Three Year Swim Club, Encounter, TEA, Christmas in Hanoi and Chess set for East West Players 47th Anniversary Season

East West Players (EWP), the nation’s largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work and the longest-running professional theatre of color in the country, kicks off its 47th Anniversary Season with the return of Lee Tonouchi’s Three Year Swim Club, a Los Angeles TimesCritic’s Choice and LA Weekly Pick, back by popular demand.

Set on the island of Maui in the 1930′s, Three Year Swim Club becomes transcendent as the art of hula becomes the metaphor for competitive swimming. Inspired by the true life story of Soichi Sakamoto, who trained the youth of Maui to swim in the plantation irrigation ditches on their path to becoming Olympic champions. Directed and choreographed by Keo Woolford. Three Year Swim Club has performances, July 27-August 19, 2012, at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the UnionCenter for the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso St. in Los Angeles, CA. For tickets and more information, check out the www.EastWestPlayers.org website or call 213-625-7000.

This season, themed Spirited Away, includes the multidisciplinaryEncounter by S.M. Raju and Aparna Sindhoor, the newly-reimagined TEAby Velina Hasu Houston, the world premiere of Christmas in Hanoi by Eddie Borey, and the Broadway musical CHESS, music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus Ulvaeus & lyrics by Tim Rice.

“As East West Players enters its 47th season, we celebrate and explore the notion of spirit,” says Tim Dang, EWP’s Producing Artistic Director. “From ghosts to
human perseverance, these stories delve into the essence of spirit within the human mind and body – as our emotions conjure the multiple definitions of the word spirit.”

September 6-October 7, 2012
Encounter explores different confrontations – with the Divine, the Self, Bob Marley, Love, and the Military. In association with Navarasa Dance Theater in Massachusetts, Encounter mesmerized audiences during the National Asian American Theater Festival. It is now brought in its full version, continuing to expand EWP’s boundaries to include South Asian voices and multi-disciplinary forms such as Indian dance. By S.M. Raju and Aparna Sindhoor; Music by Isaac Thomas Kottukapally; Directed & Choreographed by Aparna Sindhoor and Anil Natyaveda; Inspired by a short story by Mahasweta Devi.

Velina Hasu Houston Photo credit: Pacific Rim Press

November 8-December 9, 2012
TEA is the critically acclaimed play about Japanese war brides from World War II now living in Kansas gathering for a farewell tea ceremony for one of their members who has mysteriously passed away. In honor of the play’s 25th Anniversary, EWP dares to present something different as Houston pens lyrics and adds original music to this classic play. By Velina Hasu Houston; Book and Lyrics by Velina Hasu Houston; Music by Nathan Wang; Directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera.

February 7-March 10, 2013
Christmas in Hanoi is about a mixed-race family who returns to Vietnam for the first time since the war. One year after the death of their strong-willed mother, siblings Winnie and Lou travel with their Irish Catholic father and Vietnamese grandfather to re-connect with their roots. Whether they embrace that past or reject it, they are haunted by their own family’s ghosts and by the phantoms of Vietnam’s long history. Winner of the EWP Face of the Future Playwriting Competition. By Eddie Borey and directed by Jeff Liu.

May 9-June 9, 2013
CHESS: From the lyricist of Jesus Christ Superstar and the composers of Mamma Mia!, the story involves a romantic triangle between two top chess players – an American and a Russian – and the woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. All of this takes place within the context of the Cold War, as both countries vie for international chess victories for propaganda purposes. Music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus; Lyrics by Tim Rice; Directed by Tim Dang; Musical Direction by Marc Macalintal. Generous support for this production is provided by the S. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West Players.

Additional funding is provided by Bank of America, the California Community Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the LA County Arts Commission and the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

All performances will be staged at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the UnionCenter for the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Season Subscriptions are available with General Subscriptions starting at $135. Wednesday, Thursday, Student, and Senior Subscriptions are discounted to $120. Preview Subscriptions are $89. Opening Night subscriptions include pre-show cocktails and a post-show reception and are $210. Season Subscription purchases and additional information can be found at www.EastWestPlayers.org or by calling 213-625-7000. All plays and dates subject to change.