David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face, Directed by Aladdin's Telly Leung, Begins June 22 at Theatre Raleigh / June 23, 2022 by David Hwang

Aladdin star Telly Leung directs Theatre Raleigh's production of Tony winner David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face, which plays the TR Studio Theatre June 22-July 3.

The cast features Hansel Tan (Ping Pong) as DHH, Pascal Pastrana (Mean Girls) as Marcus, Alan Ariano (M. Butterfly) as HYH and Others, Liam Yates as Announcer and Others, Brook North as Stuart Ostro and Others, Ali Evarts as Jane and Others, and Kylie Robinson as Leah Anne Cho and Others, with standbys Tedd Szeto, Ada Chang, and Gus Allen.

Yellow Face blurs the lines between truth and fiction as Asian-American playwright Hwang leads a protest against the casting of a white performer, Jonathan Pryce, as the lead in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as “yellow face.” His position comes back to haunt him when he mistakes a Caucasian actor for mixed-race, and casts him in the lead Asian role of his own Broadway-bound comedy, Face Value.

Love in the Heavens, Love on Earth / June 20, 2022 by David Hwang

Live from San Francisco, Bright Sheng’s spacey Dream of the Red Chamber

Artfully assembled for the Golden Gate demographic, Dream of the Red Chamber highlights cultural differences even as it transcends them. On the one hand, the theme, and the high-profile creatives are all Asian, from the English-language librettist David Henry Hwang to the Oscar-winning designer Tim (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) Yip. Yet the medium is Western both in form and in its expressive techniques. Call it “fusion” if you will, but isn’t this beyond?Picture, for purposes of comparison, a Moby-Dick in Kyoto, enacted in fluent Japanese by Americans trained for lives onstage at the Noh.

To adapt a doorstop novel for the lyric stage, you need a big blue pencil. Tolstoy peoples the pages of War and Peace with a cast of more than 500. Prokofiev’s operatic epic retains an unheard-of 70 named parts. Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber, drawn from a Chinese classic double the length of the Tolstoy, slashes Cao Xueqin’s slate of 400-plus characters to eight. The San Francisco premiere in 2016 took audiences by storm. Already it’s back, and this time viewers at home can catch it, too.

Best Bets: Sf Opera Offers Online Programs Featuring 'Red Chamber' Star Meigui Zhang / June 20, 2022 by David Hwang

As San Francisco Opera revives its 2016 world premiere production of Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's "Dream of the Red Chamber" this week with a new cast in War Memorial Opera House, the company is also showcasing one of its stars, the rising soprano Meigui Zhang, in two free online videos.

Zhang, who hails from a musical family in Chengdu, China, and has the role of the lovestruck Dai Yu in the opera, is featured in the company's award-winning "In Song" streaming series on its own site, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, talking about her family background and performing three exquisite songs, accompanied by pianist Ken Noda and pipa player Zhou Yi.

Aladdin's Telly Leung to Direct David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face for Theatre Raleigh / June 20, 2022 by David Hwang

Performances of the 2007 work, inspired by the Miss Saigon casting controversy, will begin June 22 at the North Carolina venue.

Aladdin star Telly Leung is directing Theatre Raleigh's production of Tony winner David Henry Hwang'sYellow Face, which will play the TR Studio Theatre June 22-July 3.

The cast will feature Hansel Tan (Ping Pong) as DHH, Pascal Pastrana (Mean Girls) as Marcus, Alan Ariano (M. Butterfly) as HYH and Others, Liam Yates as Announcer and Others, Brook North as Stuart Ostro and Others, Ali Evarts as Jane and Others, and Kylie Robinson as Leah Anne Cho and Others, with standbys Tedd Szeto, Ada Chang, and Gus Allen.

Yellow Face blurs the lines between truth and fiction as Asian-American playwright Hwang leads a protest against the casting of a white performer, Jonathan Pryce, as the lead in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as “yellow face.” His position comes back to haunt him when he mistakes a Caucasian actor for mixed-race, and casts him in the lead Asian role of his own Broadway-bound comedy, Face Value.

These groundbreaking theaters shine a spotlight on Asian stories / June 14, 2022 by David Hwang

In a 1997 East West Players production, John Cho (left) and Reggie Lee perform in *FOB*, David Henry Hwang’s groundbreaking play.

From New York to Minneapolis to Los Angeles, independent stages fill in the gaps of the American experience.

Avid theatergoer Terry Hong clearly remembers traveling to New York City in 1988 to see playwright David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly, the first Asian American play to be performed on Broadway.

“It was a life-changing moment for me,” says Hong, who has written extensively about Asian American theater. “Stereotypes were being confronted, dissected, challenged, in the most clever, brilliant ways.”

Based on a true story, the play is about a French diplomat who falls in love with a Beijing Opera star only to have it end in tragedy. Audience members familiar with Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly would have found similarities at first—until Hwang’s play shatters expectations of how this story is traditionally supposed to play out. Gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and national identity are all questioned and upended.

Hwang won the Tony Award for Best Play that year. As the awards mark its 75th anniversary on June 12, he remains the first and only Asian American playwright to do so.

'Dream of the Red Chamber' returns to S.F. Opera where it was born / June 13, 2022 by David Hwang

"Dream of the Red Chamber," which went on from the San Francisco Opera to success at the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Festival and then on a tour of China, was the last major contribution of former S.F. Opera General Director David Gockley, before retiring. (Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera)
Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera

As San Francisco Opera is reprising its 2016 world premiere of "Dream of the Red Chamber," June 14–July 3, Bright Sheng's musical treatment of a classic Chinese novel is produced by a pan-Pacific cast and crew — Taiwanese, Chinese, Chinese Americans, Korean, Singaporean.

Sung in English with English and Chinese supertitles, the opera, which went on from the War Memorial to success at the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Festival and then on a tour of China, was the last major contribution of former S.F. Opera General Director David Gockley, before retiring. He has commissioned 43 new operas during his long career, eight for the San Francisco company he started running in 2006.

The source is an enormous work, forerunner of endless TV series. Cao Xueqin wrote the first 80 chapters of "Dream of the Red Chamber," first published in 1790, and then collaborators added 40 more chapters later. The book, the source of films and TV series, is so important in China that the word "Redology" was coined for its study.

The most prominent Redologist was Zhou Ruchang, who spent seven decades studying the work. Initially supported by Mao Tse-tung, who claimed to have read "Red Chamber" five times. Zhou — who died in 2012 at age 94 — ended up in prison during the Cultural Revolution anyway.

The novel has been compared to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" with its tragic romance between Bao Yu (sung by Korean tenor Konu Kim) and Dai Yu (Chinese soprano Meigui Zhang), against the family scheme to have him marry the wealthy Bao Chai (Chinese mezzo Hongni Wu). Important roles are taken by Korean mezzo-soprano Hyona Kim, Taiwanese soprano Karen Chia-ling Ho; the conductor is Singaporean Darrell Ang. Stage director Stan Lai and designer Tim Yip are both Chinese Americans.

The librettist is David Henry Hwang, whose first play — at age 22 — was the 1979 "FOB," but there is nothing "fresh off the boat" about the Los Angeles-born author who lives in New York. Chinese and Asian themes dominate in his large oeuvre of drama and opera, though he readily admits that “my Chinese is fairly nonexistent.”

David Cronenberg movies ranked by how much they make us horny and disgusted at the same time / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

If there is one piece of fleshy, throbbing connective tissue between Canadian auteur filmmaker David Cronenberg and American troubadour John Mayer, it is the sentiment that "Your Body Is a Wonderland." While Mayer meant that song to be a body-positive seductive jam, Cronenberg isn't merely aiming to titillate with his films; instead, he embraces and celebrates all aspects of the human body throughout his work. In the realm of the Cronenbergian, an open wound and a sexual orifice are one and the same.

David Cronenberg Movies Ranked By How Much They Make Us Horny And Disgusted At The Same Time

Universal

BY BILL BRIA/JUNE 2, 2022 2:00 PM EDT

If that idea sounds hot and disgusting in equal measure, then congratulations: you've come to the right ranking! It must be said from the start that this is not a ranking of Cronenberg's output from a "Worst to Best" standpoint. Instead, on the eve of the release of Cronenberg's first feature film in eight years, "Crimes of the Future," here are his films ranked in reverse order by how much they make us horny and disgusted at the same time.

Ranking David Cronenberg’s Non-Horror Movies from Worst to Best / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

The Baron of Blood doesn't always need horror to make you squirm.

David Cronenberg is a name synonymous with body horror. From Scanners to The Fly, Cronenberg has made plenty of gross and utterly fascinating horror classics. He is a director who is constantly pushing the envelope for what is permissible onscreen. But his horror movies aren’t the only ones that are audacious or narratively challenging. Cronenberg has made several non-horror films that are equally visceral when compared to the likes of Videodrome. From thrillers to dramas to even romance, Cronenberg has proven himself as an incredibly versatile director.

At this year’s Cannes, he is making his return to the body horror genre with Crimes of the Future. Cronenberg's latest sounds like it could be one of his wildest rides yet. In a recent interview Cronenberg said about the premiere, "I do expect walkouts in Cannes, and that's a very special thing. There are some very strong scenes." Cronenberg continued, "I'm sure that we will have walkouts within the first five minutes of the movie" and also stated that one person who saw the film claimed to almost have a panic attack. After several decades without Cronenberg's wild body horror films, it certainly seems like Cronenberg will be back in fine form with Crimes of the Future.

But before we witness Cronenberg's return to body horror with Crimes of the Future, coming to theaters on June 3rd, here are all of his non-horror films, ranked from worst to best:

SigSpace Will Feature Samuel D. Hunter World Premiere, Plus Short Plays by David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, More / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

Samuel D. Hunter, David Henry Hwang, and Lynn Nottage

New York's Signature Theatre again joins forces with Theatre for One for a series of plays in Signature's lobby.

Signature Theatre’s SigSpace—which brings artistic programming to the Pershing Square Signature Center’s public spaces, including its lobby—will again join forces with Theatre for One to present six one-on-one, five-to-six minute theatrical experiences beginning June 9.

Déjà Vu features the world premiere of a new microplay by Samuel D. Hunter, whose Signature Premiere Residency continues in the 2022-2023 season with A Bright New Boise, plus five works from Theatre for One, many presented at Signature in 2016, including those written by José Rivera, DeLanna Studi, and former Signature resident playwrights David Henry Hwang, Regina Taylor, and Lynn Nottage.

Theatre Raleigh Presents YELLOW FACE / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

Don't miss Yellow Face, playing at Theatre Raleigh June 22nd-July 3rd.

Yellow Face explores the lines between truth and fiction; they blur with hilarious and moving results in David Henry Hwang’s unreliable memoir. Asian-American playwright DHH, fresh off his Tony Award win for M. Butterfly, leads a protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as the Eurasian pimp in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, condemning the practice as “yellowface.” His position soon comes back to haunt him when he mistakes a Caucasian actor, Marcus G. Dahlman, for mixed-race, and casts him in the lead Asian role of his own Broadway-bound comedy, Face Value. When DHH discovers the truth of Marcus’ ethnicity, he tries to conceal his blunder to protect his reputation as an Asian-American role model by passing the actor off as a “Siberian Jew.”

Yellow Face will be performed at the TR Studio Theatre, located at 3027 Barrow Drive.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit theatreraleigh.com

Read more at Broadway World

Every David Cronenberg Movie Ranked From Worst To Best / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

Crimes of the Future is a return to the body horror genre director David Cronenberg is best known for, but how do his films rank against each other?

Crimes of the Future is the 20th feature film from director David Cronenberg, and here's how it matches up against his other movies in a ranking. The Canadian filmmaker emerged in the 1970s and has remained one of the most distinctly visionary filmmakers ever since, primarily working in the sci-fi and horror genres. Cronenberg is a pioneer of the body horror subgenre, disturbing and fascinating audiences with visceral depictions of body transformations and mutilations for nearly 50 years. Often with themes exploring the pervasive way in which science and technology impact the human experience, Cronenberg’s films have been polarizing in their grotesque depiction of these themes.

20. M. Butterfly - Adapted from a 1980s play by David Henry Hwang, which was based on a true story and loosely inspired by the Chinese legend of the Butterfly Lovers, M. Butterfly is an unusual deviation from Cronenberg’s typical themes. The tragic romantic drama follows French diplomat René Gallimard (Jeremy Irons) as he becomes infatuated by male Peking opera performer Song Liling (John Lone). As lush and vibrant as the production design and cinematography is, M. Butterfly often feels lifeless.

Catch Up on Playbill's Bite-Size AAPI Theatre Facts / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

Conrad Ricamora, Kay Trinidad, and Manu Narayan

With Conrad Ricamora, Kay Trinidad, Manu Narayan, More

Learn about AAPI legends like Baayork Lee, Alvin Ing, David Henry Hwang, and more in this social media series.

To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, Playbill's social media team put together a series of bite-sized AAPI theatre facts, highlighting the industry's Asian and Pacific Islander American movers, shakers, and groundbreakers. The short videos—presented by Asian and Pacific Islander artists including Andrea Macasaet, Anchuli Felicia King, Marc delaCruz, Preston Mui, Conrad Ricamora, Kay Trinidad, Suzy Nakamura, Jeigh Madjus, Michael Maliakel, Manu Narayan, Zachary Noah Piser, and Jodi Kimura—appeared throughout the month on Instagram and TikTok, but don't worry if you're not a social media maven; we've collected them all for you right here.

Theatre Raleigh Announces Cast for Production of YELLOW FACE / June 6, 2022 by David Hwang

Following their sold out run of Forever Plaid, Theatre Raleigh continues their 2022 Main Stage Season with Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang. Leading this production are Hansel Tan (Off-Broadway: Ping Pong and Unlock'd) as DHH and Pascal Pastrana (Broadway: Mean Girls) as Marcus.

Read more at Broadway World

Tony-Winning Playwright David Henry Hwang Receives Honorary Doctorate At Cal State LA Commencement / June 1, 2022 by David Hwang

Hwang is a Tony Award winner for his work M. Butterfly, a three-time Tony Award nominee, a three-time Obie Award winner and a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

Preeminent Asian American playwright David Henry Hwang received an honorary doctorate during Commencement 2022 at Cal State LA.

Hwang is a Tony Award winner for his work M. Butterfly, a three-time Tony Award nominee, a three-time Obie Award winner and a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also the most-produced living American opera librettist, whose works have been honored with two GRAMMY Awards.

Cal State LA and the California State University Board of Trustees conferred an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts to Hwang during the Commencement ceremony for the College of Arts and Letters on May 26, which took place during Cal State LA's 75th anniversary.

Read more at Broadway World

Hermitage Major Theatre Award winner thrives on collaborative process / June 1, 2022 by David Hwang

A theater maker committed to creating new work in a collaborative process to push for radical change through her art is the second recipient of the new Hermitage Major Theatre Award.

Shariffa Ali, who was born in Kenya, raised in South Africa, and now lives in New York City, will receive a $35,000 commission to create a new work that will have its first presentation in a major theater center late next year.

Ali was chosen from among four theater artists selected as finalists by a prominent jury that includes two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (who is also nominated for two Tony Awards this season), Pulitzer Prize winner David Henry Hwang and critically acclaimed playwright and actress Regina Taylor.

Étienne Dupuis, Luca Pisaroni, Adela Zaharia, Nicole Car, Konu Kim, Meigui Zhang, Hongni Wu Headline San Francisco Opera Streams During Summer Season / May 28, 2022 by David Hwang

San Francisco Opera has announced that it will live stream three of its summer season performances.

The company will stream “Don Giovanni” on June 12. The production will star Étienne Dupuis, Luca Pisaroni, Adela Zaharia, Nicole Car, Christina Gansch, and Amitai Pati. Bertrand de Billy conducts.

That will be followed up by a stream of “Dream of The Red Chamber” by David Henry Hwang and Bright Sheng. The opera will star Konu Kim, Meigui Zhang, Hongni Wu, Karen Chia-ling Ho, Sabina Kim, Francis Jue, and Guang Yang. Darrell Ang conducts. That stream is set to take place on June 19, 2022.

The final stream of the summer season will be “Eun Sun Kim Conducts Verdi” on June 30, 2022. The performance, which will be conducted by Eun Sun Kim, will star Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Étienne Dupuis, Soloman Howard, and Nicole Car.

Columbia University School Of The Arts Presents New Plays Festival / May 28, 2022 by David Hwang

Columbia University School of the Arts presents an expanded festival of new plays written by Columbia MFA Playwriting Students. The esteemed faculty who have nurtured these students, including Tony©, Pulitzer, and Obie Award winners such as David Henry Hwang, Lynn Nottage, Charles Mee, and Rogelio Martinez invite you to experience these innovative new playwrights.

This is the second round of our New Plays Festival presenting the work of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Playwrights of Columbia's MFA Theatre Program. The festival will run continuously throughout the summer.

Read more at Broadway World

Phoenix Festival Theater in Tarzan / May 28, 2022 by David Hwang

Phoenix Festival Theater will perform Tarzan June 17-19 at the Amoss Center in Bel Air.

Based on Disney’s epic animated musical adventure and Edgar Rice Burrough’s Tarzan of the Apes, Tarzan features heart-pumping music by rock legend Phil Collins and a book by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang. High-flying excitement and hits such as the Academy Award winning “You’ll Be in My Heart,” as well as “Son of Man” and “Two Worlds,” make Tarzan an unforgettable theatrical experience. The show is being directed by Bambi Johnson.

Washed up on the shores of West Africa, an infant boy is taken in and raised by gorillas who name him Tarzan. Apart from striving for acceptance from his ape father, Tarzan’s life is mostly monkey business until a human expedition treks into his tribe’s territory, and he encounters creatures like himself for the first time. Tarzan struggles to navigate a jungle, thick with emotion, as he discovers his animal upbringing clashing with his human instincts.

San Francisco Opera Livestreams Summer Season Performances / May 21, 2022 by David Hwang

San Francisco Opera announces livestreams of select performances from the 2022 Summer Season. Opera lovers around the world have the opportunity to livestream Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Don Giovanni, Bright Sheng and David Henry Hwang's Dream of the Red Chamber and the Eun Sun Kim Conducts Verdi concert, featuring Nicole Car, Arturo Chacón-Cruz, Etienne Dupuis and Soloman Howard.

A new 48-hour on-demand feature is also available for Don Giovanni and Dream of the Red Chamber. Tickets are $25 and now available at sfopera.com and by phone (415) 864-3330.

Read more at Broadway World

M. Butterfly grows its wings / May 21, 2022 by David Hwang

In a break with convention, this review of M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang will start with a note from the production’s directors, Tungsten Tang and Hetty Opayinka:

‘As rehearsals for M. Butterfly progressed, both cast and crew doubted the suitability for a cisgender woman to play the role of Song Liling in 2022. The result of this has been that Charmaine Au-Young has taken the difficult decision to step down as Song and instead contribute to the production she has tirelessly worked on, as an ensemble member. Jaden Tsui will take on the role of Song Liling. We would like to stress that this was a mutual decision and not one forced upon anyone. Yet, even as we try to update this complex and heartbreaking play, we recognise that we do not have all the answers. We are reassured by the fact that our interpretation will facilitate discussion on these pertinent issues amongst our audience members.’

Naturally, a last-minute re-cast for whatever reason is always difficult, and Jaden Tsui (playing Song Liling) was holding a script on stage for much of last night’s performance. However, they carried it off impressively, still giving a sensitive and nuanced performance. The figure of Song Liling is an enigma for much of the play, containing a tension between the real person with agency and the oppressive fantasy of Song’s lover, French diplomat René Gallimard (Joe Harrington). Though the enigma is partially unravelled through Gallimard’s retelling of events, Tsui maintains an enigmatic level to the character, weaving a searing vulnerability and a hard, sardonic, edge which was compelling.