The ReAct Media Section

Yellow Face

Press Release

Pull Date: July 29, 2012

ReAct Encores their Northwest Premiere of David Henry Hwang's award-winning new play YELLOW FACE

Center House Theatre, July 13 - 29, 2012: ReAct Theatre, Seattle's only Multi-ethnic Philanthropic Theatre Company, proudly encores our sell-out hit Northwest premiere co-production of YELLOW FACE, the Pulitzer-finalist and Obie-award winning comic mock documentary about mistaken racial identity by David Henry Hwang. Casting himself as the protagonist, Hwang recounts his hard-hitting attempts to protest yellow face casting in Miss Saigon on Broadway—and his own accidental casting of a white man as Asian. Mixing real events, real headlines and real people with fictional characters and dramatic license, YELLOW FACE explores and pokes fun at the role of race in modern American society, media, politics and theatre.

YELLOW FACE re-opens on Friday, July 13th with an 8:00pm performance and post-show gala. It runs Thursdays at 8:00pm, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Sundays at 7:00pm through July 29th. Allperformances will be held at the air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible Center House Theatre, which is located on the first floor of the Center House at the Seattle Center. The address is 305 Harrison Street. Street and paylot parking is available throughout the neighborhood. Special door prizes are also raffled off at the start of every performance.

Ticket prices are $15 General Admission; $12 Students/Seniors/Military/Disabled; and $9 for Children, with a $3 discount when purchased in advance. Additionally, the 8pm evening performance on Thursday July 19th is a "Pay-What-You-Can" performance. For more information and ticket reservations, please call the ReAct box office at (206) 364-3283 or visit online at www.reacttheatre.org. Advanced tickets are also available though the following outlets:
•Brown Paper Tickets: (800) 838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com for online, walk-up or charge-by-phone orders.
•Elliott Bay Book Company: (206) 624-6600 or (800) 962-5311 for walk-up orders starting June 1st.
Additional information is also available at:

Directed by ReAct's Artistic Director, David Hsieh, and originally co-produced with the Pork Filled Players, our encore of the premiere co-production of YELLOW FACE stars the local multi-ethnic talents of Julia Beers, Jeremy R. Behrens, Stephanie Kim, Mark Tyler Miller, Richard Sloniker, Henry Vu, and Moses Yim. Costumes by Jocelyne Fowler, sound by Johanna Melamed, and stage management by Jason Panzer.

David Henry Hwang's other plays include M. Butterfly (1988 Tony Award, 1989 Pulitzer Prize Finalist), Golden Child (1998 Tony Award nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The Dance and the Railroad (1982 Drama Desk Award nomination), Family Devotions (1982 Drama Desk Award nomination), Face Values and Bondage. He wrote the libretti for the Broadway musicals Aida (co-author), Flower Drum Song (revival, 2002 Tony Award nomination) and Disney's Tarzan. In opera, his libretti include four works with composer Philip Glass: The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera), 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, Sound and Beauty (seen in Chicago at the Court Theatre), and the upcoming Icarus at the Edge of Time; as well as Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards), Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland (Opernwelt 2007 "World Premiere of the Year") and Howard Shore's The Fly. Hwang penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate and Possession (co-author), and co-wrote the song "Solo" with Prince. He sits on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, and served by appointment of President Clinton on the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. His newest show, Chinglish, premieres at Chicago's Goodman Theatre this July and will be at New York's Public Theatre for their 2011-12 season.

Established in 1993, ReAct strives to provide affordable quality entertainment using primarily non-traditional and multi-ethnic casting. Its purpose is to give artists of all backgrounds the opportunity to work on mainstream projects they might not normally have access to due to ethnicity, gender, age or experience. A federally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit philanthropic company, ReAct also works to serve our community by using its productions to raise money, awareness and supplies for other arts and humanitarian organizations. ReAct's portion of this co-production will benefit the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Theatre Puget Sound, and other charities.

Performance Fact Sheet:

WHO: The Repertory Actors Theatre (ReAct Theatre)

WHAT: YELLOW FACE
by David Henry Hwang.

WHERE: Center House Theatre
305 Harrison Street at the Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

WHEN: July 13 - 29, 2012
playing Thursdays, at 8:00pm, Fridays at 8:00pm, Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 7:00pm.

HOW: Tickets/Reservations: Call (206) 364-3283 or visit http://www.reactacttheatre.org
General Admission: $15
Students/Seniors/Military/Disabled: $12
Children (ages 8-11): $9
Save $3 off admission by purchasing tickets in advance. Save $1 Off admission with a foodbank donation presented at the ReAct Box Office.
A "Pay-What-You-Can" performance at 8:00pm on Thursday, July 19th at 8:00pm and an "Industry Night" performance on Thursday, July 26th at 8:00pm.
Group Discount Rates are also available for parties of 10 or more.
Special ($6) Day of Show Rush Tickets for Theatre Artists are also available as space allows.

Advanced discounted tickets are also available through Brown Paper Tickets (800) 838-3006, http://www.brownpapertickets.com ; and other fine outlets, including the Elliott Bay Book Company on Capitol Hill.

                                  ###

PUBLICITY PHOTOS:

Please Click on thumbnail for Hi-Res image

Moses Yim as DHH with Henry Vu as HYH in ReAct's staging of Yellow Face. Photo: David Hsieh.

 

Moses Yim as DHH with Jeremy R. Behrens as Anthony in a scene from ReAct's local premiere of Yellow Face playing at Richard Hugo House. Photo: David Hsieh.

Additional images and graphics are available on our Box Office page or our Homepage.

Press Release

Pull Date: Indefinite

ReAct Opens the Prima Vera Arts Center

May 13, 2006. Seattle's only Multi-ethnic Philanthropic Theatre Company, ReAct, has great news to share - the launching of Prima Vera Arts Center. Located in the Seattle Center area at 112 5th Avenue North, 2nd Floor, the new center will be ReAct's primary rehearsal and meeting space.

ReAct has been prominently featured in the news this year as a result of a series of burglaries during three different productions at three different locations over the past three years. After hearing of ReAct's bad luck and upon seeing ReAct's most recent production of To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday, Vera and Joey Ing decided it was time to help ReAct turn their luck around. The 2nd Floor of their property across the street from KOMO-TV's Fisher Plaza was available, so the Seattle couple decided to donate the space for ReAct to use.

They are thrilled at the opportunity to create a gathering place for a multi-ethnic company like ReAct, and want to see the space come alive with and being utilized by artists. They adored not only To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, but also ReAct's original adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, ReAct's premiere of Uncle Hideki and the Empty Nest written by their close friend and local author Jean Davies Okimoto, and many other Asian American supportive theatre works to come.

Vera Ing serves on the Liquor Control Board and has been involved with many civic organizations such as Seattle Center, Mt. Baker Community Club, International District Improvement Association, International Rotary, and North Seattle Community College Foundation. She has also served on the executive boards of United Way, Asian American Management Association and the University of Washington Women Resource Center. Joey Ing, retired, was the principal architect with Ing & Associates. A few of his projects include the design for the International Children's Park in Seattle's International District and Anthony's at Pier 66.

ReAct will share the space with SIS Productions and Pork Filled Players. All three performing arts companies focus on developing the writing, acting, production and producing skills of local Asian American and multi-cultural talent.

The three groups celebrated the opening of the Prima Vera Arts Center, named after the space's benefactor, on Saturday, May 13, 2006 with a Ribbon Ceremony and Open House. "It's appropriate that a new space that will serve the Asian American performing arts groups in the area should open during May, which is recognized as Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month," states David Hsieh, Managing Artistic Director of ReAct.

The building is located between 5th Ave N. & Taylor Ave N. just off of Denny Ave N. on the East side of the Seattle Center, right next to Fat City Auto, across the street from KOMO-TV, and down the street from McDonald's. The monorail track runs right in front of the building. The front of the building is painted red and is a small, 2-story store front. The entrance is on the back-side of the building (painted purple with gray trim) on the 2nd floor (above the body building studio).

The Repertory Actors Theatre strives to produce quality theatrical entertainment using primarily multi-ethnic and non-traditional casting, by:
• Giving theatre artists of all backgrounds and skill-levels the opportunity to work together on mainstream projects that they might not normally have access to due to race, sex, age, or experience.
• Using our productions to help raise awareness, supplies and financial support for humanitarian and theatre-related charities and organizations.
• Developing in the general public, an increased appreciation for the dramatic and performing arts.

SIS Productions is a production company that strives to create, develop and produce quality works that involve Asian American women, their themes, and Asian American issues. SIS Productions encourages opportunities and support for Asian American women to be involved in all aspects of the production of artistic endeavors.

The Pork Filed Players is Seattle second oldest sketch comedy group. Since 1997, PFP has been the Northwest's premiere Asian American sketch comedy group, touring from Eugene, Oregon to Vancouver, BC, racking up appearances at the very first two Seattle Sketchfests, Bumbershoot 2004 and SketchOff@%#?!, the first international Asian sketch comedy competition. Over the years, the Players have employed an ever changing cast of characters in their never-ending battle for truth, pursuit of justice and finding out whatever the hell they mean by the American way of life in the 21st Century.

                                  ###

NEWS PHOTOS:

Please Click on thumbnail for Hi-Res image

The building owners and leaders from ReAct, SIS Productions and PFP, open the Prima Vera Arts Center with a Ribbon Ceremony. Photo: Roger Tang.

 

The entrance of ReAct's new Prima Vera Arts Center. Photo: Roger Tang.

 

Another photo of the Prima Vera Arts Center. Photo: Roger Tang.

Press Release

Pull Date: Indefinite

ReAct's Storage Facility Broken Into and Ransacked

Seattle, March 22, 2006: As the staff of ReAct Theatre was preparing for their 2006 season opener later this week, the poignant family drama TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY, they discovered that their south Seattle storage unit had been broken into, and thousands of dollars worth of irreplaceable costumes, props, set pieces and supplies had been stolen and ransacked.

The company's artistic director, David Hsieh, made the discovery yesterday afternoon when he visited their Public Storage rented facility on Martin Luther King Jr Way near Boeing Field, on Tuesday. He was stopping by to retrieve additional props, set dressings, lobby display tables and opening night party supplies. Hsieh was shocked and devastated. ReAct's storage unit was left in shambles, and even at first glance he could instantly tell that a lot of the company's assets, accumulated from nearly 15 years of production had been taken or damaged. The storage unit is located at 10020 M.L. King Way South.

For any company, this is a difficult hit to take... But this crime is particularly difficult for ReAct, a small non-profit theater company which donates its production proceeds to other arts and humanitarian charities, and works to provide opportunities for artists of color. This is unluckily the third theft crime that ReAct has had to endure in the past four years... A rash of theater break-ins by vagrants at the Bathhouse Theatre during the summer of 2003, cost the company an estimated $3000+ in pilfered period props and costumes, photographic equipment and concessions supplies when ReAct rented the space for their critically acclaimed production of the World War II drama, THE HASTY HEART. And just one year ago during ReAct's production of THE SHAPE OF THINGS by Neil LaBute, their locked dressing rooms at Richard Hugo House were accessed and the company lost $1500 worth of electronic projection equipment that was used in that show.

"I can't believe it! This sucks!" exclaimed ReAct Board member Angela DiMarco, yesterday when Hsieh contacted the company's board and supporters to inform them of the news. "It's just about all we have." The locking mechanism of ReAct's storage unit had been pulled completely off. There has reportedly been a string of recent break ins at that Public Storage facility in the past several months. Hsieh last visited the unit three weeks ago to grab some set pieces that needed to be repainted, and at that time, all was fine.

With ReAct's impending show opening tomorrow night, it will probably take the company's bare-bones staff and volunteers days just to even begin cleaning up and accessing the total loss. Sadly, other companies are also affected, as ReAct regularly loaned costumes, props and set pieces to other theater companies, including the Village Theatre, SiS Productions, and Theater Schmeater, just to name a recent few, as well as to many individual artists. If you have any information regarding these thefts, you are urged to please contact Officer Lee at the Seattle Police Department, case #06-116237. If you would like to help in any other way, please contact ReAct Theatre at (206)364-3283 or by email.

For ReAct, as always, the show must go on. The cast, crew and board has scampered to replace some of the lost stored items that were going to be used in their current show. Although many of the items taken or damaged may not have any high "street value"... to a theater company this size, they hold a great deal of monetary, intrinsic and not to mention historical and sentimental value, and the loss is a huge setback. ReAct's new Seattle production of TO GILLIAN ON HER 37TH BIRTHDAY by Michael Brady, the heart-warming family drama ironically about a widowers struggle to overcome his loss and grief, opens tomorrow and plays at Richard Hugo House through April 9th.

If you would like to help, aside from making a tax-deductible donation, please just spread the word to everyone you know about the incident. Someone somewhere may knows something that could perhaps lead to the recovery of some of the stolen property, or the apprehension of the culprit(s). A list of the missing items will be posted on ReAct's website next week after total loss and damages are assessed this weekend. ReAct also encourages you to please come support their current show if you can...Tickets are very inexpensive. It won't bring back their loss, but it will certainly help the company survive and move forward.

                                  ###

NEWS PHOTOS:

Please Click on thumbnail for Hi-Res image

To access ReAct's storage unit the cuplrits tore ReAct's lock clean through the gate locking mechanism. Photo: David Hsieh.

 

The ransackers left ReAct's storage unit in shambles after pilfering through everything. Photo: David Hsieh.