Adding a Life

It's the journey, not the destination, they quip.  But you can't ignore the numbers.  The IRS won't let you.  Either will your doctor.

So, this morning when a journalist said her editor wanted to know how many plays?  How many published?  How many unpublished?  What other works?  I fueled up on some coffee and did the math, fingers crossed the numbers wouldn't depress me.

23 TOTAL PLAYS + 8 PUBLISHED MONOLOGUES + 1 SOLD TV PILOT (COMEDY) + 2 SHORT FILMS + 1 NOVEL + 1 SCREENPLAY + 2 PUBLISHED SHORT STORIES

The Published List:
8 PUBLISHED MONOLOGUES, JAC “innerJACtions:  Monologues At the Heart of Human 
Nature 

GOOD MOURNING, AMERICA by Original Works Publishing

JUNK BONDS by Original Works Publishing

ART OF BULLFIGHTING, University of CA at Santa Barbara teaches this 
collection of FIVE (5) short plays (CINDERELLA'S BAWL, HOW NOW BROWN COUCH, 
TRAYF, BULLFIGHTING, (IN)SECURITY) published by JAC Publishing

CONCERTO FOR ORGAN IN B-SHARP, JAC Publishing

BIG RED, LITTLE TIGHER, JAC Publishing

BIRD'S NEST SOUP, JAC Publishing

SCENES FROM A CHINESE RESTAURANT, collection of THREE (3) short plays 
-- THE FAMISHED, SENSUOUS GOURMET & THE SICHUAN PEPPERCORN & SCENES FROM A 
CHINESE RESTAURANT

1 SOLD TV PILOT COMEDY 

1 SCREENPLAY entitled YOUNG AMERICANS
(L.A. residency requirement !) 

2 SHORT STORIES

PEKING DUCK
PROPHET & LOSS

5 UNPUBLISHED PLAYS + 5 COMMISSIONED/WRITER FOR HIRE 

TEEN MOGUL, a new play, adapted from my unpublished young adult novel
DOWN UNDER
NUMBER ONE SON
MOO GOO GAI PAN ASIAN, play in progress
MELTING, inspired by OTHELLO

THREE (3) PLAYS I WROTE FOR HIRE, FOR AN ORTHODOX JEWISH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS, they needed material

TWO PLAYS (2) COMMISSIONED FOR LA STORYTELLERS, TAPER FORUM/ L.A. MUSIC CENTER

1 UNPUBLISHED NOVEL, TEEN MOGUL


2 SHORT FILMS
MIKE GRAVEL, THE WORD, a collaboration w/Italian animation director, entry for a 
political ad contest, on youtube
THE PERFECT NIGHT, an homage to Bill Murray, live action short, on youtube

JUNK BONDS & GUERRILLA READS

The Occupy Movement energizing our country has brought renewed attention to my play JUNK BONDS.  Last October I was delighted when an American Studies class at Smith College in Northampton, MA studied my play, and then flew me out to discuss.


Paraphrased from the Wall Street Letter:  JUNK BONDS portrays a woman fighting for a chance to thrive on Wall Street -- only to find the man who gives her a chance and to whom she reports to is deceiving the firm.


Theme sound familiar?  It should.  It begs the question who can you trust?  Facebook?  Your investment adviser?  Google?  Bank of America? The Government?


The postcard for the original production at HOME:  Tapir, Inc., dares you to play a fast-paced game of  liar's poker as a young Asian American woman fights her way into the clubby, 
high rolling world of Wall Street.  Immense wealth, glamorous careers, and 
intoxicating power are at stake in pursuit of a fat slice of American pie.

Bill Maher says when his parents drove him to the rich neighborhoods, they never imagined they could afford it.  But their son, Bill Maher, can certainly afford to live in the toniest of neighborhoods.  Suze Orman said people don't necessarily dream about owning a home anymore, they just want a roof over their heads.  I remember when my parents drove us through rich neighborhoods, we definitely envied those houses.  My parents dreamt of owning a huge mansion, for sure.  My cousins in Arcadia and Monterey Park, one of the first questions they asked me, Is your living space over 2,000 square feet?


No.


The disappointment on their faces, heartbreaking.  Their judgments searing.  What a waste to come to America!


Yes.  It's true my family came to America to be rich, and I have failed them. Miserably.  Not even close.

Saw Mike Daisey on Bill Maher today.  Listening to Mike, following his journey -- it all gives me hope that our voice matters.  That we can change the world.  We now know.  Gloria Steinem says once you know, it's what you do with it.





That's why when yesterday a journalist asked me to do "logline" my own play, which I've always hated because it sounds so reductionist.  But this is what I came up with:

JUNK BONDS is about bluff and betrayal, trust and testosterone, about getting 
what you want and dealing with the consequences once you do.  



Now you know.  Whatcha gonna do?

Year of the Dragon

So yesterday I kicked off NewYear's Eve of the Dragon with Sichuan Mary.  I needed something to wash out the old -- bad news delivered Saturday night during my wine tasting party -- and ring in the new.  Something spicy, hot to cleanse the body and soul.

Today I learned that Colin Newton's article on me appeared, and hard copies will be available tomorrow

http://www.smdp.com/Articles-local-news-c-2012-01-22-73342.113116-Playwright-Lucy-Wang-begins-beach-house-artist-residency.html Also, my play WIDOW'S PEAK is a semi-finalist in the 8th Annual Lakeshore Players Ten-Minute Play Contest.  From 350 to 40.  Fingers crossed.  I like to win, but then again, who doesn't? Train Your Dragon :-)

99% Guerilla Lit

Save the Date!
Feb 21st!
99% Guerrilla Lit
Be there, or Be square!

Scenes From A Chinese Restaurant

Food & Writing.

Goes together like love & marriage.

Inside this collection, you can feast upon three plays.

SENSUOUS GOURMET & THE SICHUAN PEPPERCORN
    This play was conceived in Boulder, Colorado while conducting a private workshop with friends in a private residence.  I wanted to marry our senses to our creative muses.   I gathered an array of differing scents.  Vanilla.  Sichuan Peppercorns.  Lavender.  Mint.   Orange.  Olive oil.  Cinnamon.  Each writer sniffed inhaled breathed deeply and let the aroma speak to our soul.  Our inner voices.  Then, we wrote.
And shared, like a meal, family-style.

THE FAMISHED
   Hunger can transport us to places we've never been, to places we never imagined, to places outside ourselves.  That's what this play explores, how two people meet up and need each other.  This play was inspired by a true request from a total stranger that I cook for him, for hire, in my home.

SCENES FROM A CHINESE RESTAURANT
  This play is inspired by all my friends in the dating world, and all my friends who love to eat.  How does our relationship to food affect our relationship to each other.  Many of my omnivore buddies won't date vegans.  Adventurous eaters versus meat and potatoes.  Food is more than meets the eye.

This collection of plays can be purchased from JAC Publishing, and is available on Amazon.com

Bon Appetit!

Occupy This! Junk Bonds & Good Mourning, America

Before I became a writer, I traded mortgage-backed securities on Wall Street and served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Deputy Mayor Barry Sullivan during the Dinkins Administration.  When Mayor Dinkins lost to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, most of us at City Hall found ourselves unemployed, and depressed.  It's not fun facing the holidays without work.  I wrote as I searched for gainful employment to chase the blues away.

Had no intention of writing professionally when I graduated armed with an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.   Grew up too poor, as immigrants, and like Gatsby, I believed in the green light.

JUNK BONDS won the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center and Best New Play from the Katherine and Lee Chilcote Foundation.  With Occupy L.A., Occupy NYC, Occupy Movements everywhere, the themes and issues in JUNK BONDS feels more relevant, more urgent than ever.  Was invited to speak at Smith College, Northampton, MA, last October, and the students all read and got JUNK BONDS.  Was graciously invited to read some of my work at an event downtown Los Angeles 99% Guerrilla Literature.  Save the date Feb 21.  Details to follow.

GOOD MOURNING, AMERICA is the bookend to JUNK BONDS.  I was in NYC for 9/11, having flown in the night before.  Saw it happen from the balcony of my friend's penthouse.  Lost former colleagues and friends.  It was so awful.  I can still remember the acrid smells and smoke, the losses, the nonstop tears.  Eric Bogosian convinced me I had to write this play inspired by my experiences and vantage points.  So I did.  And it poured and roared.  A mixture of comedy is sprinkled in with the pathos.

Both plays are published by Original Works Publishing, available on their website, on Amazon, on Kindle, Google.

New Year, New Beginnings, Get Lucky in 2012

Come join me in changing our "luck" in 2012!


We'll be on the beach.  Inspiring views.  Inspiring stories.  Inspiring people.  Click on link for more information.


Do you consider yourself lucky?  Why, or why not?


And it's FREE!!!  But you must RSVP.


http://beachculture92.eventbrite.com/