Pan Asian Repertory Theatre's 43rd Art & Auction Gala Dinner Set For October 10

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre (Tisa Chang, Artistic Producing Director) will host a one-night only special event celebrating the upcoming season with the 43rd Art & Action Gala Dinner on Thursday evening, October 10, 2019 at The Golden Unicorn Restaurant in Chinatown (18 East Broadway at Catherine Street). Erin Quill and Henry Yuk return as Master of Ceremonies.

The 2019 Arts & Action Honorees are: stage, film and TV actor, director and educator Lu Yu, A.R.T. / New York's Executive Director Virginia P. Louloudes, and founder and managing Partner of NCheng LLP Nerou Cheng.

Tisa Chang, Artistic Producing director, stated, "Our Art & Action Annual Gala salutes and recognizes Artists and Community Leaders of distinction who have made a difference with their service and artistic endeavors."

The evening will be co-emceed by veterans Erin Quill (Avenue Q, King & I, and her blog, "The Fairy Princess Diaries") and Henry Yuk (Teahouse, Yellow Fever, You Can't Take It with You). The Benefit Committee for the event includes Ernest Abuba, Richard Chang, Tisa Chang, Abigail Felder, David L. Fung, Lucy Kan, Victor Kan, Dora Lu, Erin Quill and Henry Yuk. Special Guests include performer and presenter Grace Chang, Simone Genatt (Broadway Asia), Linda Herring, Chi Loek (OCA /NY), playwrights Damon Chua and Penny Jackson, and more to be announced shortly.

The festivities will begin at 6:00 p.m. with wine and appetizers and a sit down Chinese Banquet (Peking Duck, and traditional delectable treats) at 7:00 p.m., followed by the presentations co-hosted by Erin Quill and Henry Yuk. Individual tickets begin at $200 and sponsorship tables begin at $2,500. For additional information on Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, or to purchase tickets, please visit the website www.panasianrep.org, or via email at info@panasianrep.org. or by calling (212) 868-4030.

Lu Yu was a child star on national radio shows in Taiwan. After graduation with honor from the National Academy of Arts, he became a movie actor, and appeared in 30 Mandarin movies from Cathy Film Studios, as well as TV variety show host for Redifusion T.V. and produced and hosted 3 weekly radio programs for "The Voice of America" in Hong Kong.

An original member of La Mama ETC Chinatown, that brought him to Spoleto, Sicily, Venice Theatre Festivals in Italy, and Asian Arts Festival in Taipei. A co-founder of YanZe Rep. Theater Co. and a Senior Artist as well as Advisory Board Member at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre Company. He directed Butterfly Lovers at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, bringing together Peking Opera and Martha Graham modern dance. Nominated for an Emmy for his role in "Due South" on CBS and played a major role in Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending.

At A.R.T.S. Inc. and City Lore Inc, and Open Door Senior Center of CPC, he taught three generations of students from 4-years-old to 90-years-old, putting on shows in the public schools and various venues, that ranges from Chinese opera to Phantom of the Opera and everything in between. He is also doing Voiceovers in Mandarin and Cantonese, with a list of hundreds of clients.

Mr. Lu holds a Master of Science Degree in Education form New York's Long Island University specializing in Bi-Linqual Education, and speaks 5 Chinese dialects.

Virginia P. Louloudes (Ginny) is celebrating her 28th year as A.R.T. /New York Executive Director. Since her arrival in 1991, A.R.T./New York's budget has grown from $675,000 to $6 million, and its membership has grown from 150 to 400 theaters. Virginia conceived and developed many of A.R.T./New York's signature programs, including two shared office and rehearsal spaces: South Oxford Space and Spaces@520, the Nancy Quinn Fund, the Bridge Loan Fund, and the Theatre Leadership Program.

In January 2017, A.R.T./New York opened the doors of our most ambitious project ever: the A.R.T./New York Theatres, two state-of-the-art performance spaces of 87 and 149 seats respectively on West 53rd Street and 10th Avenue. The A.R.T./New York Theatre were built as a public-private partnership with the City of New York. As part of the New York City's Department of Design and Construction's Design Excellence Program, A.R.T./New York got to work with world-renowned architect Toshiko Mori! A.R.T./New York raised nearly $3 million to help subsidize rent for the next 25 years while being able to provide FREE technical equipment to our members. Virginia currently serves on the Board of the John Golden Foundations; and has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and as an Arts International marketing consultant to performing arts organizations in Prague. She has taught arts marketing in the Master's of Arts Management Programs at New York University and Marymount Manhattan College, and has served as a guest speaker at the Yale School of Drama. She has a BA in Humanities from Johns Hopkins University and an MA in Performing Arts Management from American University.

Nerou Cheng, CPA, is the founder and Managing Partner of Ncheng LLP, a multi-cultural accounting and advisory firm based in New York. Over the past 30 years Nerou has built Ncheng LLP into an 80-person firm dedicated exclusively to serving the non-profit and philanthropic sector. Ncheng LLP provides assurance, financial management, tax and CFO services that empower its non-profit clients so they can focus on their mission. The firm specializes in creating financial reporting solutions for internal controls, governance and regulatory compliance.

Nerou serves on the boards of The American Leaders Project, Apicha Community Health Center, Friends Without A Border and Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) and formerly a board member of Pan Asian Rep. He has an MBS from Ball State University, a BSBA from Georgetown University, an holds a Certificate in Public Accounting from Pace University.

Tisa Chang (Pan Asian Rep Founding Artistic Producing Director) has led the company since inception, promoting stories seldom told and voices seldom heard. She is a theatre professional with five decades of experience as an actor, dancer, and director. Highlights include: Sayonara; The Joy Luck Club; the epic play-with-music Cambodia Agonistes, which toured nationally and to Cairo and Johannesburg with a new anniversary production in May 2020; Kwatz! The Tibetan Project; and Rashomon, which was invited to Havana Theatre Festival in 2003. She innovated premieres, in English and Mandarin Chinese of the Peking opera, Return of the Phoenix, and A Midsummer Night's Dream at La Mama ETC.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, celebrating its 43rd Milestone Season, is the most veteran Asian American theatre company on the East Coast. With the help of the late Ellen Stewart and core Asian American artists at La Mama ETC, Tisa Chang founded Pan Asian Rep in 1977 with the vision that Asian American artists can equally follow their artistic aspirations to reach the zenith of American Theatre. Its mission is to provide professional theatre opportunities for Asian American artists to work under the highest standards of excellence and create new works that dignify Asian Americans and dispel stereotypes, 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: 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 Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; City Council member Margaret Chin; and major support from the Shubert, NY Community Trust, Howard Gilman, Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels, Lucille Lortel Foundations; and generous individuals.

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