Pan Asian Rep Founding Artistic Director Tisa Chang to Receive Trailblazer Award From OCA-NY
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre is celebrating its 50th Milestone Season and will hold its Benefit Gala honoring Tisa Chang on Monday, April 19, 2027.
Tisa Chang, Founding Artistic Director for Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, will receive the “Trailblazer Award” from OCA-NY, a national non-profit civil rights organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), at the organization's 2026 Community Service and Leadership Awards Gala to be held at 100 Feast and Lounge Restaurant. Pan Asian Repertory Theatre is celebrating its 50th Milestone Season and will hold its Benefit Gala honoring Tisa Chang on Monday, April 19, 2027.
A statement from Angela Li, President, OCA-NY: “As OCA-NY marks this milestone, we are proud to recognize Tisa Chang for her pioneering contributions to Asian American theatre and decades of work creating opportunities for Asian American artists. As the founder and longtime artistic leader of Pan Asian Repertory Theatre she has helped build a vital platform for Asian American performers, playwrights, directors, and theatre artists to tell their stories, challenge stereotypes, and take their rightful place on the American stage. Her career embodies the spirit of the Trailblazer Award: breaking barriers, creating opportunities where few existed before, and building an institution that has nurtured generations of Asian American artists. Her vision and leadership have helped transform the landscape of American theatre and ensure that Asian American stories and artists are seen, heard, and celebrated.”
Tisa Chang
Tisa Chang has led the company since inception, promoting stories seldom told and voices seldom heard. She is a theatre professional with six decades of experience as an actor, dancer, and director. Directing highlights include: Sayonara; The Joy Luck Club; the epic play-with-music Cambodia Agonistes, which toured nationally and to Cairo and Johannesburg; Kwatz! The Tibetan Project; and Rashomon, which was invited to Havana Theatre Festival in 2003. She pioneered premieres, in English and Mandarin Chinese of the classic Peking opera, Return of The Phoenix, and A Midsummer Night's Dream at La Mama ETC.
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