Chance Theater's Artistic Director Helms Shows at SCR and East West Players

The Chance Theater's Founding Artistic Director, Oanh Nguyen, will be the director and associate director of two major premieres at two very highly regarded regional theatres.

Nguyen will serve as the Associate Director for the world premiere of Julie Marie Myatt's The Happy Ones at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa September 27 - October 18, 2009, and will direct the west coast premiere of Kenneth Lin's Po Boy Tango November 5 - December 6, 2009 at East West Players in Los Angeles.

"These productions are a great opportunity for me to get to work with new artists and explore new ways of making theater. I would not have these opportunities if it wasn't for the strength of the Resident Company at the Chance as well as our amazing full-time staff," said Nguyen.

Earlier this year, Nguyen directed acclaimed productions of Wayne Lemon's Jesus Hates Me and Tony Award-winner Mark Hollmann's new musical The Girl, The Grouch, and The Goat and a critically-acclaimed staging of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical at the Chance as well as staged readings of Year One at East West Players and The Happy Ones at SCR. He also served as assistant director for An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf at The Laguna Playhouse.

"We are very pleased to have Oanh working on our production of Julie Marie Myatt's The Happy Ones, which is an SCR commission and world premiere," says SCR Artistic Director Martin Benson. "When we decided to do a rehearsed workshop production for our New Scripts program, we thought of Oanh because of his background as the son of Vietnamese parents and his knowledge of that culture and because of the excellence of his work on two Chance theatre productions I had seen. The workshop proved very successful and we decided to produce the play in our regular season."

"I took on the assignment of directing the full production but Oanh's contribution on the reading had proved invaluable," adds Benson. "So, we created the position (never before used at SCR) of Associate Director. The relationship has proved very successful and Oanh has participated in all aspects of developing the play and the production with me, from casting to design to helping refine the script itself. Much of what will appear onstage is based on Oanh's contributions. Based on this, we have also asked him to direct a reading of Adeline Yen Ma's Falling Leaves, which will be presented as part of the Carnegie Hall-China festival."

"Oanh Nguyen is one of the up and coming directors on the American theatre scene, so we're thrilled to have Oanh Nguyen directing Po Boy Tango as part of the East West Players 44th Anniversary Season," says Artistic Director Tim Dang.

"I first met Oanh at the National Asian American Theater conference held in Los Angeles at East West Players," recalls Dang. "When I heard he was the artistic director of the Chance Theater, which was doing incredible work and capturing great headlines in the press in this very competitive market, it made me wonder how EWP could utilize his talent, particularly with him being Asian American. As an Asian American artistic director, Oanh possesses not only the vision for a stellar production but the sensitivity required when dealing with cultural references. And with EWP's audience being 60% Asian, the latter part weighs heavily on the 'truth' of a production. While he possesses the ability to direct any show of the world theatre canon, it is his unique perspective as an Asian American director that sets him apart from the rest of the pack."

Performance & Ticket Information

September 27 - October 18, 2009
South Coast Repertory, Julianne Argyros Stage
World Premiere
The Happy Ones
By Julie Marie Myatt
Directed by Martin Benson
Associate Directed by Oanh Nguyen

Orange County, California, 1975. For Walter Wells, it's the happiest place on earth. He has a beautiful wife. Two great kids. A house with a pool. Contentment. Until fate strikes a devastating blow, leaving Walter with no reason to put the pieces of his life back together. He resists attempts to help, especially the unexpected-and unwanted-offer from a Vietnamese refugee named Bao Ngo, who bears his own sadness. Then, across a cultural divide, Walter and Bao find a game to share, a song, a meal and then a way back in this uplifting-and surprisingly funny-new play by a rising star in American theatre.

Tickets: $20-$65
www.scr.org

November 5 - December 6, 2009
East West Players at the David Henry Hwang Stage
West Coast Premiere
Po Boy Tango
By Kenneth Lin
Directed by Oanh Nguyen

Shark Fin Soup. Drunken Crab. Black Feather Chicken. Po Mama's Chinese cuisine evokes the joy of cooking and her son, Richie Po has the palette to prove it. When Po Mama dies and passes her secrets onto him, he reunites wit Gloria B, a "Soul Food" chef in the making. Together they use Po Mama's TV cooking tapes to discover a deeper understanding of food, culture and the recipe for friendship.

Tickets: $12-$35
www.eastwestplayers.org

More about Oanh Nguyen
Oanh co-founded the Chance Theater in 1999, where he is currently Artistic Director. He was awarded the Outstanding Artist Award by Arts Orange County and is a recipient of the TCG Nathan Cummings Young Leaders of Color fellowship. Oanh is on the board of Network of Ensemble Theaters and a proud member of SSDC, SAG and AFTRA. Nguyen recently directed a staged reading of The Happy Ones by Julie Marie Myatt at South Coast Repertory and will be the associate director of the world premiere at SCR this fall. He also directed the staged reading of Year Zero by Michael Golamco at East West Players. Oanh recently served as the assistant director of An Empty Plate in the Café du Boeuf at Laguna Playhouse, and directed the professional premiere of The Girl, The Grouch, The Goat by Tony Award-winner Mark Hollmann for the Chance. Other directing credits include: Three Days of Rain (O.C. Register's Top Ten of 2002 and Best Directors of 2002), Bash, Lee Miller: The Angel and The Fiend (commissioned by the Getty Museum), Goodnight Children Everywhere (Nominated for 6 O.C. Weekly Awards, including Best Production and Best Director), Tape, Closer Than Ever (L.A. Times Critic's Choice), Porcelain (2006 GLAAD Media Award Nomination - Outstanding L.A. Production, Back Stage Critic's Pick, O.C. Register's Top Ten of 2005, Nominated for 3 O.C. Weekly Awards, including Best Production and Best Director), Cabaret (Back Stage Critic's Pick), Into The Woods (Back Stage Critic's Pick), The Laramie Project, Jesus Hates Me, Inventing Van Gogh, Frozen, The Last Five Years, Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins, and Rabbit Hole (Back Stage Critic's Pick).

About The Chance Theater
Founded in 1999, the Chance Theater is proud to be one of the leading ensemble-based theatre companies in Southern California. The Chance was voted "Best Theater Group" by MyFoxLA and "Best Small Theater" by Orange Coast Magazine, was a recipient of the 2007 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle's (LADCC) Polly Warfield Award for Excellence, and received a 2006 GLAAD Media Award nomination for Outstanding Los Angeles Theater. A vital component of the Chance Theater's mission has always been to intimately present personally meaningful, uniquely engaging stories that promote dialogue within our community and provide a visceral experience for theatergoers. As a constituent member of Theater Communications Group (TCG), Network of Ensemble Theaters (NET), and the Los Angeles Stage Alliance (LASA), the Chance continues to bring national attention to Southern California theater.