'The Joy Luck Club' Opens August 24; Tim Dang Directs
By: Marianka Swain Jul. 03, 2019
WHAT: The Joy Luck Club. The play based on the best-selling novel.
WHO: Adapted for the stage by Susan Kim. Based on the novel by Amy Tan. Directed by Tim Dang. Produced for Sierra Madre Playhouse by Christian Lebano.
WHERE: Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024. This is just east of Pasadena. There is parking on the street and in free lots behind the Playhouse and across the street.
WHEN: Previews Friday, August 23 at 8:00 p.m. Opens Saturday, August 24, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. Runs through Saturday, October 5. Show times: Friday and Saturday at 8:00, Sun. at 2:30. There will also be Saturday matinees at 2:30 on September 7, 14, 21, 28 and October 5. There will also be a pay-what-you-can performance on Monday, September 30 at 8:00 p.m.
ADMISSION: $45. Seniors (65+) $40. Youth (to age 21) $25. Preview on August 23, $20.
RESERVATIONS: (626) 355-4318.
ONLINE TICKETING: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org
San Francisco, 1987. A quartet of Chinese women meet regularly at their Joy Luck Club to play Mah Jong and socialize. When the group's founder passes away, her American-born daughter is invited to join the group.
The Joy Luck Club tells the story of four older Chinese-American women and their complex relationships with their American-born daughters. The play moves from China in the early 20th Century and San Francisco from the 1950s to the 1980s, as the eight women struggle across a seemingly unpassable chasm of culture, generation and expectations to find strength and happiness,
The cast includes (in alphabetical order) Christopher Chen, Lee Chen, Victor Chi, Debbie Fan, April Lam, Katharine Chen Lerner, Christine Liao, Sharline Liu, Peggy Lu, Nancy Ma, Grace Shen and Gloria Tsai..
Tim Dang directs. Previously at Sierra Madre Playhouse, he directed Nothing Is the Same. Mr. Dang is Producing Artistic Director Emeritus, of East West Players, guiding that group from 1993 through 2016, making himself and his company among the most highly regarded in the Los Angeles theatrical community. He is the recipient of Ovation Awards for directing Pacific Overtures and for directing and producing Sweeney Todd. He received numerous awards for direction, production and performance from Backstage West and Drama-Logue. He has directed 39 shows in an astonishingly prolific career. He has also been a playwright and lyricist (co-writing Nisei Widows Club, Canton Jazz Club, Beijing Spring). His numerous honors include Tim Dang Day (L.A. City Council); Local Hero of the Year (KCET/Union Bank); Top 100 Asian Americans of the Decade (A. Magazine); Leadership Award (James Irvine Foundation); Zelda Fichandler Award (Society of Directors and Choreographers); many, many more. Tim will continue to initiate and innovate diversity and inclusion across the American theatre.
Susan Kim is the playwright. Her script for The Joy Luck Club derives from the best-selling novel by Amy Tan. Ms. Kim's other works for the stage include Dreamtime for Alice, Merlin's Apprentice, Momento Mori, Rapid Eye Movement and Where It Came From.
Stage Manager: Kristin Bolinski. Assistant Stage Manager: KC Read-Fisher. Set and projection designs: Yee Eun Nam. Costume design: JoJo Siu. Resident lighting designer: Derek Jones. Sound design and original music: Nathan Wang. Lobby design and special events curator: Diane Siegel. Sierra Madre Playhouse Artistic Director: Christian Lebano. Managing Director: Estelle Campbell. Production manager: Owen Lewis.
"...Stories that only at the very end come together in a single vision of the rich complexity of family affections."----New York Times
'Absolute catnip for moms of all ethnicities and their female progeny."---BackStage
"Permeated with wit, pathos and the instinct to survive."----Associated Press
Regardless of your own background, you'll appreciate the narratives of struggle, conflict, affection, love and bonding of the women of The Joy Luck Club.
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