Photo Flash: SHE-WOLF ASSASSIN AT ARMAGEDDON! Begins at La MaMa

La MaMa, in association with Crossing Jamaica Avenue, presents the New York Premiere of the acclaimed Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon!, featuring original music and a concept by Fred Ho, co-written by Fred Ho and Ruth Margraff, directed by Sonoko Kawahara, with martial arts choreography by Emmanuel Brown (Broadway's Spiderman) and Japanese sword fighting choreography by Yoshi Amao. The show runs from tonight, May 16 - June 2, 2013 at La MaMa's Ellen StewartTheatre, located at 66 East 4th Street between 2nd Avenue & the Bowery. Previews begin tonight, May 16 for a May 18 opening at 7:30pm. Meet the cast in the photos below!

Raised as a weapon by a brutal conspirator, a young female assassin discovers that her target has spun the empire of Japan into crisis and ruin. Torn between loyalty to her mission, her nation and her soul, she must face the unimaginable at the twilight of an imperial epoch in a cathartic story of desperation, revenge and intrigue.

A daring and imaginative homage to the 1970s Japanese raging cult manga, comic book, film and TV hit, "Lone Wolf and Cub," Deadly She-Wolf Assassin at Armageddon! is a martial arts-samurai-sword-fighting-music/theater-fantasy-action-adventure-blockbuster. Deadly She-Wolf explodes with a ferocious stylistic mix of Japanese Noh theater and modern-day anime and manga influences, incorporating unique multi-martial arts and sword fighting choreography along with a glorious score fusing traditional Japanese music and soul-jazz. Featuring the Afro Asian Music Ensemble led by Masaru Koga.

The cast includes Yoshi Amao, Ai Ikeda, Marina Celander, Rick Ebihara, Bradley Fong, Jerry Ford, Takemi Kitamura, Luca Nicora, Koji Nishiyama, Teake, Jet Yung and Perry Yung. The creative team includes Anka Lupes (Production Design), Chad McArver (Lighting Design) and Youn Jung Kim (Stage Manager).

Fred Ho (Composer, Co-writer) is a noted Asian American, musical composer, saxophonist, cancer survivor, radical activist and public intellectual. He leads the Afro Asian Music Ensemble, Green Monster Big Band and Monkey Orchestra. Ho won the 2011 John P. Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for Music Composition, received the 2010 American Music Center's Letter of Distinction and he's the 2009 Harvard Arts Medalist. He has won two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships, three New York Foundation for the Arts fellowships and six awards from the Rockefeller Foundation. Ho has over 25 recordings as a band leader, has published eight books, and composed a dozen operas. His martial arts ballet-opera, Voice Of The Dragon, toured 33 cities in the U.S. For more info on Fred Ho visit www.BigRedMediaInc.com.

Ruth Margraff (Co-writer) has co-written six martial arts operas with Fred Ho for BAM's Next Wave Festival, the Guggenheim Museum, Japan Society, the Apollo Theater and a U.S. tour of performing art centers. Margraff tours regularly with her Café Antarsia Ensemble and other working-class operas throughout the world. Her writing has been produced in New York at the Ice Factory Festival, PS122, HERE, Lincoln Center and The Kitchen, and nationally at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Walker Art Center and Trap Door Theater.

Sonoko Kawahara (Director) is originally from Tokyo. She develops original pieces that integrate text, music, movement and visual elements. Her works have been presented in New York at NYTW, DTW, HERE, PS122 and Women's Project. She has directed utilizing various art forms including Otome Bunraku for Thousand Years Waiting (PS122), Beijing opera for The Queen Says Farewell (Connelly Theatre), Noh for Noh Fusion (NYTW) and Kabuki for The Cherry Orchard: Firs's Dream (Chekhov Festival). She is a member of NYTW's "Usual Suspects."

La MaMa is a remarkable arts institution with a world-wide reputation for producing cutting-edge work in theater, dance, performance art, and music. Founded in 1961 by theater pioneer and legend, Ellen Stewart, La MaMa has produced and presented more than 3,500 theatrical productions to date and is a vital part of the fabric of cultural life in New York City and around the world. La MaMa has been honored with more than 30 OBIE Awards, dozens of Drama Desk and Bessie Awards, and, in 2006, Ellen Stewart was recognized with a special TONY Award.

Deadly She-Wolf producers include Big Red Media (www.BigRedMediaInc.com) and Spectrum Music (http://SpectrumMusic.net). The show is supported by the Consulate General of Japan New York. Deadly She-Wolf was originally commissioned by the Japan Society and Peregrine Arts.

Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30pm and Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30pm. Tickets are $30 / $25 (students and seniors), Appropriate for ages 10 and up. Available online at http://LaMaMa.org, by phone 212-475-7710 and at box office. Running time is 90 minutes including intermission. La MaMa is accessible from the F train to 2nd Ave. or the #6 train to Bleecker St. Follow the show on Twitter at @DEADLYSHEW0LF or Facebook. For more info about the artists and performers visit www.CrossingJamaicaAvenue.org.