Allegiance (one of the first Asian musicals in over a decade) was awarded Best Musical at the San Diego Theatre Critics Awards. Starring George Takei, Lea Salonga and Telly Leung, the musical is set during the Japanese American internment of World War II. The Kimura family members struggle between patriotism and resistance to their internment and treatment by the government.
George Takai posted on his facebook:
“Friends, I am THRILLED to announce that ALLEGIANCE won BEST MUSICAL at the San Diego Theatre Critics Awards last night. Also winning from our show was Michael K. Lee for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and Lynne Shankel for Best Orchestration. What a night for our show. Now, it’s on to Broadway. I can’t wait.”
Michael K. Lee as Frankie Suzuki (wins Best Featured Actor in a Musical at the San Diego Theatre Critics Awards)
Learn more about this powerful musical here.
The cat’s out of the bag– our Fall cover girl is none other than the gleeful Jenna Ushkowitz!
(Shown here getting all dolled up for the shoot.)
You see her break out in song-and-dance routines as Tina Cohen-Chang on Glee, and now you get the chance to see Jenna Ushkowitz strike a pose for the cover of Audrey’s Fall 2011 issue coming out in September. The Park Plaza Hotel was the perfect setting for the Hollywood glamour photo shoot with the 25-year-old Korean-American.
Check out the behind-the-scenes coverage and interview we got, with the help of Asian American entertainment network MYX TV. You’ll get the inside scoop on Ushkowitz’s make-out sessions with co-star Harry Shum, Jr. and her favorite Glee episodes.
We can’t wait to share the rest of our shots–and the magazine– with you! Audrey Magazine Fall 2011 issue hits stands early September. Purchase your copy here.
It’s time to channel your creative energy and exercise those writing skills of yours. East West Players, the largest organization in the nation that produces Asian American artistic work, is doling out thousands of dollars to the next aspiring playwriter in its Face of the Future competition. This year’s theme is focused on the melting pot of America, from the perspective of Asian Americans, including multiracial identity and clashes between cultures.
The first place winner gets a whopping $5,000, and second and third place winners receive $2,500 and $1,000, respectively. The winners might also get the chance to see their play come to life on the stage at East West Players! Submissions are accepted until August 31, with winners being notified in February 2012.
Everyone was standing shoulder-to-shoulder on Friday night at L.A.-based Bluebook Productions’ website launch party at Chop Suey Café & Lounge. It was hard to navigate around people rocking out to the performances by Vudoo Soul and rapper Shin-B, and the women who were playfully showcasing their love for Sam Kang.
Dear Vanessa Hudgens,
It’s me, Janice. You don’t know me but I am quite familiar with you and your public persona. I’ve been one of your early fans, following you from your ascent as Miss High School Musical, singing and dancing your way to the top of Disney royalty as Gabriella Montez. I remember when you first came onscreen–pretty girl, sweet voice, what’s not to love?
Years ago I was in New York City and my then-boyfriend said I looked like a tourist. I wasn’t sure what he meant considering I was wearing the same clothes I always wear. Did my uniform of jeans, converse low-cuts and a T-shirt scream left coast? In hindsight, he was probably referring to the smile I was wearing. And my penchant for eye contact. And the giddy look of “I’m in Manhattan!” that was spread across my face.
It’s those same qualities that, while on a trip to New York last fall, led multiple people to ask if I would like to rent a bike or go for a carriage ride through Central Park. On the last day of my trip I took a different approach. I kept my head down and walked with more purpose than wonder. No surprise, the questions stopped.
But what fun is that? It’s not every day I get to engage with the funny, irritable or weird. In New York, I engaged with more people during one block on foot than I do in a whole day in Los Angeles (and returned with the cold to prove it). I also engaged in so much food that on my last night I had to buy the “emergency Perrier” to settled an over-stuffed, but incredibly satisfied, belly.
If I were in Los Angeles, I wouldn’t be on a street corner wondering which way to Broadway only to see Kristin Chenoweth, the star of Promises, Promises, the show we were going to see, standing on the same corner. Suffice it to say, we followed her directly to the theater. (The show is, in a word, delightful.)
Of course, this is because I was on vacation. It was all fun all the time, which is exactly how it wouldn’t be if I lived there.
If I lived in Manhattan I wouldn’t be going to high tea at the Plaza (where I felt super-posh in my nice jeans, new cons and fancy T-shirt), taking in Broadway shows (specifically musicals, because why settle for talking when you can have talking and singing?), or returning regularly to Mario Batali’s Otto (a frequent daydream is getting trapped in this restaurant). Sure, I might when I first arrive, but then the city would lose its luster and become just the place I live. In the same way that I live in Los Angeles and yet rarely go to the beach.
Which is all to say that being a tourist in the Big Apple is, for me, the way to go. I get to take in all the city has to offer, and when it’s time to leave I bid adieu to my teeny hotel room and say hello to my large-by-comparison 800-square-foot house in a city where I’m never mistaken for a tourist. But that’s probably because I’m always in my car.
