WHITE FROG features Booboo Stewart (The Twilight Saga), Harry Shum, Jr. (“Glee”), Kelly Hu (Scorpion King), BD Wong (“Awake,” “Law and Order: SVU”), and Joan Chen (The Last Emperor, Lust, Caution, Mao’s Last Dancer).

Written by the mother/daughter screenwriting team Ellie and Fabienne Wen, and executive produced by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly), WHITE FROG tells the story of high-school freshman, Nick (Booboo Stewart), a young boy with Asperger’s syndrome, who is often neglected and misunderstood by his seemingly perfect family. When tragedy suddenly strikes, Nick is forced out of his comfort zone, and into finding the strength he needs to survive. WHITE FROG is a universal story about the power of family, friendship, and love.

The red carpet will be rolled out for actors Harry Shum Jr., Joan Chen, B.D. Wong; director Quentin Lee; producer and co-screenwriter Ellie Wen; producer Chris Lee; and executive producer David Henry Hwang, who will be at the screening and at the star-studded Opening Night Gala Reception at the Asian Art Museum. Delicious treats will be served up by some of the Bay Area’s most popular restaurants, including Bushi-Tei, Chotto, Dosa, Serpentine, and Yoshi’s.

WHITE FROG

New York—March 24, 2011—In 2011, the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture celebrates a quarter-century of free programs dedicated to introducing Japanese culture, in all its depth and diversity, to new audiences. In addition, 2011 marks the last time that Professor Donald Keene, whose work inspired the founding of the Center, will teach a class at Columbia University, which has been his academic home since 1938.

To commemorate this doubly memorable occasion, the Donald Keene Center, through the generous support of the Japan Foundation, will feature a symposium on “The Legacies of Donald Keene” at Columbia University on Friday, April 15, 2011. The symposium is from 1:00pm to 3:00pm in the Kent Hall Lounge (403 Kent Hall). Speakers include Karen Brazell, Van Gessel, Carol Gluck, Amy Heinrich, Susan Matisoff, and Carolyn Morley, all of whose distinguished careers in the Japanese Studies field began in one of Professor Keene’s classrooms. Drawing on personal experiences, the speakers will address Professor Keene’s unique pedagogy and long-term contributions to the field of Japanese Studies. This symposium is open to the general public. Reservation are not required, please arrive early to secure a seat.

As part of the Donald Keene Center’s 25th Anniversary celebrations, a special exhibition of selected items generously donated by Professor Keene over the course of several...

Fresh from the Atlanta set of House of Payne, the award-winning actress was a vision in a cream colored tuxedo when we attended a concert performance by Marva Hicks in Pat Holley’s Me and Caesar Lee at the Triad Theatre in New York earlier this month.

“It’s been really hair raising,” said Burse. “I can’t give too much away until they start the new season. She’s in a very interesting storyline. I can only urge you to tune in because many eyebrows will be raised.”

Click here to watch “Payneful Visit,” the episode where Claretha reveals she has leukemia.

About Claretha, Burse shared, “She’s funny, she’s sassy, very sensitive. She is a woman who likes being in love, and has been hurt many times as a result. She has a great big heart. She loves her friends deeply and loyally. She has a sense of flair. I wear outrageous gear and change my hair to fit my outfit. From head to...

“God comes to the hungry in the form of food,” said the ‘Father of India’ Mahatma Gandhi. It is this philosophy which has compelled Chef Vikas Khanna to explore the symbiotic intersection of food and religion in his documentary series Holy Kitchens. “At any given time somewhere on Earth, people are gathering to share food in the name of God. This is spiritual sustenance, meant to bring us closer together and closer to the Creator,” says Khanna. “This is the story of Holy Kitchens.”

The film features interviews with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Arun Gandhi, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, Shaunaka Rishi Das, Aroon Shivdasani, Lynn McGuire, Scott Carney and Anju Bhargava. It is written and narrated by Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn, directed by Anubhav Bhardwaj, and co-directed by Francisco Aguila. Karma to Nirvana is a Junoon Hospitality presentation.

Vikas Khanna’s journey in the documentary takes us right into the soup kitchens of Amma, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi’s ashram in Kerala, where...

Nick Choksi

CollaborationTown (The Play About My Dad, The Momentum) presents the World Premiere of THE DEEPEST PLAY EVER: THE CATHARSIS OF PATHOS by Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell with music by Michael Wells. Directed by Lee Sunday Evans and Jordan Seavey, previews begin March 9 at the New Ohio Theatre. An acclaimed 2006 production of this Brecht satire won an Outstanding Playwrighting Award at FringeNYC; this newly revised, reworked production is slated for opening on Wednesday, March 14.

Before Mother Courage there was Mother LaMadre. In THE DEEPEST PLAY EVER, an unrivaled masterpiece of modern dramatic writing, our antiheroine Mother LaMadre and her rag-tag crew drag their wagon through the Fifth World War and the post-post-apocalyptic wasteland that is New Europe. Together they must navigate all the pitfalls (and rewards) of the dramatic art of drama to find the few remaining books the art-abolishing Evil Empire have yet to destroy and maybe, just maybe, find a way to replace violence with art. If the zombies don’t eat them first, that is.

The production stars Jordan Barbour, Carly Cioffi, Nick Choksi, John Halbach, Boo Killebrew, Geoffrey Decas O’Donnell, Chinasa Ogbuagu, Phillip Taratula, Emily Walton and TJ Witham. The creative team includes set and props by Deb O, costumes by Nikki Moody, lighting by Nick Houfek, sound by Brandon Wolcott and Daniel Kluger, music direction by Michael Wells, associate music direction by Nicholas Williams, stage...