Pan Asian Repertory Theatre to Conclude 46th Season With YELLOW FEVER Reading & New Play Festival

To commemorate Asian Heritage Month in May, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre will wrap up its 46th milestone season with two noteworthy events: a special benefit reading of the Pan Asian Rep classic, Yellow Fever, a play by R.A. Shiomi for a limited two-performance benefit engagement to celebrate and honor the memory of founding core artist and award-winning actor Ernest Abuba, and the return of the annual new play festival NuWorks 2023.

Continuing the season of remembrance is a special reading of the Pan Asian Rep classic Yellow Fever, a play by R.A. Shiomi, the Sam Shikase detective series, that takes place on Powell Street in Japantown, Vancouver, a gathering place for the local Japanese-Canadian culture. Set in the 1970s, the Sam Spade-like main character, Sam Shikaze, must work to unravel the mysteries that surround him. Sam Shikaze, a smooth private eye, narrates his own story about what happened when he was hired to find the missing Cherry Blossom Queen. He is soon trapped in a web of racism and political intrigue that seems to lead back to the Hong Kong tongs. Chuck Chan is a lawyer who tried to help solve the case, while Nancy Wing is a beautiful reporter who is searching for a story. Captain Kadota, an old friend of Sam's, offers his aid as a member of the police force, although Sam and Kadota do not see eye-to-eye on politics. Yellow Fever received rave reviews when it premiered at Pan Asian Rep in 1982.

Directed by Raul Aranas, the seven-member cast will feature Don Castro as Kadota, Natsuko Hirano as Rose, David Huynh as Sam, Zack Lusk as MacKenzie, Nancy Ma as Nancy, James Patrick Nelson as Jameson/Goldberg, and Henry Yuk as Chuck. The special benefit reading will celebrate and honor the memory of core artist Ernest Abuba who received an OBIE Award for his performance of Kadota.

Rick Shiomi is reuniting with Pan Asian Rep after four decades. He is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Full Circle Theater. He has been a playwright, director, and artistic director in the Asian American theater movement since the 1980's and was a co-founder of Theater Mu and Artistic Director for twenty years. His plays include Yellow Fever, Fire In The New World and Mask Dance. His directing credits include Flower Drum Song (David Hwang version), Into the Woods, Caught by Christopher Chen and The Song Poet by Kao Kalia Yang. He has received The McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, The Ivey Award for Lifetime Achievement and the Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Vision.

Raul Aranas directed the acclaimed New York premiere of Yellow Fever in 1982 which led to a long Off Broadway run and many subsequent tours. His credits include Broadway: Loose Ends, Miss Saigon, The King And I, Flower Drum Song. Off-Broadway: Giant (Public Theatre), Beast (NYTW), Mother Courage (Delacorte/Public Theatre), Dogeaters (Public Theatre), Jungle of Cities (Public Theatre), The Tooth of Crime (LaMama ETC.), Shogun Macbeth (Pan Asian Rep.). Tour: Miss Saigon (Helen Hayes Award, Carbonell Award, Jefferson Award Nom-1st National Company). International: Miss Saigon (Theatre Royale, London). Regional: Giant (Signature Theatre, Virginia/DTC Dallas, TX), Pacific Overtures (IRNE Award---North Shore Theatre), Oliver (Gateway Playhouse, Bellport), Miss Saigon (5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle), Exit The King (Cleveland Playhouse), The King and I (Starlight Theatre, K.C.) Film & TV: Burn After Reading, Afterwards, Buzzkill, JFK, Company Man, "Law and Order," Gideon Oliver, "One Life To Live," "Bluebloods."

Tickets are priced at $100 for Premium Seats and $60 General Admission. Tickets may be purchased by visiting the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre website at www.panasianrep.org. TWO-PERFORMANCES ONLY: Wednesday, May 31 at 3:00pm and Thursday, June 1 at 7:00pm at Theater One at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

Pan Asian Rep culminates its 46th Milestone Season with a nine-day festival of diverse NuWorks 2023, an experimental series of self-created work from innovative artists exploring an eclectic range of genres and techniques using poetry, text, dance, and music. Plays, cast and creative teams will be announced shortly. The series begins Friday, June 3, 2023, and will conclude Sunday afternoon, June 11, 2023, at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street). Tickets are $25 (with $2.50 fee) and are available by visiting the website at www.panasianrep.org.

For additional information, please visit the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre website at www.panasianrep.org, or via email at info@panasianrep.org.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, celebrating its 46th Milestone Season, is the most veteran Asian American theatre company on the East Coast. Tisa Chang founded Pan Asian Rep in 1977 at Ellen Stewart's La Mama ETC with the vision to promote equity and access that Asian Americans artists can equally follow, focusing on stories of probing social justice issues with distinctive Off-Broadway Productions, Tours, National Outreach, and Community Service. Mel Gussow of The New York Times described it as "A Stage for All the World of Asian -Americans" and wrote that "Before Pan Asian Rep, Asian Americans had severely limited opportunities in the theater...." The company has nurtured thousands of artists and is a "who-is-who" of Asian American theatre history, with notable alumni/ae: Ako, Ernest Abuba, Tina Chen, Philip Gotanda, Wai Ching Ho, David Henry Hwang, Daniel Dae Kim, Lucy Liu, Ron Nakahara, R.A. Shiomi, Lauren Yee, and Henry Yuk.

Pan Asian Rep Programs are made possible, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; and major support from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Mary Li Hsu Charitable Trust, NY Community Trust, Shubert Foundation, Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels, Lucille Lortel Foundations; and many generous individuals.

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