Holiday Sparseness And Happy Holidays From Slanta

Friday, December 23, 2016

Well - apparently, I'm a little on the hiatus side for posts in the last week - and I would imagine in the next week as well.

Who knows - maybe a few extra posts to get me over the hump for this year - or maybe I'm just saying that to hedge my bets?

Happy Holidays either way!

Slanta.

February 9 - March 12, 2017: EWP + FREE OUTGOING + Anupama Chandrasekhar

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Definitely sounds like this should be a good show. Below is from the PR.

EAST WEST PLAYERS ANNOUNCES CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM OF
FREE OUTGOING, WHICH BEGINS PERFORMANCES ON FEBRUARY 9, 2017


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, is pleased to announce the cast and creative team for the US premiere of Free Outgoing, which Time Out, London has praised as “…a gripping and insightful story”, and The Independent has called “…profoundly affecting.” Written by Anupama Chandrasekhar and directed by Snehal Desai in his directorial debut as EWP Artistic Director, Free Outgoing begins performances on February 9 and runs until March 12, 2017, with opening night on February 15.

In this internationally acclaimed and timely play about a middle-class home in conservative Chennai, 15-year-old Deepa is filmed by her boyfriend engaging in a sexual act. The indiscreet cell phone video goes viral, becoming a national scandal that exposes gender double standards and conflicting views of female sexuality. Deepa’s single mother Malini—a modern-day Mother Courage—struggles to protect her children while caught between India’s embrace of new technology and adherence to old-world values.

“In the last decade, technology has transformed the way we navigate the world, yet the lens with which we see and judge our girls and women has hardly changed,” says playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar. “I wrote Free Outgoing in anger to explore hypocrisy regarding female sexuality and to understand my world better. I’m thrilled and honored that Free Outgoing is being staged by East West Players as part of their season showcasing women of color. EWP is indispensable for getting marginalized voices heard and for putting female practitioners center stage.”

“When I first read the script, it left me breathless," says EWP Artistic Director Snehal Desai. “I was drawn to the timeliness and intensity of Free Outgoing, which centers on the epic struggle of a woman caught between traditional customs and youthful exploration. Anupama is a brilliant journalist and political playwright, whose writing incites dialogue about relevant social issues and gender inequality. It’s the most provocative play of our season.”

Making their EWP debuts are Anna Khaja (TV: Quantico, True Blood, Stitchers, and Silicon Valley) as Malini, Anil Kumar (Manhattan Theater Club’s The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife; TV: NCIS, Six Feet Under, 24, and Law & Order: SVU) as Ramesh, and Kavi Ladnier (The Public Theatre’s ANON(YMOUS); TV: Heroes and General Hospital) as Nirmala/Kokila/Usha. Kapil Talwalkar (EWP’s Animals Out of Paper) will play Sharan.

The creative team includes Snehal Desai (Director), Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenic Designer), Katelan Braymer (Lighting Design), Sharath Patel (Sound Designer), Rachel Myers (Costume Design), Glenn Michael Baker (Assistant Scenic Design/Prop Master), and Brandon Hong Cheng (Stage Manager).

Free Outgoing is presented in association with Boom Arts.

All performances of Free Outgoing will be staged at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center of the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Previews are Thursday, February 9 through Sunday, February 12, with 8pm shows from Thursday to Saturday, and 2pm matinee shows from Saturday to Sunday. All preview seats are $25. Opening night is Wednesday, February 15 at 8pm. “Pay-What-You-Can” performance is on Thursday, February 16 at 8pm. The production runs until March 12.

Tickets may be purchased at www.eastwestplayers.org or please call (213) 625-7000, making sure to mention any wheelchair/accessible seating needs. Student, senior, and group discounts are available. General Admission ticket prices range from $35 to $50. Dates, details, and ticket prices are subject to change.

East West Players is proud to stage Anupama Chandrasekhar’s Free Outgoing as part of Radiant, a 51st Anniversary Season that focuses on featuring stories by and about women.

For more information about East West Players, please visit www.eastwestplayers.org.

From Across The Pond: I Guess I'll Never See This Play (In the Depths of Dead Love)

Monday, December 19, 2016

Errr....okay.

When the Print Room, a London theatre, cast white actors in Howard Barker’s In the Depths of Dead Love – a play set in ancient China, with characters named Chin and Mrs Hu – members of the BAME artist community took it as an insult, an assertion that there simply weren’t, in the mind of the company, the director and the playwright, sufficiently talented artists of Asian descent in London to embody these characters. With the release of a statement on Monday attempting to explain their process, the leadership of the Print Room hasn't defended themselves by protesting that they had indeed attempted to cast the role with Asian actors. Rather, they denied that race and ethnicity mattered at all in casting. In doing so, the theatre showed that it does not comprehend what yellowface and racial erasure mean, and have made no effort to show any empathy to the community they have affronted.

Read it in full.

This Is How You Eat A Chicken Wing BD Wong Style

Monday, December 19, 2016



Damn - looking good as a MF.

P.S. Tonight's The Night For George Takei's Allegiance On Broadway Film Event (One Night Only)

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Just a quick reminder in case you forgot, didn't know, or just needed a nudge (if you didn't already see it on Broadway).

Tonight.

Allegiance.

One night only in theaters.

Buy and check tickets here: http://www.fathomevents.com/event/allegiance

Social Media Is Real People Too (Discard It If You Want But It Really Is The People)

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Yeah - sure, I get it - being online is in certain ways sometimes anonymous and it can compel people to just say whatever the hell they want - but that's kind of the point.

Social Media = Real People.

Sometimes people want to discount the real people simply because they post up on social media - which is really just their way of discounting POC and Asian Americans.

Ok.

That's it.

A Little Viet. A Little Gone. A Big Review

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Nice.

VIETGONE, Qui Nguyen’s quasi-autobiographical play, couldn’t have come at a better time. By telling the story, more or less, of his parents’ immigration to the U.S. in 1975 Nguyen reminds us of how integral to our national character the immigrant experience is [...] If this all sounds very serious, rest assured that VIETGONE is not at all depressing. To the contrary, it’s a rollicking, occasionally hilarious love story told through a combination of dialogue, rap music and cartoon-like production numbers. The main story focuses on Tong (Jeena Yi), an audacious 30-year old determined to avoid the married life her mother and her society expect. Landing in the refugee camp gives Tong the freedom to become her own person even as she falls in love despite herself with the hunky Quang (James Ryen), a helicopter pilot who had to leave his wife and children behind in Saigon.

Sorry - That's Sold Out Already (Dean + Transparent Live Sessions)

Thursday, December 08, 2016



Just make sure you're in the know and then you'll forever be in...well - the know.

And tickets.

You might be able to still stalk him though if you wait?

*The MEET & GREET w/ DEAN will be at 6 PM at THE MAYAN (12/09/2016).
The Meet & Greet ticket includes a picture and poster from DEAN!
Photos will be taken in groups of 2.


http://transparentagency.com

P.S: I Love You

Thursday, December 08, 2016



Kisses.

Executive Order 13800: Indigogo The Hell Out Of This Film Project + Mustafa Rony Zeno + Koji Steven Sakai + Phinneas Kyomura

Thursday, December 08, 2016



All I know is that I'm gonna back this and I hope you do too because this film needs to be made.

Writer/Producer and former executive at the Japanese American National Museum Koji Steven Sakai and filmmaker/cultural anthropologist Mustafa Rony Zeno, and producer Phinny Kiyomura are looking for your help to fund their newest film Executive Order 13800. This is a project that touches upon both of their passions for social Justice and for telling compelling human dramas.

Executive Order 13800 is inspired by the internment of Japanese American during World War II. But instead of happening 75 years ago, it is happening today with Muslim and Arab Americans.

EO13800 follows an Arab American family after a second major terrorist attack to hit the United States in one month. President Trump issues Executive Order 13800 which gives all Muslim Americans two weeks to report to a government site to register. During those two weeks, the family's world turns completely upside down. With the executive order, they instantly lose their civil rights -- such as new curfew laws prohibit them from going out after dusk, they are no longer able to gather or pray together, they can’t express their faith publicly and not to mention the constant threat of violence against them.

Both Koji and Mustafa have been working on this project for the past year. However, they abandoned it a year ago because it seemed too far-fetched. However, because of the results of the recent presidential election, they both now see that the scenario found in EO13800 could actually happen. Koji, being a descendant of a camp survivor, believes this is one of his most important projects he's ever worked on. He has made it his life's work to educate people about the camps and to ensure that what happened to his family never happens to anyone ever again.

It has a flexible goal and one month for the campaign down at Indigogo and seems to be making some nice traction which already shows the interest in this project, albeit they still have 85% of their goal to get too - so get on out and support this film project if this is down your alley.

Racist, Homophobic, And Fat Shaming!??? Holy Shit! Now I HAVE To Watch The Gilmore Girls' Reboot!

Tuesday, December 06, 2016

With a title like Was ‘Gilmore Girls’ always as racist, homophobic, and fat-shaming as the revival is? - now I have to watch it - even if just for the scene with the "pool boy".

What!??

I'm gonna watch this soon.

I'll report back later.

Maybe?

In the meantime - check out the article @ The Frisky from Divya Amladi.

Random Soko Glam Charlotte Cho

Monday, December 05, 2016



If you're into Korean skincare and makeup you probably know Charlotte Cho - but if not - well - now you do?

Here's an article from earlier this year spring @ VF.

MV + This Is So Good It Really Is Like Heaven

Friday, December 02, 2016



Love this rendition.

Starving + Late Night Marie Digby + Clara C

Friday, December 02, 2016



Smooth.

Writing In The Moments + Life And Being Asian American

Thursday, December 01, 2016

As I was posting on my morning on FB this morning, it reminded me of a post I was going to do and the general thought that I do like to write and catalog things in the moment. I keep a lot of things for me, or just between family and close friends, just because they're normal day life, or things you don't need to share with other people, or are thinking about etc. - but I think there's a value in sometimes talking in that moment.

After you reflect on things, sometimes that visceral feeling, which is basic to so much gets lost and you can't always go back to it to truly do something with it. Sometimes there's rationalization versus reflection - at least for me - and I think there's value in sometimes showing those vulnerabilities - because life isn't always a win and sometimes that's what fuels it all. To do better. And sometimes it's those common losses, or hard days, or not out of the ordinary - but unexpected times - saying them - letting them know they exist - I think there is a power to that.

It's not always pretty. May not go as expected. But nothing is perfect. Sometimes you still have to weed. Sometimes it's just a different POV and you can't fix what you can't acknowledge and in a way you can't celebrate either because you haven't acknowledged what you're celebrating for.