Photos: Go Inside Rehearsals for the World Premiere of THE HEART SELLERS at Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Milwaukee Rep will present the world premiere of The Heart Sellers by award-winning playwright Lloyd Suh (The Chinese Lady, The Far Country) in the Stiemke Studio February 7 - March 19, 2023, with opening night set for Friday, February 10 at 8pm.

Get a first look at rehearsal photos below!

Lloyd Suh is the recent recipient of the 2022 Steinberg Playwright Award and the author of The Chinese Lady (produced at Milwaukee Rep in 2019 and with Ma-Yi at The Public Theater last spring), The Far Country (Atlantic), Bina's Six Apples (Alliance / Children's Theatre Co.), Charles Francis Chan Jr.'s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery, Franklinland, American Hwangap, and more. His work has been produced at theaters across the country, and internationally at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and with PCPA at the Guerilla Theatre in Seoul, Korea. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, the Horton Foote Prize, and the Helen Merrill Award. He was elected in 2016 to the Dramatists Guild Council.

The Heart Sellers features Narea Kang (The Chinese Lady, Denver Center) as Jane and Nicole Javier (Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, South Coast Rep) as Luna, two women who together find direction in the land of opportunity.

The Heart Sellers creative team includes director Jennifer Chang (Vietgone, East West Players), set designer Tanya Orellana (On Gold Mountain, LA Opera/Huntington Gardens), costume designer Anthony Tran (Vietgone, MTC), lighting designer Noele Stollmack (The Chinese Lady, Milwaukee Rep), sound designer Sun Hee Kil (As You Like It, Shakespeare in the Park), voice and dialect coach Joy Lanceta Coronel, dramaturg Christine Mok and stage manager Jade Bruno.

Funny and deeply moving, The Heart Sellers gives voice to the Asian immigrant experience in the 1970s when the landmark Hart-Celler Act granted thousands of professional workers a new path to citizenship. But for new Americans Jane and Luna, life in the USA with their workaholic husbands has left them feeling isolated and invisible. One Thanksgiving - over sips of wine and a questionable frozen turkey - they reminisce and dream of spreading their wings together in the land of opportunity: disco dancing, learning to drive and even a visit to Disneyland. With grace and dignity, this powerful play asks: "Would you give up your heart to make a new home?"

The world premiere of The Heart Sellers is a John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Program Production with Executive Producers Rhonda and Greg Oberland, Mara and Craig Swan and Associate Producer Krista Kile. The Stiemke Studio Season is presented by Four-Four Foundation with additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. The Heart Sellers is a proud part of World Premiere Wisconsin, a state-wide festival celebrating new plays and musicals from March 1 - June 30, 2023. To learn more visit www.worldpremierewisconsin.com

The Heart Sellers runs February 7 - March 19, 2023, in the Stiemke Studio. Opening night is set for Friday, February 10 at 8pm. To purchase tickets to go to www.MilwaukeeRep.com, call the Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 or visit in person at 108 E Wells Street in Downtown Milwaukee.

For more information, please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com.

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