A Virtual Panel With Chicago AAPI Theatre Artists
Round One
July 15, 2020. 6-7PM CT
Some of Chicago's brightest and best theatre artists spoke in a special Q & A session livestreamed on the Our Perspective Facebook page. Moderator Mia Park asked your questions to this esteemed group. This was a rare opportunity to ask these talented actors, directors, and playwrights questions about the industry, representation, and more.
July Panelists
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Christine Bunuan recently played Gigi in the 30th Anniversary American Tour of Miss Saigon. Her other credits include the National Tour of The 25th Annual Putman County Spelling Bee, Silk Road Rising, Marriott Theatre, Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, among many others. She is a proud member of Actors Equity and SAG-AFTRA.
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Angelíca Grace (she/her/hers) is a trans, Filipina, Chicago-based actor, performer, and activist. She’s worked with About Face Theatre, The New Colony, and UrbanTheater Company to name a few. She’s a co-creator/producer/host of KINSHIP: An All Ages Queer Variety Show, an artistic platform for young queer performers (prioritizing those of color) in Chicago to showcase new and original work. Follow her on Instagram @missangelicagrace!
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Preston Choi is a playwright whose work focuses on Asian American history, mixed race experience, and social science fiction. His plays have been developed with Silk Road Rising, A Squared, Theatre Mu, Artists at Play, CAATA, The Passage Theatre, G45 Productions, The Forum, AATAB, National New Play Network, and Our Perspective.
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Deanna L Myers (She/They) is a Chicago and New York based art maker, educator and activist who is passionate about teaching and creating through a lens of Inclusivity and Social Justice. She has worked with and taught for Northwestern University, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Catharsis Productions, Playmakers Laboratory, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, About Face Theatre and Actors Gymnasium, among others. She is also a frequent story teller (predominantly with 2nd Story Chicago), and can most likely be found traversing the city on her beloved bike Mae.
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Brian Balcom is a disabled, Asian American director working in Chicago and Minneapolis who specializes in contemporary, muscular, relationship-driven plays. He enjoys working with playwrights and thinks that entertainment is underrated.
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A Virtual Panel With Chicago AAPI Theatre Artists: Round Two
August 12, 2020. 6-7PM CT
August 12, 2020. 6-7PM CT
Join some of Chicago's brightest and best theatre artists in this special Q & A session livestreamed on the Our Perspective Facebook page. Moderator Mia Park asks your questions to this esteemed group, round-robin style. This is a rare opportunity to ask these talented actors, directors, and playwrights questions about the industry, representation, and more. The video of the Virtual Panel will be posted on this website after the live discussion. There will be two Chicago based, Asian American ASL interpreters on the panel. Special thanks to Veramarie H. Baldoza and Colleen Bajalis for their ASL interpretation services.
August Panelists
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Richard Costes is a South Asian Chicago-based actor, director, accessibility consultant and a 2020 ADA 25 Advancing Leadership Fellow. He has presented at Gallaudet University’s symposium on Visual Shakespeare and was a panelist and member of the 2019 Deaf Theatre Action Planning Session hosted by HowlRound at Emerson College.
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Cheryl Hamada is a proud member of AEA & SAG-AFTRA and feels fortunate to have made her living as a Chicago-based actress working on-stage (Goodman, TimeLine, Victory Gardens, Silk Road, A-Square) and on-camera (The Dilemma, About Schmidt, Nothing like the Holidays, Chain Reaction, Chicago Med, Boss, Chicago Code, Chicago Story). She also hosted the series Extreme Homes (HGTV) and Your Chicago Kitchen (WTTW) but is probably best known for her on-camera work with the WTTW and national PBS pledge drives.
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Gavin Pak is an actor (favorite role: Sweeney Todd), playwright, and “Our Perspective: Asian American Plays” veteran (“Fresh Out the Closet,” Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Prize). Their play “prefer not to answer, or other” was developed with The New Colony and read with The Syndicate. @gavindpak on Twitter.
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Helen Joo Lee is a performer that dabbles in whatever her cooler friends are doing: hosting comedy shows, improvising, acting on-camera and on stage, dancing burlesque, and being a teaching artist. She learned everything about entertainment from working in Disneyland’s Character Department when she was 17. She’s stuck in Florida during the pandemic, so send memes.
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Matthew C. Yee mainly works as an actor and musician in Chicago. Previous theatre credits include CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND (Victory Gardens), TWELFTH NIGHT, VIETGONE (Writers Theatre), ONCE (Paramount Theatre), TREASURE ISLAND (Lookingglass Theatre), and THE WHEEL (Steppenwolf). Film/TV work includes EMPIRE, CHICAGO FIRE, CHICAGO JUSTICE, and the feature film CONSUMED.
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