Long Wharf Announces Cast,Creative Teams of 'The Chinese Lady'

LONG WHARF THEATRE ANNOUNCES THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM OF

THE CHINESE LADY

WRITTEN BY LLOYD SUH
DIRECTED BY RALPH B. PEÑA

FEATURING
SHANNON TYO AND JON NORMAN SCHNEIDER

PERFORMANCES BEGIN MARCH 18, 2020

New Haven, CT -Long Wharf Theatre (Jacob G. Padrón, Artistic Director; Kit Ingui, Managing Director), the non-profit theatre with a mission to present radically inclusive works that galvanize the community of New Haven, is proud to announce dates, complete casting, and creative team for The Chinese Lady, written by Lloyd Suh and directed by Ralph B. Peña. Performances begin on Wednesday, March 18, 2020 for a limited run through April 12, 2020. Opening night is set for Wednesday, March 25, 7:30 PM on Stage II at 222 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT. The Chinese Lady exemplifies the theater’s mission by offering audiences the opportunity to explore their collective humanity.

Inspired by the true story of America’s first female Chinese “immigrant,” The Chinese Lady introduces audiences to Afong Moy, a 14-year-old girl who traveled the United States, first with the Carne Brothers and then with P.T. Barnum. Her “performance” was to educate others about life in her native China. To Afong, she is an ambassador; to her owners, a sideshow. As these dual truths become irreconcilable, Afong must reckon with herself and the history of her new home with startling discoveries in Lloyd Suh’s deeply poetic and subversively comedic tale. The Chinese Lady is produced in partnership with Yale-China Association.

The cast will feature Jon Norman Schneider (Atung) and Shannon Tyo (Afong Moy).

The creative team includes Junghyun Georgia Lee (Set Design), Linda Cho (Costume Design), Jiyoun Chang (Lighting Design), Fan Zhang (Composition & Sound Design), and Alex H. Hajjar (Production Stage Manager). Casting is by Calleri Casting.

Tickets start at $32 and can be purchased online at longwharf.org, by calling 203.787.4282, or by visiting the box office located at 222 Sargent Drive in New Haven. AnyTime Passes may be purchased online starting at $200 for four tickets. $10 student tickets are available for every Thursday and Friday performance (student ID required). For group ticket sales, contact groups@longwharf.org or call 203.772.8259. The Friday, March 27 performance will offer open captioning, making the show accessible to individuals with hearing loss. Post-show conversations will be held after all performances (except opening and closing nights) and we will host a post-show symposium featuring local guest speakers on Sunday, April 5, 2020. Please check longwharf.org/the-chinese-lady for updates on additional programming surrounding the show.

LLOYD SUH (Playwright) (he/him) Long Wharf Theatre debut. He is also the author of Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery, American Hwangap, The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go!, Jesus in India, and others, produced with Ma-Yi Theater Co., Magic Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, National Asian American Theatre Co. (NAATCO), The Play Co., Milwaukee Rep, ArtsEmerson, Children’s Theatre Co., Denver Center, and others, including internationally at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and with PCPA in Seoul, South Korea. He has received support from the New Play Development Project at Arena Stage, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, NYFA, and NYSCA, and received a 2016 Helen Merrill Award and 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts. From 2005 to 2010 he served as Artistic Director of Second Generation and Co-Director of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, and since 2011 as the Director of Artistic Programs at The Lark. He has served since 2015 on the Dramatists Guild Council.

RALPH B. PEÑA (Director) (he/him) Long Wharf Theatre debut. Recent directing credits include the Off-Broadway premieres of Jessica Hagedorn’s Felix Starro, Mike Lew’s microcrisis, Hansol Jung’s Among the Dead, and Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady. His work has been seen at The Public Theater, Children’s Theater Co., Laguna Playhouse, Victory Gardens, NATTCO, and Ma-Yi Theater Co. for which he serves as Artistic Director. Under his artistic leadership, Ma-Yi Theater Co. has become the country’s leading incubator of new plays by Asian American playwrights with a history of productions garnering numerous awards, including nine Obie Awards, the Off-Broadway Alliance Award, nine Drama Desk nominations, a special Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theater, and most recently, a Lucille Lortel Award and the Ross Wetzsteon Obie Award. Ralph is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre. This is for Damien, always and forever.

JON NORMAN SCHNEIDER (Atung) (he/him) is thrilled to be back at Long Wharf Theatre after last appearing in Julia Cho's Durango in 2006. Earlier this year, he played the Fool in Northern Stage's production of King Lear. Select New York credits include the title role in Henry VI (NAATCO), Awake and Sing! (NAATCO/The Public Theater), Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb), The Oldest Boy (Lincoln Center), Queens Boulevard (the musical) (Signature Theatre Co.), Durango (The Public Theater), A Map of Virtue (13P), among others. London: Paper Dolls (Tricycle Theatre). Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Barrington Stage Co., Dorset Theatre Festival, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Co., Kennedy Center, Magic Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Mosaic Theatre Co. of DC, and The Old Globe. Film: Bitter Melon, Manila Is Full of Men Named Boy, The Normals, and HBO's Angel Rodriguez. TV: "Succession," "Jessica Jones," "Veep," "30 Rock," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

SHANNON TYO (Afong Moy) (she/her) Long Wharf Theatre debut. Off-Broadway: The Chinese Lady, Kentucky, Bikeman, Dear Edwina. Select regional: The Good Book (Berkeley Rep), Fun Home (Baltimore Center Stage), Smart People (Geva Theatre Center), Bright Half Life (Kitchen Theatre Co.), Broadway Bounty Hunter (Barrington Stage), The White Snake (The Old Globe), Miss Saigon (Pioneer Theatre Co., Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Music Theatre Wichita), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Northern Stage, Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Pioneer Theatre Co.). TV: “30 Rock,” “Rediscovering Christmas” (Lifetime), “The Last O.G.” BFA, Syracuse University.

JUNGHYUN GEORGIA LEE (Set Design) (she/her) is a Korean born New York based designer. Long Wharf Theatre debut. She has designed for Ma-Yi Theater Co., Soho Rep, The Play Co., Alley Theatre, Hartford Stage, Guthrie Theater, Huntington Theatre Co., Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Syracuse Stage, Geva Theatre Center, and Playmakers Rep. She is a member of New Neighborhood. MFA, Yale School of Drama. junghyunleedesign.com

LINDA CHO (Costume Design) (she/her) Recent Long Wharf Theatre credits include Clybourne Park, The Second Mrs. Wilson, and Italian American Reconciliation, among others. Broadway: Grand Horizons, Anastasia (Tony nomination), The Great Society, A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award, Henry Hewes Award), The Lifespan of a Fact, Velocity of Autumn. Off-Broadway/Regional: City Center Encores!, The Public Theater, The Old Globe, Alliance Theatre, Hartford Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Ctr., and more. Opera: Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Recipient of TDF’s Irene Sharaff Young Master Award and the Ruth Morely Design Award from League of Professional Theatre Women. Advisory Committee Member, American Theatre Wing. MFA, Yale School of Drama. lindacho.com

JIYOUN CHANG (Lighting Design) (she/ her) Long Wharf Theatre debut. Credits: Slave Play (Golden Theatre, NYTW, Drama Desk Nom), For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf (The Public Theater), Anatomy of Suicide, Eddie and Dave (Atlantic Theatre Co.); Sojourners, Her Portmanteau (New York Theatre Workshop); Marys Seacole, Plot Points in our Sexual Development, brownsville song (b-side for tray) (LCT3); Something Clean, Too Heavy For Your Pocket, Ugly Lies The Bone (Roundabout); and productions at Brooklyn Academy of Music, MCC Theater, Signature Theatre, Guggenheim, Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, Guthrie Theater, The Old Globe, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Studio Theatre. Obie Award, Special Citation in Lighting Design. Thanks to my loves, David & Eva. MFA, Yale School of Drama.

FAN ZHANG (Composition & Sound Design) (she/her). Long Wharf Theatre debut. Recent Off-Broadway design credits include Paris (Atlantic Theatre Co.), Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Second Stage and WP Theater), Pumpgirl (Irish Rep), Suicide Forest (Ma-Yi Theater Co.), Molly Sweeney (Theatre Row), Round Table (59E59), Behind the Sheet (Ensemble Studio Theatre), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group), Scissoring (INTAR), Beautiful Day Without You (West End Theatre), three girls never learnt the way home (Cherry Lane Theatre). Selected Regional: Pipeline (Studio Theatre, DC), Eclipsed (Milwaukee Rep), Yasmina’s Necklace (Premiere Stages), Seven Guitars (Yale Rep), Redeem (Cincinnati Ballet), Revolutionist (City Theatre Co.), Red Maple (Capital Rep),. Training: MFA, Sound Design, Yale School of Drama. fanzhangsound.com

ALEX H. HAJJAR (Production Stage Manager) (he/him) Long Wharf Theatre credits include February House, My Name is Asher Lev, and The Roommate. Broadway & Touring: blast! (Japan National Tour), Les Misérables, The Realistic Joneses, After Midnight. Off-Broadway: Head of Passes (The Public Theater), Aubergine (Playwrights Horizons), Mother Courage (Classic Stage Co.), Relevance, Georgia McBride, Yen, The End of Longing (MCC Theater), Big Love (Signature Theatre Co.), This American Life (Brooklyn Academy of Music), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre for a New Audience), Belleville (New York Theatre WOrkshop), We Are Proud to Present… (Soho Rep), Dr. Ride (Ars Nova), Melancholy Play (13P). Regional: Frost/Nixon (Bay Street Theater); Ether Dome (Hartford Stage); Little Shop of Horrors, 2 Pianos 4 Hands (Peterborough Players).

CALLERI CASTING James Calleri (he/him), Paul Davis (he/him), Erica Jensen (she/her). Casting for Long Wharf for 16 seasons. Broadway: Burn This, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man (also West End), Hedwig and The Angry Inch, Of Mice and Men, Venus in Fur, 33 Variations, The Visit, A Raisin in the Sun, Chicago, James Joyce's The Dead. National tours: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Bright Star. Casting for Rattlestick (Pride Plays, Samuel D. Hunter's Lewiston and Clarkston), McCarter Theatre Ctr., The Flea, Playwrights Realm, Center Theatre Group, Alliance Theatre, Humana Festival/Actors Theatre of Louisville, Classic Stage Co., Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkeley Rep, Playwrights Horizons (10 seasons). TV: Apple's new series "Dickinson;" also "The Path," "Army Wives," "Lipstick Jungle," "Monk," "Hope & Faith," "Ed." Films include Mike Cahill's Sundance winners Another Earth; awarded 14 Artios Awards for Outstanding Casting Achievement. Members CSA. callericasting.com