The Fairy Princess wants you to know it is May….of course you know to basic people, that means it is Justin Timberlake month, however it is…drumroll please – ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER MONTH!
Which means that for this month of May, the lusty month of May, AAPI’s are going to be deservedly ‘extra’, and will not apologize for it!
Get Crazy, Get Cultural, and Get IT, APPIs
To prep y’all – here is a video from NBC Asian America
Everyone got it? Great!
Moving On….
THE TONY AWARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the non-theater going public they are likely confused, but for those who love illogically bursting into song while walking down a street, where then it magically rains, but you still survive the fall from the tree where you were trying to off yourself – there is a lotta leeway in musical theater. Of course, there are the requisite ‘straight’ plays – ie. no singing.
TFP feels some sorta way about straight plays,
no, no no – she is a kidder. She loves straight pe…plays too.
No really, she saw LOBBY HERO, it was great!
But of course, she does love the musicals…
This season, unlike seasons of the past there are actually, AAPIs nominated in roles and in the technical categories.
Supercool – we maybe get one nomination every ummm, well in terms of performers there was BD Wong and Lea Salonga and then nothing till RuthieAnn Miles (Love you RA), and now, to add to that list –
Robert (Bobby) Lopez & Kristin Anderson Lopez for Best Original Music and lyrics for the Theater –
FROZEN
Ashley Park – Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for
MEAN GIRLS
Clint Ramos – Best Costume Design in a Musical –
ONCE ON THIS ISLAND
Kal Harada – Best Sound Design for
THE BAND’S VISIT
Speaking of THE BAND’S VISIT – it must be noted that if any of the cast would like to identify as Asian – specifically Central Asian because that is the region their heritage hails from, you may also know it as The Middle East...TFP is all for that, and it is completely up to them, but if they wanna…let her know, we need the numbers.
This is a remarkable TONYs because there are more than a few female nominees, and TFP would like to acknowledge how special it is, and how difficult it is, on the Creative side, to ‘get there’ because you have to kick ass and take names – so if you see any of the Female Nominees, pour one out for them, they deserve it.
The TONYS are broadcasting on CBS on June 10th at 8PM.
Yet another cool thing – Asian American Film Lab’s 72 Hour Shoot Out
Yes, you want diversity. When do you want it? Yesterday.
Check out the website, competition and rules to compete in the 72 Hour Shoot Out
If you were ever curious about what it takes to be an AAPI Filmmaker or even wanted to appear as an actor in a short film, this competition is the way to go.
You have 72 hours total to assemble your team, cast, write, produce, edit, add music and submit it before it is over.
You can win all sorts of cool stuff, including mentorships with Network people so…take TFP’s advice and check it out.
Also – full disclosure, TFP is a judge this year.
May is also the annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, beginning today – may the Fourth be with you. Check out their schedules and information on all their panels and cool parties here!
SOFT POWER is now in Previews at the Ahmanson in LA!
What better way to celebrate the month than by taking in David Henry Hwang’s latest work that is Broadway Bound?
Looks great!
Listen you do NOT have to be in New York or Los Angeles to be a theater or movie going AAPI! There are Film Festivals celebrating this month literally EVERYWHERE – for example…
Center for Asian American Media is in San Francisco and is a HUGE resource all year round for people with an interest in all types of representation. Check out what they do and how they do it, here.
Again, if you do not know some cool stuff to do – one search engine ought to do it for your city, helping you find some gems of representation that you did not know you needed before you saw it.
Like this one from HAMILTON – all the Asian heritaged Elizas, including TFP’s personal favorite, Shoba Naryan (She did the panel for BroadwayCon) however excellent, heartwrenching performances by Arianna Afsar, Lexi Lawson, Rachelle Ann Go, and Julia Harriman.
TFP was all….
Though in the States, May is the month, last month in April, for British East Asian and Southeastern Asians there was a theater conference!
Supercool!
According to reports, it was a doozy.
There was verbal hostility between Academics, which…TFP thought the Brits were too reserved to do, but…anyway, it happened.
Hopefully apologies were given, if not, one imagines there will be long term ramifications, and honestly – the kerfuffle does dim the spotlight on what seemed to be a great event.
Chinese,Welsh, and British Dragons should all be able to get along…
After all, TFP is all three of those.
Ahem.
Pull it together, Dragons.
One of the highlights for those of us in the States who want there to be more recognition of British East Asian Playwrights, was the premiere of a new work.
Yanks can obtain a copy of a newly published collection by British East Asian Playwrights – and guess what? You can get it on Amazon.com.
Plus, do NOT forget, on May 23rd, the anthology to help Puerto Rico recover – RICANSTRUCTION, drops – and TFP has written a story for La Boriqueña’s BFF, Lala, who is Dominican and Chinese!
Shazam!!! AAPI Tie in!
Isn’t May AMAZING?
And lastly, you cannot see it in May, but you can think about it all summer before it drops in August…it’s out there, it’s coming….Crazy Rich Asians
There ya go…just a few things..history is happening….be there!
TFP out.
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