The Public Theater is presenting the New York premiere of Wild Goose Dreams, written by Hansol Jung and directed by Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman. After its initial run in Public Studio, and in a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, this fascinating and unforgettable new play with music, will begin previews with a Free First Preview in The Public’s Martinson Hall on Tuesday, October 30. Wild Goose Dreams runs through Sunday, December 9, with an official press opening on Wednesday, November 14.
The complete cast of Wild Goose Dreams features Dan Domingues (Chorus), Lulu Fall (Digital Nanhee/Chorus), Kendyl Ito (Heejin/Chorus), Francis Jue (Father), Peter Kim (Guk Minsung), Michelle Krusiec (Yoo Nanhee), Jaygee Macapugay (Wife/Chorus), Joél Pérez (Digital Minsung/Chorus), Jamar Williams (Chorus), and Katrina Yaukey (Chorus).
Wild Goose Dreams returns to The Public after its initial run in Public Studio in a co-production with La Jolla Playhouse, where it had a critically-acclaimed run last season. Minsung is a “goose father,” a South Korean man whose wife and daughter have moved to America for a better life. Deeply lonely, he escapes onto the internet and meets Nanhee, a young defector forced to leave her family behind in North Korea. Amidst the endless noise of the modern world, where likes and shares have taken the place of love and touch, Minsung and Nanhee try their best to be real for each other. But after a lifetime of division and separation, is connection possible? Tony nominee Leigh Silverman directs this strikingly original play with music, about two people from two cultures forced to choose between family and freedom.
Wild Goose Dreams features scenic design by Clint Ramos, costume design by Linda Cho, lighting design by Keith Parham, sound design by Palmer Hefferan, composition by Paul Castles, Korean music composition by Jongbin Jung, movement direction by Yasmine Lee, and music supervision by Charity Wicks.
Hansol Jung (Playwright). Productions include Cardboard Piano (Actors Theater of Louisville), Among the Dead (Ma-Yi Theater), and No More Sad Things (Sideshow, Boise Contemporary). Commissions include National Theatre (UK); La Jolla Playhouse; Playwrights Horizons; Seattle Repertory; Ma-Yi Theater Company; Artists Repertory; and Play On! at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Fellowships and residencies include Royal Court, New York Theatre Workshop, Berkeley Repertory, MacDowell Colony, Hedgebrook, Sundance Theatre Lab, O’Neill Theater Center, Victory Gardens, and Page 73 Productions. Jung received a Whiting Award and Helen Merrill Award. Jung received her MFA from Yale School of Drama, and is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab and Usual Suspects at NYTW.
Leigh Silverman (Director). Public Theater credits include The Outer Space, No Place to Go, In the Wake (also CTG/Berkeley, Obie Award, Lortel nomination), Yellow Face, and Well. Silverman’s Broadway credits include Lifespan of a Fact (Studio 54), Violet (Roundabout, Tony nomination), Chinglish, and Well. Recent credits include Soft Power by Jeanine Tesori/David Henry Hwang (Ahmanson Theater/Curran Theater) and Harry Clarke (Vineyard Theatre/Minetta Lane, Lortel nomination). Other credits include Sweet Charity (New Group); On the Exhale (Roundabout); All The Ways to Say I Love You (MCC); The Way We Get By (Second Stage); Tumacho (Clubbed Thumb); American Hero (Williamstown Theater Festival/Second Stage); Kung Fu and Golden Child (Signature Theatre); The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, The Call, and Go Back to Where You Are (Obie Award, Playwrights Horizons); and The Madrid (MTC). Encores credits include Really Rosie, The Wild Party, and Violet.
Dan Domingues (Chorus) has performed at The Public in Fidelis, The Great Immensity, and Let Me Ascertain You (Joe’s Pub). Off-Broadway credits include Rattlestick, Abingdon, BAM, 59E59, INTAR, Atlantic, and Cherry Lane. Select regional credits include Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, Guthrie, Goodman, NY Stage & Film, Hangar Theatre, Studio Theatre, Cape Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Long Wharf, Florida Stage, Portland Stage, and George Street. His film credits include Run All Night, Future ’38, and In Stereo, and television credits include “West40s,” “Blacklist,” “Royal Pains,” and “Law & Order.” He received his MFA from A.R.T. and is an Associate Artist with The Civilians.
Lulu Fall (Digital Nanhee/Chorus). Broadway credits include Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and Hair. Off-Broadway credits include Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Pretty Filthy; Hadestown; and This Ain’t No Disco. She appeared in the national tour of Hair. Regional credits include The Who’s Tommy, Acid Queen (Denver Center); Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Capital Repertory Theatre); and Passing Strange (Studio Theatre). Select workshops include August Rush, 15 Minutes, and Annie Golden Bounty Hunter. Television credits include “Random Acts of Flyness” (HBO). Her featured music performances include Jazz Re:freshed (London) and American Songbook Program.
Kendyl Ito (Heejin/Chorus) performed in the national tour of Matilda. Regional credits include Soft Power (world premiere), A Chorus Line, Grease, Rent, Seussical, American Idiot, and Oliver. His concerts include 54 Sings Little Women, Music and Laughter, Samantha Spade, and Hatched.
Francis Jue (Father) has performed at The Public in Yellow Face, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Hamlet, Timon of Athens, Pericles, King Lear, A Winter’s Tale, A Language of Their Own, and Richard II. Broadway credits include Pacific Overtures, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and M. Butterfly. Off-Broadway credits include Kung Fu, Coraline, and Falsettoland. Regional credits include Soft Power; In the Next Room (or the vibrator play); Cabaret; King of the Yees; Tiger Style!; Miss Saigon; and Amadeus. Film and television credits include Joyful Noise, “Madam Secretary,” “Good Wife,” and “Law & Order: SVU.” He has received Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards.
Peter Kim (Guk Minsung) has appeared at The Public in Yellow Face. Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie and Off-Broadway credits include Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery (NAATCO), Kung Fu (Signature), The Golden Dragon (PlayCo), Maple and Vine (Playwrights Horizons), Year Zero (2ST), American Hwangap (PlayCo/Ma-Yi), and Sides (Ma-Yi). Film credits include Saturday Church, Margin Call, Sex and the City, and Hackers. Television credits include “After Forever,” “Chicago Med,” “Mercy,” and “Ugly Betty.” He is an associate producer at NAATCO and a lecturer at Princeton University. Kim is a recipient of the Lilah Kan Red Socks Award.
Michelle Krusiec (Yoo Nanhee). Regional credits include Chinglish (International Broadway tour, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Rep and Hong Kong Arts Festival). Krusiec wrote and performed the solo show Made in Taiwan (HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival, New York Asian American Theatre Festival, NY Fringe Festival, and Fringe Encores). Her workshop credits include King of Hell’s Palace (Goodman) and Kung Fu (Signature). Her selected film credits include The Invitation, Saving Face, and Far North, and selected television credits include “Supergirl,” “Hawaii-5-0,” and “Getting On.” She also wrote and directed Scenes from a Real Marriage. Krusiec received a Best Actress nomination for The Golden Horse Awards.
Jaygee Macapugay (Chorus/Wife) has appeared at The Public in Here Lies Love as Imelda Marcos and on Broadway in School of Rock. Her Off-Broadway credits include School of Rock (Gramercy); Hello, Dolly! (National Asian Artists Project); Imelda: A New Musical (Pan Asian Rep/East West Players); and Honor, The Rockae (Prospect Theatre). Regional credits include Soft Power (Ahmanson, Curran); The King and I (KC Starlight); Miss Saigon (MUNY, 5th Avenue, Casa Mañana); and Smokey Joe’s Café (Maltz Jupiter, Riverside). International credits include Where Elephants Weep. She is a USO singer.
JOÉL PÉREZ (Digital Minsung/Chorus) has appeared at The Public in Oedipus El Rey, As You Like It, and Fun Home (and Broadway). Off-Broadway credits include Sweet Charity (The New Group, Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical) and Raw Bacon from Poland (Abrons Art Center). Regional and tour credits include In the Heights (first national) and Stuck Elevator (A.C.T.). Pérez is an ensemble member of Broken Box Mime Theater. Television credits include “Jesus Christ Superstar Live!;” “Person of Interest;” “Odd Mom Out;” “The Big C;” and “The Outs.”
Jamar Williams (Chorus). Off-Broadway credits include The Hairy Ape (Park Ave Armory), The Death of The Last Black Man...(Signature Theater), and Invisible Thread (Second Stage). Regional credits include Passing Strange (Wilma Theatre); Burn All Night, Witness Uganda, The Black Clown (A.R.T.); The Cardboard Piano (Humana Fest); and Hairspray, The Piano Lesson (Santa Rosa Rep). Workshop and readings credits include Sundance Theater Lab (new musical by Jeanine Tesori, David Lindsay Abaire), Secret Soldiers (Marsha Norman/Zoe Sarnak, WTF), Director’s Lab 2016 (Lincoln Center), and tour credits include Theatre Works USA.
Katrina Yaukey (Chorus) has performed at The Public in Road Show. Her Broadway credits include Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812; Cabaret (2014); War Horse; Billy Elliot; Company; and Cabaret (1998). Her tour credits include Billy Elliot, Sweeney Todd, Cabaret, and Victor/Victoria.
Full price tickets, starting at $55, can be accessed by calling (212) 967-7555, visiting www.publictheater.org, or in person at the Taub Box Office at The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street.
David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Flower Drum Song) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home). Directed by Leigh Silverman (Violet) and choreographed by Sam Pinkleton (Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812), SOFT POWER rewinds our recent political history and plays it back, a century later, through the Chinese lens of a future, beloved East-meets-West musical. In the musical, a Chinese executive who is visiting America finds himself falling in love with a good-hearted U.S. leader as the power balance between their two countries shifts following the 2016 election.
