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Home , Chinglish (play), Conrad Ricamora, David Henry Hwang, FOB (play), Francis Jue, Golden Child (play)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Curran Press Contact: Julie Richter, Charles Zukow Associates [email protected] | 415.296.0677

CURRAN ANNOUNCES CAST FOR THE BAY AREA PREMIERE OF A PLAY WITH A MUSICAL BY AND

JUNE 20 – JULY 10, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO (March 6, 2018) – Today, Curran announced the cast of SOFT POWER, a play with a musical by David Henry Hwang (play and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music and additional lyrics). SOFT POWER will make its Bay Area premiere at San Francisco’s Curran theater (445 Geary Street), June 20 – July 8, 2018. Produced by Center Group, SOFT POWER comes to Curran after its world premiere at the in from May 3 through June 10, 2018. Tickets for SOFT POWER are currently only available to #CURRAN2018 subscribers. Single tickets will be announced at a later date.

With SOFT POWER, a contemporary comedy explodes into a musical fantasia in the first collaboration between two of America’s great theatre artists: Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, ) and Jeanine Tesori (). Directed by () and choreographed by Sam Pinkleton (Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812), SOFT POWER rewinds our recent political history and plays it back, a century later, through the Chinese lens of a future, beloved East-meets-West musical. In the musical, a Chinese executive who is visiting America finds himself falling in love with a good-hearted U.S. leader as the power balance between their two countries shifts following the 2016 election.

The cast of SOFT POWER features Billy Bustamante (), Jon Hoche (War Horse tour), Kendyl Ito (Matilda tour), (M. Butterfly), Austin Ku ( tour), Raymond J. Lee (Groundhog Day), Alyse Alan Louis (Amélie), Jaygee Macapugay (School of Rock), Daniel May (Thoroughly Modern Millie tour), Paul HeeSang Miller (Miss Saigon), Kristen Faith Oei (M. Butterfly), Maria-Christina Oliveras (Amélie), Geena Quintos (Miss Saigon), (“How to Get Away with Murder”), Trevor Salter (Here Lies Love) and Emily Stillings ().

SOFT POWER is a Center Theatre Group co-commission with . The creative team includes scenic design by Tony Award winner David Zinn, costume design by winner Anita Yavich, lighting design by Mark Barton, sound design by Tony Award nominee Kai Harada, orchestrations by Drama Desk Award winner and Tony Award nominee Danny Troob, dance arrangements by John Clancy, music supervision by Chris Fenwick, music direction by David O, hair and wig design by Tom Watson, make-up design by Angelina Avallone and casting by Heidi Griffiths, CSA and Kate Murray, CSA. The dramaturg is Oskar Eustis. The production stage manager is David Lurie- Perret.

As original as it is topical, SOFT POWER overflows with the romance, laughter and cultural confusions of the golden age of Broadway. SOFT POWER is inspired by the legacy of classic American musicals such as The King and I as as China’s current quest for international cultural influence, also known as SOFT POWER.

Hwang is a , screenwriter, television writer, and librettist, whose stage works includes the plays M. Butterfly, Chinglish, , Kung Fu, , The Dance and the Railroad, and FOB, as well as the Broadway musicals & ’s (co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 revival) and Disney’s . He is also America’s most-produced living librettist, whose works have been honored with two Grammy Awards, and he co-wrote the Gold Record "Solo" with the late pop star . Hwang is currently a Writer/Consulting Producer for the Golden Globe-winning television series The Affair, and his screenplays include Possession, M. Butterfly, and Golden Gate. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Hwang is a Tony Award winner (M. Butterfly) and three-time nominee, a three-time winner and a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Recent honors include the 2011 PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Master American Dramatist, the 2012 Inge Award, the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright “Mimi” Award, a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award and the 2015 IPSA Distinguished Artist Award. He is Chair of the and sits on the boards of Young Inc. and the Lark Play Development Center. Hwang was recently the Residency One Playwright at New York’s Signature Theatre and currently serves as head of playwriting at School of the Arts. In 1998, named its new mainstage the David Henry Hwang Theater.

Tesori returns to Curran, where in January 2017, Fun Home was the first performance following the theater’s extensive renovation. Broadway credits include Fun Home (2015 Tony Award winner), Violet, Caroline, or Change, The Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, ( Theater) and John Guare’s A Free Man of Color. Tesori also collaborated with on Mother Courage starring at the Delacorte. Her opera credits include A Blizzard on Marblehead Neck (, Tony Kushner; Glimmerglass) and The Lion, the Unicorn and Me (libretto, J. D. McClatchy; Washington National Opera). Her songs are featured in the Netflix revival of “Gilmore Girls.” She is the artistic director/co-founder of A Broader Way, an arts empowerment program for girls from underserved communities; the founding artistic director of Encores! Off-Center; and a lecturer in music at and Columbia University. Tesori is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

#CURRAN2018 Curran’s 2018 season, #CURRAN2018, includes the reigning Tony Award-winning musical, ; the pre-Broadway engagement of HEAD OVER HEELS, the Bay Area premiere of SOFT POWER by Tony Award-winners David Henry Hwang (Play and Lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (Music); and the return of Taylor Mac in TAYLOR MAC’S HOLIDAY SAUCE. Throughout the season, Curran’s popular series of provocative, topical and entertaining one-night-only events, SHOW & TELL, will continue with an all-star lineup featuring some of the theater’s most celebrated artists.

Season subscriptions— including tickets to all four #CURRAN2018 productions, as well as tickets to one complimentary Show & Tell event of the buyer’s choosing—range in price from $116–$744 and are available now by visiting SFCURRAN.com or calling 415-358-1220. As this is the first time the new Curran is offering a season subscription, buyers will have the rare opportunity to select their exact seat locations. Buyers will also get preferred access to all additional special programming, fee-free exchanges on subscription tickets, and a free membership to the Curran Club with additional perks including invitations to member-only events, special offers, and exclusive discounts.

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The Curran’s official reopening in 2016, following an extensive, two-year, top-to-bottom renovation, became one of the most widely discussed and covered cultural happenings in San Francisco. A key component of the national movement to renovate and revitalize America’s great culture palaces from coast-to-coast, the Curran’s impact has resonated far beyond the seven square miles of its hometown.

The Curran’s impact extends to the Bay Area’s education system, with a strong emphasis on student- focused initiatives and programming, including hosting student performances of ECLIPSED and THE ENCOUNTER, as well as presenting the first ever amateur performances of ’s SCHOOL OF ROCK: THE MUSICAL, which were performed entirely by the students of Oakland School for the Arts.

SFCURRAN.com