Go Inside Rehearsals & Learn About Signature Theatre's Revised SOFT POWER / August 4, 2024 by David Hwang

Performances run August 6 – September 15, 2024 in Signature's Max Theatre.

Go inside rehearsals and learn more about Signature Theatre's DC premiere of Soft Power. Soft Power is a musical fantasia with music by Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home) and book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face).

David Henry Hwang speaks a bit about the history of the production, stating "My original idea was that there would be this Chinese person who would come to America and, Anna-like, teach an American ruler something important about civilizing their country. I thought that this Chinese person would teach President Hillary Clinton to solve the problem of gun violence. We did a reading of that version on election day in 2016, and the next morning, I remember calling our director, my frequent collaborator Lee Silverman, and saying, 'Okay, I think this is going to be bad for the country, but it could be good for our musical.'"

New Amsterdam's Ryan Eggold Will Make His Broadway Debut in New Play with Daniel Dae Kim! / August 4, 2024 by David Hwang

Ryan Eggold is heading to Broadway!

The 39-year-old actor, best known for starring in NBC shows like New Amsterdam and The Blacklist, will star opposite Daniel Dae Kim in the new play Yellow Face.

Inspired by real events, playwright David Henry Hwang’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.

Also starring in the play are Tony nominee Kevin Del Aguila and Drama Desk nominee Francis Jue.

Kamala Harris’s Fund-Raising Machine Cranks Into High Gear / July 28, 2024 by David Hwang

Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign rally on Tuesday in Milwaukee. Since President Biden dropped out and endorsed her, money has been rushing into her campaign and allied Democratic groups.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York Times

The high-dollar fund-raising world is whirring to life for Vice President Kamala Harris after weeks in which Democratic donors were dejected, demoralized and utterly battered.

Since the announcement of her presidential campaign, Ms. Harris has not only raked in $130 million primarily from small donors, but also gathered big check after big check from billionaires and millionaires as they stockpile money into the newly renamed Harris Victory Fund. Her fund-raisers, armed with a new Harris logo, went to work.

Major fund-raisers — one of whom told President Biden’s campaign just days ago that he thought the campaign could count on only about 25 percent of its allied donors to support Mr. Biden — are now swamped with a flood of interest from donors.

In mid-August, the playwright David Henry Hwang will put on a performance of his musical “Soft Power,” which will serve as a Harris fund-raiser in suburban Washington, and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia is scheduled to attend another event on Martha’s Vineyard.

Video: Get a Sneak Peek at Signature's Soft Power as Grace Yoo Performs 'I'm With Her' / July 28, 2024 by David Hwang

Ethan Heard will direct Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang's musical fantasia at the Arlington, Virginia, venue.

Rehearsals are underway for Signature Theatre's upcoming production of the D.C.-area premiere of Soft Power, the musical fantasia from Tony winners Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home) and David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face).

The newly revised production, directed by Signature Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard, will play the MAX Theatre August 6–September 15.

The cast is set to feature Steven Eng as DHH, Daniel May (Flower Drum Song) as Xue Xing, and Yoo (Hadestown) as Hillary Clinton with Eymard Cabling (Miss Saigon national tour) as Randy Ray and others, Andrew Cristi (A Christmas Story) as Chief Justice and others, Jonny Lee Jr. as Bobby Bob and others, Quynh-My Luu as Waiter and others, Christopher Mueller as VEEP and others, Ashley D. Nguyen as Jīng and others, Wereley as Betsy Ross and others, Nicholas Yenson as Holden Caulfield and others, and Sumié Yotsukura as Flight Attendant and others. Olivia Clavel-Davis, Brian Dauglash, Emily Song Tyler, and Joey Urgino are swings.

With music by Tesori and a book and lyrics by Hwang, the musical is set after the 2016 election, when a Chinese American playwright, attacked by an unknown assailant, hallucinates a Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theatre producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love. The political satire asks: Does American Democracy still work? And is it worth believing in?

Exclusive: 'I'm With Her' from Signature Theatre's Revised SOFT POWER / July 28, 2024 by David Hwang

Performances run August 6 – September 15, 2024 in Signature's Max Theatre.

BroadwayWorld has an exclusive first look at the cast of Signature Theatre's DC premiere of Soft Power in rehearsal. Soft Power is a musical fantasia with music by Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home) and book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face).

This newly revised production is directed by Signature's Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard (Signature's The Bridges of Madison County, Pacific Overtures), with choreography by Billy Bustamante (Lincoln Center's Suites by Sondheim, Utah Shakespeare Festival's Gold Mountain), music supervision by Chris Fenwick (Kimberly Akimbo, The Public's Soft Power), and music direction by Angie Benson (Signature's HAIR, Pacific Overtures). Performances run August 6 – September 15, 2024 in Signature's MAX Theatre. Tickets start at $40 and are available at SigTheatre.org.

See Who's Starring in Signature Staging of Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang's Soft Power / July 17, 2024 by David Hwang

Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang Marc J. Franklin

Ethan Heard will direct the musical fantasia at the Arlington, Virginia, venue.

Casting is complete for Signature Theatre's upcoming production of the D.C.-area premiere of Soft Power, the musical fantasia from Tony winners Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home) and David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face).

The newly revised production, directed by Signature Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard, will play the MAX Theatre August 6–September 15.

Read more at Playbill

Signature Theatre Announces Cast and Creative Team of Soft Power / July 17, 2024 by David Hwang

The production stars Steven Eng, Daniel May, and Grace Yoo.

Signature Theatre announced the cast and creative team for the DC premiere of Soft Power, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo) and book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly). This newly revised production is directed by Signature’s associate artistic director Ethan Heard, with choreography by Billy Bustamante, music supervision by Chris Fenwick, and music direction by Angie Benson. Performances run from August 6–September 15 in Signature’s MAX Theatre.

Soft Power is a musical fantasia that takes place after the 2016 election. When a Chinese American playwright is attacked by an unknown assailant, he hallucinates a Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theater producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love.

The production stars Steven Eng (Classic Stage Company’s Pacific Overtures) as DHH, Daniel May (Flower Drum Song) as Xue Xing, and Grace Yoo (Hadestown) as Hillary Clinton. The cast is rounded out by Eymard Cabling as Randy Ray & others, Andrew Cristi as Chief Justice & others, Jonny Lee Jr. as Bobby Bob & others, Quynh-My Luu as Waiter & others, Christopher Mueller as VEEP & others, Ashley D. Nguyen as Jīng & others, Chani Wereley as Betsy Ross & others, Nicholas Yenson as Holden Caulfield & others, and Sumié Yotsukura as Flight Attendant & others. Olivia Clavel-Davis, Brian Dauglash, Emily Song Tyler, and Joey Urgino are swings.

The creative team for Soft Power includes scenic design by Chika Shimizu, costume design by Helen Q. Huang, lighting design by Oliver Wason, sound design by Eric Norris, and wig design by Anne Nesmith. Danny Troob is the orchestrator, Russ Anixter is the copyist, Alexander Greenberg is the music assistant and keyboard programmer, Ka-Ling Cheung is the dialect coach, and Casey Kaleba is the fight choreographer.

Voices Rising: What’s Next for Asian Americans in the Arts? / June 14, 2024 by David Hwang

HOUSE SEATS | EPISODE |

A stirring conversation among Asian American luminaries interspersed with performances and stand-up comedy. Moderated by Juju Chang and featuring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang, Rosalind Chao, Jose Antonio Vargas, Qian Julie Wang, Mira Jacob, Naomi Funaki, Mikiya Ito and Pooja Reddy. In partnership with The Serica Initiative and Exploring Hate.

Watch the episode at Thirteen PBS

David Henry Hwang and others named to board of Entertainment Community Fund / June 14, 2024 by David Hwang

Annette Bening continues as board chair.

The Entertainment Community Fund has announced four new board members. David Henry Hwang, Robert (Toby) McDonough, Frank Nocco and Katherine Oliver were appointed to the board of the national human services organization, which provides financial assistance, health and wellness services and more to the entertainment industry. The announcement was made at the Fund’s annual board meeting on June 5.

Playwright Hwang won a Tony Award for his 1988 play “M. Butterfly.” A three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, his play “Yellow Face” will make its Broadway premiere in October.

Entertainment Community Fund Adds New Board Members / June 14, 2024 by David Hwang

Among the inductees is Tony Award-winning playwright and librettist David Henry Hwang.

The Entertainment Community Fund (ECF) has appointed four new members to its board of trustees, including Tony winner David Henry Hwang, Robert (Toby) McDonough, Frank Nocco, and Katherine Oliver. Annette Bening will continue to serve as Chair of the board.

Hwang is a Tony Award-winning playwright and librettist whose work includes Aida, M. Butterfly, Flower Drum Song, Yellow Face (which is headed for a Broadway revival in fall 2024), and more. McDonough currently serves as Treasurer of Local One, IATSE, after working as a stagehand for 20 years and a Local One officer for 23. Nocco is the Head of Weil’s U.S. Structured Finance and Derivatives practice and Co-Head of the Global Structured Finance and Derivatives practice, and Oliver is a former Commissioner of the NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment and a founding Principal of Bloomberg Associates.

Read more at Playbill

‘Yellow Face’ Explores Identity Across Generations, Continents / June 14, 2024 by David Hwang

“I’m always thinking about, ‘why are we doing this play now?’,” actor Michael Hisamoto told the Sampan of the Lyric Stage production of “Yellow Face.”

Hisamoto has a key role in the play, written by David Henry Hwang. The semi-autobiographical show is about the playwright, who appears in the play and is the narrator. It’s about Hwang’s life, his father, and the period of the 1990s and the 2000s. It covers big themes like the “yellow peril” and the Asian scares, even campaign finance scandals.

“He is trying to tell all that through a vessel, a character, Marcus G. Dahlman. He is a white person that gets mistaken for Asian, embraces that he is Asian American, and it all becomes a conversation about who gets to decide what your race is, where you belong in the community, and eventually working toward a future in which race really does not matter, in a positive way, and in which people can be who they want to be,” said actor Alexander Holden, who plays Dahlman.

Interview: David Henry Hwang Discusses YELLOW FACE Audible Drama Ahead of Play's Broadway Debut / June 4, 2024 by David Hwang

The Audible adaptation of Hwang's play is available now

It’s a big year for Yellow Face, the 2007 play by David Henry Hwang.

At the beginning of May, a brand new audio version of Yellow Face debuted on Audible, which features a starry cast that includes Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Ashley Park, Jane Krakoswki, and many more stars across the stage and screen.

In October, the play will make its Broadway debut at the Todd Haimes Theatre, also with Daniel Dae Kim and again directed by Leigh Silverman, who helmed the original Off-Broadway production and the Audible drama.

Yellow Face, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, sees a fictionalized version of Hwang as navigates the difficult worlds of media and politics as an Asian-American playwright in the 1990s and 2000s.

Soft Power, In the Heights, Job, Primary Trust, More Set for Signature's 2024-2025 Season / June 4, 2024 by David Hwang

The Arlington, Virginia, venue's upcoming season will include four D.C.-area premieres.

Signature Theatre’s 2024-2025 season in Arlington, Virginia, will feature five musicals and two plays, four of which are D.C.-area premieres.

The 35th season will launch August 6–September 15 in the MAX Theatre with the D.C. premiere of the musical Soft Power, featuring a book and lyrics by Tony winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and music and additional lyrics by Tony winner Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Kimberly Akimbo). Signature Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard will direct the musical, which is set after the 2016 election, when a Chinese American playwright is attacked by an unknown assailant and hallucinates a King and I-esque Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theatre producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love.

Read more at Playbill

Peterborough’s New Stages Theatre Company closes season with Pulitzer Prize finalist ‘Yellow Face / June 4, 2024 by David Hwang

New Stages Theatre Company is presenting a cast of six professional actors to perform a staged reading of David Henry Hwang's Pulitzer Prize finalist play "Yellow Face" at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre for one night only on June 9, 2024. Pictured (left to right, top and bottom) are Norman Yeung, Colin Doyle, Richard Tse, Tina Jung, M. John Kennedy, and Chloë Dirksen. (kawarthaNOW collage of supplied photos)

For the final production of its 2023-2024 season, Peterborough’s New Stages Theatre Company is presenting a staged reading of Yellow Face by Tony Award-winner and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang.

Almost 80 per cent sold out, the final production will be put on for one night only at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre at 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 9th. The evening will include a special post-show question-and-answer session with the performers and guests, as well as an announcement about New Stages’ 2024-25 season.

Yellow Face is a fast-paced, hilarious, and thought-provoking contemporary comedy about a playwright who, despite being an advocate against “yellowface” casting, unwittingly hires a White actor to play the Asian lead in his play.

The stage reading of David Henry Hwang's fast-paced provocative comedy takes place for one night only at the Market Hall on June 9.

“Tarzan: The Musical,” June 7 through 16 / June 4, 2024 by David Hwang

Praised by USA Today as a Broadway hit of "uncynical warmth and charm," the Tony-nominated Tarzan: The Musical swings into Moline's Spotlight Theatre for an area-debut run from June 7 through 16, this theatrical adaptation of Disney's Oscar-winning animated film boasting magical stagecraft and delightful tunes including "Two Worlds," "Strangers Like Me," and 1999's Academy Award champion ""You'll Be In My Heart."

With its book by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang and music by the legendary Phil Collins, Tarzan: The Musical opens on the shores of West Africa, where a baby boy is orphaned when his shipwrecked parents become the victims of a fierce leopard. He is subsequently taken in and raised by a family of gorillas who have recently lost their own baby to the same predator. They name the child Tarzan, and he grows up as one of the pack. However, his foster father Kerchak remains wary of having a human in the jungle. When an expedition of human explorers and naturalists enter the jungle, Tarzan encounters creatures like himself for the first time. As he learns about human life and grows increasingly enamored of Jane, a young naturalist, Tarzan begins to realize that they are not so different. However, Tarzan and Jane’s relationship threatens the safety of the gorillas, and the couple must eventually decide where they truly belong.

David Henry Hwang's YELLOW FACE Announced At Lyric Stage Boston / May 27, 2024 by David Hwang

An Asian-American playwright and activist gets tangled in a complicated and humorous web of lies as he struggles to win back his integrity.

Lyric Stage Boston closes out the 2024/25 season with David Henry Hwang's semi-autobiographical satirical comedy, Yellow Face.

Truth and fiction blur in David Henry Hwang's satiric memoir about DHH, a playwright plunged into a whirlpool of missteps and unintentional hypocrisy after a vocal protest against the casting of Jonathan Pryce as a Eurasian hustler in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon. What he condemns as “yellowface” soon comes back to haunt him when he later misidentifies a Caucasian actor for mixed-race and casts him in his own Broadway-bound comedy. His personal integrity is compromised as he proceeds to conceal his blunder aiding the narrative of this “born-again Asian.”. Ultimately a forceful argument for representation, this provocative and comical sideways glance at race and assimilation asks “who has the ownership of a culture?”

18 Times Asian and Asian Americans Made History on Broadway / May 27, 2024 by David Hwang

Playbill celebrates Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month with a timeline of artistic milestones.

May is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month. To celebrate that, Playbill has put together a timeline of all the times Asian and Asian Americans have made history on Broadway.

But first, a caveat: Theatre history can be murky. So much of it went undocumented, especially the history of BIPOC artists on Broadway. Many artists in the beginning of the century did not openly identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of color, due to the negative impact it could have on their careers. That is why the history of who is "first" on Broadway can be unclear at best.

1988
David Henry Hwang becomes the first Asian American playwright to be produced on Broadway with M. Butterfly. The show later goes on to win three Tony Awards, including Best Play, Best Direction (for John Dexter), and Best Featured Actor In A Play (for BD Wong). Hwang is the first Asian American playwright to win a Tony Award and Wong is the first Asian American actor to win a Tony.

Read more at Playbill

A new opera explores the death of a young soldier from Manhattan's Chinatown / May 11, 2024 by David Hwang

The New York premiere of the opera "An American Soldier," based on the story of Pvt. Danny Chen, opens at the Perelman Performing Arts Center on Sunday.

Chen was born and raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown and joined the Army in 2011. His body was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on a U.S. base in Afghanistan later that year. A military investigation revealed that the 19 year-old had been subjected to brutal hazing and racist abuse by his fellow soldiers. A series of courts martial followed.

But "An American Soldier" isn't a simple retelling of the news. Playwright David Henry Hwang, best known for "M. Butterfly," felt the story was so unambiguous that it would not make for a good theater piece.

Opera commemorates the life and tragic death of Pvt. Danny Chen of NYC / May 11, 2024 by David Hwang

LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) -- If opera is an art that captures tragedy, then Army Private Danny Chen's story was made for this stage.

The 19-year-old soldier from Manhattan's Chinatown who was bullied into suicide by his own squad while on deployment in Afghanistan in 2011 was brutally hazed for being Chinese-American.

Composer Huang Ruo says Danny's story isn't only Danny's story, but the story of a community's struggle.

That Time David Cronenberg Remade ‘The Fly’ as an Opera (Yes, Really) / May 8, 2024 by David Hwang

Sing me a tune, Brundlefly!

The Fly represents the quintessential Cronenberg film, showcasing his thematic resonance and meticulous craft.
The 2008 Fly opera blends elements from previous adaptations, offering a gruesome and vile stage rendition.
The opera, a joint effort by Howard Shore, David Henry Hwang, and David Cronenberg, portrays Seth Brundle's transformation in a 1950s setting.

Just when we all thought that everyone's favorite barf bag maestro had shown all of his cards, he got back up and reinvented himself again. The year was 2008, a mere 22 years after Cronenberg's critically acclaimed remake of The Fly was released. Howard Shore, the composer behind the 1986 remake, and David Henry Hwang, a critically acclaimed play writer and screenwriter, took the tragedy of Seth Brundle on themselves, teleported its particles into outer space, and brought it back down as an opera. Just like he did 22 years before, Shore composed the music for this new version, with different compositions than before. Hwang, on the other hand, wrote the libretto.