ITP Presents SWEET KARMA 12/4-12/20 In The Studio Theatre At Queens Theatre

2003 OBIE Award-winner, Immigrants' Theatre Project (ITP), in association with Queens Theatre in the Park's Immigrant Voices Project, presents the World Premiere of SWEET KARMA by Henry Ong, from December 4 - December 20, 2009 in the Studio Theatre at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY.

Starring OBIE Award-winning actor JoJo Gonzales (The Romance of Magno Rubio, Law & Order), SWEET KARMA is a powerful and haunting new play, based on true events, about a complex and completely unique man who lived an extraordinary life - from a tragic past in a Cambodia ruled by the Khmer Rouge, to the glitter of Hollywood. This original play tells the tale of a Cambodian doctor who is gunned down outside his Los Angeles apartment after surviving the turbulent years following the Cambodian genocide. In death, he meets a mysterious woman who helps him confront choices he made and find peace. www.sweetkarma.org

Playwright Henry Ong will be attending the Opening Night performance. His next production is Fabric, about the Thai garment workers' slavery case, at Company of Angels, Los Angeles in July, 2010. He is a12-time recipient of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department grant. His play, Madame Mao's Memories, based on the life of the infamous Jiang Qing, has been produced nationally and internationally, including the Edinburgh Arts Festival, London's Latchmere Theatre, TheatreWorks in Singapore, and the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego.

SWEET KARMA is directed by Marcy Arlin, ITP's Founder and Artistic Director. Honoree at the 2009 American Immigration Council Conference, Arlin has directed at the Public, New York Theater Workshop, LaMama, HERE, National Theatre of Romania, Dublin Fringe, 59E59, Mazer Theatre, LPAC, among other venues. With ITP she has developed over 200 new plays nationally and internationally. She is an original member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Theatre without Borders, No Passport, and is a Fulbright Scholar to Romania and the Czech Republic. "Director Marcy Arlin pulls maximum drama from each startling reversal..." Marko the Prince, backstage.com "Immigrants' Theatre Project... celebrates the work and talents of New York City's immigrant population." Showbusiness.com

ITP won an OBIE in 2003 when it presented Journey Theatre, an 8-month project with immigrants affected by 9/11. ITP works with multicultural casts and artistic staff from over 90 ethnicities and nations reflecting the diversity of New York, introducing immigrant and American audiences to challenging theatre works; ITP has presented the American and world premieres of over 250 plays and curates and develops artist exchanges, student and professional development workshops, and consultancies for multi-cultural arts. Over its 20-year history ITP has presented festivals such as Unexpected Journeys: plays by women from Muslim cultures; Women across Borders, Czech Plays in Translation, DisLocation and ReInvention (Martin E. Segal Theater Center/New Group), Waxing West in Romania, The Lilac Minyan (Yiddish Book Center). www.immigrantstheat.org

SWEET KARMA features a well-known and talented all-Asian New York cast: JoJo Gonzales*, Ali Ahn* (Chay Yew's Visible Cities, Naples Theater Festival), Bonna Tek (Shakespeare Lab/Public Theater), Susan Hyon (Yara Arts, Kazakhstan) and Brian Hirono. (* denotes members of Actors' Equity Association). The Design Team includes Robert Monaco (Sets), Christopher Weston (Lights), Anna-Alisa Belous (Costumes) Elizabeth Rhodes (Sound). Dramaturgy by Don Rebar. Stage Manager: Nicole Marconi. Line Producer: Steve Werner

Tickets: $20 (General Admission), $18 Multi Show Discount, $18 Senior Discount, $16 Student Discount. Groups: Contact group sales associate Barbara Matovu at 718-760-0064 x128 for groups of 15 or more

Tickets are available:
* Online at www.queenstheatre.org.
* By phone at 718.760.0064, Tue-Sat, 12-6pm.
* In person at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY.

Queens Theatre in the Park is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Flushing, NY.
By Subway: Take the 7 train to Mets-Willets Point stop. Exit and turn left after passing through turnstile, walk downstairs on the parking lot side and follow the theatre shuttle signs. Take free trolley to the Theatre. Trolley runs for one hour before and after all performances.
By Car: Take the Grand Central Parkway to exit 9E (from Manhattan) or 9P (from Long Island) and follow the signs for the Theatre. Free parking in adjacent lot.

About Queens Theatre in the Park
Queens Theatre in the Park is committed to presenting performing arts that provide audiences with the highest quality work. QTP also produces new plays, with a concentration on up-and-coming directors and playwrights. QTP has broadened the experience of its core audience to include works by under-recognized artists from around the world and works that tap into the diverse communities of Queens.

Queens Theatre in the Park is located in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in the New York State Pavilion designed for the 1964 World's Fair by Philip Johnson. The Pavilion was converted to a theatre in 1972 and was operated by various organizations until 1985. QTP was officially established in 1989 with the full support of the community and the Queens Borough President. After a $4 million renovation that brought full ADA compliance, the Theatre officially opened to the public in 1993 in a facility that allows it to stage productions equal to those of any Off-Broadway house in Manhattan in its 464-seat main stage theatre and its 99-seat Studio Theatre. What was then a small cabaret-style theater with an operating budget of under $500,000 has transformed itself into a major performing arts center with exhibition galleries with a projected operating budget of $3.9 million for FY2009.

QTP became an independent nonprofit in 1997. It is a member of the Cultural Institutions Group receiving support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The Theatre presents and produces 300 performances annually. QTP serves 100,000 people annually who reflect the rich demographics of its community population. Currently 75% of the Theatre's constituency is from Queens. In addition to its own season, QTP frequently provides its space for use by community arts organizations and local promoters.

QTP has recently completed a $ 23 million physical transformation of the Theatre. This major capital investment has added a 75-seat cabaret performance space with a full service cafe and kitchen facility; created a dramatic new 3,000 square foot lobby/reception area; provided new visitor amenities and improved the facility's accessibility. These improvements have transformed Queens Theatre in the Park into a destination for the residents of the borough and beyond.

Queens Theatre in the Park events are made possible with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Funding is provided by the New York Community Trust/Lila Acheson Wallace Fund for the Arts.

The Immigrant Voices Project is funded by the Greenwall Foundation, Jerome Foundation, the New York Times Company Foundation Fund for Midsize Theatres, a project of A.R.T/New York and Time Warner Inc.

For more information, visit www.queenstheatre.org.

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