JULY 3 - 27, 2025
Yankee Dawg You Die
By Philip Kan Gotanda
Directed by Jennifer Chang
Yankee Dawg You Die
By Philip Kan Gotanda
Directed by Jennifer Chang
Presented at the David Henry Hwang Theater
July 3 - July 27, 2025
Opening Night July 6, 2025
East West Players presents a timely revival of Philip Kan Gotanda's Yankee Dawg You Die. This groundbreaking play, returning to the stage in July 2025, illustrates the complex, often fraught journey of Asian American actors in Hollywood. Through the lens of an unlikely friendship between two artists, Vincent Chang and Bradley Yamashita, at different stages of their careers, Gotanda's masterful storytelling exposes the painful compromises actors make to succeed in the industry.
Premiering in 1988 and first performed at EWP in 2001, Yankee Dawg You Die has long been an indictment of the stereotypes and limitations imposed by the entertainment industry on actors of color. This play ignites crucial conversations about representation, identity, and the resilience of Asian American artists–how far we’ve come and how much further there is to go.
Playwright Philip Kan Gotanda has been a major influence in broadening how theater has been defined in America. Through his plays and advocacy, Gotanda has been instrumental in bringing stories of Asians in the United States to mainstream American theater as well as to Europe and Asia. The author of one of the largest collections of Asian American-themed work, he is a seminal figure in the field of Asian American Drama. Gotanda’s plays are studied and performed extensively at universities, colleges and learning institutions in the United States and abroad. His career in American Theater has been one of articulating and championing the stories of the marginalized and the underrepresented, the Other–in particular, the stories of the Asian in America.
This will be East West Players’ second time mounting Yankee Dawg You Die, which was first presented in 2001. Gotanda’s other East West Players credits include The Avocado Kid, or Zen and the Art Of Guacamole (1979), The Dream of Kitamura (1983), A Song For A Nisei Fisherman (1984), Fish Head Soup (1993), in the dominion of night (1995), The Wash (2001), Sisters Matsumoto (2002), The Wind Cries Mary (2004), and Yohen, co-produced with the Robey Theatre Company in both 1999 and 2018.
Jennifer Chang is a multi-disciplinary artist who is committed to anti-racist practices and diversifying storytelling aesthetics. Select theatre directing credits: A DOLL’S HOUSE, PART 2 (Pasadena Playhouse), PRIMARY TRUST (Barrington Stage – Berkshire Theatre Critics Circle Award Outstanding Direction - and TheaterWorks Hartford), WHAT BECAME OF US (World Premiere, Atlantic Theater Company), THE FAR COUNTRY (West Coast Premiere, Berkeley Rep), KING OF THE YEES (Signature Theatre DC, Helen Hayes nom Best Production), ON GOLD MOUNTAIN with LA Opera, THE HEART SELLERS by Lloyd Suh (World Premiere, Milwaukee Rep, Bay Area Co-Pro Theatreworks Silicon Valley/ Aurora Theatre/ CapStage), VIETGONE (LADCC AWARD Best Direction). New Play/ Musical Development/ Residencies: Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, The Mercury Store, The Geffen Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, Ashland New Plays Festival, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New Harmony Project, Center Theatre Group, Sông Collective, Black and Latino Playwrights’ Conference, Theatre Mu, Chance Theater, Boston Court, PlayOn!, Circle X, East West Players, Artists at Play. Playwriting: THE DEVIL IS A LIE (Quantum Theatre), MATTER (Beatrice Terry Residency), Geffen Writers Room 2023-2024 for BEER! (Bookwriter, Semi-Finalist O’Neil MTC). An accomplished actor and educator, she is an Associate Professor at UCLA's School of Theater Film and Television. Member: SDC, AGMA, SAG-AFTRA, AEA. Drama League New York Fellowship, Classical Directing Fellow at The Old Globe, Zelda Fichandler Award Finalist. BFA – NYU, MFA – UCSD. More info: www.changinator.com.
Cast
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Daniel J. Kim is an LA-based actor and alumni of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA). Some of his recent television credits include the latest season of Netflix's Cobra Kai, Bel Air on Peacock and Fatal Attraction on Paramount+. Film appearances include Paper Flowers and The Brink Of (2024). Theater credits include Macbeth at A Noise Within, and Are You Listening at The Actors Coop. He is honored to be making his EWP onstage debut as Bradley with Yankee Dog You Die, and grateful to the whole EWP team who continue to create the best space for AAPI artists and stories. He would like to thank Jen Chang for her incredible direction and trust in him, Kelvin Han Yee for his guidance and joy, and his friends and family for their constant love and support.
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Kelvin Han Yee is a Los Angeles based actor with over 40 years of experience in film, television, and stage. A pioneering AAPI presence in American theater, Yee began his career as a company member for six seasons with The American Conservatory Theatre. Other theater credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland), Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Mark Taper Forum, Asian American Theater Company, Lodestone, and is a longtime collaborator with East West Players. Recent television appearances include: BEEF, THE BROTHERS SUN, 9-1-1, S.W.A.T., BLUE BLOODS, QUANTUM LEAP, MAGNUM P.I. and LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME. Film credits include: Todd Haynes’ MAY DECEMBER (with Charles Melton), DESTROYER (with Nicole Kidman), MILK, LUCKY YOU and the upcoming John Turturro feature THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK.
Understudies
Bradley Yamashita
Jonathan Cheung
Vincent Chang
Grant Chang*
Creative Team
Director
Jennifer Chang^
Costume Designer
Ivy Chou
Scenic Designer
Yuri Okahana-Benson
Sound Designer
Jesse Mandapat
Lighting Designer
Scott Bolman†
Projections Designer
Jason H. Thompson†
Properties Designer
Glenn Michael Baker
Technical Coordinator/Master Carpenter
Peter Matsumoto
Stage Manager
Brandon Hong Cheng*
Assistant Stage Manager
Irene Lee
Associate Director
Miller Tai
Assistant Lighting Designer
Alejandro Melendez
* AEA member
^ SDC member
† USA 829 member
Sponsorship & Support
YANKEE DAWG YOU DIE is sponsored in part by Ruth Eliel & Bill Cooney, Amber Noizumi & Michael Green, and Nayan Shah & Ken Foster, as well as by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture. East West Players is a recipient of the 2025 THRIVE! Grant, funded by the Theater League of Kansas City and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for theatre leading for a just and thriving theatre ecology.
Community engagement activities and events, panel discussions, and auxiliary programming is supported in part by Los Angeles County First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis.
Opening Night and Artist Mixer events are sponsored by Far Bar.
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