EMPRESS MEI LI LOTUS BLOSSOM To Premiere At WTFringe2020/Women's Theatre Festival

EMPRESS MEI LI LOTUS BLOSSOM, written and directed by Christine Toy Johnson, will stream live during the WTFringe 2020 and the 2020 Women's Theatre Festival on July 10 and 11. The 20-minute comedy tells the story of a Teaneck-born Asian American actress who adopts the persona of an exotic Hong Kong movie star so she can get her shot on Broadway and features Rin Allen, Rebecca Hirota and Deborah Lew.

A talkback about Asian American representation and stereotypes will take place after the July 10 performance with Johnson, Cindy Cheung and Nandita Shenoy (all steering committee members of AAPAC, the Asian American Performers Action Coalition).

Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Information on how to view is included in the links below.

Link to watch the July 10 performance at 7:30 pm: https://wtvirtualf2020.sched.com/event/cl8v/empress-mei-li-lotus-blossom-special-performance-talkback-not-a-lotus-blossom-busting-asian-american-stereotypes-on-stage

Link to watch the July 11 performance at 9 pm: https://wtvirtualf2020.sched.com/event/chvB/empress-mei-li-lotus-blossom-wtfringe-performance

Christine Toy Johnson (playwright/director) is an award-winning writer, actor, director and advocate for inclusion. Her written works have been produced and/or developed by the Roundabout, Village Theatre, Barrow Group, Prospect Theatre, Weston Playhouse, O'Neill, CAP 21 and more and are included in the Library of Congress's Asian Pacific American Performing Arts Collection (Playwrights Division). She is an alum of the BMI Musical Theatre Writing Workshop, was a 2016 fellow of The Writers Lab (supported by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and NYWIFT), was the 2013 recipient of the Rosetta LeNoire Award from Actors' Equity, serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild and is host of the Guild's podcast "Talkback" on Broadway Podcast Network. As an actor, Christine has worked extensively on Broadway, Off-Broadway and on television and is on "extended intermission" from the North American tour of COME FROM AWAY. She is currently writing book & lyrics for a new musical with composer/lyricist Jason Ma, commissioned by Village Theatre, as well as several other pieces to get her mind off of the pandemic. For details, please visit www.christinetoyjohnson.com

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