Radical Outreach: New Directions for Activating Underserved Audiences

Check out the HowlRound archive of the live stream of our panel at the TCG 2014 gathering in San Diego, CA.

Watch live streaming video from newplay at livestream.com

Asian Americans in "An Ideal Theater"

At today's closing plenary at the Theater Communications Group, we heard many words by some of the diverse founders of American Theater companies. Today, we didn't hear the words by some of the founders of Asian American Theater companies or Native American /First Peoples companies. I too have much to learn about the history of Native companies, but I know that there are voices from several founders of Asian American Theater Companies: East West Players (1965), Asian American Theater Company (1973) and Pan-Asian Rep (1977).

There are conversations to be had, writings to shared and much more work on inclusion to be done. For now... I offer you the words of Mako, that I was able to find tonight while searching on the internet.

Of course, we've been fighting against stereotypes from Day 1 at East West. That's the reason we formed: to combat that, and to show we are capable of more than just fulfilling the stereotypes -- waiter, laundryman, gardener, martial artist, villain. 

Unless our story is told to (other) people, it's hard for them to understand where we are. 

Personally, I am tired of living under an assumed falsehood and an imposed stereotype!

(The goal of East West Players is) to preserve and express a language and literature and sound of our own by developing an Asian Pacific American theater that is vital, truthful and alive. We should open wide the door to reveal a tapestry of East and West, rich in sensitivity and creativity.

Mako – East West Players 1965

Sources:
http://www.fofweb.com/History/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=EJA208&DataType=AmericanHistory&WinType=Free

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Mako-actor-East-West-Players-co-founder-2516036.php

Super Ruwaxi: Origins the LA Preview on 7/2/14

Join us for July 2nd preview in Pasadena, CA

http://superruwaxi.brownpapertickets.com/

Pop-Up TeAda

Over the last 6 months - I have been working on this amazing project.  

 

In January, I started collaborating with the my fellow Artistic C.O.R.E. Members of TeAda Productions to begin to explore the experiences and stories of restaurant workers in Los Angeles. While our partnership with ROC-LA is central to this work, we have also had the opportunity to collaborate with individual restaurant workers and allies, folks from the UCLA Labor Center,  and the larger LA community. 

So, uh, what is Pop-Up TeAda?
Pop-Up TeAda are transformative theatrical happenings and workshops for the public that explore the voices of restaurant workers and promote fair practices in restaurant workplaces.

So, uh, what do you do?

We launched our movement choir at the May 1st International Worker Day March in DTLA.  (See the TeAda pictures above).  

On Tuesday, May 20th, we shared our Duet of Poems about Tips and a Parody of MJ's THRILLER as a nod to the need for Paid Sick Days at the Tuesday Night Cafe. Check out duet of poems in the video below. 


Pop Up TeAda @ Tuesday Night Cafe May 20, 2014 from TeAda Productions on Vimeo.

So, what are people saying about it?

On Monday, June 2nd - I had the pleasure of ear-pearing on Flip the Script on KPFK 90.7 fm. Saba Waheed and Riku Matsuda did an amazing job of interviewing Erica Vasquez, Cayetano Juarez, Shyamala Moorty and myself about Pop-Up Teada: http://archive.kpfk.org/ Under flip the script on June 2!

So, can I join?

Saturday, June 14th - we'll be at 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, CA. 
Join us. Find out how here!  Miss it? Check the teada.org website for complete details. 

Community Organizer at Pasadena Playhouse

My business card for STOP KISS
Directed by Seema Sueko
November 4 - 30, 2014

Excited to announce that I recently joined the Pasadena Playhouse staff as a Community Organizer in the Artistic Department. 

Read this recent post written by my fellow Organizer Nijeul Porter here!  

I'm honored to be a part of this amazing group of organizers and work with the amazing staff of the Pasadena Playhouse.

As part of my work - I will be working on STOP KISS and PYGMALION. I'm so very excited to be working with two amazing female directors Seema Sueko and Jessica Kubzansky.

Interested in finding out more? I'm continuing to branch out and discover how I can collaborate with LA individuals, groups and their communities to create a unique experience that helps both of us achieve our goals. I'd love to know how I can help you! Email me here: adelacruz [at] pasadenaplayhouse [dot] org 

Stay Tuned... amazing things are coming!    

Directing for GREENHOUSE AT THE PLAYHOUSE

An excerpt from the Playhouse Newsletter

GREENHOUSE at The Playhouse is a New Partnership

Between The Pasadena Playhouse and

University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts

...

Three first-year students in the Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing program of the USC School of Dramatic Arts receive play development resources and artistic mentoring in collaboration with the program’s New Works Festival Year I.

...

Join us for the developmental readings of their scripts-in-progress.

-

Tuesday, April 29, 2014, 8:00 p.m.
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT CHINESE PEOPLE BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK
By Fei Kayser
Directed by Nathan Singh

Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 8:00 p.m.
HIDE AND SEEK NO MORE
By Chloe Huang
Directed by Jonathan Munoz-Proulx

Thursday, May 1, 2014, 8:00 p.m.
THAT LONG DAMN DARK
By Ashley Rose Wellman
Directed by Alison De La Cruz

...

Cast Includes: Ali Chen*, Feodor Chin*, Connor Kelly-Eiding, Giselle Gilbert, Jolene Kim*, West Liang*, Nicole Gabriella Scipione*, and Mathew Wrather*

...

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

GREENHOUSE readings are free, but please email HOTHOUSE@pasadenaplayhouse.orgto make a reservation.

...

Limit of four (4) tickets per reservation.

...

GREENHOUSE is supported in part by the Pasadena Playhouse Alumni & Associates.

...

The Carrie Hamilton Theatre at
The Pasadena Playhouse
39 S. El Molino Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101

EVOKE: the next stop on my Artistic Journey

Dear Fans, Friends and Family,

I am writing to invite you to the EVOKE, A Festival of LGBT APA Voices at East West Players October 11 - 14, 2012. 

Please join me one of these dates as I embark on the next level of my artistic journey as Director of this New Works Festival at East West Players. As you may know, I'm not only interested in developing my own voice, but new voices sharing new stories and creating new performance work about our complex worlds. This festival has given me an opportunity to help not only take my own risks, but support new artists as they evoke imagination, stories, place, process, memory, spirit, healing and dialogue. 

It has also given me an opportunity to work with an amazing group of new artists:

Raja Bhattar

Chueh Jun-Fung

Nguyen Nguyen

Alicia Virani

Rich Yap

I am writing to invite you to support the work in 1 of 3 ways.

www.eastwestplayers.org

1. Buy a $10 ticket

2. Make a $10 Donation

3. Invite someone to join us

Its really that simple. Join us in the house and see what I've been working on artistically. Help me nurture this new generation of voices. Donate to EWP for their leadership in not only presenting new APA theatre, but nurturing the next generation of audiences. 

We have 4 performances, please help me spread the word, support the work and nurture new voices. 

Much love and light,

Alison 

Alison De La Cruz

Director, Evoke: A Festival of of LGBT APA Voices

A Poem for Edith

By Alison M. De La Cruz

On the occasion of the forthcoming 2012 production 

of 

the Artist’s at Play Production

of

EDITH CAN SHOOT THINGS AND HIT THEM

I love plays about Asian Americans.

I love plays starring, written, directed and PRODUCED by Asian Pacific Americans.

I love plays with complex story lines and overt gestures to humanize people like me.

People who are Filipino, people who are gay

People who are women, people who are daughters trying to protect their siblings.

I love plays about complex Asian American women and girls

who are trying to make sense of the world at a time in our development

when our parents should be… a lot things

And sometimes they fall short. Or sometimes they mess up that overtly

That one could begin to question whether safety can be created by families.

I love plays about fucked up, crazy Asian Americans

Who mess with the stupid model minority myth

Or racist notions of exotified otherness

I love plays set in the reality that there are Asian Americans living here in the US today.

Shit, I even want to see a play about Asian Americans in the 1990s and the 80s and 60s and 1860s and 1640s and 17-hundreds.

Now, I am not an advocate for fire arms

Or things that harm

Like violence or bullying or words that hit bodies like bricks and bats

I am not an advocate for things like that.

But that is not what a play is always about.

Though sometimes, and often, I think for the Artists at Play

A Play can actually be about things that harm

Or boyfriends who charm

Or little frogs that stand by as wisdom is chanted from the mouth of a babe like a blaring alarm.

See, a play, is a way to share a whole new world

Or to shine the light microscopic

On a culture

Or a time

Or a character who brings you a breath of fresh air.

And I think that you know this

If you are here today, shit we’re here today

Because of a play,

Or this amazing group of artists who want to make a play

That tells a story worth listening to

Explores a world we shouldn’t shrink from

And shoves characters in my face that require, actually that beg the question:

Why does Edith shoot and hit things?

Where is brother Kenny? And who is Benji?

And does pre-calc actually hold the key……. To….

Well you’ll just have to see.

See that’s the thing about a play,

It’s a reason to go, it’s a reason to stay

Stuck in a seat, from the time the curtain goes up

Till the time the last bow from head to feet.

It’s a way for us to stay engaged and exploring

Exaggerated and exhaustive in our search for the humanity in all of us.

And me,

I love a play that is written and directed, produced and costumed;

Set designed and sound designed, light designed and house managed

Produced and attended by Asian Pacific Americans and our allies

I’m here today because I believe in the power of a play

Hold a mirror up to society and say….

… well anything you want.

And once you meet Edith and Kenny and Benji and crew…

Well I wonder what things they will say… to you.

2 Performances in June 2012

Hey Friends and Fans!

I will be performing twice this month. Check it out!

Or join me on Friday, June 29, 2012 as part of:

Creating Queer Asian-American Visibility in the Arts by CA LGBT Arts Alliance - CC West Hollywood Public Meeting Room Council Chambers, 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., 7-9pm LGBT artists from Southern and Northern California present their work and strategies that bring greater visibility to the queer and Asian community. The panel will focus on art practice as activism and identity formation, building political and institutional alliances, creating community and developing personal and social responsibility. Panelists include: Tina Takemoto - performance artist, filmmaker and Associate Professor at the California College of the Arts; Arthur Dong - filmmaker and director of DeepFocus Productions; Mia Nakano - photographer and founder of the Visibility Project and Alison De La Cruz - multi-disciplinary artist. Admission is FREE, but please RSVP to calgbtarts@gmail.com. Parking is available at the West Hollywood Park 5-Story Parking Garage.

Excited to be producing this wonderful event on Monday, April 30th! 

Visit www.eastwestplayers.org 

Call 213-625-7000

Twitter @EWPlayers #EWPGala46