Photos: Backstage at Mu Performing Arts’ Four Destinies by Katie Hae Leo,10/15-10/30

Sara Ochs, La Dawn James, Katie Bradley, Nora Montanez and Neil Schneider Photo by Lia Chang

The 2011 – 2012 Mu Performing Arts 20th Anniversary mainstage season lineup kicks off on October 15 at Mixed Blood Theatre with the world premiere of Four Destinies, directed by Suzy Messerole. The play by local playwright Katie Hae Leo is a satirical exploration of adoption through the eyes of Destiny Jones, a single character represented from four different ethnic backgrounds, as she/he grows up in a Minnesota family. Leo, herself a Korean adoptee, presents herself as a character determined to embody the overarching adoptee experience, both in youth and adulthood. Four Destinies has been in development for the past two years through Mu’s Jerome New Performance Program, a platform for emerging Asian American theater voices to create and present edgy new work.

Nora Montanez, Katie Bradley, Sara Ochs, La Dawn James, Maria Kelly, Shanan Custer Photo by Lia Chang

Mu Performing Arts Artistic director Rick Shiomi invited me to Minneapolis, providing me with an all-access pass to the production during rehearsals.

Don Eitel, Nicholas Freeman and Neil Schneider Photo by Lia Chang

Shanan Custer and La Dawn James Photo by Lia Chang

Nora Montanez Photo by Lia Chang

Sara Ochs Photo by Lia Chang

Don Eitel, Sara Ochs, Shanan Custer, Maria Kelly and Katie Bradley Photo by Lia Chang

Don Eitel, Shanan Custer and La Dawn James Photo by Lia Chang

Nicholas Freeman, Maria Kelly, Neil Schneider, Don Eitel, Shanan Custer, Katie Bradley Photo by Lia Chang

Nora Montanez Photo by Lia Chang

Nora Montanez, Katie Bradley and Sara Ochs Photo by Lia Chang

Four Destinies
by Katie Hae Leo
directed by Suzy Messerole
October 15 – 30, 2011
Mixed Blood Theatre
1501 S. 4th St
Minneapolis
Click herefor tickets.

The Mu Performing Arts 2011-2012 season is sponsored by General Mills.
Mu Performing Arts Website

Other Articles on “Asian American Plays for a New Generation” & “In Rehearsal”
Up Close and Personal with Rick Shiomi, Award-winning Playwright & Artistic Director of Mu Performing Arts
Photos: On the town with Rick Shiomi, Co-Editor of “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, in D.C. & NY
Temple Press: Rick Shiomi recounts his tour for “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”
Mu Blog: Rick Shiomi’s Book Tour Logbook
knightarts.org: Reading on the road inside the book tour
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Lia Chang Theater Portfolio at Library of Congress Features Photos of Thom Sesma’s Makeup Transformation as Scar in Disney’s The Lion King Las Vegas, Robert Lee and Leon Ko’s Heading East Starring BD Wong, David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish, and Samrat Chakrabarti and Sanjiv Jhaveri’s Bakwas Bumbug! on View Through August 2
Photos: Rick Shiomi Checks out Performing Arts Playwrights Series in the Asian American Pacific Islander Collection of Library of Congress; Attends “Asian American Plays for a New Generation” Book Signing in NY on 7/29 “Asian American Plays for a New Generation”, A New Anthology of Asian American Plays Is Subject of Book Talk
broadwayworld.com: Chinglish in Rehearsal
asiancemagazine.com: New Anthology of Asian American Plays Book Talk
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang and the cast of Mu Performing Arts' Four Destinies at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis, MN on October 15, 2011. Photo by Reme Grefalda

Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multimedia journalist.