CINDERELLA's Ann Harada, Playwright Carla Ching and More Set for CUNY TV's 'Asian American Life', Beg. Today

CUNY TV's monthly ASIAN AMERICAN LIFE series - nominated for a New York Emmy® Award for Best Public/Current/Community Affairs Series - returns in April with stories about two Asian Americans in the arts, how The Sikh Coalition is combatting bullying in schools across America, and Asian Americans in philanthropy. Hosted by Ernabel Demillo from The Asia Society Museum's current exhibit, Golden Vision of Densatil: A Tibetan Buddhist Monastery, the new episode premieres today, April 4 (2014) (*see below) and is available for viewing 24/7 on www.cuny.tv.

Ann Harada received rave reviews for her hilarious portrayal of Charlotte, one of two stepsisters in the Broadway musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. She talks with correspondent Paul Lin about her roles in theatre and television, including Broadway's Les Miserables and Avenue Q. And Ernabel Demillo meets with California playwright Carla Ching, whose new play about Asian American grifters, Fast Company, is at off-Broadway's Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Asian American and Southeast Asian students in New York City schools, and other Sikh school children across America, are targeted for bullying due to a misunderstanding linking their turbans to those of terrorists. Reporter Mike Gilliam provides an in-depth look at The Sikh Coalition, a non-profit organization dealing with the civil and human rights of Sikhs, "a peaceful people," according to co-founder Amardeep Singh, interviewed in the show.

A new class of affluent Asian Americans is giving back to philanthropic and charitable causes. AAL Correspondent Kyung Yoon - who co-founded the Korean American Community Foundation, which provides funds to non-profits - interviews leaders in philanthropy including Martha Choe, Chief Administrative Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Peggy Saika, President and Executive Director of Asian American Pacific Islanders In Philanthropy; and Charlotte Chen Ackert, a New York philanthropist who funds educational and children's causes.

*Broadcast and cablecast at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm; repeated Sunday 4/6 at noon; Friday 4/18 at 10am, 3pm and 8:30pm; and Sunday 4/20 at noon on CUNY TV. CUNY TV is broadcast over-the-air in the tri-state area on Ch. 25.3, and cablecast in the five boroughs of New York City on Ch. 75 (Time Warner and Cablevision/Optimum), Ch. 77 (RCN) and Ch. 30 (Verizon FiOS). On and after April 4, the program can also be viewed online anytime on www.cuny.tv.

Pictured: (L to R) Actress Ann Harada; Sikh Coalition co-founder Amardeep Singh; playwright Carla Ching; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CAO Martha Choe; Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy President & Executive Director Peggy Saika. (Photos courtesy Asian American Life/CUNY TV)