Sunday, September 8, 2024
Patsy World Premiere Benefit Performance
Join East West Players for the world premiere benefit performance of the 2024/25 Theatre for Youth touring production of Patsy by Alison Minami, emceed by Clyde Kusatsu.
Patsy Benefit Premiere Performance, Discussion & Reception
Sunday, September 8, 2024, 4:00–6:30 p.m.
David Henry Hwang Theater at Union Center for the Arts
120 Judge John Aiso Street, Little Tokyo, DTLA
Join East West Players for the world premiere benefit performance of the 2024/25 Theatre for Youth touring production of Patsy by Alison Minami.
This fundraiser in support of EWP’s Arts Education programs for Youth–Theatre for Youth and Partners in Education & Arts Collaboration–will include the debut performance of Patsy, a post-show conversation between playwright Alison Minami and scholar Dr. Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, and a dessert and drinks reception in our courtyard. Longtime EWP artist, actor, and labor advocate Clyde Kusatsu will emcee the event.
Tickets are $100 each ($85 tax-deductible).
About Patsy
Kailani is an 18-year-old senior and star athlete at Maui High School. While anxiously waiting to find out if she's been accepted into her dream school, Patsy Mink, the first Asian-American congresswoman and former valedictorian of Maui High school, appears before her. As Patsy walks Kailani through the many trials and tribulations she faced throughout her political career and life, Kailani realizes that no matter how many setbacks she encounters, she can succeed as long as she perseveres.
About Our Host: Clyde Kusatsu
Clyde Kusatsu–a prolific character actor with more than 300 film and television credits–launched his acting career with East West Players in 1970 after graduating from Northwestern University. His film credits include Midway and The Challenge with Toshiro Mifune, Black Sunday, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, In the Line of Fire, Paradise Road, American Pie, Shopgirl, The Interpreter, and The Grinder. His TV credits include series regular and recurring roles on Bring ‘Em Back Alive, Island Son, Star Trek: The Next Generation, All American Girl, Family Matters, and Dr. Ken. Among his TV films are Farewell to Manzanar, Dr. Strange, And the Sea Will Tell, American Tragedy, and And the Band Played On. He’s also appeared on Kung Fu, M*A*S*H, All in the Family, Lou Grant, Magnum, P.I., Young Rock, The United States of Al, Dirty John: The Betty Broderick Story, and daytime soaps including The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, General Hospital, and, currently, Days of Our Lives. A longtime advocate for union and labor issues, he is Secretary of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, having previously served as a four-term President of the SAG-AFTRA Los Angeles Local and National Vice President Los Angeles from 2013 to 2020.
About Judy Tzu-Chun Wu
Judy Tzu-Chun Wu is a professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Irvine. She also serves as faculty director of the Humanities Center and Associate Dean in the School of Humanities of Research, Faculty Development, and Public Engagement.
She received her Ph.D. in U.S. History from Stanford University and previously taught at Ohio State University. She authored Dr. Mom Chung of the Fair-Haired Bastards: the Life of a Wartime Celebrity (University of California Press, 2005) and Radicals on the Road: Internationalism, Orientalism, and Feminism during the Vietnam Era (Cornell University Press, 2013). Her book, Fierce and Fearless: Patsy Takemoto Mink, First Woman of Color in Congress (New York University Press, 2022), is a collaboration with political scientist Gwendolyn Mink and received the 2023 Mary Nickliss Prize, which recognizes the best publication in U.S. Women’s/Gender History from the Organization of American Historians. Wu and Mink also collaborated on a comic biography of Patsy Mink that is available for free digital download.
About Alison Minami
Alison Minami holds an MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts from UC Riverside. She has participated in the playwrights labs at Company of Angels, Antaeus Theatre, East West Players, and the Road Theatre. Her play Voir Dire has had professionally staged readings at East West Players and Company of Angels. Her play Face to the Sun has had readings at the Torrance Cultural Arts Foundation, East West Players, Victory Gardens Theater, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Her play Sinkhole was a semifinalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the Princess Grace Award for 2023. Her play Dear Baby X was chosen for the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights’ New Works Reading, and her play Urban Scholars was a semifinalist for the Ashland New Play Festival. Her one-act play Shizzy's Story was produced by Enrichment Works and toured across LAUSD schools. She is a blogger for the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative. She teaches writing at the University of Southern California.
About Theatre for Youth
East West Players is committed to sharing multi-ethnic perspectives and stories with youth in the Los Angeles area. Our Theatre for Youth touring production offers new ways to see the world through theater that stimulate students to discover the prominent roles AANHPI individuals have played in our history. Created in the early 1970s, Theatre for Youth was designed to promote cultural understanding and racial tolerance. Today, the program strives to expand the history and curriculum to include stories about pioneering and groundbreaking Americans. Each year, an original piece is commissioned, staged, and toured to schools, libraries, and community centers throughout the region. School performances are preceded by visits from teaching artists who employ a bilingual study guide to assist educators in integrating lessons from the plays into their classroom curriculum. The 2023 tour played to nearly 5,000 students, teachers, and parents.
About Partners in Education & Arts Collaboration
Partners in Education & Arts Collaboration (PEAC) is a residency program that brings immersive, intensive theater arts training to local schools. EWP performer teaching artists lead a twice-weekly after-school program for 7th graders over 12 weeks. The sessions are designed to give students a basic foundation in theater techniques as well as foster awareness and appreciation of class members’ cultural heritage. PEAC returns in 2024/25 with residencies at at least two schools.
Click here for Box Office hours and contact information.
Cast
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Pauline Yasuda (Patsy) is a successful commercial actress and award winning stand-up comedian. You can see her in ads for VW, Google, State Farm, and Avocados from Mexico, to name a few. Her comedy, featured on Laugh After Dark, has racked up over 3 million views. She was also a finalist in the prestigious San Francisco Comedy Competition in 2019. She can also be seen in music videos from Sabrina Carpenter and the Foo Fighters. She also voiced the dual roles of Barbara/Aurora for Silent Hill: Ascension.
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William R. Bremer (John Mink, Principal, Partner Lawyer, Citizen) is an actor, director, and teacher. Recent credits include: Flash Marriage, Inside Oxide, True Story: Don’t Drown (TV/Film); Lady Percy in Muse of Fire (Foolish Production Co.), Zach in Auditioning for Your Life (Fierce Backbone), Alex in A Bright New Boise (Momentum Theatre Co.), and Mike in Memory of Water (Actor’s Company). He’s also directed productions of Problem Child (Blue Sky Theatre Co.), Is Krishna There? (Hollywood Fringe Festival Splash Award Recipient). He has a BA in Theatre and Economics from Willamette University, and post-graduate training from the Stella Adler Art of Acting Studio. He also does ongoing training with Actor Circle Theater.
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Kimie Fujioka (Kailani, Gwen, Martha, Citizen) is a Japanese American artist who was born and raised on O'ahu, Hawai'i. She is a recent graduate from the University of Northern Colorado (UNC) where she earned a BA in Musical Theatre and minors in Dance and Arts Entrepreneurship. Kimie has performed in numerous musical theatre productions, including In the Heights, which earned her a Po'okela Award for 'Best Actress In A Musical'. Other significant works include Kaiser Permanente’s “Peace Signs,” where she had the opportunity to share the message of bullying with youth throughout Hawai’i, and her work as a featured dancer with Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble. Kimie is humbled and grateful for the opportunity to perform with East West Players. She would like to thank John, Larry, Julia, and the entire cast and artistic team for all their beautiful work on this important story.
Credits
Playwright
Alison Minami
Director
John Miyasaki
Assistant Director
Larry Steve Mayorquin
Sound Designer
Gavin Higa
Stage Manager
Julia Hibner
Scenic/Properties Manager
Audrey Szot
Costume Designer
Erika Mae Martin
Tour Coordinator
Phoenix Lee
Advisories
Content & Trigger Warning
PATSY contains depictions of racism and microagressions against Asian Americans.
A Content Warning is a verbal or written notice that precedes potentially sensitive content, allowing for the viewer to prepare themselves so that they are able to engage or disengage with the content. Trigger warnings are of a more serious nature that may cause a physiological and/or psychological response, such as anxiety. There may be overlap between the two.
If you would like to learn more about the content warnings of this show, please reach out to boxoffice@eastwestplayers.org.
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