Cindy Cheung in SPEAK UP CONNIE. Photo by Lia Chang

This month, Cindy Cheung debuted her solo show SPEAK UP CONNIE, at Stage Left Studio, 214 W. 30th St., 6th Fl. in New York for 5 performances. 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.

Cheung’s last two performances on January 24th and 25th are sold-out, but due to popular demand, new show dates have been added – Saturday, February 4th, Sunday, February 5th, Tuesday, February 7th, Wednesday, February 8th, Sunday, February 12th, and Wednesday, February 15th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20. ($2 ticketing surcharge will be added). Click here for tickets.

Cindy Cheung’s theater credits include The Sugarhouse at the Edge of the Wilderness (Ma-Yi),Middletown (The Vineyard), The Seagull and Antigone, (NAATCO),Goodbye Cruel World (Roundtable),Sides: The Fear Is Real… (Ma-Yi/Miyagi), 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

The Time Has Come: Asian Americans Arrive on the Red Carpet

By Amy Lieu

Asian American actors and members of Hollywood's entertainment industry graced the red carpet at the 20th Anniversary Gala Celebration for the Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE) at Union Station in Los Angeles Nov. 12, 2011.

The evening honored the talents of Asian Americans in entertainment and celebrated the advancement of diversity in the media.

For years, Asian Americans have been under-represented in Hollywood.

However, CAPE's red carpet event indicated more Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) talent are in entertainment today. AAPIs have come a long way

Maggie Q, the beautiful and savvy renegade spy from Nikita shared space with Carrie Ann Inaba, the talented dancer and one of the judges for Dancing with the Stars.

George Takei, who played Sulu from Star Trek, YouTube musician sensation David Choi, and professional poker player Maria Ho, who has played in the World Poker Tour were also among the celebrities on the red carpet.

The Gentlemen of YTF also strutted the red carpet; the group includes Ryan Higa, the most subscribed YouTube personality, as well as Victor Kim and Dominic of Quest Crew, who won the third season of America’s Best Dance Crew.

On February 2, civil rights icon Fred T. Korematsu will become the first Asian American featured in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery permanent exhibition, “The Struggle for Justice.” Two 1940s-era original photographs of Korematsu will be presented on February 2 at 9:30 a.m. at the Portrait Gallery, Eighth and G Streets, NW in Washington, D.C.,in a private event featuring speakers including the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta. The photographs will be available for public view when the museum opens at 11:30 a.m.

The event takes place just three days after the second annual Fred Korematsu Day, an official day of special significance passed in the state of California in 2010. Celebrated every January 30, on Korematsu’s birthday, Fred Korematsu Day is the first day in U.S. history named after an Asian American.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company – one of the country’s leading Asian-American theater companies – in association with the Obie Award winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company present the Off-Broadway debut of Qui Nguyen’s critically acclaimed comedy THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G. Preview performances begin February 7 prior to an official press opening of February 14 at Theatre Row’s Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street) in New York, with performances continuing through March 4.

Directed by Robert Ross Parker, the cast of THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G includes Jon Hoche (SOUL SAMURAI, PULLMAN CAR HIAWATHA) and Bonnie Sherman (SOUL SAMURAI) from the play’s original Off-Off-Broadway production in April 2011, joined by newcomers Neimah Djourabchi (ACTION PHILOSOPHERS), Brooke Ishibashi (KUNG FU SUNSHINE FLOWER),and Temar Underwood (ODYSSEUS DOA, FIGHT GIRL BATTLE WORLD).

THE INEXPLICABLE REDEMPTION OF AGENT G is described as follows: It’s been 10 years since Agent G was last in Vietnam where his family and friends were all viciously slain. He’s now come back looking for answers and a good bit of revenge; however forces are at hand trying to stop him as well as the playwright from finishing this brutal task.

The Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) and Fordham University will hold “RepresentAsian: The Changing Face of New York Theater,” an industry roundtable on February 13, 2012 at 7pm at the Pope Auditorium at Fordham University, 60th St and Columbus Avenue in New York, with prominent producers, artistic directors, directors, playwrights, agents and casting directors to have a dialogue on access and representation of minority actors on NYC stages and how best to overcome obstacles to more inclusive casting. It will be co-presented with Fordham University and will be moderated by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (Chinglish, M. Butterfly).

Participants at RepresentAsian include producers Nelle Nugent (Stick Fly, Ghetto Klown) and Stephen Byrd (2008 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, upcoming Streetcar Named Desire); Public Theatre artistic director Oskar Eustis; playwright Douglas Carter Beane (Sister Act The Musical, Lysistrata Jones