East West Players profile picture

East West Players

The nation's premier Asian American theatre

About Me


Established in 1965, East West Players has been called “the nation’s pre-eminent Asian American theater troupe” (New York Times 12/16/01) for our award-winning productions blending Eastern and Western movement, costumes, language, and music. EWP has premiered over 100 plays and musicals about the Asian Pacific American experience and has held over 1,000 readings and workshops. Our emphasis is on building bridges between East and West, and one measure of our success is an audience of 56% Asians and a remarkable 44% non-Asian attendance.
EWP alumni include Mako, John Lone, B.D. Wong, David Henry Hwang, Philip Kan Gotanda, Freda Foh Shen, Roberta Uno, R.A. Shiomi, Judith Nihei, Alec Mapa, Wakako Yamauchi, Amy Hill, Sala Iwamatsu, and Nobu McCarthy. East West Players has also had the opportunity to work with many respected artists and faculty such as actors Danny Glover, Tsai Chin, Lauren Tom, and Nancy Kwan, directors, Lisa Peterson and Oskar Eustis, musician Dan Kuramoto and instructors Calvin Remsberg and Fran Bennett.
In 1998, EWP Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang led the company’s move from a 99-seat Equity Waiver “black box” into a new 240-seat venue at an Actors Equity Association contract level. EWP’s mainstage is the David Henry Hwang Theater, housed within the historic Union Center for the Arts in downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district, where we serve over 10,000 people each year, including low income audiences provided free and discounted admissions and deaf audiences attending our series of ASL-interpreted shows.
EWP offers a growing array of educational programs training over 200 multicultural artists each year – the Actors Conservatory (performance workshops and an intensive Summer Conservatory); David Henry Hwang Writers Institute (nation’s most active Asian American play development program); our career program Alliance of Creative Talent Services (ACTS) ; and our touring Theatre for Youth (reaching an estimated 50,000 K-8th graders and their families via in-school performances and festivals).
Over seventy-five percent of all Asian Pacific performers in the acting unions living in Los Angeles have worked at EWP. East West Players has provided training and opportunities to many emerging and professional artists who have gone on win Tony Awards, Obie Awards, Emmy Awards, Theatre L.A. Ovation Awards, and Academy Awards.

My Interests

Downtown Los Angeles , Little Tokyo , promoting Asian American artists through the ACTS Online Directory , Taiko Project

I'd like to meet:


Anyone and everyone! We are located in Little Tokyo, downtown Los Angeles.

CLICK ON THE MAP FOR DRIVING DIRECTIONS!

Our street and mailing address is:
120 North Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

The major cross streets are First and Temple Streets. The theatre is approximately 1/2 mile east down First Street from the Music Center.

Contact numbers and email:
(213) 625-7000 telephone
(213) 625-7111 fax
[email protected]

Music:

• A Chorus Line
Music by Marvin Hamlisch, Lyrics by Edward Kleben

• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Beijing Spring
Music by Joel Iwataki, Lyrics by Tim Dang

• Cabaret
Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb

• Canton Jazz Club
Music by Nathan Wang & Joel Iwataki, Lyrics by Tim Dang

• Company
Music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• The Fantasticks
Words by Tom Jones, Music by Harvey Schmidt

• Follies
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Godspell
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

• Happy End
Music by Kurt Weill, Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht

• Heading East
Book and Lyrics by Robert Lee, Music by Leon Ko

• Imelda: A New Musical
Music by Nathan Wang, Lyrics by Aaron Coleman

• Into The Woods
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Little Shop of Horrors
Book and Lyrics by Howard Ashman, Music by Alan Menken

• Merrily We Roll Along
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Pacific Overtures
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Passion
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Sweeney Todd
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

• Three Penny Opera by Bertolt Brecht
Music by Kurt Weill, English adaptations by Marc Blitzstein

• The World Goes Round
Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Movies:

East West Players has worked with many actors known for their work in film and television. Below is an abbreviated list of some of the fine actors with whom we've had the privilege to work (and the films in which you may have seen them):
• Tsai Chin (Memoirs of a Geisha, The Joy Luck Club)
• Danny Glover (Beloved, The Royal Tenenbaums)
• Amy Hill (The Cat in the Hat, Lilo & Stitch)
• Nancy Kwan (Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story, The Last Ninja)
• John Lone (The Last Emperor, The Shadow)
• Jodi Long (The Hot Chick, Striking Distance)
• Mako (Memoirs of a Geisha, Pearl Harbor)
• Freda Foh Shen (Dude, Where's My Car?, A Mighty Wind)
• George Takei (Mulan, Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
• Lauren Tom (Bad Santa, The Joy Luck Club)
• Gedde Watanabe (Sixteen Candles, UHF)
• B. D. Wong (Mulan, The Salton Sea)

Heroes:

Board of Directors

• Officers

Lynn Fukuhara Arthurs
Chair

Wendy Fujihara Anderson
Co-President

Hon. Robert M. Kawahara
Co-President

Chirag Shah
Vice President

David Solin Lee
Chief Financial Officer

Jean Miao
Secretary

Daniel M. Mayeda
Legal Counsel

Tim Dang
James Herr
John Louie
Paul Tanaka

• Council of Governors

George Takei
Chair

George Aratani
Sakaye Aratani
Gareth C.C. Chang
Terence Chang
Gordon Davidson
David Henry Hwang
U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye
Robin M. Kramer
Edwin Kwoh
Graham Y. Tanaka
Dolores Wong
John Woo

• Artistic Directors Emeritus

Mako (d.)
Nobu McCarthy (d.)

My Blog

PIPPIN - Next Generation Community Night - Win a Wii!!

---REMOVE BEFORE REPOSTING---Hey Friends of East West PlayersWant to get $10 off the tickets for PIPPIN on Next Generation Community Night?Here's how: 1) Make sure you're a friend of East West Players...
Posted by East West Players on Fri, 16 May 2008 02:29:00 PST

PIPPIN Opens!

PIPPINBook by Roger O. Hirson Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (WICKED)Directed by Tim DangMusical Direction by Marc MacalintalChoreography by Blythe Matsui & Jason Tyler ChongFeaturing Je...
Posted by East West Players on Tue, 06 May 2008 02:04:00 PST

Pacific Century National Playwriting Competition

East West Players hosts PACIFIC CENTURY:A National Playwriting Competition! East West Players is now accepting submissions for its national playwriting competition, PACIFIC CENTURY. We are looking...
Posted by East West Players on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 05:36:00 PST

Volunteer for 42nd Anniversary Visionary Awards

BE A PART OF ONE OF ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER’S GREATEST EVENTS! SUPPORT EAST WEST PLAYERS AND YOUR COMMUNITY! THE EVENT East West Players will be holding their 42nd Anniversary Visionary Awa...
Posted by East West Players on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:10:00 PST

42nd Anniversary Visionary Awards Dinner & Silent Auction

East West Players’ 42nd Anniversary Visionary Awards will be hosted by The Three Filipino Tenors. The honorees will include television personality Carrie Ann Inaba and celebrated playwright Veli...
Posted by East West Players on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:41:00 PST

Review for Voices From Okinawa

The reviews have come in!Buy your tickets now for VOICES FROM OKINAWA, the new WORLD PREMIERE play by Jon Shirota (Leilani's Hibiscus, Lucky Come Hawaii) and directed by Tim Dang. "A Pleasure to W...
Posted by East West Players on Wed, 20 Feb 2008 03:08:00 PST

LA Times features Jon Shirota and Voices from Okinawa

    Click to go to LA Times article.Playwright Jon Shirota's new play, Voices from Okinawa, will receive its world premiereat the East West Players. The LA Times stopped by to talk to h...
Posted by East West Players on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 02:26:00 PST

Voices from Okinawa: World Premiere

East West PlayersTim Dang, Producing Artistic Directorwith Generous Support from theS. Mark Taper Foundation Endowment for East West PlayerspresentsVOICES FROM OKINAWAwritten by Jon Shirotadirected by...
Posted by East West Players on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:47:00 PST

Reincarnations: Six New Drafts from the Writers Institute

East West Players' David Henry Hwang Writers Institute presents REINCARNATIONS Reincarnations features the readings of six new drafts from the Writing Is Rewriting Workshop at the David Henry Hwang...
Posted by East West Players on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:22:00 PST

Schadenfest: Feel Better About Yourself by Watching Others Suffer

East West Players' David Henry Hwang Writers Institute presents SCHADENFEST: Feel Better About Yourself By Watching Others Suffer Schadenfest features the staged readings of eight new works in progre...
Posted by East West Players on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 02:22:00 PST