Austin Parks & Rec Presents Asian-Themed 'Fly Girl'

AUSTIN, TX — Color Arc Productions, in collaboration with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department’s Asian American Resource Center, will present a staged reading of "Fly Girl," a story about a single mom who gets cast as a hip-hop dancer.

The comedy will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9 at 8401 Cameron Rd. Admission is free with RSVP at aarcatx.eventbrite.com.

Although narratives centered on Asian American women are growing in mainstream prominence, production officials explained, Austin-based writer and performer Christine Hoang is working to expand the canon to include stories centered on Asians who are not glamorously young, gorgeous, rich and thin. "Fly Girl" spotlights the everyday woman who is a middle age, middle class, "middle” looking, "Asian fat" (size 14) and divorced, single parent.

Synopsis: When protagonist Linh Hoang Williams — a 42-year-old, size 12 or size 14 (depending on that week’s carb intake), recently divorced Vietnamese American single mom — attends a Twerkshop, she impresses the dance instructor and gets cast as a hip-hop-dancing Fly Girl. But when she discovers she's the chubbiest, oldest and only Gen-Xer in a dance troupe of thin Millennials, Linh must overcome her inner demons to prove she belongs, the author added.

"Fly Girl" advanced to the Sundance Institute’s second round of the 2020 Development Track for fiction feature work-in-progress screenplays. Finalists will be announced in late December.

For more information, visit the Asian American Resource Center's web page or the Facebook event page.

About the Asian American Resource Center

The center's mission is to provide spaces, services, resources and programs through an Asian American Pacific Islander perspective. The vision is to empower Austin's diverse communities through cultural understanding and life-enhancing opportunities. The center offers programs for youths, adults and senior citizens, along with ongoing exhibits, free community meeting rooms, a library, computer lab and more. For more information, visit austintexas.gov/aarc.

About Color Arc Productions
Formed in November 2015, Color Arc Productions’ mission is to shine light on diverse stories through theater, film, and music. For more information, find Color Arc Productions at colorarcproductions.com or @colorarcproductions on Instagram and Facebook.

About "Fly Girl"

By Christine Hoang

Color Arc Productions

Production Team

Jenny Lavery — Director
Christine Hoang — Writer/Producer
Leslie Lozano — Choreographer/Sound Designer
Kimberly Chung — Community Outreach Coordinator
Eric Oeur — Asian American Resource Center Marketing Representative
Photographer (poster) — Errich Petersen
Photographer (live show) — Steve Rogers

Cast

Deborah Sengupta Stith — Narrator
Christine Hoang — Linh
Jesus Valles — Ruben
Vanessa Hoang Hughes — Nini
Allegra Jade Fox — Clarissa
Leslie Lozano — Ella
Morgen Amalbert — Makayla
Eliza Renner— Amy
André Martin — Harold, Brian & various roles
Rommel Sulit — Isaac
Nguyen Stanton — Janice & various roles
Jeremy Rashad Brown — Jim & various roles