2012/13 season > Chinglish > Who’s who
who’s who
David Henry Hwang, Playwright
Leigh Silverman, Director
David Korins, Scenic Design
Anita Yavich, Costume Design
Brian MacDevitt, Lighting Design
Darron L West, Sound Design
Jeff Sugg, Projection Design
Shawn Duan, Projection Design
Oanh X. Nguyen, Assistant Director
Rod Lemmond, Associate Scenic Design
Nancy A. Palmatier, Associate Costume Design
Jennifer Schriever, Lighting Design Re-creation
Michael Suenkel, Stage Manager
Leslie M. Radin, Assistant Stage Manager
Amy Potozkin, CSA, Casting
Lily Fan, Artistic Associate
Stephen Edwards, Assistant Set Design
Lynne Soffer, Dialect Coach
Larry Lei Zhang, Dialect Coach
Jon Wai-keung Lowe, Supertitles Operator
Cast
Vivian Chiu, Zhao
Celeste Den, Miss Qian / Prosecutor Li
Michelle Krusiec, Xi Yan
Austin Ku, Bing / Judge Geming
Alex Moggridge, Daniel Cavanaugh
Brian Nishii, Peter
Larry Lei Zhang, Minister Cai
David Henry Hwang
Playwright
David’s plays include Bondage, The Dance and the Railroad (1982 Drama Desk Award nomination), Family Devotions (1982 Drama Desk Award nomination), FOB (1981 Obie Award), Golden Child (1997 Obie Award and 1998 Tony Award nomination), M. Butterfly (1988 Tony Award and 1989 Pulitzer Prize finalist) and Yellow Face (2008 Obie Award and 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist). He also wrote the libretti for three Broadway musicals: Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida (co-author), Disney’s Tarzan and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (revival, 2002 Tony Award nomination). In opera, his libretti include 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, Icarus at the Edge of Time, Sound and Beauty (at the Court Theatre) and The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera) with Philip Glass; as well as Howard Shore’s The Fly, Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards) and Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland (Opernwelt 2007 “World Premiere of the Year”). David penned the feature films Golden Gate, M. Butterfly and Possession (co-author), and cowrote the song “Solo” with Prince. He sits on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, and by appointment of President Clinton served on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
Leigh Silverman
Director
Leigh directed Lisa Kron’s In the Wake at Berkeley Rep, a co-production with Center Theatre Group. The play went on to The Public Theater where she received an Obie Award and Lucille Lortel nomination. Chinglish, which she directed both at the Goodman Theater (Jeff nomination) and on Broadway, marks Leigh’s second premiere of a work by David Henry Hwang, having previously directed Yellow Face at CTG and The Public. She also directed the world premieres of: Lisa Kron’s Well (which transferred to Broadway after premiering at The Public, the Huntington Theatre Company and American Conservatory Theater), Beebo Brinker Chronicles at Hourglass Group/37 Arts, Blue Door at Playwrights Horizons and Seattle Repertory Theatre, Close Up Space at Manhattan Theatre Club, Coraline at MCC/True Love, Creature at New Georges/P73, From Up Here at MTC (Drama Desk nomination), Go Back To Where You Are at Playwrights Horizons (Obie Award), Hunting and Gathering at Primary Stages, Jump/Cut at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company/Theater J and Women’s Project, Oedipus at Palm Springs at NYTW, The Retributionists at Playwrights Horizons and also Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at Second Stage Theatre and many other regional productions. She also directed Wit at the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End. Leigh is on the board of SDC.
David Korins
Scenic Design
David designed Berkeley Rep’s productions of Finn in the Underworld, In the Wake and Passing Strange. His Broadway credits include Bridge & Tunnel, Bring It On: The Musical, Chinglish, An Evening with Patti Lupone & Mandy Patinkin, Godspell, Lombardi, Magic/Bird, Passing Strange and The Pee-Wee Herman Show, as well as the upcoming productions of Annie and Motown. He has designed shows for many off-Broadway and regional theatres, as well as several concerts for Kanye West. David has received a Drama Desk Award, two Hewes Design Awards, a Lucille Lortel Award and the 2009 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Design. Visit davidkorinsdesign.com.
Anita Yavich
Costume Design
Anita designed Dael Orlandersmith’s costume for the world premiere of Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men and The Oresteia at Berkeley Rep, and she was the costume designer for the Broadway run of Chinglish. Her work has been seen in the Broadway shows Anna in the Tropics and Venus in Fur. Her other New York credits include Civil Sex, Kit Marlowe, Measure for Pleasure, Pericles and The Winter’s Tale at The Public/New York Shakespeare Festival; Coraline, The Submission and The Wooden Breeks at MCC; Coriolanus, Macbeth, Svejk and The Taming of the Shrew at Theatre for a New Audience; Henry V with the New Victory Theater and the Guthrie Theater; Iphigenia 2.0 at Signature Theatre Company; and New Jerusalem, Orlando and Texts for Nothing at Classic Stage Company. Anita’s opera designs include Cyrano de Bergerac at La Scala, the Met and the Royal Opera House; Fidelio, Das Rheingold, Salome and Die Walküre at Washington National Opera; Der Fliegende Hollander and The Silver River at the Spoleto Festival USA; Madame Butterfly at Houston Grand Opera and Grand Théâtre de Genève; the international tour of Steve Reich’s Three Tales; and Les Troyens at the Met. She also was the puppet and costume designer for Salzburger Marionettentheater’s The Sound of Music. Anita is the recipient of a 2006 Obie Award.
Brian MacDevitt
Lighting Design
Brian has designed over 60 productions on Broadway including The Book of Mormon, for which he earned a Tony Award, as well as Chinglish, Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols, and Mountaintop with Samuel Jackson. He also designed The Enchanted Island and Le Compte Ory at the Met. He also directed Proof at Theatre Three. Brian has worked with many dance companies and choreographers, including American Ballet Theatre, Nancy Bannon, Merce Cunningham, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and Tere O’Connor Dance. Brian has received a number of awards, including a Bessie Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Hewes Award, an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award and five Tony Awards. He is a member of Naked Angels and is on the faculty at the University of Maryland. Brian is the father of Jake and Georgie and offers special thanks to Jennifer Schriever and Ariel Benjamin.
Darron L West
Sound Design
Darron is an award-winning sound designer whose work for theatre and dance has been heard in over 500 productions nationally and internationally, on Broadway and off. His past Berkeley Rep credits include Compulsion, Finn in the Underworld and To the Lighthouse. His accolades for sound design include the 2006 AUDELCO Award, the 2010 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, the eddy Award, the 2004 and 2005 Henry Hewes Design Award, the 2006 Lucille Lortel Award, the Obie Award, the Princess Grace Award and the 2012 Tony Award. Darron is the sound designer and founding member of Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, and the former resident sound designer for Actors Theater of Louisville and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Jeff Sugg
Projection Design
Jeff is a New York-based artist, designer and technical advisor. His work has been previously seen at Berkeley Rep in Compulsion. Some of his theatre designs include The Accidental Trilogy (St. Ann’s Warehouse), As You Like It (the Shakespeare Theatre Company), The Book of Grace (The Public), Bring It On: The Musical (Broadway, tour, CTG and the Alliance Theatre), Magic/Bird (Broadway), Tribes (Barrow Street Theatre) and The Truth: A Tragedy (production design for Soho Rep). He earned a Henry Hewes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award and an Obie Award for his work on The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island with Vineyard Theatre and earned another Hewes Award for 33 Variations (Broadway, Arena Stage and La Jolla Playhouse). Jeff has also worked with many renowned companies and artists including The Wooster Group and Laurie Anderson.
Shawn Duan
Projection Design
Shawn is a New York-based projection designer and media consultant. He was the video designer for Chinglish on Broadway, and his regional and off-Broadway credits include Assassins at 2nd Avenue Theatre, Citizen Ruth at Minetta Lane Theatre, Knickerbocker at The Public, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at Symphony Space, Most Happy Fella at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, Mr. Joy at Riverside Church, the tour of Al Pacino’s One Night Only, Prima Donna at New York City Opera, Tarzan at North Shore Music Theatre, The Who’s Tommy at Abrons Art Center and the 2011 tour of Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! He has also served as a design associate, technical consultant and programmer for various theatrical, opera and event productions in New York and across the country including the Alliance, the Geffen Playhouse, the Goodman Theatre, the Kennedy Center, New York City Opera, The Public and the Winspear Opera House.
Oanh X. Nguyen
Assistant Director
Oanh co-founded Chance Theater and has been serving as the artistic director since 1999. He also serves as the producing associate at South Coast Repertory, where he spearheads Studio SCR: the alternative theatre presenting series. Oanh is a recipient of TCG’s New Generations Grant and the TCG Nathan Cummings Young Leaders of Color fellowship. He was also awarded the Outstanding Artist Award by Arts Orange County and was inducted into Anaheim High School’s Hall of Fame. Oanh serves on the advisory board of the Anaheim High School Performing Arts Conservatory and recently served four years on the board of the Network of Ensemble Theatres. His directing credits include productions at Chance Theater, East West Players, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Old Globe, Segerstrom Center for the Arts and South Coast Rep. Oanh is a proud member of SDC and SAG-AFTRA.
Rod Lemmond
Associate Scenic Design
Rod has worked with David Korins for over 10 years as lead associate on more than 100 projects on Broadway, at regional theatres, in TV and film and for musical concerts. His Berkeley Rep credits include Finn in the Underworld, In the Wake and Passing Strange. He worked on the Broadway production of Chinglish, as well as Bridge & Tunnel, An Evening with Patti Lupone & Mandy Patinkin, Lombardi, Magic/Bird, Passing Strange and The Pee-Wee Herman Show, plus upcoming productions of Annie, Misery and Motown. Rod holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Nancy A. Palmatier
Associate Costume Design
Nancy has been an associate costume designer on Broadway for Bombay Dreams, Chinglish, Guys and Dolls, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The King and I, Lestat, Life x3, The New 42nd Street and more. She has designed for Queens College, the Metro Stage Company in Pittsburgh and Rockland Opera. Nancy is happy to be working on this production of Chinglish.
Jennifer Schriever
Lighting Design Re-creation
A New York-based designer, Jen’s recent regional designs include Pippin at McCarter, A Second Chance at Signature and Taming of the Shrew at the Folger. She designed John Leguizamo’s one-man show Ghetto Klown at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, and her other New York credits include A Bullet for Adolf at New World Stages, An Evening Without Monty Python at the Town Hall, Inner Voices Solo Musicals at 59E59, Stuffed and UnStrung at Union Square and Triassic Parq at Soho Playhouse. Jen is designing the upcoming Die Fledermaus at the Met, and other opera designs include A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Mariinsky Theatre in Russia and The Pearl Fishers at English National Opera in London. In addition to designing her own shows, Jen has been an associate to Brian MacDevitt for the past 10 years. Visit jenschriever.com.
Michael Suenkel
Stage Manager
Michael began his association with Berkeley Rep as the stage management intern for the 1984/85 season and is now in his 19th year as production stage manager. Some of his favorite shows include 36 Views, Endgame, Eurydice, Hydriotaphia and Mad Forest. He has also worked with the Barbican in London, the Huntington, the Juste Pour Rire Festival in Montreal, LJP, Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Public and Second Stage Theatres in New York and Yale Rep. For the Magic, he stage managed Albert Takazauckas’ Breaking the Code and Sam Shepard’s The Late Henry Moss.
Leslie M. Radin
Assistant Stage Manager
Leslie is in her 10th season with Berkeley Rep. She started as the stage management intern in 2003 and is very pleased to be here working on Chinglish after most recently stage managing Black n Blue Boys / Broken Men last season. Her favorite past productions include In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Passing Strange, The Pillowman and The Secret in the Wings. She has also worked with Center Rep, SF Opera’s Merola Program, SF Playhouse and the New Victory Theatre in New York, where she traveled with Berkeley Rep’s production of Brundibar/But the Giraffe.
Amy Potozkin
Casting Director
Amy is in her 23rd season with Berkeley Rep. She has also had the pleasure of casting projects for ACT (Seattle), Arizona Theatre Company, the Aurora, B Street Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Marin Theatre Company, the Marsh, San Jose Rep, Social Impact Productions Inc. and Traveling Jewish Theatre. Amy cast roles for the film Conceiving Ada, starring Tilda Swinton; Haiku Tunnel and the upcoming Love and Taxes by Josh Kornbluth; and the upcoming feature film Beyond Redemption by Britta Sjogren. Amy received her MFA from Brandeis University, where she was also an artist-in-residence. She has been a coach to hundreds of actors, teaches acting at Mills College and leads workshops at Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre and numerous other venues in the Bay Area.
Lily Fan
Artistic Associate
Lily is one of the original co-producers of Chinglish on Broadway and is thrilled to be working with Berkeley Rep on this beloved show. She was born and raised in Hong Kong, and Chinglish is her first language. Lily offers enormous gratitude to her family and much love to David Henry Hwang and Leigh Silverman.
cast
Vivian Chiu
Zhao
A member of the original company of Chinglish on Broadway, Vivian is thrilled to make her Berkeley Rep debut. Her New York credits include Agamemnon, directed by Gisela Cardenas at Vortex Theater Company; Limbs: A Pageant at HERE Arts Center; and an off-Broadway revival of Night Over Taos, directed by Estelle Parsons at INTAR Theatre. Regionally, Vivian has appeared in Drums on the Dame, written by Hélène Cixous, at Northwestern University; The King and I at the Cider Mill Playhouse; and South Pacific at Metropolis Performing Art Centre. Her TV and film credits include Closed, Infinite Challenge (Korean MBC networks), Kids in Suits, Nom Wah, a Sesame Workshop Mandarin pilot and TWV Project, directed by Victor Quinaz. A native of Taiwan, Vivian earned her MA in theatre from Northwestern University and is a founding member of DreamLab. Visit iamvivianchiu.com.
Celeste Den
Miss Qian / Prosecutor Li
Celeste is making her Berkeley Rep debut. She appeared in the world premieres of 11 Septembre 2001 and Peach Blossom Fan with the Center for New Performance; Between Two Friends and Island at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Laws of Sympathy with Playwrights’ Arena; Spit, Shine, Glisten with the Cotsen Center for Puppetry and the Arts; and Wild Swans at American Repertory Theatre and the Young Vic Theatre in London. Her regional credits include Attrapee with Poor Dog Group, Conjunto at Borderlands Theater, The Joy Luck Club at East West Players, The Merchant of Venice with Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company, Othello at the Theatre @ Boston Court and The Waste Land with Filament Theatre Co. Her film and TV credits include Criminal Minds, The Doctor, Larry Crowne and Powder Blue. Celeste received her BFA in theatre from the University of Florida and MFA in acting from the California Institute of the Arts.
Michelle Krusiec
Xi Yan
Michelle is best known for her starring role opposite Joan Chen in the romantic comedy Saving Face, directed by Alice Wu. The role garnered her a nomination for the Chinese Language Oscar, also known as the Golden Horse, for Best Actress in 2005. This is Michelle’s Berkeley Rep debut. On stage she originated her tour-de-force solo show Made in Taiwan, which premiered at the 2002 HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival, the 2003 LA Women’s Theatre Festival, the 2005 New York Asian American Theatre Festival and the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival and Fringe Encores. She also developed the original role of Creta Kano in workshop productions of The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (3-Legged Dog, Asia Society). Michelle’s selected film credits include Duplex, Far North, A Helping Hand, Henry Poole Is Here, Knife Fight, Nanking, Nixon, Pumpkin, Sweet Home Alabama, What Happens in Vegas and Zoom Hunting (Taiwan). In TV, Michelle starred in the series One World and Travelers, and her favorite recurring/guest appearances include Blue Bloods, Community, Dirty Sexy Money, Fringe, Grey’s Anatomy, The Mind of the Married Man, Monk, Nip/Tuck, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Touch and Weeds.
Austin Ku
Bing / Judge Geming
Austin is making his Berkeley Rep debut. A former Bay Area resident, Austin now lives in New York City where his theatre credits include shows at New York Musical Theatre Festival, the new musical Tokio Confidential off Broadway and many other new works. He is also a member of the USO Liberty Bells. Austin has performed principal roles at regional theatres nationwide, including the Hangar Theatre, Kansas City Starlight Theatre, Ogunquit Playhouse and Walnut Street Theatre. He has also performed at 42nd Street Moon, Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Stage, TheatreWorks, the Willows Theatre and more. Austin has starred in several independent films, including Blind Love, which won awards at multiple festivals. Austin was a Broadway World Boston nominee for his role as The Monk in Sunfish, an IRNE nominee for his role as Thuy in Miss Saigon and he won a Dean Goodman Choice Award for his role as Anthony in Sweeney Todd. He attended Boston Conservatory, UC Berkeley and Rice University. Visit austin-ku.com.
Alex Moggridge
Daniel Cavanaugh
Alex appeared as Andrei in Berkeley Rep’s production of Three Sisters. He was last seen by Berkeley audiences in Salomania at the Aurora Theatre Company. In the Bay Area, he has performed at ACT in The Beard of Avon, A Christmas Carol and The Threepenny Opera; the Aurora in Betrayed and The Entertainer; San Jose Repertory Theatre in By the Bog of Cats and The Weir; as well as at Center Repertory Company, the Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, SF Playhouse and Shotgun Players. Regionally, he has appeared at ATL, Artists Repertory Theatre, B Street Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre and Utah Shakespeare Festival. Alex’s film and TV credits include Batman Begins, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Trauma. His play The Squirrel appeared off Broadway as part of the Summer Play Festival.
Brian Nishii
Peter
Brian is a trilingual performing artist from Tokyo. For the past 20 years, he has collaborated with New York dance and theatre companies such as Crossing Jamaica Avenue, Fluid Motion Theater & Film, Imua! Theatre & Film Company, Great Jones Repertory Company at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Maura Donohue/In Mixed Company, Project 400 Theatre Group, Robert Wilson, the South Wing and Velocity Theatre Company. His film and TV credits include Greg Pak’s Robot Stories and Super Power Blues, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Sex and the City. In his spare time, Brian provides lead vocals and antics to the Japanese/Okinawan folk band HappyFunSmile.
Larry Lei Zhang
Minister Cai
Larry is an original cast member of Chinglish. As a Bay Area resident (Fremont), he performed in Don Giovanni Meets Xi-men Qing (Chinese Culture Center with San Francisco Opera), Blue and Black at the Palace of Fine Arts and Long Day’s Journey into Night at Tao House, Danville. His Shanghai credits include Emperor Romulus and Mourning at Theater Academy, Mei Lanfang at the Majestic and Yin and Yang at the Lyceum. He has appeared in the films Eyes of Birch, Golden Sand River, Over this Land and Still, and on television in The Legend of Bruce Lee, Made in China, Ms. P.R., Tribe of Knowledge Youth. Larry is a graduate of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
