Lily Tung Crystal will transition in August to head the nation’s largest Asian American theater company.
(May 15, 2024) Theater Mu announced today that artistic director Lily Tung Crystal will step down from her full-time role at the end of Mu’s 2023/24 season to lead Los Angeles-based East West Players, the longest-running and largest Asian American theater company in the United States. During her tenure, Mu was named a regional cultural treasure by the Ford and McKnight foundations, doubled the size of its staff, and doubled its budget from $650,000 to $1.3 million.
“This is a bittersweet moment because of my deep love for Theater Mu and the Minnesotan theater and Asian American communities. My heart is both happy and breaking,” Tung Crystal says. “I’m grateful to Mu and the Twin Cities for giving me such a significant artistic and spiritual home. My life’s work has centered on the intersection between art and social justice; increasing representation of Asian American and other marginalized artists on stage, TV, and film; and telling more Asian American stories. Mu has allowed me to do that work in a deep and joyful way with a truly incredible group of staff, board, artists, and supporters. I’ve never known a theater so well-loved by its community, and I will miss it terribly.”
She adds, “Yet I look forward to the immense possibilities at East West Players and returning to Los Angeles, where I was born and raised. I hope to continue this work and bring more artistry and equity to theater nationally, in collaboration with artists and organizations across the country, including Theater Mu. I’m humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to lead the nation’s largest Asian American theater company and longest-running theater of color.”
An inclusive artistic vision
Tung Crystal arrived at Mu after co-founding and leading Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company in the Bay Area, and she made a national impact during the COVID-19 pandemic because of her vision for Mu.
Instead of shuttering Theater Mu’s doors like many theaters, she opened them wider, producing at least three virtual events and gathering spaces each week from late March through May 2020. She also directed Susan Soon He Stanton’s Today Is My Birthday, which was produced in February 2021 with support from East West Players, and received national attention for its innovative live-stream coordination.
Other Mu productions she directed were Jihae Park’s peerless (2019), Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band (2022, co-produced with the Jungle Theater), and the world premiere of Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay’s The Kung Fu Zombies Saga: Shaman Warrior & Cannibals (2023). She most recently directed the world premiere of Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters, created by Jessica Huang and Jacinth Greywoode, co-produced with History Theatre, and running now through May 26, 2024.
Overall, Tung Crystal’s artistic programming at Mu emphasized newer works relevant to the vast diaspora of Asian Americans. For instance, during the 2022/23 season, she uniquely programmed an all Southeast Asian season consisting only of world premieres with local playwrights and storytellers. She also championed women, non-binary artists, and theater makers from other marginalized communities.
Managing director Anh Thu T. Pham says, “Lily has made an incredible contribution to Asian American theater and Mu. Her keen artistic eye and values of centering community was something that was evident from her first production here. Her belief in widening our circles ensured that Mu’s mainstage work centered and amplified an intersectional Asian American voice while not losing the artistic excellence that Mu has always been known for. I will miss having her as a colleague, thought-partner, and friend. We look forward to better partnering with East West Players in continuing to move Asian American theater on the national scene. Lily will have a big impact on the theater scene in Los Angeles, and we wish her the absolute best!”
While at Mu, Tung Crystal also acted at Minneapolis theaters and directed an award-winning production of Stephen Karam’s The Humans, featuring a transracial Asian American adoptee family. For her directing work in San Francisco, she was thrice-named a Theatre Bay Area Award finalist for outstanding direction.
Supporting artists at all stages
As Mu’s fourth and first woman artistic director, Tung Crystal prioritized mentorship for and intentional long-term investments in Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) theater artists, particularly those in the local community. Mu’s mainstage productions have become more ambitious each season, but Tung Crystal has made space for emerging artists by revitalizing the Mu Training Institute and establishing Mu’s fellowship program. Other artistic expansions include formalizing the literary committee and supporting Mu’s first three playwright cohorts, two of which were designed by Mu’s Mellon Foundation playwright-in-residence, Duangphouxay Vongsay, and one by literary manager Jane Peña and artistic associate Annie Jin Wang.
“Our goal at Mu is to empower Asian American leaders, center equity, and promote talent, and that statement applies to our own staff and leadership too,” says Theater Mu board chair Ruthie Johnson. “As part of our first female co-director team with managing director Anh Thu T. Pham, Lily has taken Theater Mu to the next level in talent nurturing, production quality, and relevant storytelling, setting up a strong foundation for our next artistic director to build from. We will miss her, but we are also excited to continue to support her and for our partnership with East West Players to grow.”
Tung Crystal will program Theater Mu’s 2024/25 season before her departure. This spring, Mu will name an interim artistic director and then start a nationwide search for her permanent successor. Tung Crystal will stay on as a consultant to help with the transition and onboarding process.
At East West Players, Tung Crystal will become the organization’s fifth artistic director, joining managing director Eugene J. Hutchins.
For interviews, assets, or other media requests, contact Lianna McLernon at lianna@theatermu.org or by calling (612) 709-3324.
Click here to check out Lily Tung Crystal’s personal statement about the announcement, as well as a statement for the Mu community by board chair Ruthie Johnson.
From Mu artistic director Lily Tung Crystal to the community
This is a bittersweet moment because of my deep love for Theater Mu and the Minnesotan theater and Asian American communities. My heart is both happy and breaking. I’m grateful to Mu and the Twin Cities for giving me such a significant artistic and spiritual home and for welcoming me and my family here in 2019. My five years at Mu have been some of my best and most meaningful.
My life’s work has centered on the intersection between art and social justice; increasing representation of Asian American and other marginalized artists on stage, TV and film; and telling more Asian American stories. Mu has allowed me to do that work in a deep and joyful way with a truly incredible group of staff, board, artists, and supporters. I’ve never known a theater so well-loved by its community, and I will miss it terribly.
I’m proud of what we accomplished together, that through a pandemic, rise in anti-Asian violence, and national racial reckoning, Mu took care of its artists, staff, and community. We nurtured the next generation of AAPI and BIPOC theater makers. We lifted up stories from across the Asian American diaspora. We championed the voices of queer and disabled artists, women and non-binary theater makers. We created art together that was impactful and meaningful.
As such, the decision to go to East West Players is not one I’ve entered into lightly. Organizationally, I hope this move will allow me to connect Mu and East West Players so that we can effect change and champion Asian American stories across the country. And personally, I look forward to returning to the city where I was born and raised, where my father is buried, and to the state where most of my extended family resides.
At East West Players, I hope to bring more artistry and equity to theater nationally, in collaboration with other artists and organizations, including Theater Mu. I’m humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to lead the nation’s largest Asian American theater company and longest-running theater of color.
I am privileged to be leaving Mu with the full support of its treasured staff and board. Mu’s legacy and mission is much larger than one individual, and I am confident in my co-leader and managing director Anh Thu T. Pham and the Mu staff and artists to move forward with love, empathy, and strength.
It has been a true honor to lead this organization. Thank you for inviting me in and supporting me and Mu. I look forward to seeing what the future brings for this company that I love so dearly.
From managing director Anh Thu T. Pham
Lily has made an incredible contribution to Asian American theater and Mu. Her keen artistic eye and values of centering community was something that was evident from her first production here. Her belief in widening our circles ensured that Mu’s mainstage work centered and amplified an intersectional Asian American voice while not losing the artistic excellence that Mu has always been known for. I will miss having her as a colleague, thought-partner, and friend. We look forward to better partnering with East West Players in continuing to move Asian American theater in the national scene. Lily will have a big impact on the theater scene in Los Angeles, and we wish her the absolute best!
From board chair Ruthie Johnson
We are grateful for the work Lily has done in the last four years to
help identify new playwrights, expand the breadth of Asian storytelling,
and showcase our beautiful, diverse Asian community in Minnesota. While
we will miss her, we are excited to build on this foundation, keeping
our values of equity, justice, and storytelling at the forefront as we
begin our search for a new artistic director. We would like to thank our
Mu staff, artists, community, donors, and board for their ongoing
support and partnership as we navigate this transition
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