He’s Getting Raves for a Role He Wasn’t Supposed to Play / November 9, 2024 by David Hwang

Francis Jue said he views his stage work “as a spiritual exercise, this relationship to a script and the relationship to an audience.”Credit...Ben Sklar for The New York Times

Seventeen years after he first appeared in “Yellow Face,” the veteran actor Francis Jue has returned with a nuanced performance as a blustery patriarch.

It’s a well-worn bit of audition advice for actors: Don’t telegraph that you really want the part you are up for — just do your thing. A corollary: The creative freedom you gain when you have relinquished your thirst for a role may spur you to make fearless choices that can seal the deal.

Francis Jue has borne out this wisdom over a long and lauded career, which has reached a new height with his bittersweet turn as the blustery patriarch in David Henry Hwang’s hall-of-mirrors comedy “Yellow Face,” now on Broadway. Critics have rained superlatives on his performance: In his review for The New York Times, Jesse Green called it “masterly”; others have hailed it as both “a comic jolt” (Variety) and “heart-busting” (Time Out New York).

The ability to wring laughs as well as tears from audiences is a superpower that has made Jue a go-to actor not only for Hwang (with roles in his shows “Soft Power” and “Kung Fu”), but also for “multiple generations of Asian American playwrights,” said Mike Lew, who cast him in his play “Tiger Style!”

Returning To Direct ‘Yellow Face’ 17 Years Later, She Finds It More Relevant Than Ever / November 9, 2024 by David Hwang

Sometimes a work can take hold of you and never let you go. All you want to do is return to it. For Leigh Silverman, that work was David Henry Hwang’s play Yellow Facewhich she directed at the Public Theater in 2007.

Yellow Face was inspired, in part, by the decision to cast white actor, Jonathan Pryce, to play a French Vietnamese brothel owner in Miss Saigon on Broadway. Pryce had already played the role in the West End and had earned an Oliver award. Yellow face refers to the long history of white actors wearing makeup to portray Asian characters.

After Hwang wrote to Actors’ Equity to protest the casting, he was vilified by producers, critics and many in the theater community. Hwang saw that the issues stretched further than just Miss. Saigon. And Yellow Face delved into questions about race, identity, history and family.

Yellow Face, which became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and won an Obie Award, centers around a playwright, DHH, who after fighting against yellow face casting ends up placing a white actor in his own play.

After a successful run at the Public Theater, Silverman and Hwang worked on eight more projects. “David and I have worked together so much and so deeply, our collaboration has been a tent pole of my career,” says Silverman.

6 New Shows Our Theater Critics Are Talking About / November 6, 2024 by David Hwang

The fall season is underway, and our reviewers think these productions are worth knowing about, even if you’re not planning to see them.

YELLOW FACE

David Henry Hwang’s 2007 satire, directed by Leigh Silverman, arrives on Broadway starring Daniel Dae Kim as an Asian American playwright who protests yellowface casting only to inadvertently, and hilariously, cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.

Daniel Dae Kim Talks Embracing Comedy and Humiliating Himself on Stage in Broadway Play ‘Yellow Face’ / November 6, 2024 by David Hwang

The play, which explores race and identity in a farce setting, is written by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang and directed by Leigh Silverman.

When it came to returning to Broadway, Daniel Dae Kim had a few criteria in mind.

The actor, known for his role in “Lost,” debuted on Broadway in 2016 in “The King and I” at the Lincoln Center Theater. Now, Kim is starring in “Yellow Face,” a semi-autobiographical play by Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang playing at the Todd Haimes Theatre through Nov. 24.

“Yellow Face,” directed by Leigh Silverman, follows Kim’s character DHH, loosely based on Hwang, as he protests the yellowface casting of actor Jonathan Pryce in “Miss Saigon” on Broadway. While this part is true, the production, a revival from 2007, takes a few fictionalized twists as DHH goes on to accidentally cast a white actor in an Asian role in his show “Face Value” — satirical chaos ensues with family members, friends, reporters and more as DHH realizes his mistake.

Happy Birthday to New York’s PAC / November 6, 2024 by David Hwang

Luminaries gathered to kick off the Perelman Performing Arts Center’s inaugural Icons of Culture Festival, beginning with an award bestowed to MTV pioneer Tom Freston.

Tuesday night, PAC NYC—which is chaired by Bloomberg, and whose name derives from patron Ronald Perelman—took a well-deserved victory lap for a debut year done right as it kicked off its first Icons of Culture Festival, a five-day celebration featuring talent like opera diva Renée Fleming, Questlove, Kathleen Turner, Instagram’s The Dogist, Alanis Morissette, tightrope walker Philippe Petit, Michael Imperioli, and others, including (what’s this?!) VF’s own Little Gold Men podcast, recording a live chat with John David “The Protagonist” Washington on Friday.

During an election cycle, the acronym PAC can have heavy implications. But for theater lovers and concertgoers in New York City, PAC NYC now means the Perelman Performing Arts Center. Featuring three expandable and contractible theaters, a restaurant, a terrace, toilet stalls with green and red lights so you never have to touch the handle to discover a locked door, and a slick-looking lobby with regular free events, its first year boasted talks led by David Letterman, a new opera from Huang Ro and David Henry Hwang, and a one-man show from Laurence Fishburne as well as The Jellicle Ball.

'It was a huge risk': NMPBS documentary raises the curtain on the Santa Fe Opera's history / November 6, 2024 by David Hwang

The Crosby Theatre with audience and orchestra at the Santa Fe Opera. Courtesy of Bob Godwin for the Santa Fe Opera

The crown jewel of New Mexico arts is finally getting a documentary.

Slated to screen first at Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center on Thursday, Nov. 7, and on New Mexico PBS on Thursday, Nov. 14, “An American Vision: The Santa Fe Opera” is the first film documentary to focus on what has become one of the world’s most sought-after summer festivals.

Featuring never-before-seen archival materials and performance footage, the documentary film captures the opera’s remarkable history and explores the visionary efforts that have made it one of the world’s most sought-after summer festivals.

The film examines key moments in the opera’s history and features never-before-seen archival materials as well as interviews with leading creative figures including Pulitzer Prize-winning librettist David Henry Hwang, composer Huang Ruo, writer and critic Anne Midgette, renowned tenor and National Medal of Arts awardee George Shirley, opera director Peter Sellars, Santa Fe Opera music director Harry Bicket, general director Robert K. Meya and more.

How David Henry Hwang Wrote One of the Smartest Plays on Broadway / October 24, 2024 by David Hwang

The playwright behind Yellow Face did more than just tell a story, he mined his own life for material.

“Laughter,” David Henry Hwang says, “is potentially a binding force in the theater. It allows us to relax around each other and feel more comfortable in the context of issues that sometimes make us squirm.”

What kind of issues might those be? In the case of Yellow Face, Hwang’s Pulitzer Prize-finalist play currently running at Broadway’s Todd Haimes Theatre through November 24, audiences can take their pick. The sharp, funny drama—which the New Yorker called “audacious and fresh”—takes inspiration from Hwang’s own life, beginning with his protests regarding the casting of a white actor to play a Eurasian role in the 1990 Broadway musical Miss Saigon, and tackles additional complications in the form of racial injustice on and off stage, family drama, and professional pitfalls, just to name a few. For anyone who still doesn’t feel just a bit uneasy, remember that the play’s main character (played by Daniel Dae Kim) is a playwright named DHH.

That’s just one place where real life and the world Yellow Face, which is directed by Leigh Silverman,depicts on stage differ. While the Hwang character in the show can come across as occasionally bumbling, in real life the Tony-winning playwright seems to know exactly what he’s doing.

“David really has experienced a lot, and he’s much more willing to put himself and his private life into the public, not only through his work but through his advocacy,” explains Kim. “He has had some interesting things happen to him that have fed his life, not just as a human being but as an artist, and I applaud his bravery in wanting to share that with audiences. It not only makes him an interesting character in life, but also on the page. It’s easy to see why he would want to take his own experiences and shift them only slightly to have them apply to all of us.”

Celebrities on the Broadway Stage / October 21, 2024 by David Hwang

For decades, Broadway has welcomed film and TV's biggest stars as they headed to New York City for the chance to share in the intimate experience of performing in front of a live audience. This Broadway season is no exception.

Here are some of the celebrities who are spending time on the Broadway boards this season.

DANIEL DAY KIM in YELLOW FACE

Now Open; Closes November 24, 2024
Lost and Hawaii Five-0 favorite Daniel Dae Kim returns to Broadway in David Henry Hwang's Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist farce about a playwright who protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.

10 Pieces of Art in NYC You Should See, Daniel Dae Kim in David Henry Hwang's 'Yellowface' / October 21, 2024 by David Hwang

Daniel Dae Kim stars in David Henry Hwang's farcical play "Yellowface," about an Asian American playwright who mistakenly casts a white actor in an Asian role in his own production. Kim and Hwang join us to discuss the production, which runs through November 24.

We’re Hearing Things / October 21, 2024 by David Hwang

Daniel Dae Kim to Perform at Dramatists Guild Foundation Gala / October 21, 2024 by David Hwang

A starry lineup of artists are set to perform and appear at this year's Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) Gala, which will be held October 24 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. The evening will celebrate writers and their work, with direction by Noah Himmelstein and music direction by Julianne Merrill.

Performers will include Daniel Dae Kim (Yellow Face), Nikki Renée Daniels (Once Upon a Mattress, Company), Jeanna de Waal (Diana), Francis Jue (Yellow Face), and Jack Wolfe (Next to Normal).

David Henry Hwang Discusses His Play ‘Yellow Face,’ Now on Broadway / October 21, 2024 by David Hwang

First produced off-Broadway in 2007, the work, more potent than ever, continues to speak to the times.

On October 30, playwright and School of the Arts faculty member David Henry Hwang and director Leigh Silverman will discuss Yellow Face, Hwang’s acclaimed comedy about identity, show business, and (perhaps) autobiography. Playwright and director James Ijames will moderate the discussion, which will be held at 7 pm at the Lenfest Center for the Arts, and School of the Arts Dean Sarah Cole will introduce the participants.

Yellow Face is making its Broadway debut at the Roundabout Theatre through November 24. Per the Playbill for this production, the play “is inspired by real events. The playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellow-face casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play.”

Hwang discusses Yellow Face, its continued relevance, and his other work with Columbia News.

On the Red Carpet: At Yellow Face, David Henry Hwang on How He Turned His 'Flop' Into a Hit / October 15, 2024 by David Hwang

In 1993, David Henry Hwang's comedy Face Value came to Broadway. It then abruptly left after just five performances, with critics panning it as "M. Turkey" (a reference to Hwang's previous hit M. Butterfly). In the years since, Hwang has referred to the play as a "flop." So it wasn't lost on Hwang October 1, at the opening of his play Yellow Face at the Todd Haimes Theatre, how far he'd come—especially when critics met Yellow Face with almost unanimous raves.

"In some ways, this is the end of a journey that began in 1993 when the predecessor to this play, Face Value, closed in previews on Broadway," the Tony Award-winning playwright told Playbill on the red carpet of Yellow Face. "So now, many decades later, to be able to open Yellow Face on Broadway just feels like the most amazing journey a show could have."

Hear From Daniel Dae Kim, David Henry Hwang and the Stars of Broadway's Yellow Face on Opening Night / October 15, 2024 by David Hwang

Yellow Face, David Henry Hwang's 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist, is having its Broadway premiere at Roundabout Theatre Company's Todd Haimes Theatre, directed by Leigh Silverman. Daniel Dae Kim stars as DHH, a semi-autobiographical take on Hwang himself, who protests the white-washing of Broadway's Miss Saigon only to cast a white actor as an Asian man in one of his own plays.

Speaking to The Broadway Show on the opening-night red carpet, Hwang shared the two biggest reasons Yellow Face has been surprising its audiences: "Number one, how funny Daniel Dae Kim is," he said. "And number two, that there's a combination of stuff to laugh about, stuff to cry about and stuff to think about."

Photos: Opening Night of Yellow Face on Broadway / October 3, 2024 by David Hwang

See more at Playbill

See Daniel Dae Kim and the Stars of Yellow Face Hit the Red Carpet for the Play's Long-Awaited Broadway Premiere / October 3, 2024 by David Hwang

*Playwright David Henry Hwang, director Leigh Silverman and Daniel Dae Kim (Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)*

Yellow Face—David Henry Hwang's semi-autobiographical satire inspired by the playwright's protest of yellow face in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon and his subsequent 1993 flop, Face Value—opened on Broadway at the Todd Haimes Theatre on October 1. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, the play premiered in Los Angeles in 2007, followed by an off-Broadway run at the Public Theater helmed by Leigh Silverman, who reunites with Hwang for its Broadway production.

Daniel Dae Kim leads the cast as Hwang's theatrical rendering (called DHH in the play), along with Francis Jue as Hwang's father (HYH), Ryan Eggold as Marcus (the white man DHH accidentally casts as an Asian character in Face Value) and an ensemble of shape-shifting actors including Greg Keller, Marinda Anderson, Kevin Del Aguila and Shannon Tyo.

See the Broadway company walk the red carpet on opening night.

Read and see more at Broadway.com

Interview with YELLOW FACE Playwright David Henry Hwang / October 3, 2024 by David Hwang

In my exclusive interview with David Henry Hwang, we talked about Yellow Face, An American Soldier, Soft Power, M. Butterfly, the opera, and Ainadamar with Osvaldo Golijov which will be seen at the Metropolitan Opera in Oct. Roundabout Theatre Company is presenting Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang directed by Leigh Silverman, at the Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues in New York through November 24. Yellow Face features Daniel Dae Kim as “DHH,”

Read and watch more at Youtube

Daniel Dae Kim used to camp out for discounted theater tickets / October 3, 2024 by David Hwang

Returning to Broadway feels full circle for Kim, who is best known for TV shows like “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0” but got his start on more experimental corners of the New York stage after earning a degree from NYU. This time, instead of waiting in line for discounted seats, he’s center stage in “Yellow Face,” a play about a case of mistaken racial identity, as well as a backstage comedy.

“Not to get sentimental, but the first day I was in the Todd Haimes Theatre, I looked out on the stage, and I remember that 21-year-old young man who would who would get TKTS tickets and sit in the balcony just to be able to see these wonderful plays and these amazing performers,” Kim said.

“Yellow Face” chronicles (and satirizes) Hwang’s experience leading the 1991 protest against the casting of white actor Jonathan Pryce in the Asian role of “Miss Saigon.” Since then, Hwang notes, casting decisions have changed for the better. For instance, every subsequent production of “Miss Saigon” has featured an Asian actor in the role that Pryce originated.

Interview: David Henry Hwang on ‘Yellow Face,’ Its Ongoing Relevance, and More / September 30, 2024 by David Hwang

Hwang discusses his expectations for the autobiographical play now that it’s on Broadway.

David Henry Hwang’s playfully subversive comedy Yellow Face received an Obie Award and was shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize when it debuted off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2007. Now it’s back—in a new Broadway revival directed by Leigh Silverman, the Tony-nominated director of Shaina Taub’s freewheeling musical Suffs. In what Hwang calls an “unreliable memoir,” the playwright—who won the Tony in 1988 for M. Butterfly—places a fictional version of himself, “DHH,” at the center of the story.

The play takes audiences on a clever and humorous journey that blurs fact and fiction. It revisits historical events sparked by the 1990 controversy surrounding the yellow-face casting of a white actor, Jonathan Pryce, in the lead Eurasian role in the mega-musical Miss Saigon. The work also examines allegations made against his father, Henry Y. Hwang, and the increasing prejudice faced by Asian Americans in this country. Portrayed as “HYH” in the play, Hwang’s father, a banker, saw his cherished version of the American dream unravel due to racist-tinged investigations into campaign donations that targeted him in the late 1990s.

The current Broadway revival of Yellow Face features Daniel Dae Kim (of Lost and Hawaii Five-O fame) as the author’s stand-in and Obie Award-winning actor Francis Jue as Hwang’s father. I recently spoke with the playwright about his autobiographical meta-theatrical creation.

Get a 1st Look at Production Photos From David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face on Broadway / September 30, 2024 by David Hwang

Daniel Dae Kim is starring in the Roundabout Theatre Company production.

Previews began September 13 for Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of Yellow Faceby David Henry Hwang, and the first production photos are in. Opening night is set for October 1 at the Todd Haimes Theatre. The limited engagement will continue through November 24.

Directed by Leigh Silverman, Yellow Face stars Daniel Dae Kim as DHH, Kevin Del Aguila as Actor A, Ryan Eggold as Marcus, Francis Jue as HYH and Others, Marinda Anderson as Actor B, Greg Keller as Reporter/NWOAC, and Shannon Tyo as Leah and Others.

Inspired by real events, the playwright's fictionalized doppelgänger DHH (Kim) leads protests against yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, but then mistakenly casts a white actor as the Asian lead in one of his own plays.