| Ma-Yi Theater Company Extends FELIX STARRO to September 21 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 11:19 am EDT 09/05/19 | |
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| MA-YI THEATER COMPANY EXTENDS WORLD PREMIERE OF FELIX STARRO TO SEPTEMBER 21 First Filipino Musical Off-Broadway Opens Ma-Yi’s 30th Anniversary Season Ma-Yi Theater Company presents Felix Starro (world premiere) Book & Lyrics by Jessica Hagedorn Music by Fabian Obispo Choreography by Brandon Bieber Directed by Ralph B. Peña Tuesday–Sunday at 7pm; Saturday & Sunday at 2pm through September 21 Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, Manhattan) $52–$102; ma-yitheatre.org; 212-239-6200 In response to popular demand and critical acclaim, Ma-Yi Theater Company is pleased to extend the world premiere of Felix Starro, a new musical by Jessica Hagedorn and Fabian Obispo, to September 21. Based on a powerful short story by acclaimed writer Lysley Tenorio, Felix Starro, which opened on September 3, marks the first-time-ever a musical created by Filipino Americans will be presented Off-Broadway. Directed by Ma-Yi’s Producing Artistic Director Ralph B. Peña and choreographed by Brandon Bieber (FX’s Fosse/Verdon), Felix Starro explores issues of faith, family, love, loss, betrayal, and what it means to be an undocumented immigrant in America. Opening Ma-Yi’s 30th anniversary season, Felix Starro represents another milestone in Ma-Yi’s distinguish history of creating new work that shapes the national discourse about what it means to be Asian American today. Jesse Green in The New York Times found the music “moving and timely” and noted that Felix Starro’s expansion of the musical art form is “a miracle worth believing in.” In Time Out New York, Raven Snook found Felix Starro “universal in appeal” and also “unique to Filipino culture.” In Theater Pizzazz, Carole Di Tosti called the musical “riveting” and “richly profound,” while Darryl Reilly in TheaterScene.net found Felix Starro “engrossing” and “impressive.” In Felix Starro, protagonist Felix is a famous faith healer in the Philippines, whose clients once included celebrities and big politicians. After falling on hard times, Felix decides to go to San Francisco for one last healing mission with ailing Filipinos in the Bay Area. Junior, Felix Starro’s nineteen-year-old, orphan grandson, goes along as his assistant. Unbeknownst to Felix, Junior has plans of his own. The cast for Felix Starro includes Alan Ariano (The King and I, Miss Saigon) at Felix Starro, Caitlin Cisco (The Hundred We Are) as Crystal, Francisca Muñoz as Mrs. Delgado, Ryan James Ortega as Bobby/Ramon, Diane Phelan (School of Rock) as Charma, Nacho Tambunting (NBC’s Rise) as Junior, and Obie and Lortel award-winner Ching Valdes-Aran as Flora. The creative team also includes Obie award-winner Marsha Ginsberg (scenic design), Becky Bodurtha (costume design), Oliver Wason (lighting design), Julian Evans (sound design), Paulo K Tiról (orchestrations), Ian Miller (musical director), Cristina Sison (production stage manager), and Jorge Z. Ortoll (executive producer) Performances of Felix Starro will now take place through September 21 at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street in Manhattan). Performances run Tuesday–Sunday at 7pm and Saturday & Sunday at 2pm. Tickets, priced at $52–$102, can be purchased by visiting ma-yitheatre.org or by calling Telecharge at 212-239-6200. About the Creative Team Jessica Hagedorn (book & lyrics) was born and raised in the Philippines and came to the United States in her early teens. Her novels include Toxicology, Dream Jungle, The Gangster Of Love, and Dogeaters, winner of the American Book Award and a finalist for the National Book Award. Hagedorn is also the author of Danger And Beauty, a collection of poetry and prose, and the editor of three anthologies: Manila Noir, Charlie Chan Is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction and Charlie Chan Is Dead 2: At Home In The World. Work for the stage includes adaptations of Dogeaters and The Gangster Of Love, collaborations with Fabian Obispo (Felix Starro), Mark Bennett (Most Wanted), Campo Santo (Stairway To Heaven, Fe In The Desert), Han Ong (Airport Music), Robbie McCauley & Laurie Carlos (Teenytown), Urban Bush Women (Heat), Blondell Cummings (The Art Of War/Nine Situations), Lawrence “Butch” Morris (Crayon Bondage), Michael Gregory Jackson (Mango Tango), and Ntozake Shange & Thulani Davis (Where The Mississippi Meets The Amazon). Hagedorn wrote the screenplay for Fresh Kill, a feature film directed by Shu Lea Cheang. She wrote the scripts for the experimental animated series The Pink Palace, which was created for the first season of the Oxygen Network. From 1975-85, Hagedorn led a band called The Gangster Choir. One of their signature songs, “Tenement Lover”, is part of John Giorno’s ‘80s music anthology, A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth Of A Corpse. Honors and prizes include a Gerbode, Hewlett Foundations’ Playwriting Award, a Philippine National Book Award, a Lucille Lortel Playwrights’ Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fiction Fellowship, a Kesselring Prize Honorable Mention for Dogeaters, an NEA-TCG Playwriting Residency Fellowship, as well as fellowships from the Sundance Playwrights’ Lab and the Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab. She is presently working on a musical play about the pioneering, all-female rock band, Fanny. Apart from being internationally renowned for his iconic choral arrangements of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, Fabian Obispo (composer) has been a longtime composer and sound designer of Ma-Yi Theater Company, having previously worked on The Chinese Lady, Teenage Dick, House/Rules, and The Romance of Magno Rubio, just to name a few. His recent Off-Broadway credits include Sea Wall/A Life, Oedipus El Rey (Public Theater), Grace, A Very Common Procedure, Last Easter, Intrigue With Faye, Bright Ideas, What of the Night, Oroonoko, Durango, The Right Kind of People, No Foreigners Beyond this Point, Rubio, Two Sisters and a Piano, and The Square. Regionally, he has designed and composed for Arena Stage, Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theatre, D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, Syracuse Stage, New York Stage & Film, Westport Country Playhouse, Asolo Repertory Playhouse, and Perseverance Theatre, among others. His work has been recognized with the American Theatre Wing’s Hewes Design Award, as well as Helen Hayes, Barrymore, NAACP, Jackie, and Bay Area Critics Circle award nominations. Ralph B. Peña (director) has been Ma-Yi Theater’s Artistic Director since 1996, and has been instrumental in establishing Ma-Yi Theater Company as the country’s leading incubator of new works by Asian American playwrights, reaping numerous Obie and Drama Desk Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award for Best Musical (KPOP), and most recently, the 2018 Ross Wetzsteon Obie Award. Recent directing credits include The Chinese Lady, Among The Dead, and House/Rules. Apart at Ma-Yi Theater, his work has been seen on the stages of Ensemble Studio Theater, the Public Theater, Long Wharf Theater, Victory Gardens, Laguna Playhouse, Children’s Theater Company, and La Mama ETC, to name a few. About Ma-Yi Theater Company Founded in 1989 and now celebrating its 30th season, Ma-Yi Theater Company is a Drama Desk, Lortel, and Obie Award-winning, Off-Broadway not-for-profit organization whose primary mission is to develop and produce new and innovative plays by Asian American writers. Since its founding, Ma-Yi has distinguished itself as one of the country’s leading incubators of new work shaping the national discourse about what it means to be Asian American today. Its numerous acclaimed productions include Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick and Bike America, Qui Nguyen's The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G and Soul Samurai (with Vampire Cowboys), and Hansol Jung’s Among The Dead. Other productions include: Rescue Me by Michi Barall, Lloyd Suh's The Chinese Lady and Lonnie Carter’s The Romance of Magno Rubio. Ma-Yi Writers Lab, a signature program founded in 2004, is the largest resident company of Asian-American playwrights ever assembled. Currently led by co-directors Michael Lew and A. Rey Pamatmat, the Lab emboldens a new generation of Asian American artists to voice their experiences, while developing a steady stream of quality new works by Asian American playwrights for Ma-Yi’s own performing repertory. New works developed at the Writers Lab have gone on to successful productions around the country, at such theaters as Victory Gardens, Laguna Playhouse, Long Wharf Theater, Woolly Mammoth and the Actors Theater of Louisville, to name a few. Ma-Yi’s productions have earned 10 Obie Awards, 5 Henry Hewes Award nominations, a Drama Desk nomination for Best Play and the Special Drama Desk Award for ‘more than two decades of excellence and for nurturing Asian-American voices in stylistically varied and engaging theater.” Ma-Yi Theater is under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Ralph B. Peña. |
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