Chay Yew News

For its spring production, Columbia Blue Glaze Theatre is proud to present A Beautiful Country, a play written by the Singaporean American playwright Chay Yew, and adapted by Davis Chen.

Victory Gardens Theater announces the lineup for the Up Close & Personal Series, running April 27 - June 4, 2017. The Up Close and Personal Series includes A Little Bit Not Normal, written and performed by Arlene Malinowski; St. Jude, written and performed by Ensemble Playwright Luis Alfaro; and Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, written and performed by Brian Quijada. Shows in the Up Close & Personal Series will run in rotating repertory in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. 

Victory Gardens Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Managing Director Erica Daniels, announces a one-night-only Earth Day event surrounding its World Premiere production of Queen, written by Madhuri Shekar and directed by Joanie Schultz.  

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 42nd season with the Chicago Premiere of Native Gardens, written by Karen Zacarias and directed by Marti Lyons.

The University of Washington School of Drama will present Sarah Ruhl's adaptation of Orlando by Virginia Woolf, directed by School of Drama Professor and CIVIC REP Artistic Director L. Zane Jones. The production runs April 28th - May 7th at the historic Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre on the University of Washington campus. 

Mosaic Theater Company of DC announces its most ambitious and theatrically varied lineup to date with its 2017-18 season. Compelled to respond to changing and challenging times in our country, Season Three grapples with our current political climate, celebrating outspoken heroines (of fluid gender and sexuality) in two new musicals, while embracing documentary inspired reportage, sharp political and social satire, and stirring family drama. 

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will present the world premiere of Hannah and the Dread Gazebo by Jiehae Park, directed by Chay Yew, on April 2 in the Thomas Theatre. Preview performances are March 29, 31 and April 1.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 42nd season with the World Premiere of Queen, written by Madhuri Shekar and directed by Joanie Schultz.

Victory Gardens Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Managing Director Erica Daniels, announces the lineup for its 2017-2018 Season. Victory Gardens' 43rd Season will include the groundbreaking, Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron; the Chicago premieres of Fade, a co-production with Teatro Vista, by Tanya Saracho, and Mies Julie, a contemporary reworking of August Strindberg's classic Miss Julie by Yael Farber, as well as the world premieres of Breach: a manifesto on race in america through the eyes of a black girl recovering from self-hate by Antoinette Nwandu and Doing It by Boo Killebrew.

Artistic Director Chay Yew and Managing Director Erica Daniels announce a one-week extension to the World Premiere, hit production of A Wonder In My Soul, written by ensemble playwright Marcus Gardley and directed by Chay Yew, with music direction by Jaret Landon. A Wonder In My Soul will now run through March 19, 2017 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its 42nd season with the World Premiere of Queen, written by Madhuri Shekar and directed by Joanie Schultz. Queen runs April 14 - May 14, 2017, with the press performance on Friday, April 21, 2017, at 7:30 pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

BroadwayWorld presents a comprehensive weekly roundup of regional stories around our Broadway World, which include videos, editor spotlights, regional reviews and more. This week, we feature THE HONEY TRAP in Boston, Glenn Close as the latest 'Women in Theater' profile in Connecticut, WEST SIDE STORY in Dallas and more. Check out our top features below!

It's the summer of 1977 and 22-year-old Lenka is fleeing authoritarian Czechoslovakia for the art and beauty of New York City. At the start of her journey, Lenka is confronted by an Old Woman from an extinct Slavic tribe who guides her through a dream-like world where the past and future meet and multiple realities collide.

In Kurtis Boetcher's set design for Marcus Gardley's world premiere A WONDER IN MY SOUL, the backdrop for the South Side beauty shop where the play is set prominently displays the photographs of black female icons ranging from Diana Ross to Beyonce-and all of course have fabulous hair in the photos. And as we learn in the play, Aberdeen "Birdie" Calumet (Greta Oglesby) and Bell Grand Lake's (Jacqueline Williams) fictional beauty shop has played host to a number of these famous black women over the years. But what Gardley's play does so beautifully is take the story of these specific, everyday characters and lend a universality to them. The play takes place primarily in 2008 but shows us flashbacks of young Birdie (Camille Robinson) and young Bell (Donica Lynn) as they make their way from Mississippi to settle in Chicago and start their business. Along the way, Gardley weaves a narrative that is warm and sometimes funny but also ultimately serious and touching. And as one would expect, Johnny Jamison's hair and wig design is just superb.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its season with the World Premiere of A Wonder In My Soul, written by ensemble playwright Marcus Gardley and directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew. A Wonder In My Soul runs February 10 - March 12, 2017, with the press performance today, February 17, 2017, at 7:30 pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's 2017 playbill today.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its season with the World Premiere of A Wonder In My Soul, written by ensemble playwright Marcus Gardley and directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew, with original music by Jaret Landon. A Wonder In My Soul runs now through March 12, 2017, with the press performance on Friday, February 17, 2017, at 7:30pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

Chay Yew's frank drama, Question 27, Question 28 will be presented by Artists at Play and the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066. The reading is directed by Alison De La Cruz and will perform on Sunday, February 26 at 3 pm at the Black Box in the Aratani Theatre. Ticket reservations are available at http://bit.ly/2k4KJku.

Victory Gardens Theater continues its season with the World Premiere of A Wonder In My Soul, written by ensemble playwright Marcus Gardley and directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew. A Wonder In My Soul runs February 10 - March 12, 2017, with the press performance today, February 17, 2017, at 7:30 pm at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.

The overall assumption regarding an interest in the arts seems to be one of partisan politics. Its value is an often debated topic in a divided nation whose idealistic chasm grows wider by the day. For many, the fate of the arts remains a concern of those confined to what conservatives label a 'coastal bubble.' A fringe frivolity to be cast aside in favor of funding more 'practical' ventures.