major works include YELLOW FACE, which premiered at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum and New York’s Public Theater, received a 2008 OBIE Award for playwriting and was a Finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize; its London premiere at the Park Theatre in 2013 transferred to the National Theatre. In 2018, the NY Times named YELLOW FACE among the best American plays of the past 25 years. CHINGLISH premiered at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and won a 2011 Jeff Award for Best New Work, before moving to Broadway, where it was named Best New American Play by Time Magazine. GOLDEN CHILD premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater, received a 1997 OBIE Award for playwriting and moved to Broadway, where it received three 1998 Tony Nominations, including Best New Play.
Other plays include FOB (1981 OBIE Award), THE DANCE & THE RAILROAD (1982 Drama Desk Nomination), FAMILY DEVOTIONS (1982 Drama Desk Nomination), THE HOUSE OF SLEEPING BEAUTIES (1983), THE SOUND OF A VOICE (1983), BONDAGE (1992), and KUNG FU (2014).
His Broadway musicals include a revision of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG, which earned him his third Tony nomination in 2003. Hwang co-wrote Disney’s international hit AIDA, with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, which won four 2000 Tony Awards, as well as DISNEY’S TARZAN, with songs by Phil Collins, whose European production ran for twelve years. He is rewriting the book for a revival of AIDA, which will premiere in 2021.
Named America’s most-produced living opera librettist by Opera News, he has written five works with composer Philip Glass: 1000 AIRPLANES ON THE ROOF (1988), THE VOYAGE, which premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1992, THE SOUND OF A VOICE (2003), and ICARUS AT THE EDGE OF TIME (2010); their latest collaboration, CIRCUS DAYS AND NIGHTS will premiere in 2021 in Sweden. AINADAMAR, with music by Osvaldo Golijov, won two 2007 Grammy Awards. Other operas include THE SILVER RIVER (1997), with music by Bright Sheng; ALICE IN WONDERLAND, with music by Unsuk Chin (2007 Opernwelt “World Premiere of the Year”); THE FLY (2008), with music by Howard Shore; DREAM OF THE RED CHAMBER (2017), with Sheng; and AN AMERICAN SOLDIER, with music by Huang Ruo, which was included in the NY Times’ Best of Classical Music of 2018.
Mr. Hwang penned the screenplays for M. BUTTERFLY (1993), GOLDEN GATE (1994), and POSSESSION (co-writer, 2002). With the late pop icon Prince, he co-wrote the song “Solo,” released on Prince’s 1994 gold album COME. Justin Lin’s YOMYOMF Network adapted YELLOW FACE into a full-length video for YouTube in 2013. From 2015-2019, Hwang worked as a writer and Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning Best Television Drama THE AFFAIR. He is currently penning the live-action musical feature adaptation of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME for Disney Studios and a feature film to star actress Gemma Chan.
Mr. Hwang attended Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama, and holds honorary degrees from Columbia College, the American Conservatory Theatre, Lehigh University, the University of Southern California, SUNY Purchase, and Williams College. He serves on the board of the Lark Play Development Center and as Chair of the American Theatre Wing, founder of the Tony Awards. Hwang is a Tony, Oscar, and Emmy Award voter. From 1994-2001, he sat by appointment of President Clinton on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. In 1993, the nation’s oldest Asian American theatre, East-West Players in Los Angeles, christened its new mainstage the David Henry Hwang Theatre. The David Henry Hwang Society, devoted to the scholarly examination of his plays, was founded in 2016. Since 2014, he has been Associate Professor and Head of Playwriting at Columbia University School of the Arts.
Recent honors include his 2018 induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame, a Ford Foundation “Art of Change” Award in 2015, the 2015 ISPA Distinguished Artist Award, a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, the 2012 Steinberg “Mimi” Award, and the 2011 PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Master American Dramatist. He was the Residency One Playwright at New York’s Signature Theatre, which produced a season of his plays from 2012-14.
David Henry Hwang lives in Brooklyn with his wife, actress Kathryn Layng. They are the proud parents of two young adults, Noah David and Eva Veanne.
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.
Huntington Theatre Company is presenting their annual Spotlight Spectacular Gala virtually on the Huntington’s Facebook and YouTube channels Monday, June 15, 2020 beginning at 7:30pm.
Sandra O. Moose and Ruben Santiago-Hudson
In an effort to assure the safety of gala attendants while gathering to celebrate the honorees, the Huntington has decided to transform this year’s Spotlight Spectacular to a virtual event. Trustee and civic leader Sandra O. Moose and Tony Award winner and Huntington alumnus Ruben Santiago-Hudson (American Gangster, Selma, ABC’s “Castle”) will be honored with the Wimberly Award at the 2020 Spotlight Spectacular. The event will be co-hosted by WCVB’s host of “CityLine” and Director of Public Affairs and Community Services, Karen Holmes Ward and Joyce Kulhawik, Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist and President of the Boston Theater Critics Association. This year’s Spotlight Spectacular Chairs are Ann Merrifield and Wayne Davis.
Joyce Kulhawik and Karen Holmes Ward
Performing at this year’s gala is Emmy Award winner Keith David (Seven Guitars at the Huntington, There’s Something About Mary, Crash), Tony Award-nominee Kate Baldwin (Hello Dolly!,Big Fish, Finian’s Rainbow), Tony Award winner Santino Fontana (Tootsie, Disney feature film Frozen, CW’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”), and award-winning actress and R&B singer Marva Hicks (The Lion King, Caroline or Change, Motown The Musical).
Kate Baldwin, Keith David, Santino Fontana and Marva Hicks
Tony and Obie Award-winning director, actor, and writer Ruben Santiago-Hudson appeared in Huntington productions of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and Seven Guitars. Both productions transferred to Broadway, the latter earning Santiago-Hudson the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. In a career that spans over four decades, Santiago-Hudson has starred in a number of films including American Gangster, Shaft, Devil’s Advocate, and Selma. His television credits include Showtime’s “Billions,” ABC’S “Castle,” and “The West Wing.” Santiago-Hudson wrote, executive produced, and co-starred in the HBO film Lackawanna Blues based on his OBIE and Helen Hayes Award-winning play. The movie received honors including Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe, NAACP Image Awards, The Christopher Award and the Humanitas Prize. He directed the recent Broadway production of August Wilson’s Jitney which garnered several awards for Outstanding Revival including the Tony Award and six Tony nominations. Santiago-Hudson recently adapted Wilson’s play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for the screen. The film, which is produced by Denzel Washington and will be released later this year on Netflix, is directed by George C. Wolfe, starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman.
“Ruben Santiago-Hudson is an essential American theatre artist, an accomplished and prize-winning actor, director, writer and musician,” says Huntington Managing Director Michael Maso. “He demonstrates every day how talent, commitment and compassion can serve as a model for life as an artist. I was introduced to Ruben in 1995 by two giants, director Lloyd Richards and playwright August Wilson, when Ruben originated his Tony Award-winning role of Canewell in August Wilsons’s Seven Guitars, moving Huntington audiences along with an extraordinary cast including Viola Davis and Keith David. It is a privilege to be able to celebrate his career at this year’s Spotlight Spectacular while he is still at the height of his creative powers.”
Sandra (Sandy) O. Moose is a deeply respected leader and has made her mark on the business and philanthropic sectors of Boston and beyond. She has been a dedicated member of the Huntington’s board for over 16 years and has received many professional and personal accolades over her distinguished career. Sandy has been a trailblazer for women in the consulting industry, being the first woman hired and the first woman to become Partner/Senior Managing Partner as well as Leader of the New York Office for 10 years and Chair of the East Coast region at the Boston Consulting Group. After her formal career, Sandy has served as a leader on corporate and non-profit boards. Locally, she was President of the Board of Trustees at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Chair of the Boston Public Library Foundation; Chair of Natixis Advisor and Loomis Sayles Funds. She was also the first Lead Director of Verizon Communications, Inc. and the first woman Chair of the Board of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Corporate Governance from the National Association of Corporate Directors in New England in 2018.
“Sandy Moose has brought mentorship and leadership to our organization, and she has the ability to shape vision in a powerful way,” says Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. “She has introduced many amazing people into our orbit, while she herself remains one of our brightest stars. Her late partner Eric Birch will be greatly missed as her co-pilot in her love of theatre. Sandy always has a family with us, because we just love her so much.”
Ticket buyers and sponsors will be given access to a VIP experience including a custom party box and an exclusive Zoom cocktail reception with Huntington artists and guests. The Huntington’s festive annual event raises funds to support the Huntington’s programs, including its award-winning youth, education, and community initiatives that reach more than 30,000 annually. The 2019 Spotlight Spectacular honored Huntington Theatre Company Board Chairman David Epstein, Education Committee Chair Betsy Banks Epstein, and Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Peter DuBois. The event raised over $1,000,000 and was attended by over 400 guests.
The Gerard & Sherryl Cohen Award for Excellence will be given to two Huntington staff members who consistently go above and beyond in their contribution to the company: Graphic Designer Lauren Calder and Calderwood Pavilion House Electrician Taylor Ness. Guests will also have the opportunity to “raise a paddle” during the virtual event to support the Huntington’s education programs and other initiatives for our region’s youth. For more information on the event please visit huntingtontheatre.org/support/gala.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
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.
From June 2 to 30, Woodie King Jr.’s New Federal Theatre will present “Tuesdays in June 2020: Rapping with the Artists & Play Readings,” a program of seven live-streamed discussions and play reading events featuring distinguished artists who have done formative and influential work at New Federal Theatre.
Elizabeth Van Dyke, André De Shields, Art Evans and Woodie King, Jr. Photo by Lia Chang
These events are New Federal’s inaugural virtual programming, aiming to connect and share some creative content with friends and supporters until we can all meet in person at the theater. All events are free but registration is
required and donations will be gratefully accepted. To register, send an email to: nftvirtualprograms@gmail.com.
June 2 at 3:00 PM:
RAPPING WITH THE ARTISTS
S. Epatha Merkerson, Barbara Montgomery and Ruben Santiago Hudson discuss their artistic journeys.
June 9 at 3:00 PM:
RAPPING WITH THE ARTISTS
J. Alphonse Nicholson and Howard Craft discuss the theatrical realization of the play, “Freight: the Five Incarnations of Abel Green.”
June 16 at 3:00 PM:
RAPPING WITH THE ARTISTS
Director Petronia Paley and playwright Larry Muhammad on the birth of the production, “Looking for Leroy.”
June 16 at 7:00 PM:
PLAY READING
“Looking for Leroy” featuring AUDELCO Award winning actors Tyler Fauntleroy and Kim Sullivan, directed by Petronia Paley
June 23 at 3:00 PM:
RAPPING WITH THE ARTISTS
Playwright Bill Harris and actors Denise Burse-Fernandez and Guy Davis discuss their collaboration.
June 30 at 3:00 PM:
RAPPING WITH THE ARTISTS
André De Shields and Chuck Smith rap about creating theater centered around historical figures.
June 30 at 7:00 PM:
PLAY READING
Trevor Rhone’s “Two Can Play,” featuring Ron Bobb-Semple and Joyce Sylvester, directed by Clinton Turner Davis.
KUDOS FOR Woodie King, JR.
On May 19, the 10th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards were announced in a virtual presentation hosted by Charles Busch and Julie Halston. Woodie King, Jr., Founding Director of New Federal Theatre and Off-Broadway producer and director, was honored in the category “Legends of Off Broadway,” recognizing sustained achievement in Off Broadway theater.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
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.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform J.S. Bach’s six cello suites live from the studios of public media producer WGBH on Sunday, May 24 at 3:00 p.m. ET, a memorial for those we have lost in the pandemic and a tribute to the resilience of our communities. Presented by WCRB Classical Radio Boston, the two-and-a-half-hour performance will air live and uninterrupted on WGBH channel 2 in Boston, and on public radio airwaves, made available to stations across the country by PRX. The performance will also stream live worldwide on Yo-Yo Ma’s YouTube channel and at ClassicalWCRB.org.
Ma’s offering of music comes in the midst of the now-rescheduled final leg of his Bach Project, a tour of the complete cello suites to 36 communities on six continents, part of a larger conversation about how culture can help us to imagine and build the world we want.
Ma will perform the six suites in isolation from WGBH’s Fraser Studio, with each element of the production managed remotely by a single person and using robotic cameras.
“In times of challenge, we’ve often come together in shared experiences,” said Jon Abbott, president and CEO of WGBH. “Yo-Yo Ma has a generosity of spirit, a solemnity that the moment deserves, and a warmth that reminds us of togetherness even as we feel alone. It is the strength we draw from each other that will help move us forward, and we are honored to host and produce this memorial event at WGBH and share it with the world through our public media network.”
“We are proud to work with Yo-Yo to share his sounds of solace from our studio to the world,” said Anthony Rudel, general manager at WCRB. “It is supremely fitting to have a great musician who has devoted his life to the international community bring the world closer together through the international language that is music, and more specifically Bach.”
How to Watch and Listen
Yo-Yo Ma’s live performancewill broadcast on WGBH-TV Channel 2 in Boston and 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston. The performance will stream on Yo-Yo Ma’s YouTube channel and at ClassicalWCRB.org. Through the distribution efforts of public media organization PRX, select local radio stations across the nation will also air the performance including Iowa Public Radio; Maine Public Radio; Louisville Public Media; Texas Public Radio – KPAC, San Antonio; Nashville Public Radio – WPLN; Hawaii Public Radio; WNED, Buffalo; WCLV in Cleveland, OH; KUSC in Los Angeles, CA; KALW in San Francisco, CA; New England Public Radio in Amherst, MA; St. Louis Public Radio; WETA in Washington, DC; Virginia Public Media in Richmond, VA; KPBS in San Diego, CA; Blue Ridge Public Radio (WCQS) in Asheville, NC; KRPS in Pittsburgh, KS, WRTI, Philadelphia and WQXR in New York, NY. (Additional stations may be added/check local listings.) Stations who would like to air the program can reach out to PRX’s Station Services team at membership@prx.org. The performance will only be available live, uniting an audience in a shared experience.
About WCRB
WCRB 99.5 FM is a non-commercial, independent, listener-supported public radio station dedicated to excellence in classical music broadcasting. Serving Boston and the New England region, it offers accessible classical radio of the highest caliber and operates under the core belief that classical music can and should be part of everyone’s life. WCRB is a key community convener for classical music in New England, partnering with local arts organizations including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, the New England Conservatory, and more. Its online streaming reaches a global audience. WCRB is a service of national public media leader WGBH.
About WGBH
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster and the largest producer of PBS content for TV and the Web, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience,Arthur, and more than a dozen other primetime, lifestyle, and children’s series. WGBH’s television channels include WGBH 2, WGBX 44, and the digital channels WORLD and Create. WGBH TV productions focusing on the region’s diverse community include Greater Boston, Basic Black, and High School Quiz Show. WGBH Radio serves listeners across New England with 89.7 WGBH, Boston’s Local NPR®; 99.5 WCRB Classical Radio Boston; and WCAI, the Cape and Islands NPR® Station. WGBH also is a major source of digital content and programs for public radio through PRX, including The World and Innovation Hub, a leader in educational multimedia with PBS LearningMedia™, providing the nation’s educators with free, curriculum-based digital content, and a pioneer in services that make media accessible to deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, and visually-impaired audiences. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards and Oscars. Find more information at wgbh.org.
About PRX PRX is a non-profit media organization shaping the future of audio by producing and distributing content, building technology, and training talented, independent producers. PRX’s award-winning portfolio ranges from iconic public radio programs such as The Moth Radio Hour, This American Life, The World, The Takeaway and Reveal to a growing body of podcast-first productions, including the Radiotopia network. Each month, PRX reaches more than 28.5 million listeners and generates more than 70 million podcast downloads. Visit PRX.org for more.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
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.
On Saturday, May 23 at 8pm, LAByrinth Theater Company is presenting a one-night-only virtual benefit reading of Our Lady of 121st Street, the play that led The New York Times to dub Stephen Adly Guirgis “the poet laureate of the angry,” and to declare LAByrinth “perhaps the most exciting troupe in the city.”
This event is free to the public, and donations will be accepted throughout the evening to help the company maintain operations and continue their growth amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The reading will be available to view for 24 hours.
To watch, and donate, please visit www.labtheater.org. After the reading, head over to their Instagram page to chat live with members of the cast, and LAByrinth company members, including Stephen Adly Guirgis, Liza Colón-Zayas, John Ortiz, and more. Company member Joey Palestina will host.
Panic attack: David Zayas helps Elizabeth Canavan with her inhaler in Our Lady of 121st Street at Union Square Theater in 2003. Photo: Webb Wilcoxen
Helmed by Elizabeth Rodriguez* (who understudied the original production), the reading will feature eight members of the original Off-Broadway cast: Elizabeth Canavan*, Liza Colón-Zayas*, Scott Hudson*, Russell G. Jones*, Portia*, Al Roffe*, Felix Solis*, and David Zayas*. Joining them are LAB members Bobby Cannavale*, John Doman*, Laurence Fishburne, and Dierdre Friel. David Deblinger*, who originated the role of Gail in the Center Stage, NY production, is reading stage directions.
A reflective David Zayas in Our Lady of 121st Street. Photo by Joan Marcus
The Ortiz Funeral Room is in big trouble: The body of beloved The Ortiz Funeral Room is in big trouble: The body of beloved community activist and nun Sister Rose has been stolen from the viewing room, and waiting for her proper return are some of New York City’s most emotionally charged, life-challenged neighborhood denizens, trying to find a place to put their grief, checkered pasts, and their uncertain futures.
Among the equally hilarious and tragic twelve characters, you’ll meet Rooftop, a chronically unfaithful but otherwise popular Los Angeles DJ, looking to reconcile with the love of his life; Pinky and Edwin, two brothers tragically linked forever; and the outrageously angry Norca, who doesn’t let the fact that she slept with her best friend’s husband deter her from the full expectation of being immediately forgiven of her sin by her best friend, Inez, still in pain fifteen years later. The rest of the crowd in this dark, insightful, and very funny comedy inevitably square off on each other, motivated by rage, pain, and a scary desire to come clean—perhaps for the first time.
Russell G. Jones as Flip and David Deblinger as Gail, Our Lady of 121st Street at the Union Square Theater in 2003. Photo by Joan Marcus
Our Lady of 121st Street originally ran in an Off-Broadway production by the LAByrinth Theater at Center Stage/NY and then transferred to the Union Square Theatre from March 6, 2003 to July 27, 2003. Helmed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the cast featured Elizabeth Canavan (Marcia), Liza Colon-Zayas (Norca), David Deblinger (Gail), Melissa Feldman (Sonya), Mark Hammer (Father Lux), Ron Cephas Jones (Rooftop), Russell G. Jones (Flip), Richard Petrocelli (Victor), Portia (Inez), Al Roffe (Pinky), Felix Solis (Balthazar) and David Zayas (Edwin).
The play received: 10 best plays of 2003; Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Best Play nominations. In 2018, Signature Theatre Company presented the revival of Our Lady of 121st Street, helmed by Tony winner Phylicia Rashad in the Irene Diamond Stage. The cast featured Joey Auzenne, Obie Award winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Erick Betancourt, Maki Borden, Jimonn Cole, John Doman, Dierdre Friel, Hill Harper, Kevin Isola, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Paola Lázaro, and John Procaccino.
From left: Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Hill Harper and Deirdre Friel in ‘Our Lady of 121st Street’ at Signature Theatre in 2018. Photo by Monique Carboni
The revival received a 2019 Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Quincy Tyler Bernstine, 2019 Drama Desk Award nomination Outstanding Revival of a Play, a 2019 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance for Quincy Tyler Bernstine, a 2019 Hewes Design Award nomination for Costume Design for Alexis Forte, a 2019 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play Revival, 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2018 Artios Award nomination for New York Theatre – Comedy or Musical, for David Caparelliotis and Lauren Port, 2018 AUDELCO Award nominations for Lead Actor in a Play for Hill Harper and Lead Actress in a Play for Quincy Tyler Bernstine.
Front Row: Andrea Syglowski, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Liza Colón-Zayas. Back Row: Elizabeth Canavan, Paola Lázaro and Wilemina Olivia-Garcia. Photo by Lia Chang
The company will also be presenting Stephen Adly Guirgis with the Dave Hogue Award. The Dave Hogue Award is LAByrinth Theater Company’s highest accolade given to a member of our community in honor of their artistic courage and outstanding dedication to LAB. This year, we are thrilled to present The Dave Hogue to Stephen Adly Guirgis. Stephen’s longtime commitment of 25+ years to LAB, his contributions of over a dozen groundbreaking world premiere plays with LAB, his tenure as a past artistic director, his role as a mentor to many younger artists, and as a conduit of meaningful relationships, like Dave Hogue, for LAB makes this year’s distinguished presentation a no-brainer.
*Denotes LAByrinth Company Member
About LAByrinth Theater Company
Originally known as Latino Actors Base, LAByrinth Theater Company was founded in 1992 by a small group of actors who wanted to push their artistic limits, and tell more inclusive stories that expanded the boundaries of mainstream theater.
Over twenty-five years, that small group of actors has grown to a company of more than a hundred artists. LAByrinth is an ensemble-driven company comprised of actors, designers, directors, musicians, and writers committed to developing and producing new works for the stage, giving voice to new perspectives that are powerful, groundbreaking, and have changed the face of America’s theatrical landscape.
LAB’s journey has taken them from INTAR, to Center Stage NY, to The Public Theater, to the Bank St. Theater and now their newest home, NYC’s oldest continuously running off-broadway theater, the Cherry Lane Theatre.
From LAB’s first two productions in the early 90’s, David Deblinger’s one man show, Nobody’s Home, and Lilian Slugocki’s family drama RoughHouse at INTAR, to multiple Stephen Adly Guirgis world premieres including In Arabia, We’d All be Kings (1999), Jesus Hopped the A Train (2000), and Our Lady of 121st Street (2002) with all three directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman at Center Stage NY, to Brett C. Leonard’s Guinea Pig Solo (2004) and Bob Glaudini’s Jack Goes Boating (2007) at The Public Theater, to Melissa Ross’s Thinner Than Water (2011) at the Bank St Theater, to Maggie Bofill’s Devil of Choice (2018) at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and most recently, our co-production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven with Atlantic Theater Company, LAByrinth Theater Company has produced over fifty world premieres and developed over 250 new plays.
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.
Park Square Theatre and Full Circle Theater is presenting excerpts from R.A. Shiomi’s Fire in the New World, directed by Rick Shiomi as part of the inaugural PARK SQUARE PLAYS ON: A Virtual Play Festival. The cast features Eric Sharp, Gabriele Angieri, Jeannie Lander, Audrey Park, and Seth Patterson.
Time: 4:30pm PST/7:30pm CDT/8:30pm EST
The presentation is 20 minutes long, followed by Q & A with Rick Shiomi and cast members.
R.A. Shiomi, this world premiere is the third installment of Shiomi’s hit 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 Sam’s community. But Sam is also hired to find the developer’s missing Japanese American wife. The play is smart and fun, chock full of social commentary and sly intrigue.
The award-winning Yellow Fever was the first play in Shiomi’s trilogy featuring Sam Shikaze. It has been produced Off-Broadway, across North America, and in Japan.
Tickets are FREE, but your donation helps to pay the actors and offset costs.
Make a contribution here. Reservations are required to receive the Zoom link. Participants will be emailed an invitation to the Zoom gatherings the mornings of each date. Only one email address is needed to receive the link, but please register separately for each email address that will be logging into the festival. Capacity is limited to 300 participants.
Rick Shiomi. Photo by Lia Chang
RICK SHIOMI (R. A. Shiomi) has been a leader in Asian American theater for over thirty-five years, as a playwright, director and artistic director and has written over twenty plays, including the award-winning Yellow Fever, Rosie’s Cafe, and Mask Dance. He recently directed Christopher Chen’s Caught for Full Circle at the Guthrie Theater’s Dowling Studio. For Theater Mu he has directed many plays including Into The Woods set in Asia, The Mikado set in Edwardian England (with Skylark Opera) and Yellow Face at the Dowling Studio. He was a co-founder of Theater Mu and Artistic Director there from 1993 to 2013. He also directed Chen’s play Caught and Mia Chung’s You For Me For You for InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia, which both received Barrymore Award Nominations and Awards . He has received the Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Vision, the Ivey Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the McKnight Distinguished Artist Award.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits
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.
2019 Tony Award winners André De Shields and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Hadestown producer Mara Isaacs was honored at The Tank’s 2020 virtual gala on May 19. The Tony Award-winning company of Hadestown including André De Shields, Rachel Chavkin, Anais Mitchell, Patrick Page, Tom Kirdahy, Liam Robinson, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kay Trinidad, Malcolm Armwood, Kimberly Marable, John Krause, Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney andJesse Shelton, came together to honor her and sing “Road to Hell.”
Watch below:
“The Tank is thrilled to celebrate Mara Isaacs and her commitment to championing artists, forging new paths, and shepherding boundary-defying work,” said Artistic Director Meghan Finn. “Mara’s values and practice of nimbleness and rigor, of creating flexible structures based on what the work itself needs, and nurturing artists and projects across and in between genres all resonate with The Tank’s commitment to making space for artists experimenting with new ideas and new forms and in supporting the work when and how it needs in order to thrive.”
Hadestown Producers Tom Kirdahy, Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen and Hunter C. Arnold. Photo by Lia Chang
Hadestown is produced on Broadway by Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold, and Tom Kirdahy. A creative producer recognized as a field leader in new play and new musical development, Mara has produced over one hundred productions that have been seen on Broadway (Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Translations, Anna in the Tropics, Electra), off-Broadway (Hadestown, Fiasco Theater’s Into The Woods, The Brother/Sister Plays, Miss Witherspoon, Crowns, The Laramie Project), at theaters and performing arts centers around the country (BAM, Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, and others) and internationally (London, South Africa). Plays she has developed and produced have received assorted Tony, Obie, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucile Lortel, New York Drama Critics and Outer Critics Circle Awards, and have appeared a total of twelve times on American Theatre Magazine’s annual “Top 10 List of Most Frequently Produced Plays.” She served as Producing Director at McCarter Theater Center in Princeton, NJ (1995-2013) and previously produced new play development programs and productions for Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (1990-1995). She is currently a visiting faculty member for the CalArts MFA Producing program and for Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, and serves on the boards of Tofte Lake Center in Ely, MN and the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Medical Anthropology. She founded Octopus Theatricals in 2013.
Co-Producer Mara Isaacs, Director Rachel Chavkin, André De Shields, Anais Mitchell and Co-Producer Dale Franzen at the opening party of HADESTOWN at the National Theatre in London on November 13, 2018. Photo by Lia Chang
London
André De Shields and Co-Producer Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Director Rachel Chavkin and Co-producer Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Reeve Carney and Co-producer Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Co-producer Mara Isaacs and Set Designer Rachel Hauck. Photo by Lia Chang
Musical Director and Vocal Arranger Liam Robinson, André De Shields, Patrick Page, Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney and Co-Producer Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Co-Producer Mara Isaacs and Rachel Quinney, National Theatre’s producer for HADESTOWN. Photo by Lia Chang
Co-Producer Mara Isaacs and Anais Mitchell. Photo by Lia Chang
Mara Isaacs and Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director at New York Theatre Workshop. Photo by Lia Chang
Patrick Page, Mara Isaacs and Reeve Carney. Photo by Lia Chang
Director Rachel Chavkin is flanked by co-producers Mara Isaacs and Dale Franzen. Photo by Lia Chang
Mara Isaacs, Rachel Chavkin, Anais Mitchell and Dale Franzen. Photo by Lia Chang
Mara Isaacs and Eva Noblezada. Photo by Lia Chang
Anaïs Mitchell developed Hadestown with director and Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin.
New York Opening Night
Front Row: Patrick Page, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, Reeve Carney. Back Row: Kay Trinidad, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Ahmad Simmons, Afra Hines, André De Shields, Timothy Hughes, Kimberly Marable. Photo by Lia Chang
Anaïs Mitchell and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Joey Monda, Mara Isaacs and Lorenzo Thione. Photo by Lia Chang
Renee Mellman, Mara Isaacs and Daniel B. Mellman. Photo by Lia Chang
Marcia Garfield Isaacs, Mara Isaacs and Herb Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Herb Isaacs, Mara Isaacs, André De Shields and Marcia Garfield Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Hadestown opened on Broadway on April 17, 2019. The production stars Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, and Patrick Page swith Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad as the Fates.
2019 Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Lisa Peterson, 2019 Tony Awards winner Rachel Hauck and Mara Isaacs, Danielle Mellman. Photo by Lia Chang
2019 Tony Award winners André De Shields and Mara Isaacs, Seth Mellman and Danielle Mellmann Photo by Lia Chang
Seth Mellman, 2019 Tony Award winner Mara Isaacs and Danielle Mellman. Photo by Lia Chang
Hadestown was the most honored and critically acclaimed new musical of 2019. In addition to the show’s eight Tony Awards, it has been honored with the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, four Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards including Outstanding New Broadway Musical and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Musical.
Mara Isaacs and André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Michael Unger, Mara Isaacs, André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Anaïs Mitchell and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
Mara Isaacs, André De Shields, Jordan Roth. Photo by Lia Chang
The creative team for Broadway features Tony Award winner Rachel Hauck (set design); four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Krass (costume design); two-time Tony Award winner Bradley King (lighting design); Tony Award winners Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz (sound design); Chita Rivera Award® winner and threetime Bessie Award® winner David Neumann (choreography); Liam Robinson (music direction and vocal arrangements); Tony Award winners Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose (arrangements and orchestrations); Ken Cerniglia (dramaturgy); and Stewart/Whitley (casting).
1st Row: Malcolm Armwood and Amber Gray. 2nd Row: Kimberly Marable, T. Oliver Reid, Khaila Wilcoxon, John Krause, Jessie Shelton, Rachel Chavkin, André De Shields. 3rd Row: Jewelle Blackman, Kay Trinidad, Anaïs Mitchell, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Eva Noblezada. 4th Row: Afra Hines, Timothy Hughes, Malcolm Armwood, Mara Isaacs, Patrick Page, Reeve Carney. Photo by Lia Chang
The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hadestown from Sing It Again Records is available on CD, vinyl and streaming. The album was released digitally this summer, and topped Billboard’s Broadway Cast Recording chart, and debuted at #8 on the Top Album chart. To date, the album has been streamed over 85M times. The CD edition features a 64-page booklet and a two-disc set, while the triple vinyl edition features a 16-page booklet. Both editions include complete song lyrics and never before seen photos of the Hadestown cast and creative team in the studio, and other exclusive content.
HADESTOWN producers Mara Isaacs, Dale Franzen, Hunter Arnold. Photo by Lia Chang
Mara Isaacs, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Amber Gray, Rachel Chavkin and Anaïs Mitchell. Photo by Lia Chang
HADESTOWN’S Mara Isaacs, Rachel Chavkin and Anaïs Mitchell. Photo by Lia Chang
Team HADESTOWN: Danielle Long King, Dale Franzen, André De Shields, Montego Glover, Mara Isaacs, Noah Hahn, Bradley King, Rachel Chavkin, Tom Kirdahy, Anaïs Mitchell and Hunter C. Arnold. Photo by Lia Chang
André De Shields and Mara Isaacs. Photo by Lia Chang
HADESTOWN’s Mara Isaacs, Reeve Carney, Eva Noblezada, Rachel Chavkin, Rachel Hauck, Tod Sickafoose, Three-time Tony nominee André De Shields, Dale Franzen and Tom Kirdahy at the Tony Honors cocktail party at Sofitel New York. Photo by Lia Chang
2019 Tony Award winner Mara Isaacs and 2019 Richard Seff Award winner and 2019 Tony Award winner André De Shields. Photo by Lia Chang
Anais Mitchell, Mara Isaacs, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, Kimberly Marable and Afra Hines. Photo by Lia Chang
2019 Tony winning Producer Mara Isaacs with casting directors Benton Whitley and Duncan Stewart. Photo by Lia Chang
Reclining: André De Shields. Row 1: Duncan Stewart, David Neumann, John Krause, Jessie Shelton, Benton Whitley. Row 2: Eva Noblezada, Kimberly Marable, Reeve Carney, Ahmad Simmons, Khailia Wilcoxon, Afra Hines, Malcolm Armwood, Kay Trinidad, Mara Isaacs, Beverly, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer. Photo by Lia Chang
Founded in 2003, The Tank is a multi-disciplinary non-profit arts presenter and producer, which provides a home to emerging artists working across all disciplines, including theater, comedy, dance, film, music, puppetry, and storytelling. Led by Artistic Director Meghan Finn and Managing Producer Danielle Monica Long King, The Tank champions emerging artists engaged in the pursuit of new ideas and forms of expression. In doing so the company removes the economic barriers from the creation of new work for artists launching their careers and experimenting within their art form. From the company’s home with two theaters on 36th Street, The Tank serves over 2,500 artists every year, presents over 1,000 performances, and welcomes 36,000 audience members annually. The company fully produces a curated season of 13-18 theatrical World or New York premieres each season.
Recent Tank-produced work includes New York Times Critics’ Picks OPEN by Crystal Skillman, directed by Jessi D. Hill (2019); Red Emma & The Mad Monk by Alexis Roblan, directed by Katie Lindsay (2018); and The Offending Gesture by Mac Wellman, directed by Meghan Finn (2016), as well as Drama Desk Award-nominated productions The Hunger Artist (2018), The Paper Hat Game (2017), the ephemera trilogy (2017), Ada/Ava (2016) and youarenowhere (2016). Artists who have come through The Tank include Alex Timbers, Amy Herzog, Lucy Alibar, Kyle Jarrow, Reggie Watts, Kyle Abraham, Andrew Bujalski, We Are Scientists, and tens of thousands of others. TheTankNYC.org
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.
On Saturday, May 23 at 8pm, LAByrinth Theater Company is presenting a one-night-only virtual benefit reading of Our Lady of 121st Street, the play that led The New York Times to dub Stephen Adly Guirgis “the poet laureate of the angry,” and to declare LAByrinth “perhaps the most exciting troupe in the city.”
This event is free to the public, and donations will be accepted throughout the evening to help the company maintain operations and continue their growth amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The reading will be available to view for 24 hours. To learn more about streaming the reading and to donate, visit www.labtheater.org.
Bobby Cannavale. Photo by Lia ChangElizabeth Rodriguez. Photo by Lia Chang
Helmed by Elizabeth Rodriguez* (who understudied the original production), the reading will feature eight members of the original Off-Broadway cast: Elizabeth Canavan*, Liza Colón-Zayas*, Scott Hudson*, Russell G. Jones*, Portia*, Al Roffe*, Felix Solis*, and David Zayas*. Joining them are LAB members Bobby Cannavale*, John Doman*, Laurence Fishburne, and Dierdre Friel. David Deblinger*, who originated the role of Gail in the Center Stage, NY production, is reading stage directions.
Elizabeth Canavan
Liza Colón-Zayas
Scott Hudson
Russell G. Jones
Portia
Al Roffe
David Zayas
Bobby Cannavale
John Doman
Laurence Fishburne
David Deblinger
Dierdre Friel
Felix Solis
The Ortiz Funeral Room is in big trouble: The body of beloved The Ortiz Funeral Room is in big trouble: The body of beloved community activist and nun Sister Rose has been stolen from the viewing room, and waiting for her proper return are some of New York City’s most emotionally charged, life-challenged neighborhood denizens, trying to find a place to put their grief, checkered pasts, and their uncertain futures.
Stephen Adly Guirgis and Bobby Cannavale. Photo by Lia Chang
Among the equally hilarious and tragic twelve characters, you’ll meet Rooftop, a chronically unfaithful but otherwise popular Los Angeles DJ, looking to reconcile with the love of his life; Pinky and Edwin, two brothers tragically linked forever; and the outrageously angry Norca, who doesn’t let the fact that she slept with her best friend’s husband deter her from the full expectation of being immediately forgiven of her sin by her best friend, Inez, still in pain fifteen years later. The rest of the crowd in this dark, insightful, and very funny comedy inevitably square off on each other, motivated by rage, pain, and a scary desire to come clean—perhaps for the first time.
A reflective David Zayas in Our Lady of 121st Street. Photo by Joan Marcus
Our Lady of 121st Street originally ran in an Off-Broadway production by the LAByrinth Theater at Center Stage/NY and then transferred to the Union Square Theatre from March 6, 2003 to July 27, 2003. Helmed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the cast featured Elizabeth Canavan (Marcia), Liza Colon-Zayas (Norca), David Deblinger (Gail), Melissa Feldman (Sonya), Mark Hammer (Father Lux), Ron Cephas Jones (Rooftop), Russell G. Jones (Flip), Richard Petrocelli (Victor), Portia (Inez), Al Roffe (Pinky), Felix Solis (Balthazar) and David Zayas (Edwin).
Russell G. Jones as Flip and David Deblinger as Gail, Our Lady of 121st Street at the Union Square Theater in 2003. Photo by Joan Marcus
Panic attack: David Zayas helps Elizabeth Canavan with her inhaler in Our Lady of 121st Street at Union Square Theater in 2003. Photo: Webb Wilcoxen
The play received: 10 best plays of 2003; Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Best Play nominations. In 2018, Signature Theatre Company presented the revival of Our Lady of 121st Street, helmed by Tony winner Phylicia Rashad in the Irene Diamond Stage. The cast featured Joey Auzenne, Obie Award winner Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Erick Betancourt, Maki Borden, Jimonn Cole, John Doman, Dierdre Friel, Hill Harper, Kevin Isola, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Paola Lázaro, and John Procaccino.
From left: Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Hill Harper and Deirdre Friel in ‘Our Lady of 121st Street’ at Signature Theatre in 2018. Photo by Monique Carboni
The revival received a 2019 Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Quincy Tyler Bernstine, 2019 Drama Desk Award nomination Outstanding Revival of a Play, a 2019 Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance for Quincy Tyler Bernstine, a 2019 Hewes Design Award nomination for Costume Design for Alexis Forte, a 2019 Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Play Revival, 2019 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play, 2018 Artios Award nomination for New York Theatre – Comedy or Musical, for David Caparelliotis and Lauren Port, 2018 AUDELCO Award nominations for Lead Actor in a Play for Hill Harper and Lead Actress in a Play for Quincy Tyler Bernstine.
Stephen Adly Guirgis, Elizabeth Canavan, Liza Colón-Zayas. Photo by Lia Chang
The company will also use the evening to present Stephen Adly Guirgis with the Dave Hogue Award. The Dave Hogue Award is LAByrinth Theater Company’s highest accolade given to a member of our community in honor of their artistic courage and outstanding dedication to LAB. This year, we are thrilled to present The Dave Hogue to Stephen Adly Guirgis. Stephen’s longtime commitment of 25+ years to LAB, his contributions of over a dozen groundbreaking world premiere plays with LAB, his tenure as a past artistic director, his role as a mentor to many younger artists, and as a conduit of meaningful relationships, like Dave Hogue, for LAB makes this year’s distinguished presentation a no-brainer.
LAByrinth’s 2019 co-production with Atlantic Theater Company of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven, directed by Artistic Director John Ortiz, Stephen Adly Guirgis’s HALFWAY BITCHES GO STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN garnered three 2020 Outer Critics Circle Honors including Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Liza Colón-Zayas and Outstanding Director of Play for John Ortiz. The production also received 13 award nominations this year and is the most nominated play of this awards season.
Award Nominations:
-2020 Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play for Liza Colón-Zayas
-2020 Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Actress in a Play for Liza Colón-Zayas, Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Victor Almanzar and Esteban Andres Cruz, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for Kristina Poe and Elizabeth Rodriguez, Outstanding Director for John Ortiz, and Outstanding Fight Choreography for UnkleDave’s Fight House.
-2019-20 Off Broadway Alliance Award Nomination for Best New Play
-2020 Drama League Distinguished Performance Award nominations for Liza Colón-Zayas and Elizabeth Rodriguez
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven features Victor Almanzar (Between Riverside and Crazy), David Anzuelo (Se Llama Cristina), Elizabeth Canavan (Between Riverside and Crazy), Lucille Lortel Award winner Sean Carvajal (Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train, King Lear), Patrice Johnson Chevannes (The Homecoming Queen), Molly Collier (Salutations! I’m Creative Dave), Liza Colón-Zayas (Mary Jane, Between Riverside and Crazy), Esteban Andres Cruz (Off-Broadway Debut), Greg Keller (Do You Feel Anger?), Wilemina Olivia-Garcia (Dutch Heart Of Man), Kristina Poe (The Idea of Me), Neil Tyrone Pritchard (The Stowaway), Elizabeth Rodriguez (“Orange is the New Black,” The Motherf#cker with the Hat), Andrea Syglowski (queens), Benja Kay Thomas (Barbecue), viviana valeria (Off-Broadway Debut), Pernell Walker (Seed), and Kara Young (The New Englanders).
Elizabeth Canavan, Patrice Johnson Chevannes, Kara Young and Benja Kay Thomas in “Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven.” Photo: Monique Carboni
Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis takes his style to another level in this world premiere play about the harrowing, humorous, and heartbreaking inner workings of a women’s halfway house in New York City.
Stephen Adly Guirgis & John Ortiz. Photo by Lia Chang
John Ortiz, Elizabeth Canavan and David Anzuelo. Photo by Lia Chang
Kirrin Tubo, Biko Eisen-Martin, Paola Lázaro, Victor Almanzar, Kara Young, Norman Small, Patrice Johnson Chevannes, John Ortiz, Wilemina Olivia-Garcia. Photo by Lia Chang
Neil Pepe, Stephen Adly Guirgis & John Ortiz. Photo by Lia Chang
Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven features scenic design by Narelle Sissons, costume design by Alexis Forte, lighting design by Mary Louise Geiger, sound design and original compositions by Elisheba Ittoop, fight direction by UnkleDave’s Fight House, casting by Telsey + Company, and animals by William Berloni.
About LAByrinth Theater Company
Originally known as Latino Actors Base, LAByrinth Theater Company was founded in 1992 by a small group of actors who wanted to push their artistic limits, and tell more inclusive stories that expanded the boundaries of mainstream theater.
Elizabeth Canavan, Patrice Johnson Chevannes, Elizabeth Rodriguez & Liza Colón-Zayas. Photo by Lia Chang
Over twenty-five years, that small group of actors has grown to a company of more than a hundred artists. LAByrinth is an ensemble-driven company comprised of actors, designers, directors, musicians, and writers committed to developing and producing new works for the stage, giving voice to new perspectives that are powerful, groundbreaking, and have changed the face of America’s theatrical landscape.
Wilemina Olivia-Garcia, Andrea Syglowski, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Patrice Johnson Chevannes, Esteban Andres Cruz, Kristina Poe. Photo by Lia Chang
LAB’s journey has taken them from INTAR, to Center Stage NY, to The Public Theater, to the Bank St. Theater and now their newest home, NYC’s oldest continuously running off-broadway theater, the Cherry Lane Theatre.
LAByrinth Theater Company members attend the 2014 Steinberg Playwright Awards hosted by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust on November 17, 2014 in New York City. Photo by Lia Chang
From LAB’s first two productions in the early 90’s, David Deblinger’s one man show, Nobody’s Home, and Lilian Slugocki’s family drama RoughHouse at INTAR, to multiple Stephen Adly Guirgis world premieres including In Arabia, We’d All be Kings (1999), Jesus Hopped the A Train (2000), and Our Lady of 121st Street (2002) with all three directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman at Center Stage NY, to Brett C. Leonard’s Guinea Pig Solo (2004) and Bob Glaudini’s Jack Goes Boating (2007) at The Public Theater, to Melissa Ross’s Thinner Than Water (2011) at the Bank St Theater, to Maggie Bofill’s Devil of Choice (2018) at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and most recently, our co-production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’s Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven with Atlantic Theater Company, LAByrinth Theater Company has produced over fifty world premieres and developed over 250 new plays.
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.
“The Drama Desk celebrates all that’s outstanding in the work of New York’s diverse theater artists and craftspeople. We regret the postponement of our awards ceremony tonight but, as an organization committed to the principle that all voices must be heard, we stand together with our black colleagues against the racial injustice and violence in our nation and city. We are grateful to Spectrum News NY1 for its comprehensive news coverage of this painful moment.” —Drama Desk Co-Presidents Charles Wright & David Barbour
June 2 at 3:00 PM:
June 9 at 3:00 PM:
June 16 at 3:00 PM:
June 16 at 7:00 PM:
June 30 at 3:00 PM:
June 30 at 7:00 PM:
Our Lady of 121st Street originally ran in an Off-Broadway production by the LAByrinth Theater at Center Stage/NY and then transferred to the Union Square Theatre from March 6, 2003 to July 27, 2003. Helmed by Philip Seymour Hoffman, the cast featured Elizabeth Canavan (Marcia), Liza Colon-Zayas (Norca), David Deblinger (Gail), Melissa Feldman (Sonya), Mark Hammer (Father Lux), Ron Cephas Jones (Rooftop), Russell G. Jones (Flip), Richard Petrocelli (Victor), Portia (Inez), Al Roffe (Pinky), Felix Solis (Balthazar) and David Zayas (Edwin).
