KRISTINA WONG
(Writer/Performer, she/her)
is a performance artist, actor, comedian, writer, and elected representative in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Following its highly acclaimed premiere at New York Theatre Workshop, Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, was a New York Times “Critics Pick.” Wong was then named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Drama (2022). Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord also garnered veritable awards sweep this year including The Drama Desk Award,
The Lucille Lortel Award, and The Outer Critics Circle Award. Wong’s other works have been presented across North America, the UK, Hong Kong, and Africa. She’s been a guest
on late night shows on Comedy Central, NBC, and FX. As a published writer, Wong’s work is included in Routledge’s Contemporary Plays by Women of Color. Wong wrote the introduction for The Auntie Sewing Squad Guide To Mask Making, Radical Care, and Racial Justice published by University of California Press. She also had Artist Residencies at MacDowell, Hermitage, Montalvo,
and Ojai Playwrights Festival. Wong’s work
has been awarded with grants from Creative Capital, The MAP Fund, Center for Cultural Innovation, National Performance Network,
a COLA Master Artist Fellowship from the
Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, nine Los Angeles Artist-in-Residence awards, Center Theatre Group’s Sherwood Award, the Art Matters Foundation, and the Joan D. Firestone Commission from En Garde Arts. She is currently developing a new work during her three-year Artist-in-Residence at ASU Gammage and as
a Social Practice Fellow at the Kennedy Center.
Other major projects include Wong Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Going Green The Wong Way, The Wong Street Journal, and Kristina Wong for Public Office. Other career highlights include the Visionary Award from East West Players, “Local Hero Of The Year” nominee from KCET/PBS, Asian Pacific Honoree from Fuse TV, and the Best Of Arts Los Angeles issue from LA Weekly. kristinawong.com
CHAY YEW
(Director/ he/him).
His New York credits include The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizon, New York Theatre Workshop, Signature Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Audible Theatre, Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theatre, National Asian American Theatre, and Ma Yi. Regionally, he directed for the Humana Festival, Goodman Theatre, Kennedy Center, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Huntington Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Rep, Woolly Mammoth, Center Theatre Group, Long Wharf, Alley Theatre, Hartford Stage, Denver Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, East West Players, Theatre @ Boston Court, Playmakers Rep, Empty Space, Singapore Repertory Theatre, amongst others. His opera credits include the world premieres of Osvaldo Golijov’s and David Henry Hwang’s Ainadamar (co-production with Tanglewood Music Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Los Angeles Philharmonic) and Rob Zuidam’s Rage D’Amors (Tanglewood). He is a recipient of the Obie Award for Direction. An alumnus of New Dramatists, he edited an anthology of Asian American plays, Version 3.0, for TCG Publications. Upcoming: the national tour of Cambodian Rock Band (Berkeley Rep, CTG, Arena, and ACT Theatre / Fifth Avenue), A Light in the Piazza (Encores!); Dishwasher Dreams (Old Globe), and the world premiere of Coleman ’72 (South Coast Rep). From 2011 to 2020, he was the Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago. chayyew.com
JUNGHYUN GEORGIA LEE
(Set Design, she/her)
is
a Korean-born NYC-based designer. She designed for Audible Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Ma-Yi, Public, Soho Rep, The Play Co., Alley Theatre, Hartford Stage, Long Wharf Theatre,Guthrie Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Alliance, and Syracuse Stage. She was nominated for Outstanding Set Design for Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord. MFA, Yale School of Drama. junghyungeorgialeedesign.com, @jgldesigncompany
LINDA CHO
(Costume Design, she/her).
Broadway: Summer, 1976; POTUS; Take Me Out; Grand Horizons; The Great Society; Lifespan of a Fact; Anastasia (Tony Nom); A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award); The Velocity of Autumn.
Off-Broadway: Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; Cambodian Rock Band (Signature Theatre); Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord; Endlings
(NYTW). Regional: A Thousand Splendid Suns (A.C.T.), Bhangin It (La Jolla Playhouse), DDLJ
(Old Globe Theatre), Noir (Alley Theater). Opera: Samson et Dalila (MET Opera). Other: TDF’s Irene Sharaff Young Master Award, Ruth Morely Design Award; Advisory Committee Member of the American Theater Wing. MFA, Yale School
of Drama. lindacho.com
AMITH CHANDRASHAKER
(Lighting Design, he/him).
Featured at NYTW, The Public, Stage, CTG, Playwrights Horizons, MTC, The Atlantic, Signature NY, Soho Rep, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Colorado, Atlanta Opera. Dance works with Sidra Bell, Alexander Ekman, Liz Gerring, Cedar Lake, Rennie Harris, and the Royal Ballet of New Zealand. Drama Desk and Henry Hewes Awards. Professor at The University of Maryland.
MIKHAIL FIKSEL
(Sound Design, he/him)
is a designer, composer, DJ, and audio producer based in New York and Chicago and he is excited to return to CTG where he previously designed Dana H and King of The Yees. Other recent projects include Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens, South Coast Rep, The Old Globe, Berkeley Rep, A.C.T., Writers Theatre, The Civilians, PlayCo, The Steppenwolf, Albany Park Theatre Project and original audio-productions with Audible Originals, WBEZ, and Make Believe Association. Film work includes original scores for Glitch, The Wise Kids, and In Memoriam. He is a recipient of three Lucille Lortel Awards, multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards, three Drama Desk Nominations, and 2020 Obie Award, and he is a proud member of TSDCA and USA. mikhailfiksel.com
ADAM SALBERG
(Sound Design, he/him)
is a sound designer and multimedia artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Recent credits include: Hangmen (Broadway, assoc.), Mother of the Maid (Public Theater, assoc.), Spring Awakening (Yale), The Rocky Horror Show (Yale), Romeo and Juliet
(Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), and The Woodsman (New World Stages). He is a proud member of and organizer for United Scenic Artists Local USA 829, and a member of the TSDCA. When not behind a tech table you can find Adam hunting for a decent bagel and making friends with street cats.
CAITE HEVNER
(Projection Design, she/they).
Broadway: In Transit; Derren Brown: SECRET; Harry Connick Jr., A Celebration of Cole Porter. Select New York: Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord, NYTW (Lortel Nomination); Between the Lines, Tony KiserTheatre; Twenty Sided Tavern, DR2; Bella Bella, MTC; Collective Rage, MCC; Ugly Lies the Bone, Roundabout Underground; Fidelio, Heartbeat Opera; Parade and The Scarlet Pimpernel, Manhattan Concert Productions/Lincoln Center. Select Regional: Alley, Arena, Alliance, Baltimore Center Stage, Dallas Theater Center, Guthrie, Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage, Long Wharf, McCarter, MUNY, Pasadena Playhouse, Seattle 5th Avenue, TUTS, Woolly Mammoth. Recently in Los Angeles: Stranger Things:
The Drive-Into Experience, with Mesmer. Video
Coordinator for BC/EFA’s Broadway Bares
since 2018. Co-Chair of USA829’s Respectful Workplace Committee. caitedesign.com,
@caitehevner
JULIA ZAYAS-MELENDEZ
(Production Stage Manager, she/her)
is thrilled to return to CTG once again. A transplant from Chicago, Julia has had the honor of working with many theatres there, including Writers Theatre, First Folio, Paramount Theatre, Windy City Playhouse, Porchlight Music Theatre, Route 66, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane, Apple Tree, About Face, ShawChicago, Chicago Dramatists, Steppenwolf, Remy BVumppo, Next, Court, Madison Rep, and Theater at the Center. A graduate of Emerson College, Julia began
her career in Massachusetts, with companies like Opera Boston, Boston Theatre Works, The Theatre Offensive, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, SpeakEasy Stage, and Shakespeare
& Company. She took the acclaimed Route 66 production of A Twist of Water Off-Broadway
in 2012, and celebrated World Theatre Day 2009 in Konya, Turkey with ShawChicago. Here in Los Angeles, she’s been privileged to stage manage for The Wallis/Four Larks, A Noise Within, Latino Theatre Company, Ghost Road, and of course, CTG (Slave Play, L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival 2022). Proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 2003.
EAST WEST PLAYERS (EWP)
(Co-Producer)
is the nation’s longest-running theatre of color and the largest producer of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) creative work. Its mission is to raise the visibility of the AAPI experience
by presenting innovative world-class theatrical productions, developing artists of color, and providing youth education programs. Since its founding in 1965 by nine Asian American artists, it has produced more than 230 shows and
has received regional and national accolades.
In 1998, EWP moved from a 99-seat theatre into the 240-seat David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo, DTLA. In 2016, the company welcomed its fourth Producing Artistic Director, Snehal Desai. During his tenure, EWP has produced its three most attended productions in the company’s history, expanded funding to new levels, and garnered a higher national profile as an incubator of artists of color.
EWP uses its platform of live theatre to address social justice issues that affect AAPI and all communities and is broadly recognized for its work in advocating for comprehensive diversity, equity, and inclusion practices across the national theatre sector. Currently in its 56th season, EWP leads the Asian American theater movement as it becomes more inclusive of diverse cultures and expansive in form, recognizing the unique and innovative contributions of transnational, international, and cross-cultural artists and experiences. As an advocate for AAPI talent, EWP programs a number of productions and initiatives that develop and foster API artists and theatrical work. More than 75% of Asian Pacific performers in the acting unions in Los Angeles have worked with East West Players.
Throughout the year, EWP programs community conversations, readings, and workshops of new works to explore current issues affecting our society, providing new opportunities for up-and-coming AAPI writers and artists and expanding EWP’s artistic wheelhouse. EWP also offers career development classes for seasoned and emerging artists through its Actors Conservatory and David Henry Hwang Writers Institute. These programs are the most active AAPI professional enrichment programs in the country, and they serve hundreds of professionals each year.
EWP’s largest arts education programs are Theatre for Youth (TFY) and Partners in Education and Arts Collaboration (PEAC). Both programs have run for over twenty years and provide services for over 11,000 students. The TFY program commissions playwrights to devise a new play or musical centered around notable Asian American historical figures and social issues to perform to schools all over Los Angeles County at no cost and are accompanied by a standards-based study guide to help educators frame and explore the themes of the play in the classroom. PEAC is a free after-school program for middle schoolers that introduces youth to the theatre arts and connects students with AAPI culture and experience. The program culminates with a final performance for friends, peers, and families at their school. They are also invited onto the EWP stage to perform their work, which is a memorable experience for many students.
To learn more visit eastwestplayers.org.
CENTER THEATRE GROUP
LINDSAY ALLBAUGH
(Associate Artistic Director, she/her)
s a member of Center Theatre Group’s artistic staff and has served in varying capacities for the past 18 years. Selected producing credits include—Mark Taper Forum: Archduke, Bent, What the Butler Saw, Steward of Christendom, Waiting for Godot; Kirk Douglas Theatre: Block Party, Big Night, Good Grief, Vicuña, Throw Me on the Burn pile and Light Me Up, Endgame, Women Laughing Alone With Salad, Chavez Ravine, Race, different words for the same thing, The Nether. Co-Artistic Director of the Elephant Theatre 2004–2014.
MEGHAN PRESSMAN
(Managing Director/CEO, she/her)
joined Center Theatre Group in 2019. Previously, she served as Managing Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (D.C.), Director of Development for Signature Theatre (N.Y.), and Associate Managing Director of Berkeley Rep. She is a graduate of Yale School of Drama/Yale School of Management and serves as a mentor in the Theater Management program. Meghan has served as the Vice-Chair for the Theatre Communications Group Board of Directors and is a member of the Broadway League.
DOUGLAS C. BAKER
(Producing Director, he/him)
Joined Center Theatre Group in 1990. Doug is an active member of the Broadway League,
the Independent Presenters Network (IPN),
and is a proud member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM). In 2013, Doug received the Broadway League’s prestigious Outstanding Achievement in Presenter Management Award.
NAUSICA STERGIOU
(General Manager)
has worked supporting artists in theatres of all shapes, sizes, and locales including Center Theatre Group as General Manager and, previously, as Audience Development Director. She oversees productions at the Taper and Douglas, as well as new play commissions and developmental productions. Nausica has taught Marketing and Management at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts and works with local nonprofits including Hollywood Orchard. B.A. Cornell University. MFA Yale School of Drama.
GORDON DAVIDSON
(Founding Artistsic Director)
led the Taper throughout its first 38 seasons, guiding over 300 productions to its stage and winning countless awards for himself and the theatre—including the Tony Award for theatrical excellence, Margo Jones Award, The Governor’s Award for the Arts, and a Guggenheim fellowship. The Kentucky Cycle and Angels in America (Part One) won the Pulitzer in consecutive years and, in 1994, three of the four plays nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play were from the Taper (Angels in America won). In 1989, Gordon took over the Ahmanson and, in 2004, he produced the inaugural season in the Kirk Douglas Theatre.