Top Bananas

TOP BANANAS

A new full-length play by LUCY WANG

When the world goes bananas, who will end up on top?  When Sam is promoted over David, David decides to fix Sam up.  And flood her with choice.   After all, what ruins a woman faster than true love and multiple choice?

SKYLIGHT THEATRE

MAY 18, 4 PM, SATURDAY

1816 1/2 N VERMONT

LOS ANGELES

FREE

Starring

JENNIFER CHU (SAM) Jennifer is absolutely delighted to be working with such a wonderful cast &playwright. Other theatre:  The Conquest of the South Pole (Odyssey Theatre - LA Weekly nomination); Nuevo California - world premiere (San Diego Rep.),Rashomon (Sierra Rep.), Medea (Theatre @ Boston Court), Gretty Good Time(Falcon Theatre), Life Is A Dream, The Only Child, A Christmas Carol - 2006~2010 (South Coast Rep.) TV/Film include: "Numb3rs," "Moonlight,""E-Ring," The Astronaut Farmer, The Terminal, The Gene Generation. Originally from Boston, Jennifer received her MFA in acting from UCLA.  jenniferchu.com

EWAN CHUNG (AUDIO, SENOR WONG, PING) recently worked on Seth MacFarlane’s pilot "Dads" and David E. Kelley's "Monday Mornings."  Films: "Awakened," "Orenthal: The Musical," "Morning," "Undiscovered."  TV: "Bones," "Torchwood," "Two and a Half Men," "Boston Legal," "Chuck," "Heroes," "How I Met Your Mother," Stephen King's "Desperation," "Las Vegas," “Sucker Free City.”  More at www.vimeo.com/ewanchung.

TRACY ELIOT (IZZY, JENNY) is a New Orleans native who has been seen on many stages there, here, and elsewhere. Favorites include “The Insidious Impact of Anton” and “On the Verge”.  She also has been on screens of various sizes, including a TBS pilot no one will ever see.  For more visit www.tracyeliott.com.

KRISTINA HUGHES (EVIE) Kristina just wrapped the animated feature film Black To The Moon 3-D voicing a supporting character. She also recently wrapped the comedy pilot, Squabbles.  Other credits include Boston Legal, Old School, Vegan 101 & Green River. Kristina is President of the Entertainment Industry’s #1 line of business tools Holdon Log, PerformerTrack & ShowBiz Sender.  Do visit www.KristinaHughes.com.

JESSE LEVY (KURT, RABBI SINCLAIR) is an actor, writer and director. He played Doc in a European tour of West Side Story. He worked on Nickelodeon’s “100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd.” He makes short films which can be viewed on You Tube. Search for “Jesse Levy jlopen.” He thanks Lucy for this opportunity.

JAIME TINTOR (BARRY) holds an MFA in acting from Florida State University's Asolo Conservatory.  While with the Asolo Rep he performed in A Few Good Men, Amadeus, Plexiglass Slipper and Pride & Prejudice.  TV credits include: iCarly, Rules of Engagement, General Hospital, and The Young & the Restless.  You may have seen him in commercials for Arby's, Toyota, or the NFL network.  He currently writes and performs sketch comedy with Club 5150.  He's originally from Hibbing, MN.  BA from the University of Minnesota, Duluth.  Proud member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA.

SEAN WELCH (DAVID) recently appeared in Banana Intervention at the Open Fist Theatre, Unplug Grandma at the Studio/Stage, Car Play: She & Him at the Lounge Theatre, and 60 Seconds at the El Centro Theatre all written by Jeremy Kehoe. He won the 2003 COLSAC Award for Best Character Actor as schizophrenic Barry Klemper in The Boy's Next Door at the COLSAC Theatre written by Tom Griffin. Other notable credits include, the television series The Angry Klown, General Hospital, and Sunset Beach. He is a product of coastal Orange County, CA, and a graduate of both UCLA and Pepperdine University. He is a member of Fierce Backbone. Additionally, he is a member of the ASPCA, HSUS, and the Surfrider Foundation.

Chinese Girls Don't Swear Skylight Theatre, 4/28 2 PM

Los Angelenos!

Happy to report that I'm performing Chinese Girls Don't Swear, Skylight Theatre/SKYlab, 1816 1/2 N Vermont, Los Angeles, Sunday 4/28 2 PM.   

Come for an hour, laugh for a lifetime.

Call 702-582-8587 to reserve tickets or buy online at Katselas INKubator 2013 website, link below.

https://katselas.secure.force.com/ticket#sections_a03A000000E9HqWIAV

https://www.amazon.com/author/lucywang

Twitter: @SensuousGourmet

Chinese Girls Don't Swear, NYC 3/22 Workshop

I'm happy to report we had a great house, great show.  99 seats filled!  Lots of laughter.  Some tears.  My brother flew in as a surprise, best BD present ever.

As with most fringe festivals, we only got two hours rehearsal in the actual theater.   Rehearsed my show in a living room with a Warhol of Chairman Mao on one side, and a painting of Chinese ancestors on the other.   Anna taught me some cool moves.

There were moments where I thought WTF?  What am I doing?  But there comes a moment where you're in the moment, and that's all that matters.

Chinese Girls Don't Swear

The people whose work I admire and love the most are always saying you have to push yourself, get out of your comfort zone....

So I have.   I committed to writing and performing a one woman show call CHINESE GIRLS DON'T SWEAR.

The logline:
Chinese Girls.  Everyone wants them.  Come for an hour, laugh for a lifetime.

Written and performed by Lucy Wang.  Directed by Anna Strasser.

To buy tickets:http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/338059

The fuller blurb:
Lucy Wang is M.I.T. (Made in Taiwan), but she is no cheap import. Raised on Midwestern beef and corn, she does her best to follow the Asian American handbook and achieve the American Dream. Chinese Girls Don’t Swear is a comedic and searing look at how one Chinese American woman uses her wits to defy, exceed and redefine expectations.  

Write Life

Big thanks and big love to Susan --

Susan and I both share a love for healthy tasty food and compelling stories 
Get to know Susan through her blog
She's pure gold.

Oct. 1st is Lucy Wang day at Write Life!
http://www.susanmarque.com/SusanMarque/Write_Life_Blog/Write_Life_Blog.html

DOWN THERE, SLUT Festival

We've been having an extremely rough year, so I relish good news when it comes my way.  

Some of you know that I've been researching language, the power of words, in particular as it relates to our body, our selves.  The process of asking people what the name is for certain body parts has been fascinating.  The looks I get.  The responses.  And then the epiphany.  It has been enlightening for both parties, to say the least.  

Believe me, each time I ask and I've had to ask total strangers as far away as Vietnam, I feel weird.  Like I'm a pervert.  So I do my best to explain without giving it all away, for fear of affecting the answers.  No one has ever responded without asking why.  No one. 

Why do you want to know how to say these "nasty" parts in my native tongue? 

I wanted the slang and the clinical terms, of which I learned there is so much slang.  In every language.  No shortage!

My face turns into a permanent state of red. 

Some friends who did not know asked me to educate them once I had the answers.  My parents didn't tell me either, they said.  One said it was only through me that she learned her parents lied, made up the words.   We only discovered this because I tried to verify what she told me with native speakers and the Internet.  They furrowed their brows and said,  Uh no we've never heard of those words.  Why did her parents do that to her?

It makes me laugh because like most Asian Americans,  I had three career choices:  Doctor, Physician, M.D.  That's it.  And yet, if I had dared to ask my parents how do you say penis, balls, vagina, fallopian tubes, clitoris in Chinese, they would've smacked me across the face.  No questions asked.  Oh yes, my father beat me until the day I decided I would not return home ever again.   And my mother left when we were teens.  So there you go.

Language is powerful.  Words are powerful.  I've performed my monologue at a few readings, people come up to me and say I remind them of George Carlin.  This makes me very happy.  George Carlin was a genius.

And please, if you are willing to help me in my ongoing research, help me with the slang and clinical terms for male and female anatomy, drop me a line.

This is paraphrased, but based on a  real conversation I had with my MALE breast surgeon.

DR:  You have a lump in your right breast the size of a Meyer Lemon!  How could you let this happen?  Don't you touch yourself?

ME:  (Of course I was embarrassed, ashamed)  Good Chinese Girls Don't Touch Themselves.  We study.

DR:  What about your husband?  Didn't he notice?

ME:  We're married.  Long time married.

DR:  You have to start giving yourself breast exams.

ME:  Oh, I'm good with homework.  I like to pass tests.

I was really lucky.  That lump was benign.  But it has only become more challenging as I try to stay fit, and on top of my health care.  I try to remember what Dr. Oz says, there is no embarrassing question.  But that's not really true.  I still have trouble, but at least I'm fighting it.  Both in real life and in my writing.  I'm happy to announce that my monologue DOWN THERE -- which may be part of a longer work entitled CHINESE GIRLS DON'T SWEAR -- will be showcased at SLUT Festival in WDC.

There's a lot more to the story, my story, but I cannot give it all away!  

Dear Ms. Wang:

Your play, Down There, is pertinent and funny, and makes a great point about the power of sexism in language. In other words, we love it and we would be delighted and honored to include it in our SLUT staged reading festival!

Please confirm that you would still like to have Down There included in SLUT, and we will follow up soon with more details. We very much look forward to showcasing your work!

Sincerely yours,

The Disreps Lit Team

The Disreputables

www.disreputables.org

Catch us next at SLUT, a festival of short works inspired by the War on Women - part of the UNmute! staged reading series

Tues 10/22 & Wed 10/23, 7:30-10:30 pm @ Arlington Arts Center

All That's Fit On Top of a Desk