Time Magazine has named David Henry Hwang’s sexy and hilarious new play Chinglish the number three show out of the Top 10 Broadway shows of the year. Chinglish will feature special audience post-show talkbacks with the cast and creative team members at the Longacre Theatre in New York.

Beginning Wednesday, December 14th after the evening show, the cast will come out to answer audience questions. The mostly bi-lingual and multi-cultural cast will also be answering questions in Mandarin and maybe give a lesson or two. In addition to the 14th, talkbacks will be held after the show on December 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th, 29th.

After the post-show talkbacks, head to the front of the orchestra and you’ll have the opportunity to meet the cast members.

Chinglish is a new comedy about the misadventures of miscommunication. It is the story of an American businessman desperate to launch a new enterprise in China. There are only three things standing in his way: He can’t speak the language. He can’t learn the customs. And he’s falling in love with the one woman he absolutely can’t have.

The Chinglish cast features Jennifer Lim, Gary Wilmes, Angela Lin, Christine Lin, Stephen Pucci, Johnny Wu and Larry Lei Zhang.

December 28, 2011

This one is all about Asian connections.

It began at Bellaken Garden, a skilled nursing care facility in East Oakland, where my mother, Connie, has been staying since August. I’ve been visiting there twice a week, crossing the Bay Bridge from San Francisco and popping in with potstickers from a nearby takeout restaurant.

For months, I’d seen this thin, white-haired woman seated in the lobby area, across from one of the dining rooms. After a while, we’d exchange smiles and hellos. I’d noticed her mainly because she always had a transistor radio with her. Being a radio columnist and occasional DJ, I asked what she was listening to. “Baseball,” she said. She was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, kept notes on their games, and kept their radio schedule close to her, all on a shelf of her walker. Her son, Jonathan, I would learn, works as a concessions cashier for both the Giants and the 49ers, so she was a football fan, too. We could talk.

I decided to do a little shout-out to her in my Radio Waves column in the San Francisco Chronicle, learned her name – June Kwei – and told her to watch for the mention. She appeared delighted, although I never properly introduced myself. Bad manners. (In Cantonese, “bad” is pronounced “kwei.”) Anyway, on December 11, the item ran, ending with “Holiday cheers to June Kwei.”

If you know Rain, BoA (shown left), and Sistar, then you already know K-Pop, Korea’s contemporary pop music and its artists.

K-Pop music is one of the fastest growing music genres in the world, and along with Korea’s popular TV drama serials, films and comic books are a growing source of export revenue for Korea.  

The growing global fan base of Korea's entertainment and cultural offerings, known as "Hallyu" or the "Korean Wave" feels more like a tidal wave in some countries. In France, for example, fans mostly in their youth sold out a concert in Paris reportedly in fifteen minutes. Several hundred fans who missed out on tickets held a rally and danced to K-Pop music in front of the Louvre Museum campaigning for a second concert. They got their wish for a second concert which also sold out in minutes. Aflash mob as witnessed by this YouTube video shows hundreds of fans from all ethnicities crowding the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris last June, 2011 to welcome their favorite K-Pop artists. (image right)

On December 31, 2011 Korea's Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choe Kwang-shik announced a 2012 policy to expand support of Hallyu, to help keep the wave of Korean pop culture surging across its borders. The Korean government also hopes to attract more Hallyu fans into the areas of food, tourism, fashion and other cultural and entertainment offerings.

Mu Performing Arts presents Mu Daiko, Minnesota’s foremost taiko drumming ensemble, as it returns to the Mcknight Theatre At Ordway Center For Performing Arts,345 Washington St. in St Paul, MN., to present its 15th anniversary concert. Starring Hanayui from KODO, legendary Odaiko soloist, Yoshikazu Fujimoto and featuring North American guest artists, Tiffany Tamaribuchi and Megan Chao Smith.

The first weekend of performances (Feb. 9-12) will feature Mu Daiko in concert. The second weekend (Feb. 16-19) will feature Mu Daiko along with special guest appearances including:

Hanayui from KODO: The top founders and artists from legendary group, KODO, come together to bring the best of Japanese taiko to the Minnesota stage. Long recognized as visionaries of the artform world-wide, Hanayui features three top female artists in traditional and fresh new performances of dance, drumming and song. Also featured is Yoshikazu Fujimoto, long-considered the best Odaiko performer in the world.

Tiffany Tamaribuchi: Grand Champion, 2002 All Japan Odaiko Contest. With her two signature strengths of power and form, Tamaribuchi was proclaimed by contest judges to have “a perfect hit.” She brings 22 years experience touring and training professionally with several top companies and folk artists throughout Japan.

Cindy Cheung in SPEAK UP CONNIE. Photo by Lia Chang

Cindy Cheung debuts her solo show SPEAK UP CONNIE, at Stage Left Studio, 214 W. 30th St., 6th Fl. in New York from January 17 – 25, 2012.

In SPEAK UP CONNIE, the versatile Cheung writes, performs, and provides original music and lyrics in a comedy about getting a word in edgewise, under the direction of BD Wong. Performances are Tuesday, January 17th, Wednesday, January 18th, Sunday, January 22, Tuesday, January 24, and Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20. ($2 ticketing surcharge will be added). Click here for tickets.
* limited number of $9 tickets available through TDF

Cindy Cheung Photo by Lia Chang

Cindy Cheung’s theater credits include Middletown (The Vineyard),The Seagull, (NAATCO), Goodbye Cruel World (Roundtable), Sides: The Fear Is Real… (Ma-Yi/Miyagi),Antigone(NAATCO), Masha No Home (E.S.T.),W;t (Florida Studio Theater), The First Picture Show (A.C.T.), A Christmas Carol (South Coast Rep),Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods (East West Players). Film and TV credits include: Children of Invention(Sundance 2009), Lady In The Water, Robot Stories, “Bored To Death,” “White Collar,” “Fringe,” “Law and Order,” “L&O:SVU,” “L&O: Criminal Intent,” “One Life To Live” and “Sex and the City”. She holds an MFA from A.C.T.

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