Podcasts about cambodian rock band

Jay Leonard J turned 40 and decided to do everything all at once. Theater? Check. NAMM emcee? Check. Launching a new Yamaha Pacifica? Sure, why not. Recording a full-length album in the middle of a life tornado? Of course. In this episode, Blake catches up with his longtime pal and one of the internet's finest tone freaks to talk about the wildest year of Jay's life. It involves getting choked onstage in Cambodian Rock Band, haunted guitars that randomly drop into drop D, wig malfunctions, high-pressure NAMM gigs, surprise birthday parties, and an album born in the middle of absolute chaos. Also covered: Fuzz pedals and spring reverb in musical theater Why robots can't replace sweaty humans with bad wireless units Sneaky old-school NAMM tactics and “my buddy Scott” espionage Vitamin D megadosing: the unsanctioned NAMM survival strategy Jay's new album Aw Man and why his kids named it (literally) This one's equal parts gear talk, therapy session, and backstage musical mayhem. Buckle up. Check out the first single off of Jay's new record Aww Man HERE https://open.spotify.com/album/6piMmwA3qauXbHo70CwhOn?si=hIg10vwtQy60_4lkzy2WsA and make sure to grab the whole thing when it drops on June 20th! Support The Show And Connect! The Text Chat is back! Hit me up at (503) 751-8577 You can also help out with your gear buying habits by purchasing stuff from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/reverb⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/sweetwater⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or grabbing your guitar/bass strings from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/stringjoy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Release your music via DistroKid and save 30% by going to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tonemob.com/distrokid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ukraine says tens of thousands of children have been taken and illegally hidden within Russia’s adoption system since the invasion. A lab at the Yale School of Public Health that had been tracking this fell victim to the Trump administration’s foreign aid cuts Dina Ament spent about four years remodeling her historic Tudor-style cottage. After the Eaton Fire leveled it, she at first wanted to rebuild, but ultimately decided that selling was best. Part play, part rock concert, "Cambodian Rock Band" is a story of survival. Playwright Lauren Yee explores Cambodia's dark past with music and humor. Microgravity, confined quarters, and heightened galactic radiation lead to physiological changes in humans. What we’re learning in space is influencing terrestrial health care. 

What happens when we take ACTION to find joy, connection and inspiration? From taking a vacation to going to see live theatre to getting emotionally invested in the livelihood of a bald eagle family (May is obsessed!), these are just some of the ways we are finding light in the darkness. But that's not to say May, Kelly and Tamlyn are ignoring the reality of what's happening around us. The key is to find the humanity in our stories, in art, in history, in nature, in life. And when we come together to share these experiences it's called "Collective Effervescence", a concept coined by Sociologist Émile Durkheim, to describe the feeling of intense shared emotional activation and a sense of unison that emerges when people come together and engage in a shared activity or experience. So join MKT in this episode as we share Collective Effervescence together. Show Notes:"Here there are blueberries" tickets (runs until 3/30/25thewallis.org"Cambodian Rock Band" tickets (runs until 3/23/25)eastwestplayers.org Please subscribe, rate and review us!And follow us on IG @shoesoffinsidemkt

Lauren Yee is an uber-talented playwright and screenwriter originally from San Francisco. Her plays cover a wide range of topics, from life as a Yee in San Francisco Chinatown to a 1970s rock band trying to survive during the days of the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia. Her plays are a poignant mix of family, history, and culture filled with tension and humor.  Listen to our episode wherever you get Podcasts (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, etc) Do yourself a favor, get to LA's @eastwestplayers in Little Tokyo, and go watch Cambodian Rock Band. It's a one of a kind play/musical that is truly magical. It plays only until March 23rd, 2025! You can also watch Lauren's television writing on shows like Pachinko and Interior Chinatown. Her play Mother Russia is debuting @seattlerep March 6-April 13th. Also, she wrote the book for the musical adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, which will premiere in Washington DC on June 12th, 2025!   Follow Lauren on social media @mslaurenyee or read about her at https://laurenyee.com/ As I always mention, you can write to us at: ⁠infatuasianpodcast@gmail.com⁠, and please follow us on Instagram and Facebook @infatuasianpodcast  Our Theme: “Super Happy J-Pop Fun-Time” by Prismic Studios was arranged and performed by All Arms Around  Cover Art and Logo designed by Justin Chuan @w.a.h.w (We Are Half the World) #asianpodcast #asian #asianamerican #infatuasian #infatuasianpodcast #aapi #veryasian  #asianamericanpodcaster #representationmatters    

Celebrated playwright, director and producer Chay Yew is once again directing Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band, this time in its Los Angeles debut at East West Players David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo from February 13-March 9, 2025.  A poignant new classic of the Asian American theater canon, Cambodian Rock Band explores the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor as he returns to his homeland after thirty long years. While his daughter prepares to prosecute one of the country's most notorious war criminals, the ghosts of their shared past begin to stir. This deeply moving story weaves back and forth through time as father and daughter confront history, turning to music as a path towards healing. You can listen to my 2018 interview of Lauren Yee when her play was first being produced at the South Coast Repertory Theater: https://asianamericapodcast.com/2018/03/ep-141-cambodian-rock-band/ Please go to www.eastwestplayers.org to find a performance that fits your schedule.

In this episode, Hayley and Amy talk with music director, artist, and educator Rose Van Dyne about building inclusivity, aligning actions with personal values, leaning into the intersection between community service and artistic expression, and more. Click here for a transcript of the episode! Episode Notes Hosts: Hayley Goldenberg and Amy AndrewsGuest: Rose Van DyneMusic: Chloe Geller Episode Resources: Broadway Cooks website Broadway Cooks Instagram Jim Henson's Labyrinth: In Concert Musical Theatre Educators Alliance On the Margins Guest Bio: Rose Van Dyne (she/her) is a multifaceted artist and educator based in NYC. She is the co-founder of @BroadwayCooks, an organization that provides fresh food for houseless and hungry community members in Times Square and the five boroughs. Recent credits include: Actor— 1776 (Broadway, National Tour, ART), The Lonely Few (Off-Broadway at MCC), Cambodian Rock Band, All's Well That Ends Well (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Interstate (Mixed Blood Theatre). Music Director— Jim Henson's Labyrinth: In Concert tour (BlackInkPresents), Allegiance (54 Below), Dragon Baby (ART), Spring Awakening (Montclair State University), You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Out of the Box Theatrics), American Theatre Wing Songwriters Competition (2020–2022). Educator— Pace University, Marymount Manhattan College, BroadwayVox. www.rosevandyne.com, @rose_van_dyne Find Rose Online: Visit Rose's website Follow Rose on Instagram Thanks for listening! Who do you want to hear from next on the Women & Theatre Podcast? Nominate someone here. The Women & Theatre Podcast is created and produced by Hayley Goldenberg and Amy Andrews. Please like, comment, subscribe, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and consider making a donation to support our work. Thank you for listening!

On today's show, Christopher Marley's “Exquisite Creatures” opens at Crystal Bridges. Plus, when work on stage can truly inspire relationships off stage: we meet the entire cast of TheatreSquared's “Cambodian Rock Band."

On today's show, "Cambodian Rock Band" presents a story of music, trauma, comedy and family, with the Khmer Rouge as a backdrop. Also, decades of academic scholarships for Latino students in Arkansas. Plus, talking business and politics with Michael Tilley, looking forward to the weekend with Becca Martin Brown, and discussing "Dune: Part Two" with Courtney Lanning.

KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky discusses the year in theatre in the Bay Area in 2023, plus a top ten list and two honorable mentions.   Text of the podcast. In the Bay Area, Live theatre companies continued in 2023 to adapt to the post-Covid world. While movie audience sizes seems to be returning to pre-pandemic numbers. live theater remains mostly on life support across the board, mainly because season subscriptions are down by at least a third or maybe more, which means theatergoers are buying tickets on a show by show basis. That makes planning difficult, and it also means artistic directors are less likely to produce shows that are more challenging in favor of audiences pleasers such as musicals, comedies, and most importantly, the warhorses that folks are willing to see over and over again. The great multi-theatre venue, Piano Fight, in the Tenderloin closed its doors in March, leaving a host of younger theatregoers bereft. Bay Area Musicals didn't survive the pandemic, and its successor Landmark Musicals did not get past 2023. Marin Theatre Company, ACT, and the Magic have had truncated seasons, and Cal Shakes chose not to have a season at all. Custom Made is on life support and may never return. But there was still quite a bit of quality theatergoing to be had in the plastic year, and here are ten examples fin no particular order. Clyde's, a former Tony nominee by Lynn Nottage had a sensational production at Berkeley Rep's Peets theatre. As did the creepy and scary Let the Right One in at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre. Margo Hall was phenomenal in Josephine's Feast over at the Magic, and it doesn't get any better than J. Jha in Gertha Reddy's adaptation of the Mahabharata at Z Space, co-produced by the Oakland Theatre Project. Poor Yella Rednecks, Vietgone II at ACT's Strand Theatre looked at a Vietnamese refugee family in America, and Cambodian Rock Band at ACT focused on the generational aftermath of the Killing Fields and the Cambodian Genocide. Then there was Nollywood Dreams, a screamingly funny look at the Nigerian film industry, and Billy Crudup's brilliant performance in Harry Clarke at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre. Rounding out the top ten are San Francisco Playhouse's brilliant production of A Chorus Line, and the very weird, funny and horrifying Locusts Have No King at New Conservatory Theatre. A couple of honorary mentions go to Kander and Ebb's brilliant The Scottsboro Boys at 42nd Street Moon, and William Finn's 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at TheatreWorks. The post Bay Area Theatre in 2023: Best of the Year appeared first on KPFA.

This week, playwright, poet, and author Pearl Cleage discusses her life and career with Remy Bumppo Theatre Artistic Director Marti Lyons. Remy Bumppo staged Cleage's Blues for an Alabama Sky in the fall of 2023. This conversation originally took place September 26, 2023 and was recorded live via Zoom. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HOME More about the speakers: Pearl Cleage (she/her/hers) is an Atlanta-based writer whose plays include POINTING AT THE MOON, WHAT I LEARNED IN PARIS, FLYIN' WEST, BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY, and BOURBON AT THE BORDER, commissioned and directed by Kenny Leon at the Alliance Theatre. She is also the author of A SONG FOR CORETTA, written in 2007 during Cleage's time as Cosby Professor in Women's Studies at Spelman College. Her play, THE NACIREMA SOCIETY REQUESTS THE HONOR OF YOUR PRESENCE AT A CELEBRATION OF THEIR FIRST ONE HUNDRED YEARS, was commissioned by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and premiered in 2010, in a joint production by the ASF and Atlanta's Alliance Theatre, directed by Susan Booth. Her plays have also been performed at Arena Stage, Hartford Stage, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Huntington Theatre, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the Long Wharf Theatre, Just US Theatre, True Colors Theatre, Bushfire Theatre, the Intiman Theatre, St. Louis Black Repertory Company, and Seven Stages. She is also an accomplished performance artist, often working in collaboration with her husband, writer Zaron W. Burnett, Jr. They have performed at the National Black Arts Festival, the National Black Theatre Festival, and colleges and universities across the country. Cleage and Burnett also collaborated with performance artists Idris Ackamoor and Rhodessa Jones on the script for THE LOVE PROJECT, which premiered at the National Black Theatre Festival in 2008, and is currently touring the country. Cleage is also an accomplished novelist. Her novels include “What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day,” a New York Times bestseller and an Oprah Book Club selection, “I Wish I Had a Red Dress,” “Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do,” “Babylon Sisters,” “Baby Brother's Blues,” “Seen It All and Done the Rest,” and “Till You Hear from Me.” She is also the author of “Mad at Miles: A Blackwoman's Guide to Truth,” a groundbreaking work of race and gender, and “We Speak Your Names,” a praise poem commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for her 2005 celebration of legendary African American women and written in collaboration with Zaron Burnett. Cleage has also written for magazines, including “Essence,” “Vibe,” “Rap Pages,” and “Ms.” In addition to her work as the founding editor of “Catalyst” magazine, a literary journal, she was a regular columnist for the Atlanta Tribune for ten years, winning many awards for her thought-provoking columns. She has also written for TheDefendersOnLine.com. Cleage has been awarded grants in support of her work from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulton County Arts Council, the Georgia Council on the Arts, the Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs, and the Coca-Cola Foundation. Her work has earned her many awards and honors, including an NAACP Image Award for fiction in 2008. Pearl Cleage is represented by Ron Gwiazda at Abrams Artists Agency in New York City. Her website is www.PearlCleage.net. She also maintains a Facebook fan page. www.pearlcleage.net. Marti Lyons (she/her/hers) most recently directed the world-premiere of Galileo's Daughter by Jessica Dickey at Remy Bumppo, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberly at Northlight Theatre, Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess at Milwaukee Rep, Sense and Sensibility adapted by Jessica Swale at American Players Theatre and the world-premiere of John Proctor is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower at Studio Theatre in D.C. Marti's other productions include The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess at Writers Theatre; Cymbeline at American Players Theatre; The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and both the stage and audio productions of Kings by Sarah Burgess at Studio Theatre; the world-premiere of How to Defend Yourself by liliana padilla, a Victory Gardens and Actors Theatre of Louisville co-production; Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee at Victory Gardens and City Theatre; Witch by Jen Silverman at Geffen Playhouse and Writers Theatre (LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction); Native Gardens by Karen Zacarías at Victory Gardens; Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; I, Banquo at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Title and Deed by Will Eno at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Laura Marks' Bethany and Mine at The Gift Theatre. Marti is also an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre, and a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. martilyons.com

This story of "Cambodian Rock Band" masterfully unfolds in a tale that features comedic beats, an epic soundtrack, and tender moments of love and understanding between a parent and child.

Today Trae sits with Joe Ngo. He shares an upcoming play at Act Theatre, Cambodian Rock Band, and how the story unfolds for the audience. Next, Trae connects with Heru TchaasAmen, bringing back health and wellness for us all with a Mindfulness Monday segment. He discusses the importance and benefits of breathing correctly and also guides Trae through a breathing exercise you can all use!

It's time for another visit with Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck, who joins us each week with her reviews of the Maryland, DC and Virginia regional stage. Today, she tells us about the new Arena Stage production of playwright Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band, a mesmerizing, music-infused drama about how war and political oppression in the 1960s and 70s ravaged the southeast Asian nation's vibrant rock music culture, and the how the war's violent legacy still haunts a Cambodian family. Directed at Arena Stage by Chay Yew, Cambodian Rock Band 's cast includes Brooke Ishibashi, Francis Jue, Abraham Kim, Kelsey Angel Baehrens, Tim Liu, Jane Lui, Alex Lydon, Joe Ngo and Vi Tran. The show incorporates a live stage band - The Cyclos - covering 1960s- and 70s-era Cambodian psychedelic rock music and Cambodian-influenced songs by the contemporary American band, Dengue Fever. CRB is a Signature Theatre production, in association with Alley Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and ACT Theatre/5th Avenue. Cambodian Rock Band continues at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater in Washington, DC through August 27. (Photo by Margot Schulman)Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Welcome to the Green Room Meditations Podcast, presented by the Indiana Repertory Theatre and hosted by Devon Ginn.  Today, we are in conversation with: Eric Sharp (he/him). Mr. Sharp portrays Mr. Green in the Indiana Repertory Theatre's production of Clue! If you missed the Indianapolis run, you can catch our co-production with Syracuse Stage from June 7th - 25th in 2023.   Eric is an actor, writer, and director based in Minneapolis with over 20 years of professional stage and screen experience. Commercial and voiceover clients include Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Independent Lens, Penguin Random House Audio, Best Buy, Mayo Clinic, Target, and more. He has appeared onstage nationally and internationally at the Guthrie Theater, Ten Thousand Things, The Jungle Theater, Mixed Blood Theatre, Alliance Theatre, and the Minnesota, Toronto, and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals. Eric played Mowgli in The Jungle Book at Children's Theatre Company, and the young Dalai Lama on multiple tours of TigerLion Arts' The Buddha Prince. An Associate Artist at Theater Mu, Eric wrote and starred in the world premiere of Middle Brother, and has appeared in Cambodian Rock Band, Hot Asian Doctor Husband, Two Mile Hollow, Twelfth Night, Charles Francis Chan, Jr..., Yellow Fever and many more. He recently directed the educational video series The Remix with Theater Mu (available on YouTube), and created and produced the audio series: You Shall Hear Me: Stories from Beyond. He serves as curator for AKOA (All Kinds of Awesome): a live storytelling event featuring true stories from the international adoptee community.   www.worksharp.org About the Indiana Repertory Theatre: Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community. Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA): The IRT strives to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to providing access for all; to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, and respectful. https://www.irtlive.com/ 

The Legacy of Eastwind Books Tonight APEX Express focuses on the legendary Eastwind Books, the oldest AAPI book store in the country closes on April 30, 2023.  Host Miko Lee speaks with founder Harvey Dong and staff Cheryl Truong and Banoo Afkhami about the history and the future of this beloved community activist book store.     SHOW TRANSCRIPTS EastWind Books 20230323-Thu1900 [00:00:27] Miko Lee: Express. Good evening, you are tuned into Apex Express. We're bringing you an Asian and Asian American view from the Bay and around the world. I'm your host Miko Lee, and tonight we're talking about the beloved and amazing East Wind Bookstore. It'll be closing its doors on April 30th after 41 years in operation. Joining us are is the founder Harvey Dong. Staff Cheryl Truong and Banoo Afkhami. So keep it locked on Apex Express. Welcome East Wind Books to Apex Express. I am so excited to talk to you all about the legacy of East Wind Books, I wanna start first with our legacy make. Harvey, can you just first share, I mean, I think many people know about you and we've interviewed you on Apex Express before talking about the history of where the terminology Asian American even comes from. And we know you're an esteemed professor at, um, uc, Berkeley. But can you, in your own words, tell us who you are, who your people are, and what legacy you carry with you from your ancestors? , [00:01:33] Harvey Dong: that's a tough, uh, question because, um, it would take quite a lot of thinking of the different places I've been in in the past. But, um, I, I would just start with, uh, this was our decision to, uh, continue the operations at East Wind Books, uh, was when a friend of ours, uh, Who was the manager of East Wind Books and Art, uh, informed us that this bookstore, uh, 1986 Shaddock, uh, was planning to be closed. And he was sad to see it closed, and he asked us, Myself and my wife Beatrice, if we'd like to continue it, possibly as an Asian American bookstore. Um, and we said that, uh, we'd think about it and it took us about two years. 9, 19 94, we were customers at his store and in 1996 we decided to take the leap, um, Beatres. Uh, graduated with a degree in ethnic studies, studying literature with, uh, professor Barbara Christian in African American Studies and Professor Elaine Kim in Asian American Studies and also Saling Wong in Asian American Studies. So she was very familiar with ethnic. lit and myself, I had the experience of, being involved when I was in the AAPA Asian American Political Alliance, to open the first Asian American bookstore on Kearney Street. Yeah, on the international hotel. We were evicted from that location in 1977. We gave it another try for another two years and, uh, everybody's shut down it's operations. So this is post third World Strike Post, um, uh, I Hotel. It was a time. Conservatism Prop 2 0 9, uh, attacks on the affirmative action and so forth, and we decided that maybe we could make a contribution by opening up and continuing. And evolving East Wind books of Berkeley. Uh, so since then, um, it's been a, uh, uh, quite a ride, you know, in terms of the people we've met, the people we interacted with, uh, the social movements that have come up and. We offered it as a, a place for up and coming, uh, Asian American studies, ethnic studies, uh, poets, uh, writers, um, and so forth. And it's, it's a, uh, a, a spot that we really. Treasure, we really enjoy. Um, the, the dream I had back then was, uh, people go all over to go to City Lights. Maybe East Wind books could be something like that. You know, we, we knew, uh, someone who worked at City Lights. Too. I [00:04:55] Miko Lee: love that. And I think for many people it has become a version of city lights, especially for the Asian American Pacific Islander community. But Harvey, you ignored my initial question. You went right into East Wind Books, which we're gonna be spending our whole episode talking about. And I wanna know, go way back and go back to growing up in Sacramento and, and tell me about, I know that your mom was also an activist. Can you tell me about how your mom influenced you as an organiz? [00:05:23] Harvey Dong: Well, my mom was always a very outspoken person. A lot of this had to do with the fact that because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, people who came over as paper sons, paper daughters, uh, she was left behind by both her parents, uh, because, uh, boys were prioritized over girls and her papers were given to a male cousin who could help at the, uh, grocery business. So she was, uh, left. And she went through the sin, uh, jaap Japanese war, uh, during war, war, war ii. Uh, she, uh, was a political refu. She was a refugee, uh, moving from China to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Macau, and then back to China. So she had all this experience, and so she wasn't afraid to speak. Uh, we did see her speak out when, uh, acts of racism, uh, happened and, uh, she was also active in the, uh, uh, unions in, uh, for the state employees. So she, she was an inspiration to us, although we were probably too young to realize that we thought that she was just someone that was. Loud, [00:06:38] Miko Lee: loud. What wasn't afraid to speak out or speak her mind, right? Mm-hmm. . So not the model minority, your [00:06:44] Harvey Dong: mother? Uh, no, definitely not. Um, later when we, when I myself became active, uh, her main concern was not so much the, the content of the activism, but more whether or not I would graduate. [00:07:00] Miko Lee: Uh, yes. Graduating from college. That was the critical component to your. . Right. So tell me what was your, I know you have been involved in so many of the fabric that makes up Asian American movement building from the Third World Liberation Front to the Black Panthers to and with bees involvement in the Garment workers movement to the I Hotel. Tell me, what was your very first activist, uh, involvement? What was the thing that spurred your organizing? [00:07:30] Harvey Dong: Well, my first activist involvement. Dropping out of the, uh, RTC army program at uc, Berkeley. Uh, because I had talked to, uh, fellow classmates about the war. I went to a bookstore, uh, right around the corner from unit three where I lived. I just went out that exit and I just went in Cody's and read all their books about us imperialism and colonialism. And so I became, uh, anti-war and I. Lose some friends in the dorms over that cuz fellow Asian American friends who, uh, weren't as, uh, informed. You know, I would get into discussions and debates and so forth. [00:08:16] Miko Lee: And you had been reading all the books so [00:08:17] Harvey Dong: you knew Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, I, I felt really passionate about it and I participated in Stop the Draft week 1967, uh, to, to, to, uh, uh, sit in at the induction. In Oakland, uh, I witnessed, uh, police brutality on demonstrators and it only fired us up, uh, for next year. Stopped the draft week part two in 1968. And so that kind of got me. Involved as an individual. Um, the anti-war movement, uh, began to relate with the, uh, black Panther movement. And from there I attended Black Panther functions. I even went down to the, uh, the headquarters as a volunteer witness, uh, because of the fact that there was news that there was gonna be a, a raid on the Black Panther headquarters and they needed community support. So I did have that background experience and then when the Asian American Political Alliance started in around May of 1968, um, I joined it the following fall. , um, they, they helped organize one of the first Asian American studies courses. It was an experimental course, and from there, I, I was, uh, became active in A A P A That led to the formation of the T W L F in, uh, December of 1968, and the strike begins in January, 1960. So I did, uh, meet quite a few people. We did, uh, connect with, uh, different, uh, peoples of color. Um, and white supporters during that time. [00:10:14] Miko Lee: Thank you for sharing that. And I know, um, B couldn't be with us here today, but b is your spouse and partner and collaborator, um, life partner and business partner. And I'm wondering if you can share a little bit about how b for Scott involved, and I know that she worked with the, um, garment workers, but do you know her origin story, her activist origin story? [00:10:35] Harvey Dong: Uh, sure. The, um, the strike, uh, ended. Um, with a moratorium of strike activities pending further negotiations for a third World College. Um, part of that agreement would be the establishment of an interim Department of ethnic studies at uc, Berkeley to begin fall, uh, 1969 and b. , the first, uh, among the first students to be part of that fall 1969, uh, ethnic studies, Asian American studies class. So she, so from there she, uh, she was actually, uh, previously active in the Asian block at Oakland High. They worked with the Black students Union. So she started [00:11:22] Miko Lee: as a high school student? Yeah. As an activist. [00:11:24] Harvey Dong: Wow. Yeah. Yeah. They, they had a group there and the, quite a few number of the. Black students, uh, uh, went to Berkeley that following fall, and they became very active in Asian American studies. Asian American studies was, uh, somewhat of a liberated, uh, program because they gave us a minimal amount of funding, uh, with the hope that we would, um, burn ourselves. Ah, but instead we, we used whatever funding we had. Uh, we used the, uh, the classes to develop Asian American studies and reached out to the communities nearby, such as Japan Town in San Francisco, uh, Oakland, Chinatown, Oakland, uh, Manila Town, uh, San Francisco, Manila Town, south of Market. And so forth. And, and then students from Asian American studies classes would go to all these locations and they would become, uh, uh, people who would start, uh, serve the people type programs. [00:12:38] Miko Lee: I love that. So they thought they were gonna squish y'all, but instead they kind of helped to fire up a movement. [00:12:42] Harvey Dong:.Yeah, we had to really Think and brainstorm, you know, solutions, you know, given the limitations. So Bee became, very active in, Asian American studies. It was called Asian Studies back then, and she was actually in the, governing body, you know. Oh, wow. So just imagine a university program where you have a freshman having a say in the running of the program. [00:13:15] Miko Lee: Does that happen nowadays? [00:13:15] Harvey Dong: Uh, now it's very distance, you know, it's, it's not, not at all [00:13:21] Miko Lee: basically. No, no, that doesn't happen now. Wow. And then how did you two meet? What is the activist love story of Harvey and B Dong? [00:13:30] Harvey Dong: Well, we've met, in Asian American. we became closer through the formation of the, uh, Chinatown Cooperative Garment Factory, which was a, uh, an alternative to the, sweatshops in San Francisco Chinatown. Uh, that was also an, originally an Asian American Studies, community course project where there's investigation, uh, interviews, oral histories, and, and then we applied for, uh, seed. To purchase equipment machinery to establish a, um, a cooperative garment factory, um, in the basement of the International hotel. [00:14:14] Miko Lee: Oh, so you started that first and then it was at the I Hotel that you started mm-hmm. , everybody's bookstore, is that right? [00:14:20] Harvey Dong: everybody's bookstore was on the, Kearney street entrance of on the international hotel block. that started as a  like a 10 by 10 room. We, solicited like 50 bucks each from different  AAPA members and we raised about $500 and we got a business license. We went down to l n s bookstore., the book vendor in San Francisco, uh, book people was another. and also China books, which had a, never ending supply of, of red books and, literature from China. that's how the bookstore started. And that was actually I think the, the last activity of the Asian American Political Alliance. It, it ended, you know, cause So, so [00:15:25] Miko Lee: was was founding [00:15:26] Harvey Dong: the bookstore? Uh, yeah. Was founding the bookstore. And then after that, the, the bookstore, uh, is, um, becomes independent of, uh, of the aapa because people, scatter, move, go to different directions and stuff. we then inform. around that same time, we, we, Asian American Studies, formed this Asian studies field office, which brought students to, uh, San Francisco Chinatown and Manila Town holding classes. So, so we had this bookstore, we had this Asian studies field office. Uh, a couple years later, funding gets cut for, for the field office. And we then form an independent Asian community center known as acc. And the acc, um, had to raise its own monies. Uh, there were a lot of elderly people coming down, a lot of seniors, and they themselves felt really very attached to the center and they. , um, solicit funds to cover the rent. Yeah. Wow. So it became a community space. what happened there was we, we, we had people go to, uh, Portsmouth Square and we told the, uh, people sitting there, the elders that, you know, you can come down to our center and sit. You don't have to sit out here in the cold. Ah, in the rain. [00:16:57] Miko Lee: You gave them a space. [00:16:57] Harvey Dong: Yeah. So they all came down. The only problem was, you know, there was a lot of smoking and, uh, we did, there's no, you know, tobacco type related regulations and stuff like that, right? But,  there was tea serve. some of the old men, elders would tell us talk stories, while we're drinking tea. we connected, you know,  this type of phenomenon, we found out was also happening. Other locations and places. There was community center set up in, Japanese Community Center. in J Town there was a basement workshop in New York City., so you have this, the Civil rights Movement, black power movement, ethnic studies, movements. These classes,, wanting to send students to the community. then you have these centers developing. So it shows how like movements interrelate and connect the bookstore, everybody's bookstore was a part of that, providing the information. [00:18:13] Miko Lee: So it's always been, even in its very roots, it's been based in and of, and by and for the community as a way of building in political action. Is that right? [00:18:21] Harvey Dong: Yeah. exactly. We were definitely about, Building this wave of activism by going to the grassroots, you know? and that was happening, uh, in, particularly in, in, in the African American community, the Puerto Rican community,, Chicano community. All that was, was happening where you have young people, redefining their, their purpose in life. [00:18:57] Miko Lee: and their connection with their elders. Harvey Dong: Exactly. Yeah. Miko Lee: That's amazing., I have a question that has come from my colleague, which runs, Nancy Xiong that runs Hmong Innovating Politics. And actually tomorrow, our network at AACRE, we're doing an intergenerational exchange all about organizing and it's, elders speaking with young folks about how they're organizing and how they're uplifting their community. And her question is, can you talk about. organizing has evolved over time as you go through the different life transitions, like starting a family, taking care of kids, take, taking care of parents. How do you, what, what is a way to keep a healthy work life balance with your [00:19:40] Harvey Dong: activism? Well, taking care of um, uh, elders is a very tough task cuz we're, we're dealing with that now cuz Bee's dad passed. Last month, and then her mom moved into our, our house, uh, this, this month. So, so definitely it's, it's, it's something that, that has to be, uh, addressed. I, I know back then, you know, we, we, um, we did have, um, quite a few elders, uh, relate to our organization, but we, we didn't have any specific, uh, program. Uh, other than recreation, um, showing of films, uh, celebrating holidays, uh, together and, and so forth, the international hotel tenants, um, I, I know the International hotel, um, tenants collective, they, they, they actually, uh, brought in, uh, food programs, social services. Needs, you know, things that could meet, meet the daily needs of the elderly. So, so definitely it, it has to be a, uh, Dealt with on a community-wide basis so that people aren't isolated. [00:20:59] Miko Lee: But for you personally, how do you balance work and life with all of these things that are going on? You're still a professor, you're still, you know, been running the bookstore, you've been doing your activism, you've been doing so many different things. How do you, Harvey, I know in the past you used to do Tai Chi, and I'm just wondering, are there other tools that you utilize on the daily to be able to stay sane in a crazy world? [00:21:20] Harvey Dong: Well, sometimes if I, I. Extremely stressed. I would get on a bike and ride it and I would take pictures of water. [00:21:30] Miko Lee: What is it about water that's calming for you? [00:21:32] Harvey Dong: Uh, well, the, the, if, if you ever look at the bay, the water changes, you know, sometimes it's higher, sometimes it's lower, sometimes it's blue, sometimes it's gray. So it, it does, it does, uh, make you kind of, um, think about how things. Um, and it never stops. You know, it, it's always something you can learn and pick up. Tai Chi, I, too, Kung fu, especially when we started, we were getting threats and, uh, from the. Messages. And, you know, when you started the bookstore, [00:22:13] Miko Lee: you were getting threats? [00:22:13] Harvey Dong: Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. And the Asian Community Center, we, we, because we were an alternative to the, uh, conservative establishment, um, in Chinatown, uh, there were newspaper articles and, uh, from conservative newspapers that, that, uh, something should be done. And, and, and, and, and then we, we, we did, uh, uh, participate in some activities where, um, the Dolui movement, uh, back then, I, I, I remember it was attacked by, uh, hired thugs. And so it was ver very tense times too. You know, it wasn't like, um, easy going, you know? Right. There's, there's always violence, the threat of violence, and you have to figure. How to survive, uh, preserve your, your energy and also, uh, protect, uh, the community. So what did you figure out about that? Uh, well, an elder came down and sat down with us and said, uh, I'm gonna bring you guys to, to these, uh, uh, seafoods who can, uh, teach you, uh, some martial. . Um, so, so we did that and, but, but I, I would say that the, the main thing was to establish ties and con connect and connections with, uh, the youth in the community, you know, that could be used against you and, um, know your enemies, know your enemy, uh, build allyships, um, run, uh, programs that have meaning. You know, we, we. We, uh, distributed food to, um, maybe a thousand families every month. You know, uh, Lonnie Ding, the filmmaker actually, uh, found that there was this government surplus food, and she initiated that program and the Asian Community Center provided the. So every month it, the, the, the place from front to back was filled with surplus food, And in that surplus food we would have literature, uh, uh, about resources, services. Uh, a lot of the, uh, the people who received the food were workers and when they had labor disputes, they would come to us and we would provide translation. Uh, seek out legal aid and so forth. Yeah. So [00:24:46] Miko Lee: provide the community what they need. Harvey Dong: Yeah. Food, legal services, advice. Yeah. And educate them about what's going on in the exactly capitalistic system. Yeah. Um, we're hearing words of wisdom from East Wind Books Founder Harvey Dong. We're gonna take a moment and just have a little break and listen to some music. Uh, the Yellow Pearl from. Old School Movement Song Collective Charlie Chin, Chrissy Gemma, and Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto. And we'll be back in a moment after listening to Yellow Pearl. Song [00:27:02] Miko Lee: Few. All right. That was Yellow Pearl from A Grain of Sand by Old School Collective Charlie Chin, Chris Ijima, and Joanne Nobuko Miyamoto. And we are here with the folks from East Wind Bookstore and you are tuned in to Apex Express, a 94.1 K P F A, and 89.3 KPF FB in Berkeley. 88.1 KFCF in Fresno, 97.5 K2 four eight BR in Santa Cruz and online@kpfa.org. So we are here talking about East Wind Books, talking about organizing and talking about the impacts that this has on your body. And I'm gonna actually throw the mic over to Cheryl Trong to ask a question of Harvey about, that you're curious about. Go ahead. [00:27:54] Cheryl Truong: um, hi everyone. I'm Cheryl. I work at Eastman Books. I've been working here for maybe two years now. Over two years. Um, yeah, I mean, just going back to that question of navigating this work life balance, I think there's something that's not always talked about in these radical organizing is the effect it has on your life. Kind of like a sacrifice. And while Harvey is super humble and you know, is someone who does everything with all of his heart, as I know, and Bonnie's also right here next to me on my right, who also works at the bookstore and started when I did, we've seen just within these last two years, you know, the, how much it affects. How much organizing affects you and how much you sacrifice for it. Um, something Harvey doesn't talk about often is one, like financially, like back in the day when he was organizing, he didn't have a fridge. He would put a gallon of milk on his balcony every night just to keep it from spoiling and eat bread. Um, so there's a lot you do. I mean, there's a lot you gain too. You know, the community. And that spiritual, you know, aspect of fighting for the things you believe in with people that you care about. Um, but there's also, you know, you sacrifice a lot. I mean, also, you know, b the co-owner of East Wind Books, she stays up till 3:00 AM ordering books and planning our next events. You know, they both put all of their heart into everything that they do. And while it's such a beautiful sentiment, they're also. Real life aspects as well. Um, oh, I was supposed to ask a question. [00:29:37] Miko Lee: Well, Cheryl, I think you wanted to ask about how, um, you were mentioning this to me before about how both Harvey and Bee hold all of this space in their bodies, how they take care of themselves, how they work through this, because you've been doing it for a long time. So what are the elements that keep you going day? . [00:29:58] Harvey Dong: Um, well, I just wanted to address the, uh, the milk being put up on the window. So , [00:30:04] Miko Lee: critical component. . [00:30:07] Harvey Dong: Uh, yeah, actually I, I, I did get away with doing that and I thought it was convenient, except that one day I saw a rat, um, trying to get the milk. So after that, that, that stop [00:30:20] Miko Lee: So then what did you do with the milk Harvey? [00:30:20] Harvey Dong:  Um, well, shortly after that, me and. Um, got married and she did have a refrigerator, . And so, so with that marriage we, the wonders of marriage, we had a refrigerator . But, um, but definitely, I, I, I, I think it, it is not unusual for, for activists in the sixties and seventies to, to, um, do many tasks cuz there were so many things going on. Time was co. You know, you say, uh, 1968, so many things happened in one year, um, internationally, the war nationally, um, assassination of civil rights, uh, leader, uh, Martin Luther King, uh, SF State, uh, students, uh, negotiating for, uh, uh, thorough studies, um, the, the Chinatown protests against Poverty. Um, the French, uh, student rebellion, the Zarin student rebellion. So, so time is really compressed and you feel that you, you have to do the, the best you can, you know, given the, the short amount of time. I, I, I think that people felt that they, they did have to sacrifice because of the, the fact that, uh, the world could end too, you know? And so, so, so there's that time. That a lot of the activists had, uh, back then. And, um, so some of that, uh, probably does come back and kind of, uh, define what I do. I, but lately, I, I do know that, you know, as you get older, you, you can't do so many things at. Uh, much lesser. Remember ? , [00:32:16] Miko Lee: I think you have an amazing memory. You're always spitting dates out that I'm saying. How does he keep all that in his mind? ? Yeah. Um, we're gonna get, we're gonna talk about the future of East Wind Books in a moment, but I, I wanna just go and talk a moment about like, what is a memory that stood out? Like when you, when you're just talking about how you learn martial arts, um, as a way. You have, have safety and also a sense of wellness. I'm wondering, was that before or after the whole Bruce Lee Wong jog Jack Man fight schools that were in East Wind Books. And can you tell that story to our audience about what [00:32:51] Harvey Dong: happened? Well, the, the learning of martial arts was, was actually, um, even before Bruce Lee became famous, you know, because we, there was definitely a need to defend yourself safety. Yeah. For safety. Um, but years later, uh, at East w Books of Berkeley, um, there was, um, a book event we had, um, with, uh, Rick Wing who teaches at community college. I think he's a math professor, but he was also the, uh, the. assigned by Wal Jackman to carry on the legacy of his school. And Wong Jackman was the person who fought Bruce Lee. And there's many stories about who, who won that? Wong JackMan or Bruce [00:33:41] Miko Lee: Lee won one of the most famous karate battles. Yeah. Ever. [00:33:42] Harvey Dong:  And it's, it, it, it's, it is comp continually being retold with different angles and stuff like that. But, uh, Rick Wing, um, did research on it and he wrote about it. Um, I think it's online. Um, and he invited, uh, he wanted to have a book event and we had at East Wind Books and he invited all the martial arts schools in the Bay Area and. , the first thought that came to my mind is, oh, no , what's gonna happen? Yeah. What's gonna happen? Or, or, or, how big is our space? How big is our space? And, um, would this create like rivalry between different clubs over their styles? And so, so there were TaeKwonDo, uh people, karate people, kung fu. Um, how many people showed up? Uh, about 45 or 50. Mm-hmm. and some of 'em were huge , big people, Uhhuh, and they were, uh, but we just sat around and, and, and, and people were sharing stories about their martial arts club and, and their interactions with Bruce Lee and Wal Jackman and, and, and, and, and then there's one huge, uh, Puerto Rican, uh, karate guy said, man, this. uh, I feel like a, a child in a candy shop. I, I, I'm really enjoying all these stories. , . [00:35:12] Miko Lee: So it became a talk story event. Yeah. Not just like, oh, my school's better than your school, or, he won this [00:35:17] Harvey Dong: fight. Yeah, yeah. None of that. Yeah. And, and, and, uh, people really respected each other. And when the, the, the, the, the event ended, uh, , everybody went across the street to the Taiwan restaurant, which is no longer there.Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, um, for, for a meal. And, um, one person said, I don't, I don't know what I should do, uh, because I feel that we all got together here, and this is like a. Sacred place. And then he turned around and did a bow as if he was in, in, in a, uh, a studio in Dojo, dojo, , or, good. Love it. [00:35:54] Miko Lee: Love it. That is so fun. Are there other, um, memories that have stood out for you in the 41 years of experiences that have happened at East Wind Books that you think, oh [00:36:04] Harvey Dong: wow. Uh, let's see. Yang did an event, [00:36:10] Miko Lee: Jean Yang of the graphic novelist, the Eisner Award-winning graphic novelist that did American Boy in Chinese. That's actually just about to come out as a whole series, I think, on Disney with, um, almost all of the same performers from everything everywhere all at once. But anyway, that Jean Yang, yes. [00:36:31] Harvey Dong: Yeah, yeah. He, he, he tells the story about how he, he. , um, uh, affections for East Wind Books of Berkeley because when he first started out, he created this, this zine that was, uh, stapled and he came into East Wind Books. And he said, uh, would you carry this? And I said, yeah, just put it there. But, but he went, but he went to other stores and they, they wouldn't take it cuz they thought he was this young kid. Yeah. Uh, trying to promote something that wouldn't grow or develop. Do they sell? Uh, yeah. Yeah. They sell. Do [00:37:06] Miko Lee: you have one? Um, that would be such [00:37:08] Harvey Dong: a collector's item. I think we, we, we, we sold out. Oh. But, but he always remembers that. So whenever we have an event, you know, he. ask him to do an event. He's willing to. Yeah. I love [00:37:20] Miko Lee: that. Yeah. That is so amazing. Um, okay, now tell me about what made U N B decide to close East Wind Books? Uh, [00:37:29] Harvey Dong: well, it, there's the issue of gentrification, the rent, so there's the economic part there. Uh, age is, is another part. And, um, family responsi. . Um, so we had to kind of weigh that, you know, um, I, I think one time, um, the last time we were thinking of closing it, I, at, at, at a book event. I, um, I think it was, um, uh, black Against the Empire, um, is, uh, Waldo Martin, um, um, worked on a. About the Black Panthers. Mm-hmm. and, uh, Bobby Seal was there and we, we talked about, uh, the importance of the book and the importance of the bookstore. Uhhuh . And I think I said, oh yeah, we'll, we'll be here forever. [00:38:29] Miko Lee: Alas . [00:38:30] Harvey Dong: And so after making that statement, we, we did commit for another five years on. You, [00:38:38] Miko Lee: you boxed yourself in there, , but I'm, I'm wondering you what your take is. Okay. We're gonna get back to that one second, but I'm wondering what your take is on ethnic bookstores like Marcus Garvey books and East Wind Books. It's really there. Yeah. There's, it's a, it's a hard thing to keep going these [00:38:54] Harvey Dong: days. Uh, yeah, yeah, definitely, uh, difficult, uh, largely having to do with rent and, uh, gentrification and, and we have a, um, a huge. you're in, um, net, net, net, uh, bill mm-hmm. , which means that we, we pay something like 4% of the bill for the entire building, including water, to insurance, to property tax, to Right. Uh, repairs, which is not feasible. Yeah. So it, it definitely, uh, every year it's, it's, um, increasing. Um, and then the, uh, overhead we have to deal with, uh, The payroll tax, which is important, but um, is, it's a big pill. And, and also the, um, um, sales tax. Yeah. That always comes up. [00:39:48] Miko Lee: So modern living, modern living as, uh, then the burdens of trying to just keep things going are just too much. [00:39:56] Banoo Afkhami: Yeah. But to go back to your question, Miko, um, about like, you know, the role of ethnic bookstores, uh, well, I, I can't speak for like Harvey, but I can speak on, you know, as a staff person who has seen and helped many customers through the store and also as a person, like who enjoys shopping at Eastwood and spends a portion of their paycheck back at the bookstore just buying books again. Love it. Um, , it's ethnic bookstores are really hard to come by and, you know, as Harvey like really highlighted like there's a lot of costs that just make it really hard to exist as a small bookstore without all the additional like, challenges you face. Just, you know, of like carrying a very niche selective books that you know though very important, not a lot of people are gonna. Really want to go for it, you know, because Right. It goes against, um, pop culture. It goes against like, you know, the common media stream, you know, which is centrist, if not conservative. [00:40:50] Miko Lee: Or even just taking some young person's little zine that they stapled together. and putting it on the shelf. [00:40:56] Banoo Afkhami: Yeah. You know, and supporting like local artists and everything. Yeah. Like it's, they're super important, you know. Though, you know, though we are small, um, you know, there are so many people that come into the store and are just like, wow. You know, like, I've never seen it all in one place. Right. You know, I, I like, I'm, you know, like seen [00:41:13] Miko Lee: what in [00:41:13] Banoo Afkhami: All plate, one place seen. So, you know, we feature Asian American books, but also just radical, radical books at all times. And by authors? Yes, by bipo authors. And you know, like for example, I remember, especially with like, you know, our Filipino-American population here in the Bay Area, there's not a lot of representation in media of like Asian-Americans in general, but especially anything outside of like, you know, Chinese American, Japanese-American, Korean American, like the rest of us go kind of forgotten, you know? Right. Um, and so like, you know, especially like seeing this happen with like a lot of more like, you know, niche communities, you know, like. just a few days ago, you know, there's a Phil Filipino American, uh, person, and they came into the store and they're like, do you have any stuff on, like, anythings on like Filipino, you know, diaspora, Filipino American stuff. I'm like, yeah, actually we have a whole shelf on it. You know, I added them over. There's exception on that . And like, they were so heart warmed and overwhelmed by that, and it's like, oh my God, I ha I never saw them in all in one place. You know? Like you might find like in, you know, an Alan Robles book, you know, here, or you know, you could find like this other book there, you know, but you don't. all together. Right. And when you see an entire shelf full, it's kind of magical. Um, and I remember that person, like I ended up bringing them a stool just cuz they wanted to like, flip through all the books and like decide which ones they wanted to go through, you know? And, and they ended up buying a bunch of them, you know, and it's just, it's moments like that, you know, where you remember, wow, like, this is a really important thing to have. Um, and it's really difficult to keep open, you know, because, , there's, you know, these communities are intentionally like left out of mainstream media. Right. You know, like there's, it's a constant fight to get more representation and when you're already underrepresented, you know, and like the most that maybe a common person might want to get. In the store. I don't, I shouldn't say common, but like, you know, a person who only watches mainstream media. Like they, they might come in and be like, Hey, do you have the new chan? You know, like the Chani comic book or like, do you have like, you know, like, you know, crying in Amart, although that one's really good, you know? Or like That's a good book, . Yeah. But it's like, you know, they only, what's the bestseller ones? Yeah, what's the bestseller? You know, do, right. Do you have like, , you know what, what was the other one? Bullet train. You know, that one sold. Like things like that. Right, [00:43:31] Miko Lee: right. Well, um, I love hearing that about how there will be East Wind is continuing in some way and I wonder if, um, both Bonu and Cheryl, can you talk about what is the future of East Wind Books, the brick and mortar Store we know is closing in April. Right. And, and we're inviting folks to come to the bookstore. Yeah. There's a what, tell us what's happening at the bookstore before it closes first and then where, where we are going in the future. [00:44:00] Cheryl Truong: So right when you said, asked us to start talking about the future, Harvey gave me this really funny look. [00:44:06] Miko Lee: I noticed that. What's that about? Please tell us. [00:44:08] Cheryl Truong: I mean, he's curious too, you know, because this is something really only our generation can answer. Um, so, okay. So as for now, I mean, Eastland Books is still gonna be here in the Bay Area. We're still gonna be doing our community events. We're gonna be online distributing books on a even wider reach. Now, you know, we can ship. Globally, uh, instead of just having in-store pickup, things like that. Um, [00:44:37] Banoo Afkhami: our website is asia book center.com [00:44:39] Miko Lee: and we're talking about doing some kind of apex collaboration Yes. So that we can celebrate a p i books on air as well. But what's happening if somebody walks into the bookstore right now on University Avenue, what do they see? What's happening right now? [00:44:54] Cheryl Truong: You're gonna see a whole bunch of. On for sale for $5. Wow. And we're talking actually like really amazing, incredible books. Um, so we're trying to clear our shelves. Lots of really great books are on sale for 30% off. Um, you're gonna see Harvey in the back office drinking a can of Diet Coke, even though I tell him not to. You'll probably see me or Bonoo at the front counter and we're. . Also happy that it lasted for as long as it did and will end [00:45:31] Miko Lee: strong. And then there's community events that are still ongoing. I know that you have one coming up. Yes. The Oakland Cultural Center. Asian Cultural Center. Can you tell us about that one? [00:45:40] Cheryl Truong: I'm so excited for this one. So Chiwan just re released a book called, have you Eaten yet? Recipes from Chinese American Family or something like that. Um, and then he's going to be in conversation. Amazing. Chef Martin Jann from YN Can Cook, and I think a little birdie told me that, uh, Jann is going to be doing a surprise cooking demonstration at the O A C C too, which is something I think they've never done before. So yeah, we're excited. [00:46:11] Miko Lee:  So how do people find out about coming to that event? [00:46:14] Cheryl Truong: Well, you can go on our Instagram. , uh, at Eastwood books or follow the Oakland Asian Cultural Center at Oakland Cultural Center on Instagram. Or you can go on occ.cc/events and you'll see a whole bunch of their events there too. [00:46:31] Banoo Afkhami: And you can also check out our website and send up to our newsletter, uh, which is also on our website. Um, like I said, it's asia book center.com. Uh, we post all of our events on there as well as links to purchase the books of the events. [00:46:46] Miko Lee: Um, so while the brick and mortar store is closing, you will still continue.I know East Wind Books is also a nonprofit, so the nonprofit arm is the aspect that's continuing. Is that right? Mm-hmm. . So the community center part, the community, maybe it's a virtual community or a community center at different locations will continue to exist? Yes, [00:47:09] Harvey Dong: correct. And then the, the other, um, activity that'll continue is, um, uh, the publishing of, um, books. [00:47:19] Miko Lee: Oh, great. Tell us about that. [00:47:20] Harvey Dong:  Uh, well, professor Carlos Munoz, who's active in the Chicano movement. is, um, writing a book about his, uh, life story, uh, his autobiography, and it it'll be published by East Wind Books of Berkeley. And the book covers his life from being involved in the, uh, LA student, uh, uh, blowouts. It was a huge walkout in, um, around 1968 and, um, his, uh, teaching of ethnic studies and Chicano studies. at uc, Berkeley and his activism in the Chi Chicano movement. Um, another uh, book that we recently released is titled The Power of Our Stories Won't Stop. And Who's that by? Uh, that's published by, um, uh, Helene Helen Lee. that book, uh, uh, is an anthology of. peoples of color, uh, who write about their early activism and sharing their stories, uh, to the younger generation. Oh, [00:48:37] Miko Lee: love that. That would be, that's very appropriate to our conversation today. Maybe we could do a book club on that. That sounds fun. Um, how many books has East Wind published? [00:48:48] Harvey Dong: We put 'em out on the table that day and there must be about six or seven. [00:48:52] Miko Lee: There's more than that. There's [00:48:53] Banoo Afkhami: more than that. Harvey. Those was just the ones we had on hand, Harvey. Yeah. And also like I, I was limited on table space there. Okay. You know , [00:49:01] Miko Lee: you'll see East Wind at a series of different community events that are happening. Um, I saw you backstage at Cambodian Rock Band. We. So good. Yeah, so different events. You'll see East Wind books and we always encourage folks to support local bookstores, not the big bad monsters. In [00:49:18] Cheryl Truong: addition, uh, there's a East Wind documentary in the works being worked on by Banu, uh, our good, good French Shine Lee and um, myself. [00:49:30] Miko Lee: Oh, great. What's the timeline for that, Cheryl? Tell us about the document. , we're [00:49:35] Banoo Afkhami: gonna hopefully have a teaser done by sometime in April. Um, you know, to commemorate the closing of the store. And I don't know, as of right now, I mean, there's no complete set timeline. We're just kind of, we want to capture these stories and the stories of, you know, Harvey and b and, you know, everyone involved in the movement. Um, So we actually agreed, you know, a couple weeks ago in a, in, in a Zoom meeting, sometime ridiculously late into the middle of the night , um, that, you know, we wouldn't set a 100% firm timeline for the super final product, but we will be releasing a teaser sometime in April. Um, just because we wanna make sure that we're doing justice to their stories and we don't want. Rush that process. Um, especially, you know, once we, you know, feel, like, feel out what, like the final through lines of the story are gonna be, um, and just to make sure that we do it just as, because it's such an important part of the community, it's such an important part of the Asian American movement. Um, and it can serve as a really beautiful metaphor for, you know, passing the torch and also just. Um, what it means to be an activist. So we don't want to rush that process. But, um, we're [00:50:53] Cheryl Truong: also definitely approaching it kind of with a whole bunch of seeds of curiosity. I think our hypothesis is kind of us asking how do we navigate, uh, post East One society? Not that, you know, east wind's forever gone, but just how do we move on after being impacted? Influentially by such a wonderful [00:51:16] Miko Lee: place. I love that. Thank you for sharing. Can each of you, Cheryl and Bonous, share what, who you come from, who are your people, and what is the legacy you carry with you, especially as you go into this next envisioning of what East Wind becomes? I [00:51:33] Cheryl Truong: love this question so much, right? When you asked it, Bonu, Bonu basically gave me a mental fist bump. Um, we love talking about this, so I. . I was born and raised in Long Beach, California, right? Harvey? Harvey loves Long Beach, um, . So I was born and raised in Long Beach. I come from a family of three or four siblings, or no, three other siblings, four people in total. Um, both of my parents are refugees from Vietnam. My mom left Vietnam when she was young to China, and then eventually, Had to leave China and walk or and go to Cambodia. And from Cambodia, she walked all the way to Vietnam again. Um, my dad was part of the second wave of Vietnamese boat people. He was on sea for, you know, five, five days, four nights I think, before he eventually landed in a refugee camp in Malaysia. Um, so I think our connect. I feel really similarly with Harvey, our connection to water. You know, we can trace our bloodlines through waterlines basically. Um, and yeah, we're, yeah, that's my family I guess. I have other family in Orange County as well in the little Saigon area, and my sister and I are up here in the East Bay. Love it. [00:52:52] Miko Lee: Thank you. And finally, I'd love to hear. [00:52:55] Banoo Afkhami: Yeah, so, um, my mother's actually Mexican American. My dad is Iranian. Um, he immigrated after the revolution. Um, as an artist. He was a photographer and at the time he was studying and working to be a director in cinema. Um, but then the revolution happened and there were a lot of restrictions on art, um, and self-expression. So he had a really complicated immigration story. Um, That I'm probably not gonna own to right now, but he, uh, after a lot of trial and error and years of trying, he made his way over to America. Um, and he opened a Photoshop, um, in San Leandro near the Bayfair Mall. Um, and my mom, uh, so she was Mexican American. Uh, she grew up in la um, To at the HNO family. So we're at the Hans, uh, generationally speaking. So like the border crossed us, we did not cross the border. . Yeah. Uh, we were Mexicans native to Texas. Um, and then Texas became a part of the US after my people were already there. Um, but yeah, so my grandparents left Texas because Jim Crow there was really, really awful. And, um, they moved to LA and my mom grew up in LA and. . Um, then she moved up to north, uh, northern California and she was into photography as a hobby. And so that's how my parents met. Um, my mom was his customer and so that meant for growing up in a really interesting upbringing. Um, just in the sense of it was weird, but in a lot of ways, being Iranian taught me how to be Chicano and being Chicano taught me how to be proud of being Iranian and Asian American. Cuz as far as diaspora goes, like. Um, like as Chicanos, we've been here and dealing with this type of racism for like a lot longer than the Iranian community has, where as a lot of us only immigrated in the eighties. So it really helped having, you know, people who like for generations understood what racism was to a community that was. So that's where it's like, you know, like I'm, you know, second gen in this, you know, where it's like my dad immigrated, you know, hoping to live the American dream and, you know, Now I'm the one that has to deal with like growing up Iranian American in a society that, you know, hardly wants to recognize that you exist. So in that sense, to go back to your original question of like, what does that do for, you know, east Wind or whatever, I mean, or whatever, , . Well, I don't know. I think in terms of our generation when it comes to community work, I don't feel like I can take claim. our movement. I think our movement is made up of everyone. You know, I don't think it can just be one person or, um, what I do see in terms of differences between our generation and older generations is some of the ways that we organize. Um, and also like, I don't know, we have to kind of evolve that and evolve how we trust each other. Cuz I remember Harvey, you know, would talk about how back in the day, they just had to trust in each other to show up and for us, I don't know, we have to be more creative with it. Um, [00:56:09] Miko Lee: thank you so much for sharing so much information about Legacy and about the future of East Wind Books and how we have to work together to be able to make it all happen. this is so critical for our movement, for our movement building. Webid a fond farewell to the brick and mortar store of East Wind Books. We encourage people to come there. Door closes,  in April and encourage people to get involved in all the different events that are happening. Um, that will continue to happen both online and at different locales. So find out more information at the East Wind website. You can also check out more information about. Amazing community events that are happening. There's a Women of Color Leadership conference tomorrow in San Francisco. There's the People Get Ready Political Conference at uc, Berkeley on Saturday. Cambodian Rock Bands still playing at Berkeley Wrap and Muni raised me is at San Francisco. Check those out. Um, and please check out our website, k pfa.org to find out more about these events and about East Wind Books. And we thank all of you out. Listeners, keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating, and sharing your visions for the world. Because your voices are important. Apex Express is a proud member of Acre Asian Americans for civil rights inequality, a network of progressive AAP I groups. Find out more@acre.org. Apex Express is produced by Paige Chung Swati. Raam Anju Pret Man, Shak Jalina Keenly, and me Miko Lee, thank you so much to our engineer, Jose Gonzalez, for making this show happen. Woo, and to all have a great night. The post APEX Express 3.23.23 The Legacy of Eastwind Books appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Bookwaves John Sayles discusses his latest novel, “Jamie MacGillivray, The Renegade's Journey,” along with his work as a writer and film-maker, with host Richard Wolinsky. Part One. John Sayles is best known for his work as a director, screenwriter and actor, though this is his sixth novel. Among the films he directed are Lone Star, Sunshine State, Eight Men Out, Matewan, The Brother from Another Planet, Baby It's You and Passion Fish. His acting credits include small roles in several films, and he wrote the screenplay for the films he directed. His novel “Jamie MacGillivray, The Renegade's Journey” follows the characters of Jamie, a Scotsman captured by the English after the Battle of Culloden, and Jenny, another captured refugee from Scotland, as they make their way to the New World, Jamie winding up in a Native American village and Jenny moving from the Caribbean to Quebec, both of them involved in the French and Indian Wars.  Photos: Richard Wolinsky. Recorded March 1, 2023 at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. Special thanks to Elaine Petrocelli and the staff at the bookstore. Part Two airs next week. Complete 45-minute Interview.   Bookwaves Nora Ephron (1941-2012) in conversation with Richard Wolinsky, recorded November 21, 2010 in the KPFA studios, while on tour for her book, “I Remember Nothing.” Known as one of the finest screenplay writers Hollywood ever saw, she is best known for such films as Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle. Her final film was Julie & Julia. A playwright and essayist, her influence is still felt in the entertainment business. Complete Interview.     Review of “Cambodian Rock Band” at Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre through April 2, 2023.     Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors' positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  Lists of guests at the upcoming Book Festival, May 6-7, 2023, event calendar and links to previous events. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.   Monthly Calendar. On-line events only. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler's Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actor's Reading Collective (ARC).  See website for past streams. Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. American Conservatory Theatre  Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 by Qui Nguyen, March 30 – May 7, Strand. Aurora Theatre  Cyrano by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Josh Costello, April 7 – May 7. Awesome Theatre Company. Check website for upcoming live shows and streaming. Berkeley Rep Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee, February 25 – April 2, Roda Theatre. Boxcar Theatre. See website for calendar listings. Brava Theatre Center: See website for events. BroadwaySF: Fiddler on the Roof, March 22 – 26, Golden Gate. Come from Away, April 11 – 23, Golden Gate. Pretty Woman: The Musical, April 26-30, Orpheum Broadway San Jose: Pretty Woman: The Musical, March 21-26. California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes). No 2023 season scheduled. See website for events calendar. Center Rep: Sweat, by Lynn Nottage. March 31  – April 16 (due to illness shows from March 26-30 have been cancelled). Central Works Mondragola by Gary Graves, March 18 – April 16, 2023. Cinnabar Theatre. Tiger Style! by Mike Lew, April 7 – 23. Contra Costa Civic Theatre To Master the Art by William Brown and Doug Frew, April 21 – May 21, 2023. Curran Theater: Into The Woods, direct from Broadway, June 20-25, 2023. Custom Made Theatre. Tiny Fires by Aimee Suzara, postponed to a later date in 2023. Cutting Ball Theatre. Exhaustion Arroyo: Dancin' Trees in the Ravine by W. Fran Astorga. April 13 – May 21. 42nd Street Moon. Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, March 23 – April 9, Gateway Theatre. Golden Thread  See website for ongoing special events. Landmark Musical Theater.  Annie Warbucks, sequel to Annie, March 11 – April 9, 2023, at the Landmark, 533 Sutter, SF. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. In The Evening by the Moonlight by Tracy Tolmaire, a staged reading, co-created and directed by Margo Hall. At the Museum of the African Diaspora, April 8, 2 pm. Magic Theatre. The Ni¿¿er Lovers by Mark Anthony Thompson, May 3 -21. See website for other events at the Magic. Marin Theatre Company Where Did We Sit On The Bus? by Brian Quijada, May 4 – 28, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Locusts Have No King by C. Julian Jimenez, April 7 – May 14. The Confession of Lily Dare by Charles Busch, May 12 – June 11. Oakland Theater Project.  Is God Is by Aleshea Harris, in theater, March 31 – April 23. Pear Theater. Richard II by William Shakespeare, weekends through March 26. PianoFight. Permanently closed as of March 18, 2023. Presidio Theatre. See website for upcoming productions Ray of Light: Spring Awakening In Concert, June 8-10, Victoria Theatre. Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical, September 8 – October 1, Victoria Theatre. The Rocky Horror Show, Oasis Nightclub, October 6  – 31. See website for Spotlight Cabaret Series at Feinstein's at the Nikko. San Francisco Playhouse.  Clue, based on the screenplay, March 9 – April 27, 2023. SFBATCO See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl, April 5 – 30. 2023. Shotgun Players. Triumph of Love by Pierre de Marivaux, March 25 – April 23, streaming on demand, April 6, April 13. South Bay Musical Theatre: Singin' In the Rain, May 13 – June 3. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Rhino   Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand, New performances most Wednesdays. See website for free staged readings. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, by Cheryl L. West, March 8 – April 8, 2023, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. Word for Word.  Home by George Saunders, April 5-29, Z Below. See schedule for  one-night readings and streaming performances. Misc. Listings: BAM/PFA: On View calendar for BAM/PFA. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2023 Season, starting February. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you'll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down. National Theatrical Streaming: Upcoming plays from around the country. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you'd like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org             The post Bookwaves/ Artwaves March 23, 2023: John Sayles – Nora Ephron appeared first on KPFA.

KPFA theatre critic Richard Wolinsky reviews “Cambodian Rock Band” by Lauren Yee, at Berkeley Rep‘s Roda Theatre through April 2, 2023. The post Review: “Cambodian Rock Band” at Berkeley Rep appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Artwaves Joe Ngo, who plays the role of Chum, the father, in “Cambodian Rock Band,” by Lauren Yee, and won an Obie for his performance at the Signature Theatre in New York, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Joe Ngo is an actor and musician, and has been performing in “Cambodian Rock Band” since its origins at the Ground Floor, Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work in 2016 before moving on to Houston and New York. Previously he acted in regional theatre in both “King of the Yees” and “Viet Gone,” as well as other plays. In the interview, he discusses how “Cambodian Rock Band” evolved, his own development as a musician, his relationship to the material in the show — both his parents lived through the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields era in Cambodia before migrating to America — and his career as an actor.  Photos: Berkeley Rep; Joe Ngo. Recorded via zencastr due to ongoing Covid protocols on March 8, 2023. Complete 42-minute interview.   Artwaves Jesse Green, New York Times theatre critic, and co-author of “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. In this brief previously unaired excerpt from an interview recorded on September 8, 2022, Jesse Green discusses Mary Rodgers' greatest feature, working on theatre reviews, the current state of Broadway theatre, and his view on the new Editor in Chief of the New York Times. Complete 48-minute interview.   Review of “Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer” at TheatreWorks Lucie Stern Theatre through April 2, 2023.     Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors' positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  Lists of guests at the upcoming Book Festival, May 6-7, 2023, event calendar and links to previous events. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.   Monthly Calendar. On-line events only. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler's Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actor's Reading Collective (ARC).  See website for past streams. Alter Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. American Conservatory Theatre  Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 by Qui Nguyen, March 30 – May 7, Strand. At the Rueff in the Strand: Tea Party by Gordon Dahlquist, directed by Erin Merritt, 12 performances only, March 2 – 19, 2023. Aurora Theatre  Cyrano by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Josh Costello, April 7 – May 7. Awesome Theatre Company. Check website for upcoming live shows and streaming. Berkeley Rep Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee, February 25 – April 2, Roda Theatre. Boxcar Theatre. Lady Gaga #ARTBIRTH with Gaga impersonator Athena Reich, Palace Theatre (home of Speakeasy), March 16-19, multiple shows daily. Brava Theatre Center: See website for events. BroadwaySF: Six, through March 19, Orpheum. Fiddler on the Roof, March 22 – 26, Golden Gate. Come from Away, April 11 – 23, Golden Gate. Pretty Woman: The Musical, April 26-30, Orpheum Broadway San Jose: Pretty Woman: The Musical, March 21-26. California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes). 2023 Season to be announced. Center Rep: Sweat, by Lynn Nottage. March 25 – April 16. Central Works Mondragola by Gary Graves, March 18 – April 16, 2023. Cinnabar Theatre. Tiger Style! by Mike Lew, April 7 – 23. Contra Costa Civic Theatre To Master the Art by William Brown and Doug Frew, April 21 – May 21, 2023. Curran Theater: Into The Woods, direct from Broadway, June 20-25, 2023. Custom Made Theatre. Tiny Fires by Aimee Suzara, postponed to a later date in 2023. 42nd Street Moon. Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, March 23 – April 9, Gateway Theatre. Golden Thread  What Do Women Say? Fighters for Freedom,  Celebration for International Women's Day. On Demand, March 15-22.. Landmark Musical Theater.  Annie Warbucks, sequel to Annie, March 11 – April 9, 2023, at the Landmark, 533 Sutter, SF. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. In The Evening by the Moonlight by Tracy Tolmaire, a staged reading, co-created and directed by Margo Hall. At the Museum of the African Diaspora, April 8, 2 pm. Magic Theatre. The Ni¿¿er Lovers by Mark Anthony Thompson, May 3 -21. See website for other events at the Magic. Marin Theatre Company Where Did We Sit On The Bus? by Brian Quijada, May 4 – 28, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC)  Locusts Have No King by C. Julian Jimenez, April 7 – May 14. The Confession of Lily Dare by Charles Busch, May 12 – June 11. Oakland Theater Project.  Is God Is by Aleshea Harris, in theater, March 31 – April 23. Pear Theater. Richard II by William Shakespeare, weekends through March 26. PianoFight. Calendar of shows. Note: PianoFight in San Francisco and Oakland permanently close on March 18, 2023. Presidio Theatre. See website for upcoming productions Ray of Light: Spring Awakening In Concert, June 8-10, Victoria Theatre. Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical, September 8 – October 1, Victoria Theatre. The Rocky Horror Show, Oasis Nightclub, October 6  – 31. See website for Spotlight Cabaret Series at Feinstein's at the Nikko. San Francisco Playhouse.  Clue, based on the screenplay, March 9 – April 27, 2023. SFBATCO See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl, April 5 – 30. 2023. Shotgun Players. Triumph of Love by Pierre de Marivaux, March 25 – April 23, streaming on demand, April 6, April 13. South Bay Musical Theatre: Singin' In the Rain, May 13 – June 3. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Rhino  A Guide for the Homesick by Ken Urban, February 23 – March 19. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand, Most Recent: Eisenstein, performed March 15, 2023. See website for free staged readings. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, by Cheryl L. West, March 8 – April 8, 2023, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. Word for Word.  See schedule for  live and streaming works. Misc. Listings: BAM/PFA: On View calendar for BAM/PFA. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2023 Season, starting February. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you'll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down. National Theatrical Streaming: Upcoming plays from around the country. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you'd like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org             The post Bookwaves/ Artwaves March 16, 2023: Joe Ngo – Jesse Green appeared first on KPFA.

Joe Ngo, who plays the role of Chum, the father, in “Cambodian Rock Band,” by Lauren Yee, and won an Obie for his performance at the Signature Theatre in New York, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Joe Ngo is an actor and musician, and has been performing in “Cambodian Rock Band” since its origins at the Ground Floor, Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work in 2016 before moving on to Houston and New York. Previously he acted in regional theatre in both “King of the Yees” and “Viet Gone,” as well as other plays. In the interview, he discusses how “Cambodian Rock Band” evolved, his own development as a musician, his relationship to the material in the show — both his parents lived through the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields era in Cambodia before migrating to America — and his career as an actor.  Photos: Berkeley Rep; Joe Ngo. Recorded via zencastr due to ongoing Covid protocols on March 8, 2023.   The post Joe Ngo, actor/performer, “Cambodian Rock Band,” 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues   Artwaves Luis Alfaro, playwright, whose latest play is “The Travelers,” at the Magic Theatre in Fort Mason, San Francisco, February 15 – March 5, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Luis Alfaro is a Los Angeles-based Chicano activist and playwright, on the faculty at USC, whose plays have been performed throughout the United States and who is a former playwright in residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, discusses his life and career in this full hour interview. Among his previous works are “Oedipus el Rey” and “Bruja,” both of which were performed at the Magic. “The Travelers” is set in the small town of Grangeville, near Fresno, in a monastery, into which stumbles a man who has been shot. The interview was recorded via zencastr on February 7, 2023. Complete 55-minute interview. Luis Alfaro Wikipedia page.   Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors' positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. All times Pacific Standard Time. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival  Highlights from last year's Festival, May 7-8, 2022 and upcoming calendar. Book Passage.  Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc.  Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith.   Monthly Calendar. On-line events only. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Hanif Abudurraqib, February 23, 7 pm. Kepler's Books  On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actor's Reading Collective (ARC).  See website for past streams. Alter Theatre. Pueblo Revolt by Dillon Chitto, February 15-26, Art Works Downtown, San Rafael. American Conservatory Theatre  The Headlandsl by Christopher Chen, Toni Rembe Theater. through March 5. Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 by Qui Nguyen, March 30 – May 7, Strand. At the Rueff in the Strand: Tea Party by Gordon Dahlquist, directed by Erin Merritt, 12 performances only, March 2 – 19, 2023. Aurora Theatre Paradise Blue by Dominique Morisseau, Through February 26, streaming February 21-26. Cyrano by Edmond Rostand, adapted by Josh Costello, April 7 – May 7. Awesome Theatre Company. Check website for upcoming live shows and streaming. Berkeley Rep Clydes, by Lynn Nottage, January 20 – February 28, Peets Theatre. Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee, February 25 – April 2, Roda Theatre. Boxcar Theatre. Lady Gaga #ARTBIRTH with Gaga impersonator Athena Reich, Palace Theatre (home of Speakeasy), March 16-19, multiple shows daily. Brava Theatre Center: See website for events. BroadwaySF: Dear Evan Hanson, January 24 – February 19, Orpheum; Mean Girls, January 31 – February 26, Golden Gate. Bill Maher, live on stage, March 12, 2023. Broadway San Jose: My Fair Lady, February 21 -26, 2023. California Shakespeare Theatre (Cal Shakes). 2023 Season to be announced. Center Rep: Red Bike, by Carldad Svich, directed by Jeffrey Lo. February  4 – 25, 2023. Central Works Mondragola by Gary Graves, March 18 – April 16, 2023. Cinnabar Theatre. The Broadway Bash fund-raiser, February 25, Doubletree Rohnert Park. Contra Costa Civic Theatre To Master the Art by William Brown and Doug Frew, April 21 – May 21, 2023. Curran Theater: Into The Woods, direct from Broadway, June 20-25, 2023. Custom Made Theatre. Tiny Fires by Aimee Suzara, postponed to a later date. 42nd Street Moon. Anything Goes, February 23 – March 12, Gateway Theatre. Golden Thread  What Do Women Say? Fighters for Freedom, International Womens Day, March 8, 2023, 7 pm Brava Theatre Center. Landmark Musical Theater. Uncle Vanya, Feb. 16-18; Feb 23-25, 7 pm. Rocky Horror Picture Show with San Francisco's Bawdy Caste, February 11, 10:30 pm (movie at midnight). Annie Warbucks, sequel to Annie, March 11 – April 9, 2023, at the Landmark, 533 Sutter, SF. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. Next show to be announced. Magic Theatre. The Travelers by Luis Alfaro, February 15 – March 5, 2023. See website for other events at the Magic. Marin Theatre Company Justice: A New Musical by Lauren Gunderson, February 16 – March 12, 2023. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) Getting There by Dipika Guha, Jan. 20 – Feb. 26. Tick, Tick … Boom postponed. Locusts Have No King by C. Julian Jimenez, April 7 – May 14. Oakland Theater Project.  Exodus to Eden by Michael Socrates Moran, in theater, February 3-26, 2023. Pear Theater. In Repertory, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, a new physical adaptation, Dontrell Who Kissed The Sea by Nathan Alan Davis, February 3-26. 2023. PianoFight. Calendar of shows. Note: PianoFight in San Francisco and Oakland permanently close on March 18, 2023. PlayGround. See website for upcoming shows. Presidio Theatre. See website for upcoming productions Ray of Light: Spring Awakening In Concert, June 8-10, Victoria Theatre. Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical, September 8 – October 1, Victoria Theatre. The Rocky Horror Show, Oasis Nightclub, October 6  – 31. See website for Spotlight Cabaret Series at Feinstein's at the Nikko. San Francisco Playhouse.  Cashed Out by Claude Jackson, Jr., January 28 to February 25, 2023. Clue, based on the screenplay, March 9 – April 27, 2023. SFBATCO See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: Satchmo at the Waldorf by Terry Teachout, February 1 – 26, 2023. Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl, April 5 – 30. 2023. Shotgun Players. Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy. Extended to February 25, 2023. Siren by Lisa Villamil, staged reading, on demand through February 15, 2023. Triumph of Love by Pierre de Marivaux, March 25 – April 23, streaming on demand, April 6, April 13. South Bay Musical Theatre: The Spitfire Grill, January 28-February 18, 2023. Singin' In the Rain, May 13 – June 3. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Rhino  A Guide for the Homesick by Ken Urban, February 23 – March 19. Julian! by John Fisher, March 1, 7 pm. Sticky Rice by Roni B. Alvarez, staged reading, March 14, 7 pm. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. See website for free staged readings. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, by Cheryl L. West, March 8 – April 8, 2023, Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto. Word for Word.  See schedule for  live and streaming works. Misc. Listings: BAM/PFA: On View calendar for BAM/PFA. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2023 Season, starting February. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Playbill List of Streaming Theatre: Updated weekly, this is probably the best list you'll find of national and international streaming plays and musicals. Each week has its own webpage, so scroll down. National Theatrical Streaming: Upcoming plays from around the country. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you'd like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org             The post Bookwaves/Artwaves – February 16, 2023: Luis Alfaro appeared first on KPFA.

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee talks about Theatre & Memory with Bay Area native artists: composer Byron Au Yong and playwright Lauren Yee. They provide behind the scenes news about their upcoming productions at ACT and Berkeley Rep. More info on our guests: Byron Au Yong, composer The Headlands, ACT   Lauren Yee, playwright Cambodian Rock Band, Berkeley Rep   Transcript: Theatre and Memory or Why Art Matters [00:00:00] Miko Lee: Good evening and welcome to APEX Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight we're talking about theater and memory or why art matters. So many artists grapple with this concept of memory and how each of us has a different story to share. And tonight we get to hear from two bay area locals, a playwright, and a composer, each share a bit about their creative process and why art matters to them. I have the pleasure of speaking with composer, Byron Au Yong who had been creating music for the Headlands, which opens this weekend at act. And with playwright Lauren Yee who's musical Cambodian rock band comes back home to Berkeley rep at the end of the month. First off. Let's take a listen to one of Byron Al Yong's compositions called know your rights. This is part of the trilogy of the Activists Songbook. This multi-lingual rap, give steps to know what to do when ice officers come to your door. song That was know your rights performed by Jason Chu with lyrics by Aaron Jeffries and composed by my guest, Byron Au Yong. Welcome, Byron Au Yong to Apex Express. We're so happy to hear from you. [00:04:11] Byron Au Yong: Thanks, Miko. It's so great to be here. [00:04:13] Miko Lee: I wanna talk to you about a couple of things. First and foremost, you have the Headlands that is opening up at ACT really soon. Tell me about who your people are and where you come from. [00:04:27] Byron Au Yong: Sure. So my grandparents, both maternal and paternal, left China in the late thirties and they both immigrated to the Philippines. And so both my parents were born to Philippines in different areas. And so I come from a family of refugees who then settled into Philippines and my parents were not the first in their family. They were actually both the fourth and they left and immigrated to the United States when the United States opened up immigration in post 1965. So they were part of that wave. And then I was born in Pittsburgh. They, they were actually introduced here in Seattle. And I was born in Pittsburgh because my dad was in school there. And then they moved back to Seattle. So I'm from Seattle and in 2016 I moved to San Francisco. [00:05:17] Miko Lee: Thank you. So you are a composer. Have you always played music and have you always been attuned to audio? Tell me about how you got started as a composer. [00:05:28] Byron Au Yong: Sure. As a kid my parents divorced when I was age seven and I was an only child up until age 16. My mom worked. In the evenings. And my dad wasn't in the household and so I had a lot of time to myself and I would sing a lot to myself. And then my next door neighbor was a piano teacher, and so I started to play the piano at age nine, and then at age 11 I started to write stuff down. And yeah, so I've been doing music for a bit. [00:05:59] Miko Lee: So music has always been a part of your life, essentially. It's been your playmate since you were young. [00:06:04] Byron Au Yong: Yes, absolutely [00:06:05] Miko Lee: Love that. So tell us about the Headlands that's gonna be opening at ACT pretty soon. [00:06:11] Byron Au Yong: Yeah so The Headlands is a play by Christopher Chen, who you may know is playwright, who is born and raised and continues to live in San Francisco. And it's his love letter to San Francisco. It's a San Francisco noir play. It's a whodunit play. It's a play about a main character who's trying to figure out who he is after the death of his dad. Which causes him to wonder who he is and where he is from. I'm doing original music for the show, this is gonna be an American Conservatory Theater, and Pam McKinnon, who's the artistic director, will be stage directing this production as well. I actually met Chris Chen in 2013 when I had a show called Stuck Elevator that was at ACT. And I've been really fascinated with his work as a playwright for a while, and so I was thrilled when ACT invited me to join the creative team to work on music. Miko Lee: Oh, fun. Okay. I wanna talk to you about Stuck Elevator next, but first let's stick with the headlines.This is a play that's about memory and storytelling. I'm wondering if there is a story that has framed your creative process. Byron Au Yong: Yeah. Thinking about this show as a memory play, and, memory as something, we go back in our memories to try and figure stuff out, which is very much what this play is. And also to claim and to. figure out if something from our memory was recalled maybe in completely. And so the main character is, piecing together fragments of his memory to figure out who he is in the present. And considering this I actually went back to music. I composed when I was still a teenager. I actually dropped outta school and was working a lot. I think I realized early on that I was indeed, I wanted to dedicate myself to being an artist and was very concerned about how I would make a living as an artist in the United States. And so I thought I'll figure out how to make money away from the music. And so I had a lot of jobs and I was trying to write music, but, I was in a sad place, and so I never finished anything. I have a bunch of fragments from this time. But on Memorial Day I woke up and, it was sunny in Seattle and so I said, I'm gonna finish a piece of music today. And that became part of a project in mine where every Memorial Day I finish a piece of music and it's a solo piano piece that I finish. And so, going back in my personal history, I found one of these Memorial Day pieces and thought, oh, this actually works. Because it's a bit awkward and it doesn't resolve, and I remember who I was back then, but it's also me piecing together things and so I used that as the foundation for the music, for The Headlands, which is a different thing. If you didn't know that was my source material, that's in some ways irrelevant. But that's my personal connection in thinking about music for this. And of course I've also done a lot of research on film noir. A lot of noir films were set in San Francisco. And and the music is awesome, amazing of this genre. And, it's mysterious it is a certain urban Americana music. And so I include those elements as well. [00:09:36] Miko Lee: Thank you. That's so interesting that you have a Memorial Day ritual to create a piece of music. I'm wondering if, aside from the Headlands, have you used the Memorial Day Music in other pieces you've created? [00:09:48] Byron Au Yong: No this is the first time. [00:09:51] Miko Lee: Wow. Yeah. That's great. [00:09:53] Byron Au Yong: I think Miko is because, it's a private thing for me. I think the other thing too is as you mentioned, music was my friend growing up. The piano was. Definitely one of my best friends. And so solo piano pieces for me are, it's where you can have an audience of one. And one of the things that helped me, when I was not in school was. Playing through a lot of different other solo piano pieces. And so part of these Memorial Day pieces too are that they're meant to be simple enough that they could be sight read. And so if, if there's a musician who you know, is in a similar state of, oh, I'm not able to really do anything, but I want to be with music. I can sight read through, these different Memorial Day pieces. [00:10:38] Miko Lee: And do you have them set in a specific part of your house or where, how, where do you keep your Memorial Day projects and when do you open them up to look at them? [00:10:48] Byron Au Yong: Oh yeah. They're handwritten in a folder. None of the things so special. [00:10:54] Miko Lee: What was it that inspired you to go back and look at them for the headlands? [00:10:58] Byron Au Yong: Oh, you know what it is there are, be, because I know you, you also create stuff too in your memory of your catalog.I'm wondering if you have. If you have works that, that you remember that you made and then tho those works may remind you of a certain mood you were in or a certain room or and so I think they're musical things from certain or, things I was experimenting with for these Memorial Day. Said, I'm like, oh, I remember this. Let me go back to the folder where I collect this stuff every year and look through it. And I think that parallels actually the headlands and what the main character is doing because he recalls, and what's so cool about the production is we go into the same scene, but there's like a clue that's been revealed. And so we as an audience get to revisit the scene again. And there's a different interpretation of what was happening in the scene. And so what might have been like a scene between Henry's parents, Lena and George, which he thought, oh, this is how it was when I was a kid, when I was 10 years old. Thinking about it, remembering it, but now with this new information, this is how I'm gonna interpret the scene. And so I think similarly with, music from my past, these Memorial Day pieces, I'm like, oh, this is what I was interested in working on. But now as a older composer, I'm like, ah, and I can do this with this material. [00:12:26] Miko Lee: I love that. And I also really appreciate that this play about memory you pulled from your Memorial Day pieces, that it goes with this whole flow of just re-envisioning things with your own frame and based on where you're at in any given time. [00:12:42] Byron Au Yong: Totally. [00:12:43] Miko Lee: I know that the show was created 2020, is that right? Yes. Is that when, first? Yeah, Byron Au Yong: I think it's right before the pandemic. Miko Lee: Yeah. And you've had several different directors, and now in a way you both are coming home to San Francisco and artistic director, Pam McKinnon is directing it. I wonder if you have thoughts about some of the difference approaches that these directors have brought to the process. [00:13:06] Byron Au Yong: Oh, yeah. And, miko, this is the first time I'm working on the headlands. And so when it was at Lincoln Center, there was a different creative team. [00:13:12] Miko Lee: Oh, so the music, you're just creating the music for this version of the show. [00:13:16] Byron Au Yong: Yes, correct. Wow. And it is a new production because that Lincoln Center was in a stage called LCT 3, which is a smaller venue. Whereas this is gonna be in a Toni Rembe theater, which is, on Geary. It's a 1100 seat theater. And the set is quite fabulous and large . And what's also great is, aside from Johnny, all the cast is local. And like it will have the feel of a San Francisco production because many of us live here, have lived here and know these places that are referenced in the show. [00:13:51] Miko Lee: Thanks for that clarification. So that's really different to go from a small house at Lincoln Center to the big house at a c t Yes. With local folks with, your local music. That brings a very different approach to it. I'm excited to see it. That sounds really interesting. And now I wanna go back to talk about Stuck Elevator, which I was so delighted to learn about. Which was your first piece That was at ACT what, back in 2013? So tell our audience first about where Stuck Elevator came from and then tell what it's about. [00:14:23] Byron Au Yong: Sure. So stuck elevator. So I was living in New York in 2005 and there were some there were some images of like photos in the newspaper, initially it was local news because it was a Chinese delivery man who was missing. And most of the delivery people at the time, they carry cash, they won't go to the police. And there, there had been a string of muggings and then one was actually beaten to death. And so it was local news that this guy was missing. And then a few days later, and in New York Times, there was a big article because he was found in an elevator in the Bronx and he had been trapped in his elevator which had become stuck. And he was trapped for 81 hours, which that's like over three days. And so it made international news. And then when I read the article and learned more about him, there were many parallels like where he was from in China, which is Fujan Province, which is where my grandparents left that he was paying a debt to human smugglers to be in the United States. And different things that I thought, wow, if my grandparents hadn't left I wonder if, I would be the one who was, paying to be smuggled here rather than paying for grad school. And so I became quite fascinated with them. And then also, realized at the time, in 2005, this is like YouTube was just starting, and so all like the Asian American YouTube stars, they weren't as prominent in the news. And, BTS wasn't around then. So for me to see an Asian male. In the US media there was always this feeling of oh why is this Asian male in the news? And then realized, oh, it's actually part of a larger story about being trapped in America about family obligation, about labor, about fear of, in his specific case because he's an undocumented immigrant, fear of deportation. So there were many issues that, that I thought were broader than the specific story. And so I thought, this would be a great opera slash musical. So that's what it became at [00:16:23] Miko Lee: you, you basically read a story and said, whoa, what is this? I feel this is so wild. And then created it into an opera. Yes. Also, it just resonated with me so much as a person who has been trapped in elevators, in broken elevators six different times, . Oh my goodness. Yes. I'm like, wow. And his story, that many hours, that has to be like a record. Byron Au Yong: Right? Nobody else has been trapped that long. Yeah. It's a record. Miko Lee: So you created this piece, it premiered at ACT? Yes. Did you ever connect with the guy that was stuck in the elevator? [00:16:59] Byron Au Yong: No. So the New York Times did something which is actually not cool. They they revealed his immigration status and that at the time I'm not sure if it's still the case,but at the time, you're not allowed to reveal people's immigration status. Especially, in such a public way. And so what was cool was that the AALEDF, which is the Asian American Legal Education and Defense Fund, they the volunteer attorneys there step forward to represent Ming Kuang Chen and his case and ensure that he had legal representation so he would not be deported. The thing is, he was suffering from PTSD and there was also another case at the time it was a different un undocumented immigrant case that AALEDF was representing that had a bit more visibility and so he actually didn't want to be so much into public eye, and so he went back into hiding. And so while I didn't meet him specifically, I met his translator. I met other people at AALEDF met with other people who were related to the stories that he was a part of. So for example, used to be an organization, which I think they've changed their name, but they were the Fujanese Restaurant Workers Association. Most of the undocumented immigrants who worked in restaurants at the time are from Fujan Province. Also, Asian Pacific American Studies at New York University. Is a mix o f people who were working in restaurants as well as people, scholars who were studying this issue. [00:18:46] Miko Lee: Can you describe a little bit about Stuck Elevator for folks that haven't seen it? Sure. How did you conceive of this piece, that song? [00:18:53] Byron Au Yong: Yeah so it's a thru sung piece about a guy who's trapped in America. He's a Chinese food delivery man, and he's, delivering food in the Bronx. And what I think is You know what I didn't realize when I started it. And then I realized working on it was the thing about being stuck in the elevator is, especially for so long, is that you and I don't know if this is your case, Miko it's so fascinating to hear you've been trapped six different times. There's the initial shock and initial oh my gosh, I have to get out. And then there's this. Maybe not resignation but there's this, okay. Okay. I'm gonna be here so now what? Now what I'm going to do and the time actually, especially for someone who works so much delivering food and sending money back home to his wife and son in China and his family is that he actually is not working, right? And so he has time to consider what his life has been like in New York for the past, the two years he's been there. And to consider the choices he's made as well as to remember his family who are back in China. And part of this too is you're not awake the entire time. Sometimes you go to sleep, and so in his sleep he dreams. He has hallucinations. He has nightmares. And this is where the music theater opera really starts to confront and navigate through the various issues of being trapped in America. [00:20:22] Miko Lee: Any chance this will come into production, somewhere? [00:20:26] Byron Au Yong: Yeah, hopefully, we were just at Nashville Opera last week, two weeks ago. [00:20:30] Miko Lee: Oh, fun. [00:20:31] Byron Au Yong: so Nashville Opera. So the lead Julius Ahn who was in ACT's production is an opera singer. And and he had told the artistic director of Nashville Opera about this project years ago. And John Hoomes, who's the artistic director there had remembered it. Last year John Hoomes reached out to me and said, you know, I think it's the time for to be an operatic premiere of Stuck Elevator. And so we had an amazing run there. [00:20:58] Miko Lee: Great. Wow. I look forward to seeing that too somewhere soon. Yes. I also wanted to chat with you about this last week, a lot of things have been happening in our A P I community with these mass shootings that have been just so painful. Yes. And I know that you worked on a piece that was called The Activist Songbook. Are you, can you talk a little bit about that process and the Know Your Rights project? [00:21:23] Byron Au Yong: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm gonna back up because so Activist Song Book is actually the third in a trilogy of which Stuck Elevator is the first, and related to the recent tragedies that have happened in Half Moon Bay and also in Monterey Park. The second in the trilogy is it's called the Ones. It was originally called Trigger, and it also has the name Belonging. And I can go through why it has so many different names, but the first in the trilogy was Stuck Elevator, and it was prompted by me again, seeing an Asian male in the US media. So the second actually all three are from seeing Asian males in the US media. And the second one was an incident that happened in 2007 where a creative writing major shot 49 people killing 32, and then himself at Virginia Tech. And and when this happened I realized, oh shoot Stuck elevator's part of a trilogy. I have to figure out how to do this show called Trigger or what was called Trigger. And then realized of the different layers in a trilogy. Yes. There's this initial thing about Asian men in the US media, but then there's this other thing about ways out of oppression. And so with Stuck Elevator, the way out of oppression is through the main character's imagination, right? His dreams, his what ifs, right? The possibilities and the different choices he can make with the second one, what me and the creative team realized is that, the way out of oppression is that the creative writing major who you may remember was a Korean American he was so isolated at Virginia Tech and the tragedy of him being able to purchase firearms and then kill so many people, including himself in working on it, I was like, I need to understand, but it's not this story I necessarily want to put on stage. And so what it became is it became a story, and this is also the national conversation changed around mass violence in America. The conversation became less about the perpetrator and more about the victims. And so it became a choral work for community performers. So rather than a music theater opera, like Stuck Elevator, it's a music theater forum with local singers. And this was actually performed at Virginia Tech during the 10 year memorial of the tragedy. And this one I did eight site visits to Virginia Tech and met with people including the chief of police of Blacksburg. First responder to director of threat assessment to family members whose children were lost. A child of, teachers were also killed that day to counselors who were there to Nikki Giovanni, who was one of the faculty members. So yeah so many people. But this one, the second one, the way out of oppression is from isolation into community, into belonging. And Virginia Tech Administration said we could not call the work trigger. And so the work there was called (Be)longing with the be in parentheses. And now we've done a new revision called The Ones partially influenced by the writer, one of his teachers was June Jordan who was at UC Berkeley. And she has a phrase, we are the ones we've been waiting for. And so the ones which is a 2019 revision, the show, what it does is Act three youth takeover, right? It's about coming of age and an age of guns, and the youth have become activists because they have no choice because they are being shot in places of learning, and so Parkland in Chicago and other places have been influential in this work. And then the third in the trilogy is Activist Songbook. And for this one we went back to an earlier asian male who was in the US media, and that was Vincent Chin who you may know was murdered 40 years ago. And so activist song book is to counteract hate and energize movements. And it's a collection of different songs that is even further away from musical theater opera production in that the rally component of the songs can be taught within 10 minutes to a group of people outdoors to be used right away. And that one, the way out of repression is through organizing. [00:25:49] Miko Lee: Well, Byron Au Young, thank you so much for sharing with us about all the different projects you've been working on. We'll put a link in the show notes to the headlands that folks can see at a c t. Tell our audience how else they can find out more about you and your life as a composer and more about your work. [00:26:05] Byron Au Yong: Sure. I have a website. It's my name.com or b y r o n a u y o n g.com. [00:26:12] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for spending so much time with me. [00:26:14] Byron Au Yong: Of course. [00:26:15] Miko Lee: You are tuned into apex express on 94.1, KPFA an 89.3 K P F B in Berkeley and online@kpfa.org. We're going to hear one more piece by composer, Byron Al young called This is the Beginning, which was prompted by Lilly and Vincent chin and inspired by Helen Zia and other organizers. song That was, This is the Beginning by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jeffrey's. Featuring Christine Toi Johnson on voice and Tobias Wong on voice and guitar. This is a beginning is prompted by organizing in response to the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin in Detroit. This hate crime was a turning point for Asian American solidarity in the fight for federal civil rights. Lily chin Vincent's mom refused to let her son's death be invisible. Next up, I have the chance to speak with playwright Lauren Yee who's musical Cambodian rock band. Returns to Berkeley rep where it first got its workshop and it will be there from February 25th through April 2nd. And here's a teaser from Cambodian rock band by Lauren Yee. Take a listen to seek CLO. song Miko Lee: Welcome Lauren Yee to Apex express. [00:34:35] Lauren Yee: Thank you so much, Miko. [00:34:37] Miko Lee: We're so happy to have you a local Bay Area person. Award-winning playwright. Coming back to town at Berkeley Rep with your show, Cambodian Rock Band. Yay. Tell us about the show. [00:34:51] Lauren Yee: Yes so Cambodian Rock Band. Is actually a piece that has some of its like earliest development roots in the Bay Area and also like specifically at Berkeley Rep. Getting to bring the show to Berkeley rep really feels like some sort of poetic justice. In addition to the fact, that it's like my old stomping grounds. . Essentially Cambodian rock Band started in 2015, or at least the writing of it. It actually started, if I'm being honest much earlier than that. I think it was about 2010 2011. I was down in San Diego in grad school and one of my friends was just like dying to go see this band play at a music festival. She was like, I saw this band play. They're amazing. You should totally come. And I was like, sure. And I don't know if you've ever had this experience, but it's like, going somewhere, hearing a band, and even before you know anything about them or their story, you just fall in love. You fall like head over heels in love and you say, oh my God who are these people? And I wanna know everything about them. And that band was Dengue Fever. Which is amazing. You fell in love with the band first. Yep. Before the play. Yes. And it was the band Dengue Fever which is an LA band. And their front woman Choni Mall is Cambodian American and she leads this sound that I think started in covers of Cambodian oldies from that golden age of rock for them, and has over time morphed into Dengue Fever's own original sound. Like we're nowadays, they're coming out with an album soon, their own original songs. But I fell in love with Dengue Fever and I was like, oh, okay, who are these people inspired by? And I just went down that rabbit hole of learning about this whole musical history that I never knew about. My own background is Chinese American. I'm not Cambodian American. And so a lot of kids who grew up in the public school system, I did not get basically any education about Cambodian history and America's role in seeding the elements that led to the Khmer Rouge's takeover the country, and the ensuing genocide. [00:37:12] Miko Lee: So you first fell in love with the band and then you went down an artist rabbit hole. We love those artist rabbit holes. Yes. And then what was your inspiration for the play itself? The musical? [00:37:22] Lauren Yee: Yeah so I fell in love with the music and I was like, there is something here because you had all these musicians in Cambodia who like, when 1975 hit and the communists took over the country there was just a time when like the country was a hostile place for artists where artists were specifically targeted among other groups. And so much of Cambodia's musicians and its musical history, was snuffed out, and I was like, there is a story here, that I find deeply compelling. And for a long time I didn't know how to tell that story because there's just so much in it. And then came 2015 where two things happened. One was that I was commissioned by a theater in Orange County called South Coast Rep, and they invited me to come down to their theater and just do research in the community for two weeks on anything you want. So I was like, I wanna look at malls, I wanna look at the video game culture down there, all kinds of things. And one of the things that I was interested in and just bubbled to the surface was the Cambodian American community, which is not in Orange County proper, but in, situated largely in Long Beach, right next door. And it just so happened that while I was there, There were just a lot of Cambodian American music related events that were going on. So the second annual Cambodian Music Festival, the Cambodia Town Fundraiser, Dengue Fever, was playing a gig in Long Beach. Like all these things were happening, that intersected me, with the Kamai or Cambodian community in Long Beach. And the other thing that happened coming out of that trip is that I started beginning to write the seeds of the play. And I did a very early workshop of it up at Seattle Rap. And I'm the sort of playwright. probably like writes and brings in collaborators like actors and a director sooner than a lot of other people. Most people probably wait until they have a first draft that they're comfortable with, whereas I'm like, I have 20 pages and I think if I go up and get some collaborators, I think I can generate the rest of it. So I went up to Seattle with kind of my, 20 or 30 pages and we brought in some actors. And that workshop had an actor named Joe No in it, and I knew Joe from previous work I'd done in Seattle. But during our first rehearsal when we were just like chatting he said to me like, this is my story. And I was like, oh, it's a story that calls out to me too. Thank you. And he was like no. You don't understand. Like, So my parents were born in Battambang Cambodia. They were survivors of the Khmer Rouge. I feel deeply connected to this material. And that conversation sparked. a very long relationship, between me and Joe and this play. That I, I think of him as like the soul, of this play. He became just like an integral part. And in the South coast rep production and in subsequent productions he's kind of been like our lead. He is Chum, and it's a role that I think is like perfectly suited for who he is as a human being and what his like essence is. And also he plays electric guitar which I think influenced things a lot because initially it was a play about music, right? It wasn't a musical, it was just people like talking about a music scene that they loved. And as I went along and found like the perfect people for these roles it was like, Joe plays electric guitar. It would be crazy not to have him try to play a little electric guitar in the show. And that kind of began that, the evolution of this play into a piece where music is not only talked about, but is an integral part of the show. You know that it's become a show that has a live band. The actors play the instruments. They play about a dozen songs. And it's a mix of Dengue, half Dengue Fever songs, half mostly Cambodian oldies. It's kind of been an incredible journey and I could not have imagined what that journey would be, it's hard to replicate. [00:41:53] Miko Lee: I love that. So has Joe been in every production you've done of the show so far? [00:41:57] Lauren Yee: So he hasn't been able to be in everyone. There were two productions happening at the same time, and so he could only be in one place at one time. But I bet you he would've tried to be in two places at once. But he's basically been in almost every production. And the production that he's in currently running at the Alley Theater in Houston is is like the production, the original production directed by Chay Yew. [00:42:24] Miko Lee: Wow. And was it difficult to cast all actors that were also musicians? [00:42:30] Lauren Yee: In some ways there there's I think if you were starting from scratch and you like open your window and you're like, where could I find some actors? I think it would be tough. But I just kept running into kind of like crazy happenstance where I would find a person and I wasn't even thinking about them musically. And they'd be like, yeah, like I've played bass, for 15 years. and I could kind of do drums, right? That what was remarkable is that there were all these Asian American actors who were like known as actors. But then once you like, dig down into their biographies, you're like, Hey, I see like you've actually played drums for X number of years, or, Hey, I see that you play like guitar and bass. Miko Lee: Tell me more about that. Lauren Yee: So it's almost like finding all these stealth musicians and like helping them dust the instruments off and being like, Hey, come back here. Fun. And so it's just been, it's just been like a joy. [00:43:27] Miko Lee: Oh, that's so great. I know the play is about music and also about memory, and I'm wondering if there's a story that has framed your creative process that stands out to you. [00:43:39] Lauren Yee: I don't know if it's one specific memory, but I find that just a lot of my stories I think they deal with family. I think they deal with parents and their grown children trying to reconnect with each other, trying to overcome family secrets and generational struggles. I would say I have a great relationship with my father. But I think, in every parent and child relationship, one thing that I'm fascinated by are these attempts to get to know someone, like especially your own parent, even when you know them well, and especially when you know them well. That kind of is able to penetrate that barrier that sometimes you hit in generations, right? That there's a wall that your parents put up. Or that there's this impossibility of knowing who your parents were before you had them because they had a whole life. And you only know this like tiny bit of it. And I think I'm just like fascinated by that. I'm fascinated by the impact of time. I'm fascinated by extraordinary circumstances and the ordinary people who lived through those times. And I think for a large part, even though Cambodian rock band features a family whose lived experience is different from my own. I think there's a lot of my own relationship with my father that I put into that relationship. This desire to know your parent better, this desire to know them even as they're trying to protect you. So yeah. [00:45:06] Miko Lee: What do your parents think about your work? [00:45:10] Lauren Yee: I think my parents are incredibly supportive, but like different in the way that one might think because my parents aren't arts people they of course like enjoy a story or enjoy a show, but they're not people who are like, I have a subscription to this theater, or I'm gonna go to this museum opening. and so their intersection with the arts, I feel like has been out of a sense of like love for me. Their ways of supporting me early on when like I was interested in theater and trying to figure out a way to go about it, like in high school when I was trying to like, put on a show with my friends and they were like in the back folding the programs or like building, the door to the set. And hauling away, all the furniture, so we could bring it to the theater. So like my parents have been supportive, but in a very, like nuts and bolts kind of way. Miko Lee: That's so sweet and that's so important. When I was doing the theater, my mom would come to every single show. Lauren Yee: Just Oh, bless that is, bless her. [00:46:14] Miko Lee: Ridiculous commitment. Yeah. I don't that for my kids, like every show. I wanna back up a little bit cuz we're talking about family. Can you tell me who are your people and where do you come from? [00:46:27] Lauren Yee: Ooh. That's such a great question. I think there are like many ways of answering that. When I think of home, I think of San Francisco, I live in New York now. But my whole youth, I grew up in San Francisco. My parents were both born there. My grandmother was born and raised there, one of my grandfathers was, born more like up the Delta and the other side of my family, my grandparents came from Toisan China. So on one hand, my family's from like that Pearl River Delta part of China. And at various times, like made a break for the United States. I think starting in the 1870s and spanning into the early 20th century you know, so we've been here for a while. And another way of thinking about it is we're all very, I think, suffused in our family's history in San Francisco. It's hard for me to go to a Chinese restaurant with my family without somebody from our table knowing somebody else in the restaurant, like inevitable. And it's something that never happens to me. I don't think it's ever happened to me when living in New York. Yeah. And I think And that's fun. That's fun. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. And I think b eing able to be Chinese American. Growing up in San Francisco, it's different than other, Asian Americans living in other parts of the country. Like in a strange way, it allows you to like be more of whoever you wanna be, right? When you're like not the only one. That it allows you to like, potentially choose a different path and not have to worry about. I don't know, just like carrying that load. [00:48:01] Miko Lee: That is so interesting. Do you mean because there's safety, because you're around so many other Chinese Americans, Asian Americans, that you can bring forth a greater sense of your individuality? [00:48:13] Lauren Yee: Yeah, I think so, like I went to Lowell High School where, you know, two thirds of the class is Asian American. There's just such a wide range of what an Asian American student at Lowell looks like. And what we're interested in and how our weird obsessions manifest so I think I just felt more freedom in differentiating myself cuz I like theater and I like storytelling. [00:48:36] Miko Lee: That's really interesting. Thanks so much for sharing that. I'm wondering, because Cambodian rock band is partially about when the communists took over Cambodia. If, when you were growing up as a multi-generational Chinese American, did you hear very much about communism and the impact on China? [00:48:57] Lauren Yee: I did not. And possibly it was swirling around. And I was too young to really understand the impacts. But when I look back on it, a lot of my plays, Cambodian Rock Band included, have to do with the intersection of Communism and American culture. Like another play I have called The Great Leap which was at ACT in San Francisco, also dealt with American culture like basketball, intersecting in communist China in the 1970s and then the 1980s. And like, honestly, in retrospect, the effects of communism were all around me growing up in San Francisco in the nineties. That the kids that I went to school with, like in elementary school, came there in various waves, but a lot of them pushed from Asia because of the influences of communism that you had of a wave of kids who came over. In the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, you had kids who came preempting, the Hong Kong handover back to China. You had kids, who came to San Francisco in the wake of the fall of the Vietnam War. So there were like all these, political movements the effects of war that were like shaping the people around me. And I didn't realize it until like very much later. [00:50:19] Miko Lee: Oh, that's so interesting. Thank you so much. By the way. I really loved the Great Leap. It was such an interesting thank you way of really talking about some deep issues, but through such an American sport like basketball I enjoyed that so much. So thank you so much for sharing about your San Francisco influence. I'm curious because you've been writing TV now limited series like Pachinko and also congrats on writing the musical for Wrinkle In Time. Amazing. Thank you. [00:50:49] Lauren Yee: That is a book that I loved and just shook me, I forget what grade I was in, but I was probably like, 10 or 11 or something. So I think the fact that I get to interface and get to dig into such an iconic work as Wrinkle in Time, blows my mind. [00:51:05] Miko Lee: That is going to be so exciting. I'm really looking forward to that. Yeah. Yeah. But my question was really about you working on Pachinko and these other series, how different is playwriting to screen versus TV writing? [00:51:17] Lauren Yee: Yeah. I think in a way like the work that I did on Pachinko, for instance, like I was on the writing staff, that's a role where you're like supporting the creator of the show, which in this instance is Sue Hugh, who is just an incredible mind. And she had like kind of this vision for what she wanted to do with the adaptation of Pachinko. And, you know, you, as a writer on staff you're really helping to support that. So I think your role is a little bit different when you're brought on staff for tv that you're helping to birth the thing along and contribute your part. Whereas when you're a playwright like the piece remains with you, and you just have I think a greater sense of control over what happens to it. [00:52:00] Miko Lee: What surprised you in your creative process while you were working on this play, this musical? [00:52:08] Lauren Yee: I think the thing that I realized when I was writing Cambodian Rock Band is that in order for the play to really click together is that joy has to be at the center of it. That Cambodian rock band is a piece about art and artists and family surviving really horrific events. And in order to tell that story, you need to fall in love with the music. You need to understand why these people might have risked their lives. For art, you need to understand why art matters. And I think a feature of my work is finding the light in dark places that there is a lot, in the play that is heavy. There are points where it is surprisingly and shockingly funny and that there are moments of just incredible heart in places like you probably won't be expecting. And I think that's been a big lesson of developing this piece. [00:53:14] Miko Lee: Lauren Yee thank you so much for talking with me and sharing about Cambodian Rock Band and your artistic process. I know it's gonna be running at Berkeley rep February 25th through April 2nd. Where else is it running for folks that might not live in the Bay? [00:53:30] Lauren Yee: Yeah, so if you live in the Bay Area, or if you want just see it again, which is totally fine. Lots of people see it again. This same production is going to travel to arena stage in DC over the summer in the fall it'll be at Fifth Avenue and Act Theater up in Seattle, and then at the very beginning of 2024 it will be at Center Theater Group. [00:53:54] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I really appreciate you and your work out there in the world. [00:54:00] Lauren Yee: Thank you, Miko. [00:54:02] Miko Lee: That was playwright Lauren Yee. And I'm going to play you out, hearing one song from Dengue Fever, which is in Cambodian rock band. This is Uku. song [00:56:55] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for joining us. Please check out our website, kpfa.org backslash program, backslash apex express to find out more about the show tonight and to find out how you can take direct action. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. Apex express is produced by Miko Lee Jalena Keane-Lee and Paige Chung and special editing by Swati Rayasam. Thank you so much to the KPFA staff for their support have a great night. The post APEX Express – 2.9.23 Theatre & Memory or Why Art Matters appeared first on KPFA.

Raymond Lee stars as Dr. Ben Song on the new NBC drama “Quantum Leap.” Ben is a brilliant quantum physicist leaping through time to put right what once went wrong. Lee also stars in the AMC series “Kevin Can F*** Himself,” which begins its second season Aug. 22. Previously, he was a series regular on Alan Ball's HBO series “Here and Now.” Additional recurring roles include the HBO Max series “Made for Love,” Fox's “Prodigal Son,” Amazon's “Mozart in the Jungle” and ABC's “Scandal.” On the film side, he is currently appearing in the box office smash “Top Gun: Maverick.” Theater credits include the world premiere productions of “Vietgone” at Manhattan Theater Club, for which he was awarded the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut; “Office Hour,” opposite Sandra Oh, and “Cambodian Rock Band” at the South Coast Repertory. Topics Discussed In This Episode: Raymond and Yoshino being Cal State Long Beach alums (00:06:31) Raymond dropping out of high school and how that affected him psychologically while growing up (00:07:27) Problems with the education system (00:010:05) Finding a love for performance in his youth (00:13:07) Discovering acting through theatre and deciding to become a professional actor while he was in college (00:14:49) Raymond's approach to acting (00:18:37) The importance of having discipline and maintaining solid habits (00:22:53) Embodying characters and manifesting roles (00:25:59) Yoshino shares a personal story highlighting the impact art can have on its viewers (00:36:05) The impact art has made on Raymond's life (00:39:02) The Kybalion and embracing polarities (00:43:56) The Rashomon Effect (00:47:32) Manifesting goals (00:51:18) Honing into and practicing intuition (00:59:22) Raymond and Yoshino speaking about acquiring skill sets (01:10:56) Final words of advice from Raymond (01:22:11) Artists / People Mentioned: Sandra Oh (Actor) Joseph Lee (Painter / Actor) Akira Kurosawa (Film Director) Rubens Charles Cobrinha (BJJ Practioner) Books Mentioned: The Kybalion Films / TV Series Mentioned: Dopesick (2021) Rashomon (1950) artistdecoded.com Raymond Lee's IMDB instagram.com/raymomomo

  On Tuesday's show: A sixth officer from the Memphis Police Department has been relieved of duty as the investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols continues. We take a closer look at how police officers are trained in Houston and how that has changed in recent years with the help of Douglas Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union. Also this hour: We discuss how matters before the Texas Legislature might affect the environment across the state and here in Greater Houston. Then, we revisit the background story of Houston's downtown tunnel system and hear from a man responsible for how much of the city's skyline looks: the late Gerald D. Hines. MORE: The Man Who Built Houston's Skyline: Gerald D. Hines And Cambodian Rock Band, a play at The Alley Theatre, tells the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in thirty years as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia's most infamous war criminals. It features a live band playing contemporary hits from the band Dengue Fever and classic Cambodian oldies. We meet two of its cast members.

I'm at The Groundlings Theatre for an Improv class. We're doing two-person scenes when our instructor says it's time for a drill. “This next exercise is a way to go deeper into your characters, fast.” For each pair, he instructs one person to start with a mundane statement about the other. The second person repeats the statement and adds something about what it means. Then it goes back to the first person to repeat the added-on part of the statement and add something else about what that means. Kymberlee: Carl, you look lonely standing here by the punchbowl all by yourself. Carl: I look lonely standing here by the punchbowl all by myself, and what that means is I'm not very good at social events. K: You're not very good at social events, and what that means is you prefer to have fun where you don't have to talk to people. C: I prefer to have fun where I don't have to talk to people, and what that means is I'm really into gaming. And so on it goes, until the instructor says, “Scene!” to end the exercise. That simple made-up scene gives us lots of information about our characters in only a couple of sentences. In our world, we as communicators have so much we want to share. But sometimes we get stuck in expressing the meat of it in a way that resonates with our audience. When you tap into your feelings, you get to the heart of your story faster! My guest today, Jane Lui, knows all about storytelling in a variety of ways. She does it through singing, composing, acting, producing, and so much more. In this episode, she talks about how she brings stories to life through her work with emotion leading the way and answers questions like: In what ways can you start to build your story if you're stuck? And how can you make your story more interesting for your audience? What you will learn in this episode: What really lies behind the magic of storytelling How you can structure your story to get people's attention How you can bring out the layers and multiple facets of your story Who is Jane? Jane Lui is a singer, songwriter, composer, and actress who goes by the stage name Surrija (sur-rye-ya). Originally from Hong Kong, she grew up playing piano. She immigrated to the Bay area and started listening to everything from 1930s oldies to 1990s Bjork. After obtaining her Bachelor of Music in Choral Conducting, Jane released three albums on Youtube that gained a strong following. Then she evolved into her self-titled concept album SURRIJA based on Picasso's lovers and demonstrated her own growth as both a woman and musician, from classical training to electro-pop artistry. The album, which received a 2021 Best Pop Album nomination at the San Diego Music Awards, features drummer Matt Chamberlain who has also worked with artists such as David Bowie and Fiona Apple. In addition to Chamberlain, Jane also collaborated with Kate Earl, Melissa Polinar, Son Lux, Tom Brousseau, Vienna Teng, and more. Currently, she's a cast member and co-music director of Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band. She also composed for the theater productions All's Well That Ends Well and Secret in the Wings. Links and Resources: SURRIJA @janelui on Twitter @surrija on Instagram @surrija on Facebook Storytelling School Website @storytellingschool on Instagram @storytellingSchool on Facebook

As the Guthrie Theater celebrates its 60th anniversary, the landmark theater has chosen to open their season with Qui Nguyen's Vietgone. The show is a romantic comedy about two Vietnamese refugees who fall in love at a resettlement camp in 1970s Arkansas. Director Mina Morita said that during the rehearsal process input from the local Vietnamese community was an important part of the story telling. “We [had] a lot of conversations both amongst the cast and creative team about how we were reaching out.” Morita said, “[We] had spoken to some elders as well, from the Vietnamese community, in preparation for rehearsal.” The show also hired a cultural consultant to help with the nuances of presenting a story with a specific cultural lens. While it is notable that the Guthrie is opening the season with an all-Asian cast that focuses on the Vietnamese American experience, “Vietgone” is not a new show, having premiered in 2015. Eric Sharp, one of the cast members, said that as more Asian plays show they can be successful, the more they are being produced. “Now there is a critical mass of plays that have been found viable.” he said, “I hate that word, but it's true. There are plays like “Vietgone”... like “The Great Leap,” like “Cambodian Rock Band,” that not only Asian people know about now.” While Asian voices have been part of the American theater as far back as the 1920s with the drama "The Submission of Rose Moy,” by Ling-Ai Li, Sharp has noticed wider recognition especially in the last decade. In fact, when Sharp graduated college nearly 20 years ago, he wasn't sure what it looked like to have a career as an Asian American theater artist. “My idea was that I was going to fit into this white American theater or this idea of what it means to be white on stage and that I would do that irrespective of my race.” Sharp said. “Well, you graduate, and then you find out very quickly that that's not the case.” He found Theater Mu, which allowed him to explore what it means to be an Asian American artist, without compromising his ambitions. “I always call it the happiest accident of my life” Sharp said. Ben Hovland | MPR News Rick Shiomi poses for a photo at the Kling Public Media Center in St. Paul on Sept. 22. Rick Shiomi, playwright and co-founder of Theater Mu, said he always wanted that to be the purpose of the organization, to act as both a theater that produces Asian work and give artists the opportunity to grow so they can work in other theaters. “The thing I didn't want was for people in the larger community to be able to look at Theater Mu and say, ‘Okay, that's a little niche group,'” Shiomi said. Much like Sharp, Shiomi did not think there was space for him to write theater from his Japanese Canadian view until he found the community of Asian theater makers in San Francisco in the 1970s. “I actually wanted to become a writer for a long time, but really felt like, there was nothing that I could say, in an odd way,” Shiomi said, “because I had no understanding that there was an Asian Canadian, or an Asian American perspective.” The Guthrie is not the only theater in town with a show featuring Asian artists and playwrights. Theater Mu's 30th season opens Friday with the world premiere of “A Different Pond,” a stage adaptation of the children's book of the same name. Meanwhile, Full Circle Theater premieres Shiomi's new play “Fire in the New World” in October at Park Square Theatre. Courtesy of Theater Mu. | Amy Rondeau Benji Stoebner (left) and Hieu Bui (right) play father and son in "A Different Pond." Park Square is currently showing “The Humans” through Oct. 9. The show usually casts white actors in the one act drama, but director Lily Tung Crystal decided to cast Asian actors to play the daughters in the piece and portray them as Korean adoptees. “I felt like this community in Minnesota would understand that choice, because so many in our community are Korean or Chinese adoptees,” Crystal said. “I don't think that choice would have happened if they didn't hire an Asian American director.” The flourishing of dramatic arts in the Twin Cities comes during a nationwide rise in hate-motivated crimes toward Asians and Asian Americans. “We believe at Theater Mu that one reason for the rise in anti-Asian hate and violence is because of the lack of our stories in film, television and stage,” said Lily Tung Crystal, who also serves as Theater Mu's artistic director. “When people don't see our stories, then it's easy for them to see us as other, or un-American, or even subhuman.” Even with all the current productions running with Asian representation, Crystal says that there is still work to be done to ensure the work is recognized properly. “Maybe right now there is a lot of Asian plays, but that's not to say for the rest of the season there'll be this flurry of activity.” Crystal said. “It can still be considered by some institutions that that's a sort of outside thing to do ... like ‘we might consider doing an Asian American play this season, but not next season.'” Listen Minnesota's Guthrie Theater turns 60: A look at its legacy 2021 All the home's a stage: Far-flung actors, crew unite for Theater Mu's new show “Vietgone” at the Guthrie runs until Oct 16. Theater Mu and Stages Theatre Company's “A Different Pond” runs until Oct. 23, and Full Circle Theater's “Fire in the New World” opens Oct 19.  

St. Paul creative Tommy Sar recommends checking out the play “Cambodian Rock Band” at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis, co-produced by Theater Mu. The play follows a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia after 30 years as his daughter prosecutes a war criminal. Key to the show is its music, as the actor-musicians perform popular Cambodian psychedelic rock music from the 1960s and new music by the American band Dengue Fever, whose lead singer is Cambodian. “Many times, whenever we Cambodians are portrayed as survivors and victims of tragedy, and that is very valid,” said Sar, whose father survived the Khmer Rouge and was also a musician. “But I also feel it's important to see Cambodians not just as survivors but as rising again and thriving again and rediscovering and creating new music, we have so much to offer. And we are very proud of our heritage.” The play runs through July 31 at the Jungle Theater. Single tickets are valued at $45, but people may choose to pay less or more depending on their situation. Jean Marie Durant is a big fan of public art, and she plans to hop on a bus tour this Saturday for a Women on Walls tour of murals by women artists. The bus tour is part of Chroma Zones Mural and Arts Festival, which runs through Sunday, celebrating murals and graffiti art by local and international artists. Five women artists will collaborate on a new mural over the course of the five-day festival. The 45-minute guided bus tours will explore the stories behind at least eight woman-created murals in the University-Raymond Ave. area, including a look at the mural-in-progress. Tours leave from Workhorse Coffee at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Tanya Anderson, co-coordinator of the St Anthony Park Arts Festival, loves the original jewelry of Louise Payjack-Guillou. Anderson loves the unique ways the Duluth artist pairs gems and metal. Her store, Atelier & Stone is located in Duluth, and the trained goldsmith will be at Park Point Art Fair this weekend and at the Grand Marais Arts Festival July 9 and 10. Her jewelry “just has this stately presence. It's kind of magical in how it makes you feel when you see it and and wear it,” Anderson said.

Growing up, every summer my family and I'd go off the coast of Seattle to Bainbridge Island to stay with family friends Bob and Denise. One summer, Denise shares with me that she and Bob are in a play while we're in town. This means I'll be on my own - unless, “You want to usher?” she asks.  As a 14-year-old kid, I'm thinking, “Yeah, right! I'm not here to work! I'm here to relax and play!” Yet Bob convinces me to go to the rehearsal that night before making my final decision. Off we go. When we arrive and I walk up to the theater, open the doors, and proceed to… have my breath taken away!  I'm standing in front of this huge set for Fiddler on the Roof. People are running around in costumes with music playing, warming up their voices, and practicing their lines. I'm immediately hooked! I turn to Denise and say, “Not only am I going to usher, I'm doing it for every performance until I have to board the plane home.”  Walking into that theater for the first time was like a dream. And dreams are often inspired by reality because my special guest today on the Storytelling School Podcast is an actress, singer, performer, and advocate. Brooke Ishibashi has been part of the arts and culture sector for her entire life and she joins me this week to share tremendous insights and ideas on stories and storytelling. In this episode, we discuss her huge mobilization effort for protecting the arts and culture sector of the U.S. through the grassroots campaign she co-founded, as well as answer questions like: Why is storytelling so critically important in our society today? What's happened to the arts and culture sector of the economy due to the pandemic? Why is truth such an essential storytelling ingredient? What you will learn in this episode: How COVID has impacted arts workers and the domino effect on the economy How a grassroots campaign pivoted when faced with a story problem How to tell a truthful story that isn't yours Who is Brooke? Brooke Ishibashi is a singer, actor, and advocate. Her recent work includes to the yellow house at La Jolla Playhouse, Cambodian Rock Band at South Coast Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and La Jolla Playhouse (where she developed and originated the role of Neary), and the critically-acclaimed NYCC Encores! production of Into the Woods, which will be transferring for a limited Broadway run this summer. She is also the National Councilor for the Actors' Equity Association, a NYCLU Artist Ambassador, a core member of Fair Wage Onstage, and the co-founder of Be an #ArtsHero/Arts Workers United, an intersectional grassroots campaign for proportionate relief to the Arts & Culture sector of the American economy. *Arts & Culture contributes over $919 billion to the U.S. economy and employs over 5.2 million arts workers. You can learn more about the campaign at BeAnArtsHero.com. Links and Resources: Be An Arts Hero Into the Woods @BeAnArtsHero on Instagram @BeAnArtsHero on Twitter @BeAnArtsHero on Facebook @BeAnArtsHero on TikTok Storytelling School Website @storytellingschool on Instagram @storytellingSchool on Facebook

Joe Ngo, Award winning Actor, Writer, Musician and of the leads of the play Cambodian Rock Band, by Lauren Yee, shares the process of becoming one of the most notable Cambodian Actors of our time. He shares the journey of hard work, rejection, working on mental health, and to be ready for when opportunity meets preparations. 

On today's show, I speak with costume designer Carolyn Mazuca. We talk about everything from our love of San Antonio and the Southwest, to imposter syndrome, to the differences between working in film and television vs. theater. I absolutely loved chatting with Carolyn and I know you'll enjoy our conversation as much as I did.For a full transcript of this episode visit beyondthelightspodcast.com.Mentioned in this Episode[00:07:55]  Old Town Albuquerque[00:08:17]  Carnegie Mellon[00:17:34]  Oregon Shakespeare Festival[00:38:34]  Cambodian Rock Band at OSF[00:40:03]  Mother RoadFollow CarolynWebsiteInstagramFollow Beyond the LightsWebsiteFacebookTwitterInstagram

Caitlin and Lauren talk with Broadway star Courtney Reed who is known for originating the role of Princess Jasmine in Disney's Aladdin as well as starring in Mamma Mia, In the Heights, Cambodian Rock Band, and more! Hear stories from Courtney's time on Broadway, her move to NYC, and her advice for other aspiring leading ladies!

What an incredible opportunity to speak to Brooke Ishibashi this week and learn about the historic arts advocacy of Be An Arts Hero. The intersectional grassroots campaign champions proportionate relief to the Arts & Culture sector of the American economy. Brooke, the Co-founder and Director of Talent Outreach and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for BAAH, shared the mission, inspiration, and successes for this essential organization born out of the pandemic. A fourth-generation Japanese American, Brooke hails from a showbiz family. As a professional actor/singer, she originated/developed the role of “Neary” in Cambodian Rock Band and is passionate about exploring anti-racism, social justice, and trans-generational trauma. Brooke has clowned with Taylor Mac at The Public, been plucked by DJ Nash and Pam Fryman to star in an NBC comedy, crashed American Idol as sketch character “AKIKO!” and performed at La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Geffen Playhouse, Joe’s Pub & many more. Brooke is a core member of Fair Wage Onstage and National Councilor for Actors’ Equity Association. Brooke has a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. To become an advocate for the arts, visit BeanArtsHero.com to take action. You can follow and participate in the latest campaigns on Facebook (Be an Arts Hero), Twitter (@BeAnArtsHero), and Instagram (@BeAnArtsHero). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

www.patreon.com/artistdecoded Julian Doan is a second-generation Vietnamese American filmmaker. He enjoys exploring the uncomfortable corners of our existence through awkward, yet heartfelt comedy. His past projects include the sentient zombie digital series “Everyone I Love Is Dead”. He is currently working on the editorial team of HBO's “In Treatment”. He loves the great outdoors and looks forward to seeing a Vietnamese American film renaissance in his lifetime. He is thrilled to be premiering “Raspberry” at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and is beyond thankful for the stunning cast and crew who all brought this film to life. Raymond Lee was a series regular in Alan Ball’s HBO series, “Here and Now” opposite Tim Robbins and Holly Hunter. He has recurring roles on “Prodigal Son”, “Mozart in the Jungle”, and Scandal. Theater credits include the world premiere productions of “Vietgone at Manhattan Theater Club”, which he was awarded the Theatre World Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Debut, “Office Hour” opposite Sandra Oh at South Coast Repertory, and “Cambodian Rock Band” also at South Coast Repertory. He will be next seen in the PARAMOUNT feature film “Top Gun: Maverick opposite Tom Cruise, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller and Jennifer Connelly and as a series regular in upcoming the AMC series “Kevin Can F*ck Himself”. Raymond resides in Los Angeles, CA. Topics Discussed In This Episode: The subject and absurdity of death Speaking openly about death The origins of “Raspberry”  Being emotionally available towards inspiration  The creative process behind character creation  Yoshino’s personal approach to photography and inspiration  Processing death and dealing with loss  Reactions to “Raspberry”  The tone of the film Subtle nuances of expression The differences between Eastern and Western thoughts  Julian and Raymond’s collaborative relationship  Creatively pushing yourself and others  Asian men within the arts and film Advice to artists and creatives www.artistdecoded.com

A very special bonus episode! Jenn and musician Bryan Dunn nerd out over folk music, Rand as flute prodigy, Thom's guitar, and dive deep into the musical representation in The Eye of the World.Thom’s mustachiod guitar! https://mobile.twitter.com/WOTonPrime/status/1341805779678982149 Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee // Dengue FeverBryanDunnMusic.netPatreon.com/TarValonOrBust Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

‘Cambodian Rock Band’ to Get National Tour; Porter, Munoz Join BC/EFA Board; NYT’s ‘One Lost Weekend “Today on Broadway” is a daily, Monday through Friday, podcast hitting the top theatre headlines of the day. Any and all feedback is appreciated:  Alicia Ramírez alicia@broadwayradio.com | @aramirezgar31Ashley Steves ashley@broadwayradio.com | @NoThisIsAshleyJames Marino read more

Asian American Life March episode features New York's hottest play "Cambodian Rock Band," gentrification in Queens neighborhoods, how Asians are preserving their endangered languages and senior dancing queens who get better with age.

Courtney Reed is here to talk all about CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND, which will officially open off-Broadway on Monday, Feb 24. You may know Courtney as Broadway’s original Princess Jasmine in ALADDIN. Her other Broadway credits include IN THE HEIGHTS and MAMA MIA. Follow her on social @rhodesreed.Hosted by Paul Wontorek, Andy Lefkowitz and Caitlin Moynihan

This week’s episode brought to you by Cambodian Rock Band at City Theatre, Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board , Slice on Broadway, and Sidekick Media Services. Katie, Chilla, and Sorg are back at it this week as they talk about the news you should know in the tech world, including: Sorg is sharing Mario Kart Tour as his Awesome Thing of the Week. Katie is definitely in haunt season. She's sharing the ScareHouse Shake as her Awesome Thing of the Week. As an added bonus, Katie is also sharing some ScareHouse shenanigans as they team up with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for Haunted Museum After Dark! Chilla's Awesome Thing of the Week is the Microsoft Announcement due to drop tomorrow - but we're looking at some info that has leaked! Chilla has a fancy new iPhone, so he's sharing some of the features he likes so far! iPhone11's deep fusion camera has our attention. Wonder if you're missing out not playing Words With Friends? Well, Zynga got hacked, so maybe not playing saved you! Sheetz, known for its amazing MTO options, is getting into the tech scene with a new tech and innovation hub in Bakery Square. We're looking at an alternative iOS app store which includes its own Nintendo emulator. Pandora is making some changes - including adding mood settings, suggestions - - and podcasts! Chilla brought a story for Katie as it combines tech with porn. Katie is telling us about some fancypants electronic scooters. Amazon and Oculus have some announcements. Chilla is giving us a quick rundown: Echo Frames Oculus Link After the show remember to: Eat at Slice on Broadway (@Pgh_Slice) if you are in the Pittsburgh area! It is Awesome! (sliceonbroadway.com) Want to be part of our studio audience? Hit us up at awesomecast@sorgatronmedia.com and we’ll save you a seat! Join our AwesomeCast Facebook Group to see what we’re sharing and to join the discussion! Follow these awesome people on Twitter: Katie Dudas (@Kdudders), John Chichilla (@chilla), and Sorg (@Sorgatron) You can support the show at Patreon.com/awesomecast! Remember to check out our friends at the River’s Edge (@RiversEdgePGH), The 405 Media (@The405Radio), and Postindustrial Audio (@post_industry) who replay the show on their stream throughout the week! Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment; and view us livestreaming Tuesdays around 7:00 PM EST

This week’s episode brought to you by Cambodian Rock Band at City Theatre, Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board , Slice on Broadway, and Sidekick Media Services. Katie, Chilla, and Sorg are back at it this week as they talk about the news you should know in the tech world, including: Sorg is sharing Mario Kart Tour as his Awesome Thing of the Week. Katie is definitely in haunt season. She's sharing the ScareHouse Shake as her Awesome Thing of the Week. As an added bonus, Katie is also sharing some ScareHouse shenanigans as they team up with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for Haunted Museum After Dark! Chilla's Awesome Thing of the Week is the Microsoft Announcement due to drop tomorrow - but we're looking at some info that has leaked! Chilla has a fancy new iPhone, so he's sharing some of the features he likes so far! iPhone11's deep fusion camera has our attention. Wonder if you're missing out not playing Words With Friends? Well, Zynga got hacked, so maybe not playing saved you! Sheetz, known for its amazing MTO options, is getting into the tech scene with a new tech and innovation hub in Bakery Square. We're looking at an alternative iOS app store which includes its own Nintendo emulator. Pandora is making some changes - including adding mood settings, suggestions - - and podcasts! Chilla brought a story for Katie as it combines tech with porn. Katie is telling us about some fancypants electronic scooters. Amazon and Oculus have some announcements. Chilla is giving us a quick rundown: Echo Frames Oculus Link After the show remember to: Eat at Slice on Broadway (@Pgh_Slice) if you are in the Pittsburgh area! It is Awesome! (sliceonbroadway.com) Want to be part of our studio audience? Hit us up at awesomecast@sorgatronmedia.com and we’ll save you a seat! Join our AwesomeCast Facebook Group to see what we’re sharing and to join the discussion! Follow these awesome people on Twitter: Katie Dudas (@Kdudders), John Chichilla (@chilla), and Sorg (@Sorgatron) You can support the show at Patreon.com/awesomecast! Remember to check out our friends at the River’s Edge (@RiversEdgePGH), The 405 Media (@The405Radio), and Postindustrial Audio (@post_industry) who replay the show on their stream throughout the week! Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment; and view us livestreaming Tuesdays around 7:00 PM EST

City Speaks Episode 4 - Senon Williams   On this week's CitySpeaks podcast, Pittsburgh City Theatre's Director of New Play Development, Clare Drobot, speaks with Senon Williams, bassist of the Cambodian surf rock band Dengue Fever, whose music helps to build the backdrop of Cambodian Rock Band.   Cambodian Rock Band is the thrilling new play — and part electrifying rock concert — that's an epic tale of family, love, and heritage, with live performances showing through October 6, at City Theatre on Pittsburgh's South Side.    Get your tickets today: https://citytheatrecompany.org/play/cambodian-rock-band/   Read a review of the show from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here: https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance/2019/09/10/Pittsburgh-City-Theatre-Cambodian-Rock-Band/stories/201909100126

This week’s episode brought to you by Cambodian Rock Band at City Theatre, Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board ,   Slice on Broadway, and Sidekick Media Services. We have a special treat as Katie, Chilla and Sorg are joined by Pittsburgh comedian, Aaron Kleiber.   This week's show topics include: Katie's Awesome Thing of the Week is Kitten Kam! Chilla's Awesome Thing of the Week is Amazon's voice interoperability initiative. Sorg's Awesome Thing of the Week is Apple Arcade. Aaron Kleiber is sharing Batman Day as his Awesome Thing of the Week. The new Sega Mini is out, and so are the reviews! iOS 13 includes force touch on SE. Apple redesigned the NYC "cube" store. iFixIt did a live teardown of the iPhone 11 Pro. Chilla had a chance to check out Ace Axe Throwing's scavenger hunt. Borderlands is in high demand on Pornhub. Chilla followed the rabbit hole and wound up finding some Overwatch porn. Fortnite's new Party Hub feature is putting its Houseparty acquisition to good use. After the show remember to: Eat at Slice on Broadway (@Pgh_Slice) if you are in the Pittsburgh area! It is Awesome! (sliceonbroadway.com) Want to be part of our studio audience?  Hit us up at awesomecast@sorgatronmedia.com and we’ll save you a seat! Join our AwesomeCast Facebook Group to see what we’re sharing and to join the discussion! Follow these awesome people on Twitter: Aaron Kleiber (@AaronKleiber), Katie Dudas (@Kdudders), John Chichilla (@chilla), and Sorg (@Sorgatron) You can support the show at Patreon.com/awesomecast! Remember to check out our friends at the River’s Edge (@RiversEdgePGH), The 405 Media (@The405Radio), and Postindustrial Audio  (@post_industry) who replay the show on their stream throughout the week! Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment; and view us livestreaming Tuesdays around 7:00 PM EST

This week’s episode brought to you by Cambodian Rock Band at City Theatre, Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board ,   Slice on Broadway, and Sidekick Media Services. We have a special treat as Katie, Chilla and Sorg are joined by Pittsburgh comedian, Aaron Kleiber.   This week's show topics include: Katie's Awesome Thing of the Week is Kitten Kam! Chilla's Awesome Thing of the Week is Amazon's voice interoperability initiative. Sorg's Awesome Thing of the Week is Apple Arcade. Aaron Kleiber is sharing Batman Day as his Awesome Thing of the Week. The new Sega Mini is out, and so are the reviews! iOS 13 includes force touch on SE. Apple redesigned the NYC "cube" store. iFixIt did a live teardown of the iPhone 11 Pro. Chilla had a chance to check out Ace Axe Throwing's scavenger hunt. Borderlands is in high demand on Pornhub. Chilla followed the rabbit hole and wound up finding some Overwatch porn. Fortnite's new Party Hub feature is putting its Houseparty acquisition to good use. After the show remember to: Eat at Slice on Broadway (@Pgh_Slice) if you are in the Pittsburgh area! It is Awesome! (sliceonbroadway.com) Want to be part of our studio audience?  Hit us up at awesomecast@sorgatronmedia.com and we’ll save you a seat! Join our AwesomeCast Facebook Group to see what we’re sharing and to join the discussion! Follow these awesome people on Twitter: Aaron Kleiber (@AaronKleiber), Katie Dudas (@Kdudders), John Chichilla (@chilla), and Sorg (@Sorgatron) You can support the show at Patreon.com/awesomecast! Remember to check out our friends at the River’s Edge (@RiversEdgePGH), The 405 Media (@The405Radio), and Postindustrial Audio  (@post_industry) who replay the show on their stream throughout the week! Also, check out sorgatronmedia.com and awesomecast.com for more entertainment; and view us livestreaming Tuesdays around 7:00 PM EST

Episode 3 of City Theatre's CitySpeaks podcast features City Theatre's Clare Drobot in conversation with Lauren Yee, whose play, Cambodian Rock Band, with music by Dengue Fever, premiered at South Coast Rep. and is now at City Theatre on Pittsburgh's Southside.Get your tickets here:  https://citytheatre.culturaldistrict.org/production/62854/cambodian-rock-band Lauren and Clare discuss life as a playwright, and how research and a trip to Cambodia inspired an incredible story.More about Lauren: Subsequent productions of Cambodian Rock Band have appeared at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and Jungle Theatre. Yee's play The Great Leap, has been produced at the Denver Center, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theatre, the Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Arts Club, and InterAct Theatre, with future productions at Steppenwolf, Long Wharf, and Asolo Rep. Honors include the Doris Duke Artists Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ATCA Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, and the #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List. She’s a Residency 5 playwright at Signature Theatre, New Dramatists members, Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab member, and Playwrights Realm alumni playwright. TV credits include: PACHINKO (Apple) and SOUNDTRACK (Netflix). Current commissions include Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Second Stage, South Coast Rep. She received her bachelor's degree from Yale. MFA: UCSD. laurenyee.com

Introducing the Pittsburgh City Theatre's inaugural CitySpeaks podcast all about the making of Cambodian Rock Band. Part thrilling new play, part electrifying rock concert, Cambodian Rock Band is an epic tale of family, love, and heritage featuring the Cambodian surf rock music of Dengue Fever. This podcast is all about how the show came together with stories from the people who know it best. Today's episode is with Director Martin Lyons   Marti Lyons is thrilled to direct Cambodian Rock Band at City Theatre as part of a collaboration with Victory Gardens Theater, where she directed the show in the Spring, and Merrimack Rep where this production is headed next. Marti recently directed Witch by Jen Silverman at the Geffen Playhouse, playing in LA now. Marti also directed Witch at Writers Theatre in Chicago last season. She directed How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla for the 2019 Humana Festival as part of a co-world premiere with Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, where Marti will direct the play again in 2019. Marti has directed Botticelli in the Fire by Jordan Tannahill (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe and Kings by Sarah Burgess (Studio Theater); Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (Court Theatre); Short Shakes! Macbeth (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Title and Deed by Will Eno (Lookingglass Theatre Company) and Wondrous Strange together with Meg Miroshnik, Jiehae Park and Martyna Majok for the 2015 Humana Festival (Actors Theatre of Louisville).  This season Marti will direct The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess (Writers Theater), Jen Silverman’s The Moors (A Red Orchid Theatre), and the world premiere of The Scarlet Letter by Kate Hamill (South Coast Repertory). Marti is a proud member of SDC. For more information: martilyons.com

No need to fight Tooth & Nail--it's time for Cambodian Rock Band! We talk the anti-Miss Saigon, teaching an audience to code switch, and why you should skip Hamilton for now. Plus: the gentlest JLM Watch to-date. WTM theme music by Cullen Vance. Featured music for Cambodian Rock Band by Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever music: Amazon | iTunes | Spotify "Jeas Cyclo (Ride Cyclo)" by Yol Aularong: Amazon | iTunes | Spotify Follow Cambodian Rock Band on Twitter: @thecyclos ****** Beverage: One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula Recipe from Le Boutier bar in Cambodia, as published in DRiNK Magazine 35ml Samai rum (or any aged rum) 22.5ml Housemade kaffir-curry syrup* 22.5ml Lime juice 15ml Coconut cream 15ml Benedictine 7.5ml Pineapple juice 1ds Fish sauce Shake and serve in a collins glass. Garnish with house-made pickles. *Kaffir-curry syrup: 1 litre hot water; 4tbsp red curry paste; 6 kaffir lime leaves; 2kg white sugar. Boil all for 20 minutes and fine strain.

Introducing the Pittsburgh City Theatre's inaugural CitySpeaks podcast all about the making of Cambodian Rock Band. Part thrilling new play, part electrifying rock concert, Cambodian Rock Band is an epic tale of family, love, and heritage featuring the Cambodian surf rock music of Dengue Fever. This podcast is all about how the show came together with stories from the people who know it best. Today's episode is with Artistic Director Marc Masterson

Introducing the Pittsburgh City Theatre's inaugural CitySpeaks podcast all about the making of Cambodian Rock Band. Part thrilling new play, part electrifying rock concert, Cambodian Rock Band is an epic tale of family, love, and heritage featuring the Cambodian surf rock music of Dengue Fever. This podcast is all about how the show came together with stories from the people who know it best. Stay tuned for episode 1, dropping on September 6, 2019.

Brooke Ishibashi talks about her career as an actor for stage and screen. She shares about the Khmer community’s amazing response to the musical “Cambodian Rock Band”, the continuing impact of Crazy Rich Asians, and her work with Fair Wage Onstage. (Intro: Catfished)

CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND runs March 6 to Oct. 27, 2019, in the Thomas Theatre. Tickets & info: osfashland.org/CambodianRockBand

Jeff and Phil welcome to playwright Lauren Yee and performer Jane Lui, fresh off the world premiere run of their groundbreaking play Cambodian Rock Band, which joins the story of Cambodia's darkest hour with the incredible sounds of psychedelic surf rock.

We explore the play Cambodian Rock Band, and how this piece of Asian American theatre weaves together a story of Khmer American music, history, and family on stage.

On this week's #KollabCast, we take things on the road with an interview with Playwright Lauren Yee and Kollab Alum Jane Lui about the upcoming world premiere of their new play Cambodian Rock Band! Lauren talks about her inspiration for writing the play and how a play about the lost rock scene of pre-Khmer Rougue Cambodia became a musical play about the lost rock scene of pre-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Hosts Marvin and Minji also chat about the success of Black Panther, the latest Hollywood miscues, and follow up on the Olympics! This week’s intro & outro music is “Crazy Rich Asian (ft. Bea Go)” off the album “Escape from LA” by Kollab Alum & Rapper Dan AKA Dan As always, send us your listener emails at podcast@kollaboration.org Learn more about the KollabCast and listen to past episodes here Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, Spotify, Radio Public or via our RSS feed (http://kollaboration.libsyn.com/rss) Follow this week's featured guests at: Lauren Yee IG: MsLaurenYee Jane Lui @JaneLui Get tickets to Cambodian Rock Band! Follow our hosts at: @minjeeeezy @marvinyueh The KollabCast is a podcast about pop culture and the creative life from an Asian American perspective A proud member of the Potluck Podcast Collective