Hoon Lee News

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced that the annual WTF Gala will include special appearances by Eden Espinosa (WTF's Lempicka, Wicked), Tony Award nominee Jessica Hecht (WTF's The Closet, "Friends"), and 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok (WTF's Cost of Living).

At an SRO ceremony held at Zion Lutheran Church in Pittsfield, the Board of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association presented the Berkshire Theatre Awards on the evening of Monday, November 12, 2018. This was the third year the awards have been presented to honor and celebrate the excellence and diversity of theatre in the greater Berkshire region.

This week the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association is voting on the final award list in preparation for the Third Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held on Monday, November 12 at 7 pm at the Zion Lutheran Church, 74 First Street (Route 7) in Pittsfield, MA.

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced the artists in residency for the 2018 summer season. This year's artists include WTF Commissioned Artists Benjamin Scheuer (The Lion), Bess Wohl (Small Mouth Sounds), Sharyn Rothstein (By The Water), Max Posner (Judy), and more.

 In the context of ongoing national debates over immigration, the timely new two-hour documentary The Chinese Exclusion Act, from Emmy® Award winning documentary filmmakers Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu, will debut as a special presentation of the award-winning PBS television series American Experience on Tuesday, May 29 2018 at 8:00-10:00 PM ET. The film is narrated by actor Hoon Lee (Banshee).

A Balancing Act: The Podcast launched its second season on May 1st!

There are certain Dance Companies that are in a class by themselves. Dance Theatre of Harlem is one of them. They not only encompass many forms of the Dance brilliantly, they are committed to diversity in their dancers and repertoire.

I was lucky enough to be one of the lucky ones to be in the Broad Stage audience recently when the extraordinary Dance Theatre of Harlem invited Los Angeles audiences, for the first time in way too many years, to join in with them in experiencing the wonders of neo-classical and contemporary ballet that is both of the moment and timeless. The evening's 105-minute program consisted of Brahms Variations, choreographed by Robert Garland (2016), Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven, choreographed by Ulysses Dove (1993) and Vessels, choreographed by Darrell Grand Moultrie (2014), each more enchanting than the last!

On May 6th, 1882 – on the eve of the greatest wave of immigration in American history – President Chester A. Arthur signed into law a unique piece of federal legislation.  Called the Chinese Exclusion Act, it singled out by name and race a single nationality for special treatment: making it illegal for Chinese laborers to enter America on pain of imprisonment and for Chinese nationals ever to become citizens of the United States.  

On April 7th 2016 at New York City Center, Dance Theatre of Harlem ably performed an eclectic quadruple bill in which the closer, the late Geoffrey Holder's “Dougla”, was far and away the best of the evening's offerings.

KCON USA, the world's largest Korean culture convention and music festival, announced today the first artist to join the New York edition of the worldwide event series – Wanna One. KCON 2018 NY will serve as the New York stop of the boyband's world tour, which was just announced on Sunday. Hot off the tails of releasing their highly-anticipated new album, 0+1=1 (I Promise You) this month, Wanna One will be returning to the KCON USA stage for the second year in a row after performing in Los Angeles in 2017. 

PBS will broadcast documentary film THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT on Tuesday, May 29th at 8:00 p.m. ET. This deeply American story – about immigration and national identity, civil rights and human justice; about how we define who can be an American, and what being an American means, is directed by Emmy-winning Directors Ric Burns and Li-Shin Yu. 

The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center (Executive Director John Zirkle) in Big Sky, Montana announced today it will present the world premiere of LEVITY, featuring Tony Award winner Michele Pawk as Connie, for three performances January 19 through January 21, 2018. Written by Stephanie DiMaggio and directed by Stella Powell-Jones, this new play was developed during WMPAC's summer acting workshop and is the first world premiere production ever to premiere in Big Sky.

Verdi's sumptuous epic AIDA graces the Kennedy Center for the first time in more than 25 years, and it is a knock-out. The three hour visual and auditory spectacle helmed by director Francesca Zambello and conductor Evan Rogister with original sketches and concept design by famed visual artist RETNA and choreography by one of contemporary dance's leading voices Jessica Lang is not to be missed. In her director's note, Francesca Zambello speaks to AIDA's appeal with opera lovers as part of the very "fabric of our beings", but you surely don't have to be a lover of opera to fall in love with this ensemble and creative team.

The 17th Annual Helpmann Awards will be announced at a ceremony on starting at 7pm EST Monday 24th July at the Capitol Theatre Sydney.

20 years after making his Broadway debut in THE KING & I, Jose Llana returns to his hometown of DC to bring the title role to life. I had the chance to chat with the actor, activist, and political junkie about his roles on and offstage.

The Dallas Opera is delighted to announce the winner of the 2017 "Maria Callas Debut Artist of the Year" Award: luminous Italian-American soprano Marina Costa-Jackson.

The Dallas Opera has released soprano Elza van den Heever from singing the upcoming matinee performance of Vincenzo Bellini's NORMA on Sunday, May 7, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., due to a family emergency.  Acclaimed Italian-Canadian soprano, Aviva Fortunata, will assume the role of the betrayed Druid priestess.

An elite group of nineteen of the most talented young opera singers in the country competed this weekend for prestige and prizes in the 29th Annual Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.

The New School's Mannes School of Music will celebrate its centennial with a concert at Carnegie Hall honoring the school's rich history on Tuesday, April 25 from 7 to 10 p.m.