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Reggie Lee in Pacific Overtures.
Photo by Micahel Lamont. |
ABOUT EWP
Established
in 1965, East West Players has been called "the nation's pre-eminent
Asian American theater troupe" (New York Times 12/16/01) for our
award-winning productions blending Eastern and Western movement, costumes,
language, and music. EWP has premiered over 100 plays and musicals about
the Asian Pacific American experience and has held over 1,000 readings
and workshops. Our emphasis is on building bridges between East and West,
and one measure of our success is an audience of 56% Asians and a remarkable
44% non-Asian attendance.
EWP
alumni include Mako, B.D. Wong, David Henry Hwang, John Cho , Kal Penn,
Daniel Dae Kim, Parvesh Cheena, James Kyson-Lee, Masi Oka, Francois Chau,
Jeanne Sakata, Greg Watanabe, Tamilyn Tomita, Dante Basco, Philip Kan Gotanda, Freda Foh Shen, Roberta Uno, R.A. Shiomi, Judith Nihei, Alec
Mapa, Wakako Yamauchi, Amy Hill, Sala Iwamatsu, John Lone and Nobu McCarthy. East
West Players has also had the opportunity to work with many respected
artists and faculty such as actors Danny Glover, Tsai Chin, Lauren Tom,
and Nancy Kwan, directors, Lisa Peterson and Oskar Eustis, musician Dan
Kuramoto and instructors Calvin Remsberg and Fran Bennett.
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Union Church under construction to
becoming the
David Henry Hwang Theater (1998) |
In
1998, EWP Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang led the company's
move from a 99-seat Equity Waiver "black box" into a new 240-seat
venue at an Actors Equity Association contract level. EWP's mainstage is
the David Henry Hwang Theater, housed within the historic Union Center for
the Arts in downtown Los Angeles' Little Tokyo district, where
we serve over 10,000 people each year, including low income audiences
provided free and discounted admissions and deaf audiences attending our
series of ASL-interpreted shows.
EWP
offers a growing array of educational programs training over 200 multicultural
artists each year – the Actors Conservatory (performance workshops
and an intensive Summer Conservatory); David Henry Hwang Writers Institute
(nation’s most active Asian American play development program);
our career program Alliance of Creative Talent Services (ACTS); and our
touring Theatre for Youth (reaching an estimated 50,000 K-8th graders
and their families via in-school performances and festivals).
Over
seventy-five percent of all Asian Pacific performers in the acting unions
living in Los Angeles have worked at EWP. East West Players has provided
training and opportunities to many emerging and professional artists who
have gone on win Tony Awards, Obie Awards, Emmy Awards, Theatre L.A. Ovation
Awards, and Academy Awards.
East West Players is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American theatre.
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