News Flash Galore:

There comes a time...

UPDATES:

East West Players Asian American Theatre (EWP)

• Classes at EWP are underway: 
• The Fundamentals of Acting Series has begun.  Join the series and become eligible to be cast in our annual EWP Studio Lab Project.  Apply your skills to the rehearsal and public performance process at the end of the series. 
• We have grown to have a two-tiered Voice and Speech course.  There is a beginning Fitzmaurice Voicework course and I teach the Intermediate/Advanced course for those with experience in voice and speech work and/or who are working professionals.  This work will jump start your acting and/or creative careers!  Plan to join us!
• www.eastwestplayers.org  click on education and conservatory
•  I am slated to direct the next EWP School Tour Show.  The tour usually rehearses late January, early February.  I am very excited!  The play is currently in development.  Stay tuned for updates!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF)

• It is official that I'll be heading to OSF in April to fulfill an assistant directing position under director, Christopher Liam Moore.  The show is "The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa."  The adaptation is by Alison Carey and the show will perform on the Elizabethean outdoor stage.  I am so excited I'll be working with top-notch artists to gain experience and expertise as a director!  http://www.osfashland.org/index.aspx

Fitzmaurice Voicework 

• Fitzmaurice Voicework goes to Vancouver BC for it's second annual International Freedom and Focus Conference.
• I am co-director of the conference with Noah Drew.  Both native Northwesterners, we are eager to show-off our beautiful environment and pristine air.  What better place to free up the breath and the voice?
• Look for more details soon and plan to join us in late July or early August!http://freedomandfocusconference.org/Freedom_and_Focus/Welcome.html

Theatre Communications Group (TCG)

• A core group of artists of color continue to meet to strategize and plan for the next TCG Conference next summer.  
• Strategies for increased visibility and diversity throughout the theatre industry are currently underway.
• October 21st is the launch date for an industry-wide survey to garner information for further advocacy and strategizing.  Leave a comment and way to reach you if you are a POC in the theatre industry and would like to receive a survey to support POC development and visibility.
• Exciting new plans for are forming.  Check back for updates! 

From Iowa to Barcelona

Leslie's "Watashi Niwa Jishinga Aru: I Have A Spine" traveled to Iowa City and was performed at the Working Group Theatre in their Under Construction New Works Festival!

This infant of a new work found it's first steps with wonderful and diverse audiences. It was paired during it's theatrical run with Sean Christopher Lewis' humorous and touching solo work, "Just Kids." A big thank you and shout out to the Iowa community angels, Working Group Theatre and crew, Sean Christopher Lewis, Jennifer Fawcett, and Martin Andrews and his family.

Lovely Iowa in the Spring was where May Day baskets were mysteriously left at doorsteps, daffodils and tulips were in full bloom, and new works were also blossoming.

Then, spring gave way to summer and Leslie is continuing the development of "Watashi!" She is officially invited to perform the next incarnation of this solo work at The Freedom and Focus Fitzmaurice Voicework Conference in Barcelona, Spain!

Leslie is a co-organizer of this conference and is a presenter as well. The workshop she will present is "Finding Your Voice; Finding Your Story." In this workshop she shares her method of creating devised work born out of the Fitzmaurice Voicework approach.

Stay tuned for more because with Leslie, there is always more!!

"Doing what I love and loving what I do!"

She's Everywhere At Once!

Busy is inadequate to describe Leslie's life--
Fully engaged at full tilt is more like it!

Leslie has been seen in Douglas, Alaska, hiking and teaching at Perseverance Theatre's artist training intensive, ASTI (Alaska State Training Institute). Many thanks to all at Perseverance Theatre, Art Roch, Shona Strausser, Leon Ingulsrud, and Dan LeFranc. (What happens in Douglas stays in Douglas.:)))

In the lower 48 she was also seen at the 50th birthday/conference celebration of Theatre Communication Group (TCG)! Yes, they are the organization that publishes "American Theatre Magazine." TCG break out sessions, plenaries, meals, taking in Radar LA Theatre festival, and East West Players Asian American Theatre's awesome "KRUNK FU BATTLE BATTLE" with theatre colleagues from Alaska and all over the world was a practice in being everywhere at once.

Directly following the TCG 50th Conference, the National Asian American Theatre Conference and Festival, hosted by East West Players Asian American Theatre, topped off the month of June and energized and built a new direction for the Asian American theatre movement! Talented AsAm artists from all over the world performed and worked tirelessly to make this conference the best one yet!

Proud to be AsAm!!

"MYSTERIOUS SKIN!" A Must-SEE at EWP!

"Mysterious Skin"

by

Prince Gomolvilas

directed by

Tim Dang

I just saw the preview last night and wow! It will only get more brilliant and finely tuned by opening next Wednesday, September 15, 2010!

You must see this show. With Prince's new play and Tim's leadership and directing, they have just ushered in a new era at East West Players! This show transcends edgy and moves into the arena of IMPORTANT WORK with sensitivity, depth, and truth regarding a very complex subject. Please don't miss this show. In this case, theater is bringing about powerful change; it's creating awareness and healing!

Mysterious Skin

When: September 9th - October 10, 2010

Where: East West Players Asian American Theatre

120 Judge John Aiso Street

Los Angeles, CA 90012

For more ticket information go to: eastwestplayers.org

Or call: 213-625-7000

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

I just spent yesterday helping to get over 2,000 4th and 5th grade students into the Ahmanson Theater here in LA to see Mary Poppins. It was so great! When Mary Poppins flew overhead the joyous sound of thousands of children was deafening!! I was so moved by there exuberance and innocence when Mary Poppins tells the Banks children that everything is possible.

Then, Center Theatre Group and Disney saw to it that every child had a healthy snack and lunch provided during their field trip.

A HUGE thank you to the Young Audience Program Team at Center Theatre Group who made sure that the diversity of Los Angeles was represented in this awesome student audience. The teachers and their chaperones are my heroes as well. There were twenty-nine buses, many schools carpooled, some took the train and walked!!

How's that for being economical and green!?*#!

It's worth mentioning that it is possible to share and for everyone to be fed--their imaginations fed and their hungry mouths too!

Blessings to all during this holiday season and happy sharing with those you know and love and perhaps those you don't know as well!

Lots of love and laughter!

Leslie

VOTE NO!

Dear Screen Actors Guild Members,

Please vote "no" on the theatrical contract!
With this current contract proposal there is no way to become vested! It feels like it is a "good" contract for our times, but it is bogus! It leads us to eliminating residuals. How will we and younger generations qualify for health insurance each year and become vested if residuals vanish? Residuals are the key to making a decent living and retirement!

IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD TIME TO STAND UP FOR YOURSELF! Don't be a victim and don't let the board allow you to believe that "this is as good as it gets given our times." There is no validity to "making up ground on the next contract." The ground is rarely made up unless there is a huge ground swell of support. So why wait! NOW is the time!

This is no time for a bake sale mentality! We are in a better position of power than ever before! Businesses and Corporations are going down right and left and we have the leverage! We blew it by allowing the board to oust Doug Allen. This was a power player that had dealt with the big wigs. It was our big chance to move forward into the big leagues to achieve real terms! NOW it is more important than ever that we stand and be counted and come together to back each other and a real contract that will allow us to validate our profession and make a decent living. My profession is not a hobby for the rich!

Be Courageous and lead with your intelligence and your integrity!
Vote NO on this contract!