Cast and Creative Team Set for ACT and The 5th Avenue Theatre's CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND

ACT Contemporary Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theatre revealed the complete cast and creative team for their 11th annual co-production: the electric, darkly funny hit play with music, Cambodian Rock Band. Written by prolific award-winning American playwright Lauren Yee (King of the Yees; The Great Leap) and backed by a live band playing contemporary Dengue Fever hits and other classic Cambodian oldies, Cambodian Rock Band tickets are on sale now and are available for purchase at ACTtheatre.org or by calling the ACT Box Office at (206) 292-7676.

Cambodian Rock Band tells the story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in thirty years, as his daughter prepares to prosecute one of Cambodia’s most infamous war criminals. This thrilling theatrical adventure toggles back and forth in time as father and daughter face the music of the past. Lauren Yee brings us an intimate rock epic about family secrets set against a dark chapter of Cambodian history.

Cambodian Rock Band will feature Phil Wong (Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Revenge Song) as Duch; Abraham Kim (Music: National and International tours with Run River North, DANakaDAN and Magnetic North & Taiyo Na) as Rom; Jane Lui (East West Players: Vieitgone) as Pou; Joe Ngo (ACT: King of the Yees) as Chum; Brooke Ishibashi (The Public Theater: The Good Person of Szechwan) as Neary & Sothea; and Tim Liu (American Conservatory Theatre: The Great Leap) as Ted, Cadre, & Leng.

The co-production, led by director Chay Yew (The Public Theater: Mojada, Oedipus el Rey, Durango), music supervisors and co-music directors Jane Lui (Oregon Shakespeare Festival: All’s Well That Ends Well) and Matt MacNelly (La Jolla Playhouse: Our Town) with associate director Graham Schmidt, will feature scenic design by Takeshi Kata (Alley Theatre: Quixote Nuevo); costume design by Linda Cho(Broadway: POTUS; Summer 1976); lighting design by David Weiner (Broadway: The Great Society; The Price); sound design by Mikhail Fiksel (Tony Award Best Sound Design: Dana H.) and Megumi Katayama (Off-Broadway/NYC: The Light in the Piazza; For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf); wig design by Tom Watson (Broadway: Wicked; Rock of Ages), and projection design by Luke Norby (Portland Center Stage: A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

"It is such an honor to welcome Lauren Yee back to our theatre with her modern epic Cambodian Rock Band. We have been fortunate to have had a front row seat to Lauren's artistry, having workshopped and produced other works from the Yee canon." said ACT Contemporary Theatre Artistic Director John Langs. "Cambodian Rock Band is truly event theatre – equal parts rock concert, historical excavation, and familial revelation, told with the brash wit and theatrical daring that is the trademark of this great storyteller. To see this show bursting at the seams of our intimate theatre will be a wildly unique experience and one we are so excited to share with Seattle."

“We are absolutely thrilled to partner with ACT Contemporary Theatre to bring Cambodian Rock Band to life for Seattle audiences,” said The 5th Avenue Theatre Artistic Director Bill Berry. “With its poignant narrative of resilience and the invincible spirit of music, it not only captivates but also illuminates the remarkable ability to transcend some of history’s darkest chapters. Between the live performances and the emotional depths of this story, this will be a transformative theater experience for all who attend.”

Director Chay Yew said, “Cambodian Rock Band is a unique dramaturgical hybrid of its own: fusing history, politics, rock concert, family drama fashioning into a potent work of art. Lauren Yee’s play also breathes life to the timely issues in our divided nation: immigration, race, genocide and human rights abuses; the rights of refugees and emigres; the consequences of apathy when a country shifts under a brutal regime; and the destruction of freedom of expression in the midst of political transitions and upheavals.”

MEET THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM

ABOUT THE CAST

Cambodian Rock Band features performances by: Phil Wong (Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Revenge Song) as Duch; Abraham Kim (Music: National and International tours with Run River North, DANakaDAN and Magnetic North & Taiyo Na) as Rom; Jane Lui (East West Players: Vieitgone) as Pou; Joe Ngo (ACT: King of the Yees) as Chum; Brooke Ishibashi (The Public Theater: The Good Person of Szechwan) as Neary & Sothea; and Tim Liu (American Conservatory Theatre: The Great Leap) as Ted, Cadre, & Leng.

The cast also includes understudies Kelsey Angel Baehrens, Alex Lydon, and Vi Tran.

ABOUT Lauren Yee (Playwright)

Cambodian Rock Band premiered at South Coast Repertory, subsequent productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, City Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Victory Gardens, and Jungle Theatre/Theater Mu. Her play The Great Leap has been produced at the Denver Center, Steppenwolf, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theatre, the Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and Asolo Rep. Honors include the Doris Duke Artists Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ATCA Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, and the #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List. She’s a Residency 5 playwright at Signature Theatre, New Dramatists member, Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab member, and Playwrights Realm alumni playwright. Current commissions include Arena Stage/Second Stage, Geffen Playhouse, and South Coast Repertory. TV credits: Pachinko (Apple), Soundtrack (Netflix), Interior Chinatown (Hulu), Billions (Showtime), The Sterling Affairs (FX). She is currently developing pilots for Netflix and Apple. BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD. 

ABOUT Chay Yew (Director)

His New York credits include The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizon, New York Theatre Workshop, Signature Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Audible Theatre, Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theatre, National Asian American Theatre, and Ma Yi. Regionally, he directed for the Humana Festival, Goodman Theatre, Kennedy Center, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, Huntington Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Rep, Woolly Mammoth, Center Theatre Group, Long Wharf, Alley Theatre, Hartford Stage, Denver Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, Singapore Repertory Theatre, amongst others. His opera credits include the world premieres of Osvaldo Golijov’s and David Henry Hwang’s Ainadamar (co-production with Tanglewood Music Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Rob Zuidam’s Rage D’Amors (Tanglewood). He is a recipient of the OBIE Award for Direction. From 2011 to 2020, he was the Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. 

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

The creative team features Chay Yew (Director); Graham Schmidt (Associate Director); Matt MacNelly (Music Supervisor & Co-Music Director); Jane Lui (Music Supervisor & Co-Music Director); Takeshi Kata(Scenic Design); Linda Cho (Costume Design); David Weiner (Lighting Design); Mikhail Fiksel (Co-Sound Design); Megumi Katayama (Co-Sound Design); Tom Watson (Wig Design); Luke Norby(Projection Design); Charles M. Turner III (Production Consultant); Merrick A.B. Williams (Stage Manager); and Quy Ton (Assistant Stage Manager). 

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