MIXED MESSAGES at East West

East West Players, the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, begins its 39th Anniversary Season New Perspectives with the world premiere of Mixed Messages by Cherylene Lee, directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera.

Merging science, art and politics, Lee's play is inspired by the Census 2000 report detailing growing populations of people with mixed heritage in California. It was developed during Lee's National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Playwright Residency with East West Players through interviews with high school students of mixed heritage and research informed by the writer's own degree in paleontology from UC Berkeley, master's degree in geology from UCLA and her volunteer work at the La Brea Tar Pits.

A 9,000-year old human skull from the La Brea Tar Pits becomes the center of controversy as a physical anthropologist and Chumash tribe descendant battle over its classification as research fossil or Native American ancestor. As they uncover the skull's past, both are forced to confront their own identities as people of mixed race and emotions spark, pitting culture against science and heritage against ethnicity.

"As the Asian Pacific American community becomes more and more diverse East West Players must work to tell that changing story. We know that people of mixed heritage deal with questions over identity and culture and will ultimately create a true melting pot‚ society in the United States. East West Players is excited to present Cherylene Lee's play that will help explore the unique stories of people of mixed heritage," said East West Players Producing Artist Director Tim Dang.
Mixed Messages is Cherylene Lee's fourth production at East West Players. Her other plays include ANTIGONE FALUN GONG, THE LEGACY CODES, CARRY THE TIGER TO THE MOUNTAIN, ARTHUR AND LEILA, WONG BOW RIDES AGAIN, THE BALLAD OF DOC HAY, OVERTONES, KNOCK OFF BALANCE, LOST VEGAS ACTS and YIN CHIN BOW. Her work has been produced at theaters around the country including Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA); Pan Asian Rep (New York, NY); TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA); Hangar Theatre New Plays Festival (Ithaca NY); Contemporary American Theater Festival (West Virginia); BRAVA! For Women in the Arts (San Francisco); Marin Playhouse Theater (San Francisco); Kumu Kahua (Honolulu, HI) and Mayer Theater (San Jose, CA). She has been a recipient of a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays grant, a Rockefeller MAP Grant, a California Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship, a Wallace A. Gerbode Play Commission, and two San Francisco Individual Artists Grants (one in literature, one in performing arts). She has been honored with the 2003 Made in America Award for playwrights at East West Players and the 2003 Anthony J. Haney Fellow at Theatreworks for artistic excellence.

Director Jon Lawrence Rivera is the founding artistic director of Playwrights‚ Arena where he directed the following critically acclaimed productions: RED HAT & TALES (also at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe), STREET STORIES, BEACHWOOD DRIVE (also at the Lublin Theatre Festival in Poland), FAILURE OF NERVE, BITTER HOMES AND GARDENS, SLEEPWALK, ALL SOULS‚ DAY, STRAIGHT AS A LINE (also at New York's Primary Stages), BILL & EDDIE, PALM FEVER, ATOMIC QUINTET, SUBURBAN ANGER and CARLA. Other directing credits include SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD (2002 Ovation Award nomination for Best Musical in Smaller Theater), J FOR J (Rubicon Theatre), SOUNDINGS (Odyssey Theatre), MACARTHUR'S QUERIDA (CalArts), FOOL FOR LOVE (New Madrid Theatre), DORMANT (LA Jewish Theatre), CLEAN (Celebration Theatre), BLOOD WEDDING (Keck Theatre), and SOUTHERN GOTHIC: FROM VIRGINITY TO ADULTERY (Spoken Interludes). His productions have garnered more than 70 Ovation, Garland, Drama-Logue, Maddy and LA Weekly awards including a 1998 Fringe First Award and the 2001 Scotsman Readers‚ Favorite Production (Music Category) for the Nick Salamone and Maury McIntyre musical MOSCOW.

All performances of MIXED MESSAGES are in the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts, located in Little Tokyo at 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (formerly San Pedro St. between Temple and First streets). Opening night is September 15, 2004 (includes gala reception with the director, cast and crew) and closing on October 10, 2004. Previews are September 9-11 at 8 pm and September 12 at 2 pm. Regular performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm (no Saturday matinee on September 18). An American Sign Language-interpreted performance is scheduled for October 2 at 2 pm.

Ticket prices are $33 in the orchestra, $28 in the balcony; $20 for Previews; and $58 for Opening Night. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.eastwestplayers.org or calling (213) 625-7000 x20, Monday through Friday, 11 am 5 pm. Senior, student and group discounts are available.

Cherylene Lee's Mixed Messages was developed with support from the Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, a project of the National Endowment for the Arts, developed and administered by Theatre Communications Group.

Mixed Messages is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and The James Irvine Foundation.

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	East West Players presents the world premiere of Mixed Messages East West Players, the nation's premier Asian American theatre organization, begins its 39th Anniversary Season New Perspectives with the world premiere of Mixed Messages by Cherylene Lee, directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera. Merging science, art and politics, Lee's play is inspired by the Census 2000 report detailing growing populations of people with mixed heritage in California. It was developed during Lee's National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Playwright Residency with East West Players through interviews with high school students of mixed heritage and research informed by the writer's own degree in paleontology from UC Berkeley, master's degree in geology from UCLA and her volunteer work at the La Brea Tar Pits. A 9,000-year old human skull from the La Brea Tar Pits becomes the center of controversy as a physical anthropologist and Chumash tribe descendant battle over its classification as research fossil or Native American ancestor. As they uncover the skull's past, both are forced to confront their own identities as people of mixed race and emotions spark, pitting culture against science and heritage against ethnicity. "As the Asian Pacific American community becomes more and more diverse East West Players must work to tell that changing story. We know that people of mixed heritage deal with questions over identity and culture and will ultimately create a true melting pot‚ society in the United States. East West Players is excited to present Cherylene Lee's play that will help explore the unique stories of people of mixed heritage," said East West Players Producing Artist Director Tim Dang. Mixed Messages is Cherylene Lee's fourth production at East West Players. Her other plays include ANTIGONE FALUN GONG, THE LEGACY CODES, CARRY THE TIGER TO THE MOUNTAIN, ARTHUR AND LEILA, WONG BOW RIDES AGAIN, THE BALLAD OF DOC HAY, OVERTONES, KNOCK OFF BALANCE, LOST VEGAS ACTS and YIN CHIN BOW. Her work has been produced at theaters around the country including Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA); Pan Asian Rep (New York, NY); TheatreWorks (Palo Alto, CA); Hangar Theatre New Plays Festival (Ithaca NY); Contemporary American Theater Festival (West Virginia); BRAVA! For Women in the Arts (San Francisco); Marin Playhouse Theater (San Francisco); Kumu Kahua (Honolulu, HI) and Mayer Theater (San Jose, CA). She has been a recipient of a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays grant, a Rockefeller MAP Grant, a California Arts Council Playwriting Fellowship, a Wallace A. Gerbode Play Commission, and two San Francisco Individual Artists Grants (one in literature, one in performing arts). She has been honored with the 2003 Made in America Award for playwrights at East West Players and the 2003 Anthony J. Haney Fellow at Theatreworks for artistic excellence. Director Jon Lawrence Rivera is the founding artistic director of Playwrights‚ Arena where he directed the following critically acclaimed productions: RED HAT & TALES (also at the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe), STREET STORIES, BEACHWOOD DRIVE (also at the Lublin Theatre Festival in Poland), FAILURE OF NERVE, BITTER HOMES AND GARDENS, SLEEPWALK, ALL SOULS‚ DAY, STRAIGHT AS A LINE (also at New York's Primary Stages), BILL & EDDIE, PALM FEVER, ATOMIC QUINTET, SUBURBAN ANGER and CARLA. Other directing credits include SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD (2002 Ovation Award nomination for Best Musical in Smaller Theater), J FOR J (Rubicon Theatre), SOUNDINGS (Odyssey Theatre), MACARTHUR'S QUERIDA (CalArts), FOOL FOR LOVE (New Madrid Theatre), DORMANT (LA Jewish Theatre), CLEAN (Celebration Theatre), BLOOD WEDDING (Keck Theatre), and SOUTHERN GOTHIC: FROM VIRGINITY TO ADULTERY (Spoken Interludes). His productions have garnered more than 70 Ovation, Garland, Drama-Logue, Maddy and LA Weekly awards including a 1998 Fringe First Award and the 2001 Scotsman Readers‚ Favorite Production (Music Category) for the Nick Salamone and Maury McIntyre musical MOSCOW. All performances of MIXED MESSAGES are in the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts, located in Little Tokyo at 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (formerly San Pedro St. between Temple and First streets). Opening night is September 15, 2004 (includes gala reception with the director, cast and crew) and closing on October 10, 2004. Previews are September 9-11 at 8 pm and September 12 at 2 pm. Regular performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturdays at 8 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 pm (no Saturday matinee on September 18). An American Sign Language-interpreted performance is scheduled for October 2 at 2 pm. Ticket prices are $33 in the orchestra, $28 in the balcony; $20 for Previews; and $58 for Opening Night. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.eastwestplayers.org or calling (213) 625-7000 x20, Monday through Friday, 11 am 5 pm. Senior, student and group discounts are available. Cherylene Lee's Mixed Messages was developed with support from the Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights, a project of the National Endowment for the Arts, developed and administered by Theatre Communications Group. Mixed Messages is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and The James Irvine Foundation. Home \| News \| Calendar \| Directory \| Library \| Plays Copyright 2004, Roger W. Tang Questions? Email

East West Players presents the world premiere of Mixed Messages