Hawaiian Hip Hop Piece 'I Land' Opens Off-Bway April 29

I Land - a new play about playwright and performer Keo Woolford's search for the meaning of heritage in the post-modern world - will premiere this spring in an Off-Broadway production presented by Ma-Yi Theater Company at The Culture Project (55 Mercer Street) in Manhattan. Directed by Roberta Uno, previews for the show begin April 20, prior to an official press opening on April 29.

Performed and written by actor, former boy band star, and Merrie Monarch Award-winning hula dancer Keo Woolford, I Land combines hula, hip-hop, traditional Hawaiian talk story, and spoken word. I Land also features the choreography of hip-hop star "Rokafella" and the well-known kumu hula Robert Cazimero.

According to press materials, "Woolford's semi-autobiographical journey navigates the many worlds where hula lives: from backyard parties to Hollywood kitsch to the realm of the sacred. Along the way, islands -- separated by geography and culture -- collide: a hotel hula show and conservatory audition; a Catholic high school and an evangelical church service; a moment of pop stardom and the opportunity to learn from a hula master."

Born and raised in Hawaii, Keo Woolford starred, opposite Josie Lawrence ("The Complete Guide to Parenting") as the King in the long-running West End revival of The King and I at the London Palladium. In New York, he has been seen in References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, Karaoke Stories, Sonnets for an Old Century, The Greeks and Journey of Prince Jen.

Woolford began his professional acting and writing career in 1995 with his critically acclaimed, solo work, He Hawaii Au. While in Hawaii, he also joined Robert Cazimero's famed all-male hula troupe Halau Na Kamalei and performed throughout the U.S. and Japan with The Brothers Cazimero Royal Dance Company.

Director Roberta Uno is the founding Artistic Director of Amherst, Massachusetts' New World Theater which has earned an international
reputation as a visionary theater dedicated to works by artists of color.  Some of her directing credits include James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie, Edwin Sanchez's, Unmerciful Good Fortune, David Henry Hwang's Dance and the Railroad, and Diana Son's Stop Kiss.

The Ma-Yi company was founded to develop new plays and performances about the Asian-American experience—Challenging the perceptions of what culturally specific theater should be by producing forward-thinking plays by today's emerging playwrights. Ma-Yi is one of three companies spear-heading the first National Asian American Theater Festival, set to take place in New York City, June 11-24, 2007.

Performances of I Land run from April 20 through May 13 at The Culture Project-SoHo (55 Mercer Street), Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm, with the following exception: Opening Night, Sunday, April 29 at 5pm. Tickets are $30 during previews; $38 after April 29; students $20/$25 and seniors $27/$35. Group discounts are available. For tickets, call TheaterMania.com at 212-352-3101 or online at www.ma-yitheatre.org.

For more information, visit www.ma-yitheatre.org.