Theater Mu Incorporated

THEATER MU PRODUCES GREAT PERFORMANCES BORN OF ARTS, EQUITY, AND JUSTICE FROM THE HEART OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.

THEATER MU'S MISSION IS TO PRODUCE GREAT PERFORMANCES BORN OF ART, EQUITY, AND JUSTICE FROM THE HEART OF THE ASIAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. MU OPERATES WITH THE FOLLOWING PRIMARY ARTISTIC VALUES AND GOALS: TO GIVE VOICE AND CULTURAL PROFILE TO THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY; TO DEVELOP AND NURTURE THE EMERGING ASIAN AMERICAN ARTISTIC WORKFORCE; TO PROMOTE AWARENESS OF AND PROGRESSIVE ACTION ON ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE IN SOCIETY; AND TO MOVE, PROVOKE, AND CHALLENGE AUDIENCES TO UNDERSTAND, EMBRACE, AND CELEBRATE DIVERSITY. MU COMMITS TO WORKING TOWARDS EQUITY AND INCLUSION TO SERVE THE DIVERSE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. FOR THIS WORK, MU HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF 10 MINNESOTA CULTURAL TREASURES BY THE MCKNIGHT AND FORD FOUNDATIONS. IT IS ALSO A CURRENT WALLACE FOUNDATION ARTS INITIATIVE GRANTEE. THE 2022-2023 SEASON WAS MU'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON. ON ITS PEARL ANNIVERSARY, THE COMPANY HIGHLIGHTED WORDS SPOKEN BY ITS CO-FOUNDER RICK SHIOMI: "MY THEATER WORK CAME OUT OF MY COMMUNITY ACTIVISM, AND BECAME AN EXTENSION OF THAT ACTIVISMTHOSE TWO, FOR ME, ARE WEDDED COMPLETELY." THREE DECADES AFTER HE CO-FOUNDED THE COMPANY, THEATER MU STILL STRIVES TO CARRY ON HIS PHILOSOPHY, AS IT CONTINUES TO STAND ON ITS PILLARS OF HIGH QUALITY ART, ASIAN AMERICAN STORIES, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE. TO CELEBRATE THAT COMMUNITY, THE 22-23 SEASON FEATURED STORIES OF LONGTIME AND BELOVED MU ARTISTS AND HONORED THE ELDERS WHO PAVED THE WAY FOR GENERATIONS OF ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER MAKERS. WHEN MU WAS FOUNDED, FEW ASIAN AMERICAN STORIES WERE BEING TOLD, YET BECAUSE OF THEIR FIGHT, COMMITMENT, AND GENEROSITY, MU'S SEASON WAS FILLED WITH NEW ASIAN AMERICAN WORK THAT HELPED REPRESENT THE BREADTH AND DEPTH OF DIVERSE AAPI EXPERIENCES, INCLUDING FOUR WORLD PREMIERES WRITTEN BY SOUTHEAST ASIAN AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHTS. THE COMPANY OPENED THE SEASON WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF JESSICA LUU'S THEATRICAL ADAPTATION OF THE CALDECOTT-HONORED CHILDREN'S BOOK A DIFFERENT POND BY BELOVED MINNESOTA WRITER BAO PHI. MU PRODUCED THIS WORLD PREMIERE IN COLLABORATION WITH STAGES THEATRE COMPANY. IN THIS 60-MINUTE PLAY, A YOUNG VIETNAMESE BOY AND HIS FATHER FISH FOR FOOD ON THE PRE-DAWN SHORES OF A MINNEAPOLIS LAKE, UNFURLING A TALE ABOUT IMMIGRATION, STRADDLING CULTURES OLD AND NEW, AND A FAMILY FACING DAILY STRUGGLES TOGETHER. A DIFFERENT POND AND ITS VERY "MINNESOTA" IMMIGRANT NARRATIVE WARMED HEARTS AND MADE MU'S ASIAN AMERICAN AUDIENCES FEEL AT HOME.THAT WAS FOLLOWED BY MU'S COLLABORATION LED BY MINNESOTA OPERA, THE SONG POET, BASED ON THE BOOK BY TREASURED WRITER KAO KALIA YANG. THE FIRST HMONG STORY ADAPTED FOR THE OPERATIC STAGE, THE SONG POET CAME TO LIFE IN THIS WORLD PREMIERE. IT TELLS THE TRUE STORY OF KAO KALIA YANG'S FAMILY AND HER SONG POET FATHER AS WAR DRIVES THEM FROM THE MOUNTAINS OF LAOS INTO A THAI REFUGEE CAMP AND ULTIMATELY ON TO THE CHALLENGING WORLD OF LIFE AS AN IMMIGRANT. WITH HIS POETRY, KALIA'S FATHER INSPIRES HOPE IN HIS FAMILY, POLISHING THEIR REALITY SO THAT THEY MIGHT SHINE. NEXT IN MU'S SEASON WAS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF KATIE KA VANG AND MELISSA LI'S AGAIN. IN THIS NEW MUSICAL, HMONG MEMOIRIST AND CANCER SURVIVOR MAI SEE MEETS A YOUNG FILMMAKER NAMED QUEST, WHO IS INSPIRED TO DOCUMENT MAI SEE'S STORY DESPITE SUFFERING FROM CHRONIC CANCER HERSELF. WHEN MAI SEE RELAPSES, THEIR UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP HELPS HER UNDERSTAND THE THINGS IN LIFE THAT ARE WORTH KEEPING AND THE THINGS WORTH LETTING GO AND SHEDS LIGHT ON MAI SEE'S RELATIONSHIP WITH HER SISTER SHIA. AGAIN WAS THE FIRST HMONG AMERICAN MUSICAL PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES. IT SPOKE TO AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY AND ENJOYED A VIBRANT, SOLD-OUT RUN WITH CROWDS OF HMONG AMERICAN AUDIENCES COMING TO SEE IT FROM ACROSS MINNESOTA AND THE NATION. THE STAR TRIBUNE WROTE OF AGAIN, "THE WORLD PREMIERE IS A MUSICAL, WHICH IS NOTORIOUSLY TRICKY TO GET RIGHT. IT'S LARGELY ABOUT CANCER, WHICH DOES NOT SCREAM 'LAUGH RIOT.' IT'S PARTIALLY IN HMONG, WHICH I HAVEN'T SEEN IN MUSICAL THEATER (ALTHOUGH, AS ONE CHARACTER POINTS OUT, IT IS AN ORAL TRADITION). DESPITE OR BECAUSE OF THOSE THINGS, AGAIN IS TERRIFICALLY ENTERTAINING." TO CELEBRATE THEATER MU'S 30TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON, AAPI HERITAGE MONTH, AND ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER AS A WHOLE, IN MAY 2023 THE THEATER BROUGHT SOME OF THE FIELD'S LUMINARIES TO THE TWIN CITIES IN A WEEKEND OF ARTIST TALKS, EXHIBITS, ITS ANNUAL NEW EYES PLAY-READING FESTIVAL, AND MORE. EACH EVENT CENTERED ON AT LEAST ONE OF THEATER MU'S TENETS OF ASIAN AMERICAN STORIES, ART, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE. THEATER ELDERS WHO WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER IN THE 1970S AND 80S REUNITED, INCLUDING TONY-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT DAVID HENRY HWANG, PLAYWRIGHT PHILIP KAN GOTANDA, ACTOR AMY HILL, THEATER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC AND INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS EMILYA CACHAPERO, AND MU'S CO-FOUNDER RICK SHIOMI. THE CONFERENCE INCLUDED WORKSHOPS AND PANELS ABOUT MINNESOTA'S ASIAN AMERICAN RENAISSANCE, DISMANTLING THE GENDER BINARY, AND ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN ARTISTIC LEADERS, TO NAME A FEW. FOR ITS NEW EYES FESTIVAL, MU PRODUCED SELECTIONS OF SIX TRAILBLAZING ASIAN AMERICAN PLAYSYELLOW FACE BY DAVID HENRY HWANG, TOKYOBOUND BY AMY HILL, YELLOW FEVER BY RICK SHIOMI, YANKEE DAWG YOU DIE BY PHILIP KAN GOTANDA, TEA BY VELINA HASU HOUSTON, AND STOP KISS BY DIANA SON. MU ALSO PRODUCED TWO WORKSHOP READINGS OF NEW WORKHOUSE OF JOY BY MADHURI SHEKAR AND HOLY SHITAKE BY KATIE CHIN, THE DAUGHTER OF FAMED MINNESOTA CHINESE RESTAURATEUR LEEANN CHIN. MU CLOSED ITS SEASON WITH ITS MELLON FOUNDATION PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE SAYMOUKDA DUANGPHOUXAY VONGSAY'S THE KUNG FU ZOMBIES SAGA: SHAMAN WARRIOR & CANNIBALS, DIRECTED BY MU ARTISTIC DIRECTOR. THIS EPIC PLAY BROUGHT AUDIENCES TO A WORLD OVERRUN BY ZOMBIES WHO HAPPEN TO KNOW KUNGFU. IN THE FIRST ACT, SHAMAN WARRIOR ARUN MUST FIGHT THE DEMONS INSIDE AND OUT AS SHE TRIES TO RESCUE HER SISTER WITH THE HELP OF THE MONKEY KING. THEN IN ACT TWO, THE PLAY RETURNS TO AN UPDATED KUNG FU ZOMBIES VS. CANNIBALS, WHICH MU PREMIERED IN 2013, WHERE LAO AMERICAN SIKA IS ON A TREACHEROUS QUEST TO RELEASE HER DEAD PARENTS' ASHES IN HER MOTHERLAND. TOGETHER, THEY'RE TWO HALVES OF ONE EPIC SAGA. OF THE PLAY, MPR SAID, "THE ENTIRE NIGHT OF THEATER IS A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING, AND WELL-LED BY DIRECTOR LILY TUNG CRYSTALPLAYWRIGHT SAYMOUKDA DUANGPHOUXAY VONGSAY HAS CRAFTED A UNIQUE, DEEPLY EMOTIONAL SET OF STORIES." MEANWHILE, TALKIN' BROADWAY CALLED IT "BOTH GREAT FUN AND DEEPLY AFFECTING. EITHER IS REASON ENOUGH TO SEE IT. COMBINED, IT CLIMBS TO THE TOP OF THE LIST."THIS SEASON MU WAS PROUD TO WELCOME MAINSTAGE AUDIENCES THAT WERE OVER 53.4% ASIAN AMERICAN AND 42% BETWEEN THE AGES OF TWENTY-FIVE TO THIRTY NINE. THIS SETS MU APART FROM THE TRADITIONAL THEATER AUDIENCE. THE THEATER WILL CONTINUALLY STRIVE TO CREATE INNOVATIVE, IMPACTFUL, AND HIGH-QUALITY WORK IN ITS FUTURE MAINSTAGE PROGRAMMING. THROUGH FUNDING FROM THE JEROME FOUNDATION, MU IS CONTINUING ITS ONGOING COMMISSIONING PROJECTS WITH THE 2023-24 PREMIERE OF PLAYWRIGHT JESSICA HUANG'S NEW MUSICAL BLENDED (HARMONY): THE KIM LOO SISTERS, ABOUT THE REAL-LIFE MINNESOTA SISTERS WHO TOOK THE AMERICAN CABARET CIRCUIT BY STORM IN THE 1930S. MU ALSO SUPPORTED THE WORK OF PLAYWRIGHT PRINCE GOMOLVILAS, CO-COMMISSIONING HIS NEW PLAY PARANORMAL INSIDE, THE SEQUEL TO HIS HIT SHOW THE BROTHERS PARANORMAL, WITH EAST WEST PLAYERS AND PERSEVERANCE THEATRE. MU IS ALSO COMMITTED TO TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ASIAN AMERICAN ARTISTS. IN ADDITION TO CREATING A SPACE WHERE EARLY CAREER ASIAN AMERICAN ARTISTS CONTINUE TO TRAIN AND HONE THEIR SKILLS THROUGH THE MU TRAINING INSTITUTE, MU OFFERS ARTISTS ON-THE-JOB TRAINING IN THE FORM OF PRODUCTION ASSISTANTSHIPS, INTERNSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS IN MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTSACTING, DIRECTION, DRAMATURGY, DESIGN, AND STAGE MANAGEMENT. THEATER MU'S OUTREACH STRATEGY BEGINS WITH ITS THOUGHTFUL SEASON SELECTION OF DIVERSE ASIAN AMERICAN PLAYS. FROM THERE, IT WORKS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY TO EDUCATE, DEVELOP RELATIONSHIPS, IDENTIFY AND ELIMINATE BARRIERS, AND DEEPLY ENGAGE. THE COMPANY STRUCTURES THIS ENGAGEMENT AROUND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS DESIGNED FOR THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY TO SEE THEMSELVES AND PARTICIPATE IN MU'S STORYTELLING, AS WELL AS PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROGRAMS, DESIGNED TO INTRODUCE MU'S WORK TO THE LARGER TWIN CITIES COMMUNITY IN A VARIETY OF SETTINGS.