Philip Kan Gotanda News

TheFrontOffice Foundation is awarding a $25,000 mid-career grant to Mina Morita, the Director of Artistic & Artist Development at Crowded Fire Theater Company, that will serve as one of the largest financial awards to an individual director. 

The Paul Dresher Ensemble, OPERA America's New Works Forum, Ensemble Ipse, and First Look Sonoma present the New York premiere of Both Eyes Open, an experimental chamber opera by Brooklyn-based composer Max Giteck Duykers and Berkeley-based playwright Philip Kan Gotanda.

Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) held its 60th Anniversary Gala last night at Ziegfeld Ballroom, hosted by Jennifer Simard.

George Takei, the original and beloved Mr. Sulu from 'Star Trek', film and television star, activist and social media icon, is to make his London stage debut in the UK premiere of the Broadway musical inspired by Takei's true childhood experiences, 'George Takei's Allegiance'.

To celebrate 30 years of Theater Mu, its 2022/23 season—dubbed the Pearl Anniversary season—will feature four world premieres and a conference honoring Asian American theater luminaries. 

First Look Sonoma, Paul Dresher Ensemble, and Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center will present the world premiere in San Francisco of a new opera, Both Eyes Open, by composer, Max Giteck Duykers and librettist, Philip Kan Gotanda. Directed by Melissa Weaver and conducted by Benjamin Makino. An open dress rehearsal/preview is set for Friday, June 24, 2022 at 2:00pm, while the show premieres on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at 8:00pm and Sunday June 26, 2022 at 7:00 pm. All performances take place at the Presidio Theatre Performing Arts Center, 99 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, California, in Presidio National Park. 

East West Players, the nation's largest producer of Asian American theatrical works, along with EWP Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai, will be honored by city leaders on Wednesday, June 30th at 3:30pm at a LA CityView Channel 35 program, broadcast live as part of the virtual celebrations for the annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Heritage Month, commonly known as “Pride Month,” in the City of Los Angeles. 

Wai Ching Ho ('Marvel's The Defenders'; ENDLINGS, New York Theatre Workshop), James Chen ('FBI'; 'The Walking Dead'), and Jon Norman Schneider (Bitter Melon; HENRY VI, PARTS 1-3, National Asian American Theatre Company) lead the cast and program of Second Generation Productions' (2g's) INFLECTIONS, five short new works about the undulations of the Asian American life, curated by Executive Producer Victor Malana Maog (Disney, American Conservatory Theater, Magic Theater, Cal Shakes). Jonathan Castanien (The Sống Collective, Atlantic Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club) produces.

Yale Repertory Theatre will welcome audiences back to its theaters beginning in January 2022 for a season of three plays! The season will begin with a new production of Today is My Birthday, a critically-acclaimed comedy about loneliness in the age of connectivity, written by Susan Soon He Stanton and directed by Mina Morita.

These 2g commissioned pieces will be presented online from June 28-30, 2021 as part of the Consortium of Asian American Theatres & Artists (CAATA)'s 'Healing Over Hate' Virtual Series.

Jeffrey Lo seems to be just about everywhere these days. As if his day job as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Director of Community Partnerships / Casting Director weren’t enough, he is also enjoying quite a successful career as a director and playwright. With the recent, tragic spike in prejudice and violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Lo decided to take action by calling on his own Filipino American heritage. He spearheaded TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s efforts to stream a benefit reading of his play Writing Fragments Home to raise funds to support and uplift the AAPI community. The comedic play is an unapologetically Filipino American story about art, family, and culture. The top-flight cast includes stage veteran Emily Kuroda, perhaps best known for playing Mrs. Kim on TV’s Gilmore Girls. Co-presented by more than 40 leading theatres and arts organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, the reading will benefit Compassion in Oakland, a nonprofit formed in response to the surge of anti-Asian attacks and dedicated to promoting safety and community in Oakland Chinatown and beyond. Writing Fragments Home will be streamed live at 7pm PDT, Saturday, June 5, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access available June 6 to June 9). For more information, visit TheatreWorks.org.  BroadwayWorld with Lo last week about his impetus to write the play, how the benefit reading came together, his thoughts about Asian American representation in the theatre, and his experience working with some of his personal heroes. Lo is very easy to talk to – laid-back, thoughtful and self-effacing with an underlying gentle humor – all qualities which likely serve him well in his roles at TheatreWorks. At the same time, I got the impression he is someone who knows how to step up to the plate and get the job done.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced that all 10 episodes of the audio series titled Place/Settings: Berkeley are now available. Place/Settings: Berkeley premiered on January 12 with each episode released once a week. Now listeners can enjoy the entire series all in one sitting. Each episode runs approximately 10-20 minutes.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced a new 10-episode series titled Place/Settings: Berkeley as part of their Rep On- Air season. Ten revered writers, each with deep ties to Berkeley, have all crafted a story around a place or a setting within the City of Berkeley that is significant to them.

Tune in tonight as the Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) gathers award-winning writers, directors and performers for a virtual benefit to support the playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists who get the story started

Esteemed American playwrights Ed Bullins, Constance Congdon, and Philip Kan Gotanda have been announced as the inaugural recipients of the Legacy Playwrights Initiative Award(s). The winners will be recognized by their friends and peers at the Dramatists Guild Foundation “Write in the Dark” virtual benefit on December 21, 2020.

The first live, in-person public professional theater production on the West Coast since Covid struck earlier this year will take place September 11-October 4, 2020 when actress and playwright Lisa Ramirez performs a world-premiere adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s THE WASTE LAND at Oakland Theater Project.

The Dramatists Guild of America Council has announced that Kia Corthron is the recipient of the 2020 Flora Roberts Award.

Having completed its 10th anniversary season in 2019, Coeurage Theatre Company, LA's only Pay What You Want theatre company, announced today that Amanda McRaven and Joseph V. Calarco have been named Co-Artistic Directors. They are joined by Associate Artistic Director Katelyn Gault, Artistic Development Associate Nardeep Khurmi, and CoLab Director Katie Pelensky.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre today announced that Bay Area natives and provocateurs, Culture Clash, are returning with their latest production, Culture Clash (Still) in America. The play, written and performed by Culture Clash and directed by Obie Award winner Lisa Peterson, marks the fifth time the satirical group has performed at Berkeley Rep.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) Crowded Fire's Artistic Director Mina Morita unveiled the 2020 mainstage season lineup including two new plays that uphold the company's long tradition of collaborative work and boundary-pushing theater.