Pork Filled Players (Seattle, WA)
Summertime Spam*O*Rama
June 20, July 10 and 11, 2009

At the Theatre Off Jackson (409 7th Ave. in Seattle's International District)

July 10 and 11, at 8 pm, with

• the Darin' Joes, award winning Asian Canadian sketch comedy
  
• Anita Absolut
• the world debut of Killer Donut, Seattle's newest sketch comedy group.

Set on the outskirts of Fort Bragg, a troubled Asian American woman returns to her family's donut/egg roll shop in the army town of Fayetteville, North Carolina. During one momentous night, she tries to iron out her relationship with her mother and meets a young African American army private about to be deployed to Iraq. All three try to connect despite uncertainty of the future, and the soft-spoken racism and claustrophobia of those stuck on the fringes of military life.

Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis, MN)
Flower Drum Song
Music by Richard Rogers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein
Book by David Henry Hwang
June 27 to July 12, 2009
McKnight Theatre, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

Asian American Theatre Company (San Francisco, CA)
New Works Incubator Showcase
June 30 to July 5, 2009

AATC NEWWORKS INCUBATOR SHOWCASE:
readings of excerpts of new plays

Tuesday, June 30, 7:30pm
- QUANTUM LOVE by Amisha Veda
Do the laws of love and sex obey the laws of Quantum Mechanics?
- SOUTHERN SAILS by Alex Park
In the tradition of K-horror films, the vengeful forces of ill-fated love haunt this ghost play.

Wednesday, July 1, 7:30pm
- DUBLIN by Lisa Kang
An exploration of father/daughter relationships and the likelihood of finding romance and a good used elephant in San Jose, California.
- LU SHEN THE MAD by Christopher Chen
An English translation of a Chinese adaptation of the Greek play "Herakles."

AATC NEWWORKS INCUBATOR WORKSHOPS:
full staged readings of new plays with Q&A and panel discussion

Sunday, July 5, 6:00pm
- BEIJING, CALIFORNIA by Paul Heller
A mini-series in theater form that explores a future in which China invades America...and the U.S. devolves into a third world nation.

October 2009, TBD
- BLOOD IS THICK by Duy Nguyen
A thriller unfolding in a whirlwind across four stages surrounding the audience. Hitting rock bottom, desiring a normal life, a drug-dealer invades a family and ensnares them in a horrific deception--it takes a bit of madness to be normal.

LOCATION FOR SHOWCASE AND WORKSHOPS:
Thick House
1695 18th Street (near Arkansas)
San Francisco
Admission is free

Meet the artists at Lingba Lounge (one block away) after each of the readings!

Kumu Kahua Theatre (Honolulu, HI)
Da Mayah
by Lee Cataluna
July 9 to 26, 2009

Returning for an encore run.

East West Players (Los Angeles, CA)
The Marriage of Cruz & Chu: Our Big Fat Filipino-Chinese Wedding
Banquet
July 11, 2009

East West Players' Actors Conservatory is pleased to present its annual Studio Lab Project - a madcap interactive dinner theatre show! Join Romeo and Jenny for a wedding and reception where everything that can go wrong, does.

Dine and mingle with crazy in-laws, offbeat bridesmaids and groomsmen, exboyfriends and less-than-polite guests. Ceremonial malfunctions, Asian culture clash, family secrets, barongs and cheongsams, drunk wedding dedications, unexpected romances, musical numbers and more!

Admission: All seats $25
Includes dinner - Mama Cruz won't let you leave hungry!
No Host Bar located across from the banquet room.

Proceeds go to supporting the Actors Conservatory and East West Players' educational programs. The goal of the Studio Lab Project is to give students who have been studying with the program for a minimum of one year the opportunity to use their newly learned performance skills before a live audience and to create an environment that simulates a professional theatre process.

Ford Amphitheatre (Los Angeles, CA)
ON ENSEMBLE ROCKS THE FORD IN
BIG!WORLD!FUN! FAMILY SHOW
JULY 11, 2009
AT 10 A.M.

Children admitted FREE to one-hour programs for families.

Arrive early for crafts and fun at 9:00 a.m.

All-original, ground-breaking music played on Japanese drums resounds at the Ford Saturday, July 11 at 10 a.m. when the On Ensemble visits the Ford’s Big!World!Fun! family series. This season’s family performances are inspired by the four elements – earth, air, fire, water - and science-based crafts and fun begin at 9:00 a.m.

With Japanese drums at the foundation of its world fusion mix, On Ensemble takes the ancient instruments of taiko into new realms. Infusing the powerful rhythms of ensemble Japanese drumming with elements of hip-hop, rock, and electronica, On Ensemble seeks to create music that reflects the diverse interests of its four members - Masato Baba, Shoji Kameda, Kelvin Underwood and Kristofer Bergstrom. They will explain the instruments they play and their historical roots, providing context for their modern take on traditional Japanese drums.

Admission to all events is FREE for children and $5 for adults, plus all Big!World!Fun! attendees receive coupons for discount admission to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
Parking is only $1. To reserve/purchase tickets, call the Ford box office at 323 461-3673 or visit www.FordTheatres.org .

Big!World!Fun! family events are hour-long performances designed for children ages 4 to 10 and their parents and grandparents. The series continues with the invigorating mix of Masanga Marimba’s “Musical Raindrops: Songs, Stories & Dances from Zimbabwe” (July 25); J.U.i.C.E. and the Hip Hop Handbook’s “A Hurricane of Hip Hop” (August 1); DreamDance’s journey into the Chinese landscape, “Dancing in the Rain” (August 8); the reverberating foot beats and high intensity of Celtic Spring’s “An Earthquake of Irish Dance” (August 15); Helios Dance Theater’s sea voyage, “The Lotus Eaters” (August 22); and Hula Halau Ka Lehua Uluwehi I Ka Lani demonstrating the graceful, expressive elements of hula in “Hawaiian Breezes” (August 29).

The Big!World!Fun! Family Series is sponsored by The Nissan Foundation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation and Macy’s and presented by the Ford Theatre Foundation.

The media sponsor of Big!World!Fun! is ABC7.

Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, CA)
Allegiance
words and music by Jay Kuo
July 13, 2009

A world-premiere reading presentation of selected scenes and songs from Allegiance, starring Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Les Miz, Flower Drum Song) & George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes).

Music & Lyrics by Jay Kuo

Book by Jay Kuo and Lorenzo Thione

Arrangements and Music & Vocal Direction by Frank Johnson

Allegiance is a new musical about love, loss and heroism during the Japanese American internment. This concert presentation of selected songs and scenes features actors “on-book” at music stands, without costumes, props or sets. This format permits attendees to listen to and appreciate the work’s potential in its purest and rawest form.

Also Starring: Mike Hagiwara (Manzanar), Michael Lee (Miss Saigon, Pacific Overtures), Jose Llana (Spelling Bee, Rent, Flower Drum Song); Jennifer Paz (Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song), Enrico Rodriguez (Mamma Mia, Rent), James Snyder (Cry-Baby, Bare Cast Recording) and Tamlyn Tomita (Karate Kid II, Joy Luck Club, Heroes).

PROGRAM

7:00 PM - Performance (Free Admission with RSVP)

8:30 PM - Wine Reception benefiting SFNTW ($50 tax-deductible donation)

Please RSVP to this event via Facebook and CONFIRM by sending email to ceci@sfntw.org

For more information on our plans for Broadway and how to get involved with this groundbreaking work, please contact us at info@sfntw.org.

Vampire Cowboy Theatre (New York, NY)
Fight Girl Battle World
July 14 to 19, 2009

SOUL SAMURAI may have closed, but fan favorite FIGHT GIRL BATTLE WORLD returns this summer!

Lodestone Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
KARAOKE IDOL FUNDRAISER:
KARAOKE IDOL
July 19, 2009

A fundraiser to support Lodestone's 10th season and the production of CLOSER THAN EVER. Come out to sing and compete for cool prizes. Don't want to sing, cheer on your favorites plus free appetizers, raffle prizes, drink specials and great friends to hang with. Karaoke Idol's celebrity judges include: MICHAEL ORLAND, assistant music director and vocal coach from American Idol; RYAN O'CONNOR from the YouTube The Ryan O'Connor Show and more to come. Plus, a special sneak peek performance from the cast of CLOSER THAN EVER.

Café Bleu
3470 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020

Sunday, July 19th, 2009
6:00pm - midnight
Doors Open at 6pm
Karaoke Idol Starts at 7pm

TICKETS AT THE DOOR:
$12 General Admission
$25 General Admission & Entry fee for Karaoke Idol contest

SPECIAL LOW PRESALE PRICES (If checks received by July 17):
$10 General Admission
$20 General Admission & Karaoke Idol Contest

Please make checks out to Lodestone Theatre Ensemble and mail to:
Lodestone Karaoke Idol Fundraiser
PO Box 1072
Studio City, CA 91614

All pre-sale tickets must be received by July 17th, 2009. No "prizes" won are redeemable for cash or have cash value. Please include your name, # of tickets you're buying and phone/email for confirmation. Please include all names of karaoke entrants separately.

Silk Road Theatre (Chicago, IL)
will present a staged reading
Ching Chong Chinaman
by Lauren Yee
July 24 to 26, 2009

at Chicago DCA's Storefront Theater, July 24-26. Lavina Jadhwani will direct.

The comedy riffs on Asian American stereotypes and expectations, as an "ultra-assimilated" Chinese American family acquire a Chinese indentured servant. The cast will include Danny Bernardo, Gordon Chow, Christine Lin, Nick Shoda, Kimberlee Soo, and Tiffany Villarin. The production team will include Christine Ferriter (lights) and Tamar Daskin (set).

Yee's play was a finalist for the 2008 Princess Grace Award and the winner of Kumu Kahua Theatre's 2007 Pacific Rim Prize. It has previously been produced at Mu Performing Arts in Minneapolis, Impact Theatre in Berkeley, and the New York International Fringe Festival.

18 Mighty Mountain Warriors (Los Angeles, CA)
Bow Down To Your Asian Masters
July 31 to August 31, 2009

Start Time: Friday, July 31, 2009 at 8:00pm
End Time: Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 8:00pm
Location: the Complex's Dorie Theater
Street: 6476 Santa Monica Blvd.
City/Town: Hollywood, CA

ALL NEW theatrical comedy sketches from the 18mmw! Comedy at the speed of laugh!

Lodestone Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
Closer Than Ever
A musical revue with words by Richard Maltby, Jr.
and music by David Shire
Directed by Chil Kong (The Mikado Project)
August 8 to 30, 2009

Conceived by Steven Scott Smith, the dialogue-free two-act musical features classic songs about life, love and everything in-between.

See News story.

Rasaka Theatre (Chicago, IL)
culture/clash
August 13 to September 5, 2009

• Instant Recall by Anita Chandwaney:  Madhu can't seem to recall why she asked Nigel to meet her at the café—or can she? 
• Night Shift by Angeli Primlani:  A young girl and an older woman face danger and each other in the middle of the night in a motel lobby on a quiet North Carolina highway. 
• Midnite's Vultures by Pushkar Sharma:  Two Indian-American poets in their twenties confront the paradoxes of their identity when asked what it means to be an Indian in America.

See News story

Kumu Kahua Theatre (Honolulu, HI)
The Statehood Project
August 21 to September 13, 2009

Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis, MN)
The Romance of Magno Rubio
by Lonnie Carter
September 4 to 20, 2009

Victory Garden Theatre (Chicago, IL)
Year Zero
by Michael Golamco
September 11 to October 25, 2009

Vuthy Vichea is a 16-year-old Cambodian American. He loves hip-hop and Dungeons and Dragons. He is a weird kid in a place where weirdness can be fatal: Long Beach, California. And since his best friend moved and his mother died, the only person he can talk to is a human skull he keeps hidden in a cookie jar.

Sharp, funny, and packing an emotional wallop, Year Zero is about being chased across an ocean by death, standing firm, and confronting it head on. An Ignition Festival standout, Year Zero subsequently won the Pacific Century Playwriting Competition at East-West Players, and is a finalist at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference. This touching family drama promises to be wonderful pick for Victory Gardens' first world premiere in its intimate new 2nd floor Studio Theater.

2nd National Asian American Theatre Festival
New York City
October 8 to 18, 2008

Performances of the 2nd National Asian American Theatre Festival will be held at

Theatre for the New City (155 First Ave. at 10th St)

Julia Miles Theatre (424 W. 55th St.) in Manhattan.

Tickets will be available for purchase via Ovation as the festival dates approach. Stayed tuned to the NAATF website for specific production dates and times. Shows include:

Pan Asian Repertory (New York, NY)
Imelda: A New Musical
book by Sachi Oyama
music by Nathan Wang
lyrics by Aaron Coleman
September 22 to October 18, 2009

Performed with fast moving scenes, songs and dance, IMELDA is an involving portrait of an ambitious woman who wanted to put her country as an equal player on the world stage.

Starring: Alan Ariano | Angelica-Lee Aspiras| Billy Bustamante | Leanne Cabrera | Liz Casasola| Sacha Iskra | Brian Jose| Loresa Lanceta | Jaygee Macapugay | Jonelle Margallo |Mel Sagrado Maghuyop | Romney Piamonte

TICKETS ON SALE JUNE 1 through Telecharge: 212-239-6200 or at www.telecharge.com $55-$20 With discounts for Seniors, Students, Groups And Community and Corporate Partners Sept 22–Oct 18, 2009 • Tue–Sat at 7:30 • Sun at 3:00 Plus Sat matinee Oct 17 at 2:30 No Evening Perf Tue Oct 6 Opening Night, Sept 30 at 7:00–Tickets $100, Includes post-show cast party $10 School Matinee: Sept 22, 23, 30, Oct 2, 6, 8 at 11:00am Call Pan Asian Rep for advance tickets or more info: 212-868-4030 | www.panasianrep.org | info@panasianrep.org

Sharif Don't Like It
by Shishir Kurup

A new one man show about the US Department of Homeland Security's dubiou.s treatment of people of Asian and Middle Eastern descent post 9/11.

Bahu-Beti-Bewi (Daughter-in-Law, Daughter, Wife)
by Sheetal Gandhi

A new dance/theatre piece about the lvies of contemporary women in Northern India, set to ancient songs performed by women from that region

Ma-Yi Theatre
Labfest III

Readings of new plays presented by the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, the resident company of Asian American playwrights under the aegis of the Obie Award winning Ma-Yi THeater Company. Labfest is curated by Qui Nguyen and Lloyd Suh, respectively the authors of the recently acclaimed Off Broadway plays Soul Samurai and American Hwangap.

National Asian American Theatre Company
The Seagull
by Anton Chekhov

This re-imagining of Chekhov's 1896 masterpiece - set during the summer holiday of a renowned actress, her family and admirers on an country estate - will highlight the oft-forgotten comedy/slapstick elements of Chekhov's work.

In addition, there will (I think) be Festival Panels, under the rubric of 20th Century Performances in the 21st Century: The Future of Asian American Theatre. This will be a series of public forums that examine Asian American theatre, past and present, through a variety of performance art, dance and musical performances. These will be presented by Asian Pacific Americans Contemporary Unilateral Neo-Theatre, a collective of playwrights and directions, including Kristina Wong (Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Alice Tuan (Ajax [por nobody]), Katie Pearl (Nita and Zita) and Hatnim Lee.

Well, that's what the web site is saying now...

Silk Road Theatre (Chicago, IL)
SILK ROAD CABARET
An Evening of Story, Song and Dance
October 24, 2009

This special event in the majestic and newly renovated main sanctuary of the Chicago Temple, First United Methodist Church promises to be a Silk Road Theatre Project milestone. The evening's entertainment will feature Silk Road inspired story, song and dance, as well as the inaugural presentation of the Silk Road Trailblazer Awards, honoring prominent artists and arts patrons.

Lodestone (Los Angeles, CA)
Grace Kim and the Spiders From Mars
by Philip W. Chung
November 14 to December 20, 2009

Directed by Jeff Liu (Texas)
A new comedy about falling in love with your sister's future husband, beginnings/endings and what to do if you suspect you were born on the wrong planet. Written specifically to serve as Lodestone's swan song, this play will be retired permanently after its Lodestone run.

SIS Productions (Seattle, WA)
Insatiable! (4-peat)
November 15, 2009

The fourth iteration of new plays by Asian American writers! Now a Seattle tradition!

Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis, MN)
taiko caravan
December 2009

With San Jose Taiko.

Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis, MN)
Yellow Face
by David Henry Hwang
February 6 to 21, 2010

Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis, MN)
Becoming
by Iris Shiraishi
June 2010

This world premiere is personal journey of discovery from Shiraishi’s own childhood in Hawaii to her work as a taiko artist with Mu Performing Arts. An intimate piece filled with ritual and song, Becoming is an uplifting work close to the heart of Mu.