'The Joy Luck Club' Extends Off-Bway thru Dec. 1

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre's re-envisioned hit The Joy Luck Club has a new block of tickets on sale, extending its previously announced 4-week engagement through December 1. The Joy Luck Club, a play by Susan Kim adapted from the acclaimed novel by Amy Tan has direction and musical staging by Artistic Director, Tisa Chang and is currently playing at the Julia Miles Theatre (424 W. 55th Street between 9th & 10th Aves). For tickets, please visit www.telecharge.com or call 212-239-6200.

"Set in San Francisco in the 80's, The Joy Luck Club follows four Mahjong playing mothers from different provinces in China and their relationships with their American born daughters. This re-envisioning captures the historical sweep and operatic grandeur of feudal China and the dynamic pulse of modern America," explain press notes.

Susan Kim's adaptation had its world premiere in 1993 in a joint venture between Shanghai People's Art Theatre and The Long Wharf Theatre.  Performed in a Mandarin translation, the production launched in Shanghai before playing Hong Kong.  Tisa Chang directed the 1999 New York premiere at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre.   The production proved popular with critics and audiences and extended to a sustained off-Broadway run at the Julia Miles Theatre, where the new production opens this fall.

The cast will include Pan Asian veterans Lydia Gaston, Wai Ching Ho, Dian Kobayashi and Virginia Wing as the mothers as well as the next generation of artists: Tina Chilip, Sacha Iskra, Han Nah Kim, and Rosanne Ma.  Other cast members include: Carol Honda, Scott Klavan, Kathleen Kwan, Ming Lee, Tom Matsusaka, Les J. N. Mau, and Hanh T. Thuc Tran. The set design is by Kaori Akazawa; costume design by Carol Pelletier; lighting design by Victor En Yu Tan; and sound design by Peter Griggs and Tyrone Sanders