Contact: Bruce Cohen 212 580 9548
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SECOND GENERATION (2g) ANNOUNCES VICTOR MAOG AS NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
and
THE KICK-OFF TO THEIR 16th SEASON: INSTANT VAUDEVILLE: BREAKING BAMBOO
featuring Jon Kern, May Adrales, Clarence Coo, Susan Soon He Stanton and Ralph Peña
November 16-18, 2012 at HERE
NEW YORK – Victor Maog has been appointed the new Artistic Director of Second Generation (2g) Gladys Chen, Board President, announced today, and will start his new position by spearheading 2g’s signature event, Instant Vaudeville. Mr. Maog will bring his many talents to Second Generation’s mission of supporting the Asian American theater community by bringing this population’s stories to the world’s stage.
“Victor Maog is one of the leading lights of his generation- smart, talented, capable, and an artist with deep principles and integrity,” said Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the Public Theater. “I’ve been delighted to be his colleague in the theater, and am even more delighted he will be assuming the Artistic Directorship of Second Generation. He’s going to make a real impact.”
Maog says, “In 1993, at age 20, I made my professional directing debut with the Filipino theatre company, Teatro Ng Tanan [Theatre for Everyone] in San Francisco. It kickstarted my career. Since then my artistic work has reached corners of America I couldn’t have ever imagined and now I sit as Director of Theatre for the oldest performing arts school in the nation but it can all be traced back to that initial investment by my own community. I want to do that for others.”
Considered “one of the nation’s leading young Asian-American directors” (Denver Post), Victor Maog’s award-winning work has reached over half the continental United States and has been cited as “Best of” and “Critic’s Picks” for publications such as the Boston Globe, Backstage, and others. An artist and producer with national and international credits, Mr. Maog has been the Director of Perry- Mansfield’s Theatre Department since 2008.
He continues, “I’m honored to be asked to take on leadership at a time when there is a national dialogue about Asian representation. There is no reason Asian artists should account for only 2% of roles on major New York stages. Simply put, 2g’s family of actors, writers, directors, and designers are – bar none – some of the best creators, thinkers, and rule-breakers I know.”
INSTANT VAUDEVILLE: BREAKING BAMBOO
November 16 – 18 at HERE
2g’s 16th season launches with Instant Vaudeville: Breaking Bamboo which brings more than 35 overachieving, slightly shy, yet sensual Asian American artists together on one stage. Maog states, “People have been asking where our artists are? The answer is HERE. Right now. 2g is the hub for the next generation of form-bending, ceiling-breaking, morbidly-gifted Asian American talent.”
Instant Vaudeville: Breaking Bamboo plays at HERE, 145 Sixth Ave. (enter on Dominick Street one block south of Spring), NYC 10013, from November 16-18, 2012. Friday and Saturday night @ 7pm. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Tickets are free and reservations are required. Reservations can be made at www.2g.org.
Instant Vaudeville: Breaking Bamboo is a series of 8 original works by new and emerging Asian American artists, culminating in four free public performances. A staple of 2g’s annual programming, it challenges teams to create live theatre in a fast, furious and collaborative manner over the course of one week. Playwright/director and/or devising ensembles will create 6-8 minute pieces of theater across a variety of genres such as puppetry plays, musicals, improvisation, choreography (dance and/or fight), clowning, physical theater, dramas and comedies.
2012 writers and directors include: Jon Kern (Modern Terrorism/Second Stage, 2012 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award; writer, The Simpsons), May Adrales (David Henry Hwang’s upcoming Dance and The Railroad at Signature Theater, Williamstown, Goodman), Clarence Coo (2012 Yale Drama Series Prize), Susan Soon He Stanton (2012 Public/Emerging Writers Group, Clubbed Thumb), Deen (2009 Public/Emerging Writers Group, Interact), Kristina Haruna Lee (Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova), Aya Ogawa (Soho Rep/Joyce), Snehal Desai (2011 Drama League Classical Fellow – Old Globe), Andrew Pang (Steppenwolf), Soomi Kim (2009 NY Innovative Theatre Award), Mrinalini Kamath, Mo Zhou (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Edgar Mendoza (2010 Dramatist Guild Fellow), Thang Dao (2009 Princess Grace Choreography Fellowship), Samantha Chanse, Suzi Takahashi (NYTW), Ralph Pena (OBIE & Drama Desk winner, Ma-Yi) and 2g’s Artistic Director, Victor Maog. Ying Le produces the event.
This production is a part of the Sublet Series@HERE, HERE’s curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support. Go to www.2g.org for more information.