Leslie Ishii News

This Week's New Classified Listings on BroadwayWorld for 3/26/2020 include new jobs for those looking to work in the theatre industry.

This Week's New Classified Listings on BroadwayWorld for 3/19/2020 include new jobs for those looking to work in the theatre industry.

After an extensive search, Perseverance Theatre is pleased to announce the hiring of Leslie Ishii for the role of Artistic Director. Ishii has been serving as Interim Artistic Director since July, and has already energized the theatre with her initiative, ideas, and community-minded approach to leadership.

Over 10 millennia ago, a giant sea creature a?" the Devilfish a?" destroys an entire village, and a young girl is the only survivor. She must make her way to a new village and figure out how to survive in a time when glaciers covered Alaska, mammoths wandered the land, and humans could still transform into animals at will.

In three years, Perseverance Theatre playwright-in-residence Vera Starbard has developed legendary worlds in prehistoric Tlingit country, adapted Jane Austen for Alaska village life, and interviewed dynamic Alaska Native leaders for biographical stories. Through the generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Perseverance Theatre will be continuing its partnership with Starbard for at least three more years. The Mellon Foundation has extended Starbard's National Playwright Residency Program with Perseverance through June 2022, administered in partnership with HowlRound.

Perseverance Theatre has issued a response to the Alaska government's decision to suspend funding to the arts

Perseverance Theatre is happy to announce that Frank Delaney has joined the organization as the new managing director, and Leslie Ishii will serve as interim artistic director while the board conducts a search for a permanent leader for the role.

The 26th Annual Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival, held at Theatre 68 in North Hollywood, conferred awards on five women of distinction from the world of theatre. The event was hosted by Starletta DuPois and Kym Whitley.

The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF) marks 26 years of producing well over 500 extraordinary multicultural and multidisciplinary solo performers from around the globe.

Studio Luna by Teatro Luna West, located in Boyle Heights, is pleased to announce the return of Talking While Female Storytelling Sessions (TWF) . Season 2 will be kicking off Friday, January 18 at 8:00PM with a special New Year, New You Holiday Episode which will focus on the theme 'NOW OR NEVER'. TWF Storytelling sessions were launched in 2018 to answer the need for spaces for women of color share stories in a brave and empowering space that is dedicated to supporting their growth and the amplification of their joy. This episode will be featuring Ginna Diaz, Maya Malan Gonzalez, Leslie Ishii, Amalia Robinson, and Diana Romo.

Center Theatre Group will host two Community Conversations inspired by Luis Valdez's play "Valley of the Heart," which runs at the Mark Taper Forum through December 9, 2018. Community Conversations are a series of panel discussions that are free and open to the public and feature local thought leaders in dialogue about the context, issues and ideas finding voice on Center Theatre Group stages.

 The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will present the world premiere of Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle, directed by Laurie Woolery, on April 1, 2018, in the Thomas Theatre. Preview performances are March 28, 30 and 31, and the play runs through Oct. 27.

On Monday night, April 24th, at its semi-annual Membership meeting, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the national theatrical union representing stage directors and choreographers across the United States, announced the 2016-2017 Top Ten "Standout Moments."

During World War II, nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans, including over 200 Alaskans, were ordered to internment camps in the name of "national security." Gordon Hirabayashi was one of only three people who attempted to defy the order on legal grounds. Hold These Truths is his story. It's a play about one man who stood up to power and discrimination in the middle of a worldwide conflict. Gordon persevered, bringing his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court twice, and in 2012 was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Perseverance Theatre is honored to be collaborating with a team that includes a Japanese scenic designer, and Japanese-American actor, director, and playwright to produce this story in Alaska.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest-running professional theatre of color in the country and the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, has received a $180,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's Fund for National Projects, which provides support to national performing arts organizations and projects to foster continued dynamism and vitality in the fields of contemporary dance, jazz, and theater. The grant is one of seven given to new projects in 2016 for a total of $1,052,006.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) and the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA) will present the 2016 National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival (ConFest) Oct. 1-9, 2016, hosted by OSF's biannual CultureFest.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's premier Asian American theatre, celebrates its milestone 50th Anniversary with the Annual Visionary Awards Dinner & Silent Auction on Monday, April 25, 2016 at the Universal Hilton. Proceeds benefit East West Players' educational and artistic programs.

UC Irvine's Claire Trevor School of the Arts Department of Drama presents Bruce Norris' Clybourne Park, which was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play. Written as a spin-off of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, it examines suburban racial tensions which occur in one Chicago house, 50 years apart. At the helm of Clybourne Park is guest director Leslie Ishii, a celebrated director, actor and arts educator, who is internationally recognized as a leader in the conversations surrounding equity, diversity, and inclusion in the American theatre. Ms. Ishii is excited to explore this rich and controversial work.

East West Players (EWP), the nation's longest running professional theatre of color and the largest creator of Asian Pacific artistic work, announces the winners of the "2042: See Change" playwriting competition, funded with generous support from the James Irvine Foundation.  The 2042: See Change initiative is a visionary goal for equity, diversity and inclusion for the American Theater. According to the US Census, by 2042, minorities are projected to become the majority. The "2042: See Change" Playwriting Competition received a record-breaking number of submissions that were professionally unproduced and explored the changing face of America.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is proud to announce the launch of artEquity, a facilitator training initiative for theatre companies nationwide. Supported by a $145,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, artEquity will provide facilitation skills and capacity building in the areas of diversity, inclusion and equity.