EAST WEST'S NEW DIRECTION; ROLLING WITH HIGH-PROFILE UPS AND DOWNS.Byline: Reed Johnson Reed Cameron Johnson (born December 8, 1976 in Riverside, California) is an outfielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League East division of Major League Baseball. He weighs 180 lb (82 kg) and is 5'10" tall. Daily News Staff Writer ``I hope you're not afraid of heights,'' Tim Dang Timothy Dang is an actor and the artistic director at East West Players in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California, USA. He graduated in 1980 with a bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre from the University of Southern California. Filmography
Below him, coated with a thin layer of construction dust, is the David Henry Hwang David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is a contemporary American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S. He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at Stanford University and the Yale School of Drama. Theatre, new home of East West Players - the nation's oldest and arguably most influential Asian-American theater company. It's three weeks before East West officially christens the 220-seat theater, the centerpiece of the city-owned Union Center for the Arts, which East West will share with two other nonprofits: L.A. Artcore, an arts exhibitor and arts quarterly publisher; and Visual Communications, which assists independent film and video makers and maintains one of the nation's largest archives of Pan-Asian images. El Nino has hampered workers putting the final touches on the landmark former Union Church, making it necessary to push back opening night for East West's inaugural production, the Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical ``Pacific Overtures Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, set in 1853 Japan. The title of the work is ironic, nodding toward "overture" as a musical form, and archly noting that the .'' But Dang dang interj. Used to express dissatisfaction or annoyance. adv. & adj. Damn. tr.v. danged, dang·ing, dangs To damn. n. , East West's upbeat artistic director, is already pumped up about his company's high-profile address, smack in the middle "Smack in the Middle" is a first-season episode of Batman. It first aired on ABC January 13, 1966 as the second episode of the series, and was repeated on August 25, 1966 and April 6, 1967. of Little Tokyo and flanked by the Museum of Contemporary Art's Geffen Contemporary and the Japanese American National Museum The Japanese American National Museum opened its doors in 1992. The museum is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown Los Angeles, California. It is devoted to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. . ``I can't wait until it's all lit up at night,'' Dang says, referring to the arts center's 18-foot-tall marquee. ``I wonder if you can see it from Bunker Hill Bunker Hill “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes”; American Revolutionary battle (1775). [Am. Hist.: Worth, 22] See : Battle .'' It's a question steeped in symbolism, because at age 32, East West suddenly finds itself keeping company with downtown's heavy hitters: banks, hotels, corporate offices, museums, the L.A. Philharmonic and the Mark Taper Forum The Mark Taper Forum is a small thrust stage with 745 seats at the Los Angeles Music Center built by Welton Beckett and Associates. It has presented innovative plays since 1967. The world premiere of Angels In America was produced here. and Ahmanson Theatre The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that comprise the Los Angeles Music Center. Through the generosity of philanthropist Robert H. Ahmanson, construction began on March 9, 1962. . Its new location suggests that East West no longer will be quite the same scrappy company that since 1965 has done business out of a funky 99-seat space in the bohemian Silver Lake district. In making the leap downtown, East West joins a small group of L.A. theater companies that have upgraded to midsize homes, enabling them to mount more expensive, ambitious productions. The change in status brings new opportunities - and subtle new pressures. ``It makes a difference in the way we're perceived by the community,'' says Dang. Even before its latest makeover, East West had been undergoing a slow transition from an overachieving, seat-of-the-pants ensemble to a prominent cross-cultural institution with an annual budget expected to double to $1 million during the next few years. Founded by an ethnically diverse group of young artists, including the legendary Mako mako (mä`kō), heavy-bodied, fast-swimming shark, genus Isurus, highly prized as a game fish. Also known as the sharp-nosed mackerel shark, it is a member of the mackerel shark family, which also includes the great white shark and the (East West's artistic director until 1989) and actress Beulah Quo, the company was multicultural long before ``multiculturalism'' became a buzz term buzz term n. A buzzword. . Throughout its first three decades, East West favored a yin-yang diet of Broadway musicals, new interpretations of European classics (including a ``Hedda Gabler'' set in Japan), and contemporary works by Asian-American dramatists such as David Henry Hwang and Philip Kan Gotanda. John Lone John Lone (Traditional Chinese: 尊龍; Pinyin: Zūn Lóng; born October 13, 1952 as 吳國良) is an American actor. , Amy Hill Amy Hill (born May 9, 1953) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Mrs. DePaulo in That's So Raven, the babysitter Mrs. Kwan in The Cat in the Hat, and the voice of Jasmine Lee (aka "Ah-Mah") on and Sab Shimono are among the actors who have performed there. East West's new location could help build bridges between Little Tokyo and downtown's other cultural archipelagoes, says Erich Nakano of Little Tokyo Service Center, the development company that supervised the $3.4 million Union Center renovation and earthquake retrofit. ``There's a projected 40,000-plus patrons who will be visiting the theater alone on an annual basis,'' Nakano says. When the Hawaiian-born Dang first came to East West in 1980, he was, in his own words, ``this snotty-nosed kid from USC'' out to ``conquer the world.'' Mako, upon meeting Dang, promptly called him ``a banana - yellow on the outside, white on the inside,'' meaning that Dang's cultural perspective rested squarely on European traditions. Eighteen years later, Dang is a suave and seasoned cultural diplomat who's not afraid to use East West to raise sensitive subjects. He sees the controversy over the musical ``Miss Saigon'' as a watershed and a mixed blessing for Asian-American theater artists. Although a non-Asian-American actor ultimately was cast in the crucial role of the Engineer, the experience taught Dang that the only way for Asian-Americans to assert creative control is to own their own theaters and create their own plays. In upcoming seasons he wants to present a play about the Imperial Japanese Army's enslavement en·slave tr.v. en·slaved, en·slav·ing, en·slaves To make into or as if into a slave. en·slave  ment n. of Korean women as concubines during World War II, and another work about Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American murdered in 1982 by a disgruntled dis·grun·tle tr.v. dis·grun·tled, dis·grun·tling, dis·grun·tles To make discontented. [dis- + gruntle, to grumble (from Middle English gruntelen; see Detroit ex-auto worker who mistook him for a Japanese-American. ``The Asians are always seen as very nice people who don't complain and would rather be quiet. I think it's time we had a stake in the community. I think it's important that we do more than just act,'' Dang says. Nonetheless, he says, ``East West has to make a name for itself in the community before it can do some things that push buttons in the community.'' Judging by its recent capital-endowment fund-raising campaign, which raised $1.72 million, the city's various Asian constituencies need no introduction to East West. ``We discovered that we had a unique base,'' says fund-raising co-chair George Takei, Mr. Sulu of TV's ``Star Trek'' and a longtime East West supporter. ``Asian-Americans now have been successful in different arenas, in the areas of engineering, finance and so forth. We were able to appeal to not just their generosity but their pride in achievement. We were able to raise funds from all Asian groups.'' Dang believes that ``Pacific Overtures,'' which deals with Commodore Perry's aggressive opening of U.S. trade with Japan in 1853, is an especially fitting choice for East West at this time. ``There are a lot of themes about Japanese learning from the West and taking it and making it better. That's kind of like East West Players. We've been here for 30 years and learned from the community, and now we waHHnt to help lead the L.A. theater community.'' Which may be another way of saying that Tim Dang and company aren't afraid of heights. THE FACTS What: ``Pacific Overtures.'' Where: David Henry Hwang Theatre, Union Center for the Arts, 120 N. Judge John Aiso St., downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or . When: 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays; March 18 to April 5. (No matinee March 21. ) Tickets: $20 to $32. Call (800) 233-3123. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1--3) The 220-seat Union Center for the Arts in downtown Los Angeles is the new home of East West Players. In making the leap downtown, East West joins a small group of L.A. theater companies that have upgraded to midsize homes, enabling them to mount more expensive, ambitious productions. The change in status brings new opportunities - and subtle new pressures. ``It makes a difference in the way we're perceived by the community,'' says artistic director Tim Dang. Bob Halvorsen/Daily News |
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