Tag Archives: East West Players

Fountain Theatre hosts Monday press conference celebrating “Save the Performing Arts Act”

State Senator Susan Rubio in front of the set for An Octoroon at the Fountain Theatre’s Outdoor Stage

On Monday, August 16th, from 9:30-10 a.m., performing arts leaders and Hollywood celebrities will join State Senator Susan Rubio (D – Baldwin Hills) and Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell (13th District, City of Los Angeles) on the Fountain Theatre’s Outdoor Stage to celebrate Governor Gavin Newsom signing into law Senate Bill 805, entitledSave the Performing Arts Act of 2021.” Fountain Theatre Artistic Director Stephen Sachs will emcee the event.

“This bill is recognition from the State of California that intimate theater companies matter,” says Sachs. “I applaud Senator Rubio for her tireless advocacy in crafting this bill, and thank her for taking action to support the needs of small nonprofit theaters across the state.”

The “Save the Performing Arts Act of 2021,” authored by Senator Rubio and co-authored by State Senator Benjamin Allen (D – Santa Monica)and State Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – La Canada Flintridge), provides $50 million in much-needed immediate financial aid to small performing arts organizations with annual budgets under $2 million (including the Fountain.) The bill also includes $500,000 to set up payroll services support, which will be overseen by the California Arts Council. The public is invited, and encouraged, to attend this celebratory event. Please note: mask-wearing and social distancing will be in effect.

SB 805 is the first bill in the nation that will create a critical funding infrastructure to help assist Small Nonprofit Performing Arts Companies (SNPAC) with average adjusted gross revenues equal to, or less than $1.4 million, to be adjusted every five years based on the California Consumer Price Index. SB 805 will direct the California Arts Council to establish the California Nonprofit Performing Arts Paymaster, which will provide low-cost payroll and paymaster services to SNPACs. This legislation will establish the Performing Arts Equitable Payroll Fund to ensure that SNPACs can pay all workers minimum wage, particularly workers in marginalized communities. Small nonprofit theaters are incubators for playwrights, actors, designers, directors and other artists. They have historically provided networking opportunities and mentorship for Black, Indigenous and People of Color artists to facilitate connections necessary for career advancement by providing performance experience that helps to open doors to larger, less accessible companies. Furthermore, SNPACs contribute to the economic growth, social well-being and cultural vitality of the local communities they serve.

Other confirmed attendees include:

Danny Glover, Co-Founder of The Robey Theatre Company; upcoming recipient of the 2022 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (an Honorary Oscar); BET Award, Cable ACE Award, NAACP Image Award and Asian Pacific Screen Awards winner, and Emmy Award-nominated actor. SB 805 Coalition Member.

Josefina López, Founding Artistic Director, CASA 0101. Theater, Emmy Award, Sundance Film Festival and Humanitas Prize Award-Winning Writer. SB 805 Coalition Member.

Ben Guillory (Co-Founder, CEO and Producing Artistic Director, The Robey Theatre Company, SB 805 Coalition Member. The Robey Theatre Company is a member of the Senate Bill 805 Coalition.

Kirsten Vangsness, tech-kitten Penelope Garcia on the Criminal Minds franchise, and a longtime member of Theatre of NOTE, which is a member of the Senate Bill 805 Coalition.

Snehal Desai, Producing Artistic Director of the award-winning East West Players, the nation’s premiere Asian-American theater company and one of the longest-running theaters of color in the United States.

Jon Imparato, Producer and Artistic Director of the Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Center at Los Angeles LGBT Center

Arianna Ortiz, Western Regional Councilor for Actors’ Equity Association

Martha Demson, President of Theater Producer’s League Los Angeles and Artistic Director of the award-winning Open Fist Theatre Company, both of which are members of the Senate Bill 805 Coalition.

Simon Levy, Producing Director of the Fountain Theatre

SB 805 Coalition Members, which include: Leagues: Alliance of Desert Theatres, Arts for LA, Californians for the Arts/California Arts Advocates, San José Arts Advocates, Theatre Bay Area, Theatrical Producers League Los Angeles; Theaters: 24th Street Theatre, Actors Co-op Theatre Company, Altarena Playhouse, Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble, CASA 0101 Theater, Celebration Theatre, Chance Theater, Coin & Ghost, Collaborative Artist Bloc, Company of Angels, Dezart Performs, Downey Arts Collective, El Teatro Campesino, Flat Tire Theatre Company, Fountain Theatre, IAMA Theatre Company, Infinite Jest Theatre Company, The Inkwell Theater, Inland Valley Repertory Theater, Interact Theatre Company, Invertigo Dance Theatre, Latino Theater Company, Macha Theatre Company/Films, Moving Arts, New American Theatre, Novato Theater Company, Numi Opera, Open Fist Theatre Company, Ophelia’s Jump Productions, Playwrights’ Arena, Rogue Machine Theatre, Rogues Artists Ensemble, Sacred Fools Theater Company at the Broadwater, Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre, Sierra Madre Playhouse, Skylight Theatre Company, SkyPilot Theatre Company, The Robey Theatre Company, The Road Theater Company, The Victory Theatre Center, Theatre of NOTE, Theatre Unleashed, Teatro Máscara Mágica, Teatro Visión, Theatre West, Town Hall Theatre; Independent Artists: Producer Michaela Bulkley, Performer Devon DeGroot, Actor Robert Fancy, Actress Cristal Gonzalez, Performer Julia Sanford and Performer Christopher Sepulveda.  

“The Joy Luck Club” cast visits “Hannah and the Dread Gazebo” at Fountain Theatre

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Actors from “Joy Luck Club” and “Hannah” in Fountain cafe.

Ever question if LA has a real theatre community? A true sense of camaraderie? Doubt no more. Last night, members of the cast from the Sierra Madre Playhouse production of The Joy Luck Club swarmed to the Fountain Theatre to support friends and colleagues in our California Premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo. After the performance, members from both companies gathered in our upstairs cafe to celebrate and congratulate each other.

It was fitting that the visit happened on Labor Day, the national observance of the value of work.  For people who work in the theatre, there is a fervent dedication to the art form and a palpable cord of goodwill between artists.

The bond between the Joy Luck and Hannah casts  — both with Asian actors — began when the company of Joy Luck sent a funny and warm-hearted good luck video from the Sierra Madre Playhouse to the Hannah group days before its opening at the Fountain.


The Hannah company replied, posting their own video to the Joy Luck cast.

Happy opening night to the cast and crew of Joy Luck Club at Sierra Madre Playhouse (Victor S Chi Shar Liu Christine Liao Tim Dang Yee Eun Nam Lee Chen-Norman Grace Shen Christopher Chen and everyone) !!!!! — ❤ the cast of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo at East West Players and Fountain Theatre 🎭🥰👏👏👏👏💐

Posted by Jully Lee on Saturday, August 24, 2019

 

Last night, cast members from The Joy Luck Club were at the Fountain supporting their fellow players. The Hannah cast will soon do the same. Theatre can be a competitive business. It can also be a haven for friendship and support.

Enjoy these photos from last night’s visit.

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Get tickets/more info on Hannah and the Dread Gazebo and The Joy Luck Club.

‘Hannah’ playwright Jiehae Park and director Jennifer Chang making magic together

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Jiehae Park

by Carolina Xique

It’s an exciting time to be an artist. In the last few years, the arts industry has been experiencing a high production value in diverse storytelling aimed toward better representation of people of color, and more specifically, Asian and Asian American representation. With groundbreaking films such as Crazy Rich Asians, Netflix’s Always be My Maybe, The Farewell, as well as the successful theatrical production of Cambodian Rock Band, people everywhere are becoming more exposed to the nuances of the Asian/Asian-American experience.

With a cast that is made up of Koreans and Korean Americans, Jiehae Park’s Hannah and the Dread Gazebo takes a family on a funny, heartbreaking adventure to reconnect with their roots in South and North Korea, and also into the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides them. Hannah premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2017, and is now set to open at the Fountain Theatre in association with East West Players, directed by Jiehae’s longtime collaborator, Jennifer Chang. So we thought we’d grab the chance to talk with them about their own adventure with this play.

Carolina Xique: First, let me say that I’m thrilled to hear about this new piece and that it’s making its way into Los Angeles.

Jiehae, as playwright, can you talk about how the idea for this play came to you? Is it personal to your own experience or indicative of the holistic Korean American experience? And Jennifer, as the director, what drew you to take on this piece?

Jiehae Park: I didn’t know I was writing a play. I was primarily a performer at the time (Jen and I both went to UCSD for acting). There were quite a few big questions I was trying to figure out—and I think the unusual shape of the play reflects that. I would sit down and write down stories that came to me in that moment, not realizing it was all going to add up to something bigger.

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Jennifer Chang

Jennifer Chang: I am a huge fan of Jiehae’s and have been following her career with personal interest for some time as we share an alma mater: we both went through the MFA Acting program at UCSD and have both diversified our careers.  She is a significant talent and I am so thrilled to have this opportunity to collaborate with her on Hannah and the Dread Gazebo. The musicality of the language and the inherent theatricality that emerges from her ability to weave a multiplicity of thought and theme are all very exciting and honestly a dream to be able to dive into.  Also, I love being able to support the telling of Asian American stories in their universality and three-dimensionality.

What kind of research did both of you dive into when writing Hannah?

JP: I didn’t research much initially, but I did do quite a bit before finishing the play (that’s been a recurring pattern in my writing process these last few years). The research didn’t directly go into the play but provided a richer historical and cultural context that helped me complete it.

A follow-up to that, in terms of your other plays and writing process, was anything different for Hannah and the Dread Gazebo?

JP: Broadly, I seem to have two general types of plays—super-quick, freight-train-speed linear ones; or messier, slower-baking plays where the structure is far less predictable. Hannah is definitely in the latter category.

Jennifer, what in your directing process is helping you with Hannah and the Dread Gazebo?

JC: Regarding research, the usual dramaturgical work of researching was involved: Korea, the DMZ, politics of North and South and Kim Jong Il. I wanted to lean into the magic-realism of the play, and early on knew that I wanted to consult with an illusionist, and also started doing some research into magic (I’m currently reading Spellbound by David Kwong). It’s been so great to have a cast that is Korean American.  There are some points of commonality amongst Asian Americans, but being able to tap into specific details, nuances, and experiences that the cast has so generously shared with the company and has contributed to the making of the show has been invaluable.  It’s illuminating to discover the tiny nuances of how gestures and thinking and sounds differ for Koreans in, and those from, Korea.  I love new plays and really view myself as a locksmith in my approach to collaboration.  I want to know what the play wants to be, the playwright’s intentions, what’s resonating with the cast and how they approach the work, and how best to facilitate the conversation and “the ride” so to speak, with the audience.  Having worked on Vietgone by Qui Nguyen has really helped.  These plays are vastly different but they both have scenes that shift at a cinematic pace in widely varying tones that need to be woven together in the same play.

East West Players is a theatre company known for its work lifting up Asian-American stories. How do you feel about bringing the LA premiere of Hannah in collaboration with EWP and the Fountain Theatre?

JP: Honored. I had a reading of my very first play—which had been my college thesis—at EWP over a decade ago…in the time since I figured out I wasn’t a playwright, went to grad school for something else, then re-figured out that I was.  And Stephen Sachs at the Fountain reached out about the play very soon after the OSF premiere—I’ve long admired the scripts he brings to LA area audiences. Additionally, Jen directed an early reading of the play at EWP years ago, and I acted in a show with Jully Lee (the Shapeshifter) that Howard Ho (Sound Design/Composer) music directed when I was right out of school. I’m bummed to not have been able to be out there for rehearsals, but happy that it feels all in the family.

JC: It’s an honor to be able to helm a project with the support of two highly respected institutions in Los Angeles.  I think it’s really smart theatre making to cross-pollinate and support the universality of human experiences and good work regardless of color.  A collaboration like this signals that this isn’t just work by people of color, but that it’s good work worth supporting, period.

What do you want audiences to take with them when they leave the Fountain Theatre after seeing Hannah and the Dread Gazebo?

JC: Garlic in their pockets.

Carolina Xique, is a theatre artist and arts nonprofit administrator. She is a member of the Los Angeles Female Playwright Initiative

VIDEO: Cast and director feel the magic of ‘Hannah and the Dread Gazebo’ at Fountain Theatre

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Photo Slideshow: First rehearsal for CA Premiere of ‘Hannah and the Dread Gazebo’

Welcome 6 Jennifer

Director Jennifer Chang addresses the company.

Our California Premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo is an opportunity for the Fountain Theatre and East West Players to bring their community of artists, staff, Board members and patrons together for the first time.  That commonality of purpose was on display last night with the large turnout from both organizations at the meet & greet/first rehearsal.

Held at the East West warehouse rehearsal space in South Los Angeles, the evening began with a brief mixer including food and drinks. Fountain  Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs welcomed the group with some opening remarks. Through the magic of technology, playwright Jiehae Park joined the gathering via FaceTime to provide her thoughts and encouragement.  Director Jennifer Chang then shared her production vision with the room, noting that the play moves at the speed of thought. Designers Rebecca Bonebrake, Howard Ho, Ruoxuan Li, and Michael Allen Angel offered their insights. Professional illusionist Dominik Krzanowski will design special magic elements for the production.

After a quick break, the cast read the script aloud for the first time. And the real magic began.

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In the play, Hannah is two weeks away from becoming a neurologist when she gets a strange package in the mail from her grandmother in South Korea, who may or may not have just ended her own life. A surreal, funny and heartbreaking adventure leads Hannah on a journey back to her homeland and the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea. A startling comedy about a daughter, a mother, a grandmother and the mystery that connects them.

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Fountain Theatre, East West Players will make magic in ‘Hannah and the Dread Gazebo’

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Creation myths and family histories meld in a wildly theatrical, startling new comedy that explores what it means to walk the edge between cultures. The Fountain Theatre, in association with East West Players and with generous support form the S. Mark Taper Foundation, presents the California premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo by Jiehae Park. Los Angeles Drama Critic’s Circle Award-winner Jennifer Chang (Vietgone) directs for an Aug. 17 opening at the Fountain Theatre in East Hollywood, near Koreatown, where performances continue through Sept. 22.

Set in NYC and Korea in the winter of 2011, just before the death of Kim Jong Il, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo takes Hannah’s Korean American family on a surreal, funny and heartbreaking adventure back to their roots in South and North Korea and the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides them.

“The play is a funny-tragic look at what it means to be caught in between,” says Park. “The characters are striving to reconcile the contradictions of their immigrant lives: North/South, past/future, coming/going.”

Monica-Hong

Monica Hong

Thirty-something Hannah, played by Monica Hong (Ivanov at the Mint Theater in NYC, Please Stand By at Actor’s Playpen in LA), is two weeks away from becoming a board-certified neurologist when she receives a FedEx box from her grandmother with two things inside: a 100% bona-fide-heart’s-desire-level wish — and a suicide note. Hannah’s father (Hahn Cho, recently seen on TV in For the People, Magnum P.I., Swedish Dicks) and mother (Elaine Kao — upcoming feature film Paper Tigers, recurring on Netflix’s No Good Nick) have already moved back to South Korea to be near Grandma at the Sunrise Dewdrop Apartment City for Senior Living, which sits right on the edge of the DMZ. Meanwhile, Hannah’s slacker brother, Dang (Gavin Lee, whose credits include Blood, written and directed by Robert Allan Ackerman, and a recurring role on Fox’s The Orville) bonds over music with a student activist played by Wonjung Kim (Korea Musical Award for Best Actress, Ovation nominee for The Last Empress in L.A). In this strange and wonderful play that is a mix of unexpected whimsy, delightful comedy, profound despair and more than a little bit of magic, actress Jully Lee (Ladies at Boston Court, tokyo fish story at South Coast Rep) appears in many forms.

Helping make that magic happen is the Magic Castle’s Dominik Krzanowski, who will create original illusions for the production. 

Hannah and the Dread Gazebo premiered at the 2017 Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, where the Mail Tribune called it “blisteringly original, acerbically funny, powerfully dramatic and deeply thought provoking… If you’re keen to have your mind expanded by an evening of theater that is not going to be comparable to anything you’ll see anytime soon, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo is a good place to start.”

Last week, the American Theatre Critics Association announced that Hannah has been selected as one of three finalists for its prestigious Francesca Primus Prize, sponsored by ATCA and the Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation.

“I saw the world premiere in Ashland and was completely charmed by the play,” says Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Stephen Sachs. “I was enchanted by its whimsical, dreamlike surprises, and truly moved by its poignant revelation of a grandmother, mother and daughter relationship. Once the lights came up and the performance was over, I knew I wanted to present it at the Fountain.”

Sachs continues, “The Fountain is committed to diversity and inclusion, which makes this first-time partnership with East West Players very meaningful. It’s an invigorating sharing of resources, artists and audiences benefiting both companies and the communities we serve.”

“We are honored to partner with the Fountain on this production,” agrees East West Players artistic director Snehal Desai. “EWP first did a reading of the play in 2013, also directed by Jennifer Chang. The Fountain is a theater whose work and mission I have always admired; this seemed like the perfect project for our two companies to collaborate on, with its mix of humor, theatricality and timeliness.”

The creative team for Hannah and the Dread Gazebo also includes scenic and video designer Yee Eun Nam, lighting designer Rebecca Bonebrake, sound designer/composer Howard Ho, costume designer Ruoxuan Li and props designer Michael Allen Angel. The production stage manager is Bryan P. Clements.

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Playwright Jiehae Park

Jiehae Park’s plays include peerless (Yale Rep premiere, upcoming in NY at Primary Stages), Hannah and the Dread Gazebo (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Here We Are Here (Sundance Theater-Makers residency, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Princess Grace Works-in-Progress @ Baryshnikov Arts Center), The Aves (McCarter Spotlight Series) and contributions to Wondrous Strange (Humana/Actor’s Theatre of Louisville). Her work has been developed through the Soho Rep Writer-Director Lab, The Public’s Emerging Writers Group, p73, Playwrights Horizons, NYTW, Atlantic, Old Globe, Dramatists Guild Fellowship, Ojai, BAPF, CTG Writers Workshop, Banff Playwrights Lab, ACT New Strands, and Ma-Yi Writers Lab. Awards: Leah Ryan, Princess Grace, Weissberger, ANPF Women’s Invitational; two years on the Kilroys List. Commissions: Playwrights Horizons, Yale Rep, Geffen, OSF, Williamstown, MTC/Sloan. Residencies: MacDowell, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, McCarter/Sallie B. Goodman. She is a NYTW Usual Suspect, Lincoln Center New Writer in Residence, former Hodder Fellow, and current New Dramatists. As a performer recently: Ripe Time/Naomi Iizuka’s adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s Sleep (BAM Next Wave, Yale Rep); Celine Song’s Endlings (A.R.T.). She was a staff writer on season one of Marvel’s Runaways and currently teaches Playwriting at Princeton University. BA, Amherst;
MFA, UCSD.

Jennifer Chang

Jennifer Chang

Jennifer Chang won the 2019 LADCC award for excellence in direction for her work on the Los Angeles premiere of Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone. She was a 2018 Drama League New York directing fellow and was the assistant director for the Broadway world premiere of Bernhardt/Hamlet by Theresa Rebeck starring Janet McTeer. Ms Chang’s multi-disciplinary work has been honored with Ovation, LA Weekly and the Stage Scene LA awards, among others. She is a founding member of Chalk Repertory Theatre where she served as artistic producing director and produced, directed and acted in numerous plays over the course of eight seasons. Upcoming directing credits include Where the Mountain Meets the Moon at South Coast Repertory and The Time of Your Life at Antaeus Theatre Company. Select directing credits include Death & Cockroaches by Eric Reyes Loo (Chalk Rep at Circle X/ Atwater Village Theatre); 53% Of by Stephanie Del Rosso and Birds of North America by Anna Moench for the Wagner New Play Festival; Animals Out of Paper at East West Players (Los Angeles Times “Critics Pick”); Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them for Artists at Play (GLAAD Media Award and Ovation-nominated); and Residence Elsewhere, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 at the Japanese American National Museum. She is very active in the development of new plays with the Geffen Playhouse, Chance Theater, Circle X Theatre Company, EST/LA, Playwrights Arena and East West Players.

The Fountain Theatre is one of the most successful intimate theaters in Los Angeles, providing a creative home for multi-ethnic theater and dance artists. The Fountain has won hundreds of awards, and Fountain projects have been seen across the U.S. and internationally. Recent highlights include all-star readings of Ms. Smith Goes to Washington and All the President’s Men at Los Angeles City Hall and the inclusion of the Fountain’s Citizen: An American Lyric in the Music Center’s Our L.A. Voices festival at Grand Park. The Fountain’s 2018 productions of The Chosen and Arrival & Departure each enjoyed months-long sold out runs and was named a Los Angeles Times “Critic’s Choice.” The company’s West Coast premiere of Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cost of Living, was named to the Los Angeles Times’ “Best of 2018” list. Its current production, Daniel’s Husband, was named a Los Angeles Times “Critic’s Choice” and is enjoying an extended, sold-out run.

As the nation’s premier Asian American theater organization, East West Players produces artistic work and educational programs that foster dialogue exploring Asian Pacific Islander (API) experiences. Founded in 1965, at a time when APIs faced limited or no opportunities to see their experiences reflected outside of stereotypical and demeaning caricatures in the American landscape, EWP not only ensures that API stories are told, but works to increase access, inclusion, and representation in the economy.

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VIP Donors gather in Hollywood for Fountain/EWP premiere “Hannah and the Dread Gazebo”

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Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs welcomes guests.

Friends and supporters of the Fountain Theatre and East West Players gathered Sunday at the lovely Hollywood home of Diana Buckhantz to celebrate the upcoming California Premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo by Jiehae Park.  There is much to celebrate. The production marks the first time the Fountain and EWP have collaborated and both companies share excitement about this meaningful opportunity.

“For almost 30 years, The Fountain has opened its doors to diversity and inclusion,” Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs stated in his welcoming remarks. “We welcome East West Players into our home. From day one, our collaboration has been open and generous. As the nation’s premiere Asian American Theatre, EWP brings its artistry and authenticity to the production, as we share resources, audiences and communities with each other.”

EWP Artistic Director Snehal Desai echoed Sachs’ enthusiasm for the partnership. Desai shared EWP’s history with the play and director Jennifer Chang. EWP hosted a reading of Hannah in 2013 directed by Chang, winner of the 2019 LADCC award for excellence in direction for the LA premiere of Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone at EWP. Desai kept his eye on Hannah and planned to include it in a earlier season.  After Sachs saw the world premiere at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland in 2017, he secured the rights to the play and reached out to EWP in partnership.  Everything fell into place.

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In the play, Hannah receives a FedEx box with two things: a 100% bona-fide-heart’s-desire-level wish and a suicide note. Hannah tracks the package back to Seoul, where her grandmother recently jumped from the roof of her retirement home onto the wrong side of the Demilitarized Zone. Hannah and her family need North Korea’s permission to retrieve the body, but Kim Jong Il just kicked the bucket, and things in the DMZ are even stranger then they seem.  The play is a whimsical, surreal and poignant tale about a grandmother, mother and daughter striving to reconcile the cultural contradictions of their lives.

At Sunday’s gathering, guests enjoyed some Korean delicacies catered by Don Tahara of First Street Cuisine. A brief scene from the play was presented in the living room read by cast members. Then Fountain Director of Development Barbara Goodhill explained to the group how they could support the production.

Guests included James Bennett, Jason Blackwell, Diana Buckhantz, Rose Chan, Jennifer Chang, Wendy Chang, Charles Chatelain, Hahn Cho, Chris Christensen, Snehal Desai, Kiyomi Emi, Lois Fishman, Barbara Goodhill, Elaine Kao, Serena Kim, Jully Lee, Gavin Lee, Simon Levy, Dick Motika, Sally Pai Unruh, Pia Palomo, Youn Park, Dora Quach, Stephen Sachs, Allison Thomas, Steve Warheit, Jerrie Whitfield, Dorothy Wolpert, Kim Wonjung. Melina Young.

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‘Hannah and the Dread Gazebo’ a finalist for American Theatre Critics Association Prize

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Hannah and the Dread Gazebo by Jiehae Park, opening at the Fountain Theatre on August 17th in its Southern California Premiere, has been named a finalist for the Francesca Primus Prize, sponsored by the American Theatre Critics Association and the Francesca Ronnie Primus Foundation.  The award, presented annually since 1997, recognizes the best work by an emerging woman playwright who has not yet achieved national prominence.

Hannah and the Dread Gazebo earned glowing reviews in its recent world premiere at Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

“Masterful! So powerful and indescribably beautiful.” – Stanford Daily 

“This is theater as it should be — blisteringly original, acerbically funny, powerfully dramatic and deeply thought-provoking.” – Mail Tribune

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Playwright Jiehae Park

In the funny and poignant play, Hannah is two weeks away from becoming a neurologist when she gets a strange package in the mail from her grandmother in South Korea, who may or may not have just ended her own life. A surreal adventure leads Hannah on a journey back to her homeland and the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea. A startling comedy about a daughter, a mother, a grandmother and the mystery that connects them.

The Fountain Theatre partners with East West Players in the Southland premiere directed by Jennifer Chang. As the nation’s premier Asian American theatre organization, East West Players produces artistic works and educational programs that foster dialogue exploring Asian Pacific experiences.

Named in honor of Francesca Primus, a playwright, dramaturg, theater critic, and ATCA member who died of cancer in 1992, the Primus Prize was originally administered through the Denver Center Theatre Company. Since 2002, ATCA has adjudicated the award, which includes a $10,000 grant presented through the generosity of the Primus Foundation as well as a plaque for the winning author. The winner will be announced in July.

Now Casting: Fountain Theatre and East West Players partner on ‘Hannah and the Dread Gazebo’

HANNAH prelim logo FT no titleThe Fountain Theatre, in association with East West Players, are seeking actors to play Korean & Korean­ Americans in the Southern California Premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo by Jiehae Park, directed by Jennifer Chang. This whimsical and poignant play opens July 13 at the Fountain Theatre.

STORYLINE: Hannah is two weeks away from becoming a board-certified neurologist when she receives a strange package from her grandmother, who may—or may not—have just ended her life in a most flamboyant fashion. The mystery leads Hannah and her family on a surreal, funny, heartbreaking adventure back to their roots in South and North Korea and the forbidden Demilitarized Zone that divides them. This startling new comedy twists together creation myths and family histories to explore what it means to walk the edge between.

Producers: The Fountain Theatre in association with East West Players           Playwright: Jiehae Park                                                                                                     Director: Jennifer Chang

NOW CASTING:

HANNAH – 28 to 36 years old, East Asian female. about to become a board-certified pediatric neurologist. Control freak.

FATHER – 45 to 55 years old, East Asian male. professor. Keeps It Together for the Family. Emotionally clueless. Must speak Korean.

MOTHER – 48 to 56 years old, East Asian female. In a deep depression that she is hiding from her family, Gardening fanatic and HGTV addict that her family isn’t necessarily aware of. Comedic and playful sensibility a must.

TRICKSTER – 30 to 60 years old, East Asian female. Plays the following characters: Voice/Grandma/Mrs. Lee/Old Man In Coat/Official/Nurse/Mr. Kwon/Kim Jong II/Grandmother Tiger trickster-lost-soul-friend-voice-of-god. May or may not have been here since the beginning of the world. Possible memory loss. Must speak Korean.

DANG – 20 to 26 years old, East Asian male. Recent graduate and professional slacker. Has-a-band-sort-of. Good kid. Guitar playing a plus.

GIRL – 19 to 26 years old, female. Activist in search of a cause. Used-to-have-a-band-sort-of. Blunt. Comedic sensibility a must. Musical Instrument a plus.

Audition Date: 5/21/2019
Callback Date: 5/24/2019
Rehearsal Dates: 6/10 – 07/09
Preview Dates: 7/10 – 7/12
Opening Date: 07/13/2019
Closing Date: 09/01/2019

Contract/Pay Rate: AEA 99-Seat Agreement/$12 per hour for all rehearsals and performances.

Email headshot & resume: casting@eastwestplayers.org

Eric Garcetti Declares “The Mayor says ‘Everyone Go See ‘The Normal Heart'”

Stephen Sachs and Deborah Lawlor with LA Mayor Eric Garcetti

Stephen Sachs and Deborah Lawlor with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti

by Stephen Sachs

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is a longtime member of the Fountain Family. His parents, Gil and Sukey Garcetti, have been Fountain subscribers for more than a decade starting back with our LA jazz play Central Avenue in 2001 when Gil was the Los Angeles District Attorney. Eric was elected to the LA City Council in 2001 and served as our Councilman in our 13th District for twelve years. We were thrilled and proud when he was elected mayor in May of this year.      

Over the years as our Councilman, Eric and his staff were always there when the Fountain needed him.  We will be forever grateful for his friendship and support in our darkest hour of grief. The day after learning of the brutal slaying of our Fountain colleague Ben Bradley in 2010, Eric Garcetti’s office immediately contacted us, asking “what can we do to help?” Members of Eric’s staff personally came over to the Fountain to help us plan Ben’s memorial. They arranged to make the 300-seat City-owned Gallery Theatre in Barnsdall Park available to us free of charge for the service. And Eric Garcetti attended the memorial and spoke.

Last night was a happier time to see now-Mayor Eric Garcetti. A reception honoring him was held at the LA Gay and Lesbian Center in Hollywood. Fountain Co-Artistic Director Deborah Lawlor and I were invited to attend. We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

LA Gay & Lesbian Center plaza.

LA Gay & Lesbian Center plaza.

The cocktail event was held on the outdoor plaza of the Center. It was a warm, pleasant night. Before Garcetti’s arrival, about 200 invited guests enjoyed drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  It was nice chatting with East West Players Artistic Director Tim Dang, whose husband, Darrel Cummings is the Center’s Chief of Staff.  And connecting with Jon Imparato, the Center’s Director of Cultural Arts and producer of their upcoming production of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later   

After a lively introduction from Center CEO Lorri L. Jean, Mayor Garcetti spoke. His remarks were casual and friendly and sprinkled with humor, emphasizing social inclusion and his longtime commitment to the LGBT community. He was intelligent, poised, and articulate. Our new Mayor balances charismatic star power with the skill to connect with people as fellow human beings.    

Deborah and I grabbed him briefly after this remarks. He seemed happy to see us. “My parents were just at the Fountain a few weeks ago to see Heart Song,” he exclaimed.  

Eric and I had a short conversation about how the Fountain can best take advantage of the surge of redevelopment in Hollywood and achieve the Fountain’s goal of acquiring a larger venue. We bemoaned the loss of the CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). But Eric had some ideas and suggestions. And, as always, offered to help.

As someone snapped a photo, Garcetti held a postcard from our upcoming Fountain production of The Normal Heart, opening September 21st, and declared with a broad grin:

“The Mayor says ‘Everyone Go See The Normal Heart!” 

You heard him. Better do what the man says. He just might be President some day.

Stephen Sachs is the Co-Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre.

The Normal Heart  Sept 21 – Nov 3  (323) 663-1525   MORE