November 2001

2001 Next Wave Festival BAMcinematek

Denise Green, For Merce 2000

BAM Next Wave Festival sponsor:

PHiliP MORRIS ~lAGfBlll COMPANIES INC. Brooklyn Academy of Music

Bruce C. Ratner Alan H. Fishman Chairman of the Board Chairman, Campaign for BAM

Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Prod ucer

presents Once Upon a Time in Chinese America ... A Martial Arts Ballet and Music-Theater Epic (aka Voice of the Dragon*) Music & concept by Fred Ho

Approximate BAM Harvey Lichtenstein Theater running time: Nov 7, 9 & 10, 2001 at 7:30pm; Nov 11 at 3pm 1 hour, no Director Mira Kingsley intermission Martial arts choreography Jose Figueroa Written by Fred Ho & Ruth Margraff Lighti ng Allen Hahn Costumes Kenneth Chu Scrolls calligraphy Tony Kun-Feng Chen Set and original scroll design Michael Forrest Kurtz Stage manager Matthew Welander

Afro Asian Music Ensemble Composer/leader/baritone sax Fred Ho Alto sax "Sweet" Sue Terry Tenor sax David Bindman Drum set/Chinese percussion Royal Hartigan Marimba/vibes/percussion Hitomi Tono'oka Bass Wesley Brown

Major support for the BAM presentation of Once Upon a Time in Chinese America ... is provided by The Dime Savings Bank of New York, FSB. Next Wave dance programs are supported by The Harkness Foundation for Dance and The Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation.

Produced by Big Red Media, Inc., with Mrs. Mary Sharp Cronson, Tina Chen, and commissioned by The Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, The World Music Institute, NYSCA, and the John Harms Center for the Arts.

BAM thanks Theatre Development Fund for its support of this season.

25 Program A 17th-century legend of intrigue, opportunism, betrayal, revolutionary redemption, and innovation serves as an allegory for the destruction and resurrection of the modern-day Asian American Movement.

1. Prologue/Overture: The Way of Shaolin ... 2. A Poisoned Soul: Gar Man Jang Curses the Moon and Does Not Bow to the Sun! 3. Serpenti ne Attack on Shaol in! The Five Ancestors: 4. Chen Jak, Visionary Strategist Leader and Tai Chi Master 5. Miao Hin, Master of Knives 6. Gee Shin, The Builder, Master of Leopard Kung-fu 7. Li Wen Mao, Revolutionary Opera Artist 8. Ng Mui, Martial Nun, and the Greatest Hand-to-Hand Boxer of All Time 9a. Outlaws All! All Heroes Are Brothers and Sisters (Loyalty Oath Sworn Underneath a Peach Tree) 9b. Absolute Corruption from Absolute Power 10. Drunken Fist Revenge and the Apocalypse 11. Epilogue

Cast (in order of Narrator Shyaporn Theerakulstit appearance) Gar Man Jang Kathleen Cruz Chen Jak Jose Figueroa Miao Hin Philip Joseph Silvera Gee Shin George Crayton, III Li Wen Mao R. Scott Parker Ng Mui Sharon Soomi Kim Eunuch/Manchu Flaming Warrior Malcolm Chin-Soong Murray Manchu Super Warrior Earl Weathers Jr. Manchu Superfighter Jose Quinones "Bolo" Super Macho Manchu Michael Pasigan The Widow-maker Vera Vanguard

In conjunction with Once Upon a Time ... , BAM presents: Dance of the Dragon: Martial Arts on Film BAMcafe Live BAMcinematek at BAM Rose Cinemas NIGHT VISION: A Third to First Nov 10-Dec 16 World Vampyre Opera (excerpts from a new opera by Martial Arts Workshop (with masters Fred Ho and Ruth Margraff) Hu Jianqiang and Gordon Liu) Nov 15 at 9pm BAM Hillman Attic Studio Nov 10 at 2pm. Tickets $20 Visit www.bam.org for details.

26 I was asked to submit my director's notes the day before the tragedy at the World Trade Center. I began that day jotting down a few scattered thoughts about the unique chal­ lenges and questions I have confronted during my three years with this piece. Some of the thoughts were the clashing elements of eastern and western philosophy in the show, genre fusion, and the idea of creating a new American musical form. But those words I would have written in September, like so many lives, have been violently buried.

We are human because we have limits, and we are human because we will strive to reach beyond those limits. Within this paradox lies our salvation and our destruction. Theater allows us to be first-hand witnesses to the uniquely human struggle of answer­ ing the question, "How far can we go?" The answer to that question can be triumphant, terrifying, or touching, but it is always transforming. What I have learned watching this cast perform superhuman feats in a brutally exhausting show, with no enhancement but their own adrenaline, is that our bodies have boundaries. But those physical boundaries are almost always far beyond what we expect. The same is true spiritually.

The best theater exists in a world without judgement. Whether we witness a character like Gar Man Jang, whose force of ambition surpasses boundaries of her own and other's destruction, or characters like the Five Ancestors, who overcome insurmountable odds and use innovation as a mode of revenge to bring about their own salvation. Their miracle and their message is the same. We can always do more.

-Mira Kingsley

Once Upon a Time in Chinese America...

Produced and Managed by Big Red Media, Inc. www.bigredmedia.com *Title for 2002-2003 North American Tour. Tour Management by Columbia Artist Management, Inc. att: John Luckacovic ([email protected]) For information on soundtrack recording, visit www.innovarecordings.com.

Fred Ho plays exclusively a Selmer low-A Mark VI baritone saxophone, a Lawton 9starB metal mouthpiece and Rico #4 reeds. Fred Ho is represented by Sozo Arts (http://[email protected]).

Special thanks to Sozo Arts (Rika and Bill), Joe Scarcella, Marina Celander, Natasha Radiojevic, Joe Melillo, BAM, and above all, to Harvey Lichtenstein, Mary Sharp Cronson, and Manny Rodriguez.

27 ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINESE AMERICA ... : A Martial Arts Ballet and Music-Theater Epic (aka Voice of the Dragon)

Prologue

The Narrator, a time-traveling ghost, appears, creating the orchestra and characters and introduc­ ing us to the history of the Shaolin Temple. We see a baby, Gar Man Jang, brought to the Shaolin Temple and abandoned by her father. The Monks adopt the orphaned child. As she grows, the monks educate Gar Man in the mystical martial arts forms of the Shaolin teachings. She learns quickly and receives her black belt earlier than most other students. After earning her black belt, Gar Man chooses to train with the elders. Here is where her story begins ....

Scene I

Though Gar Man's skill is advancing rapidly in the temple, she grows impatient with the time-honored traditions of the Shaolin way. Her pride and ambition begin to take command of her personality. As punishment for her vanity, the Elders order her to perform the menial duty of cleaning the monastery floor, a humbling task usually left to novices. Insulted, but too afraid to defy her elders, Gar Man begins to clean. She is careless and breaks an ancient lamp. The sound of the crash causes an uproar in the temple. Gar Man is harshly reprimanded by the elders for this careless­ ness, then left alone to clean up the mess. Gar Man's soul explodes with rage. Forgetting her fears and acting out of defiance, she runs away from the only place she has known as home.

Scene II

We meet Eunuch Chow Mae Ngai, a sly member of the Imperial Court on a mission to infiltrate the Shaolin Temple and steal its secrets. Chow Mae Ngai disguises himself as a common beggar and sets himself outside the temple in hopes of finding a way in. He accosts Gar Man as she is sneaking out of the temple in the dead of night. He promises her riches and power if she will

28 (continued on page 33) (continued from page 28) divulge the secrets of the Shaolin Way to him and plot with him to attack the temple. Gar Man, still seething from her disgrace, agrees. The betrayal begins.

Scene III

The Monks and Nuns of the Shaolin Temple awake amid a massacre led by Gar Man and the Eunuch. A brutal battle ensues as the temple is burned to the ground and its treasures ravished. Five ancestors manage to escape the slaughter while Gar Man goes in search of the temple's Secret Scrolls.

Scene IV

In live action comic book style, we are introduced to the powers of the heroic Five ancestors and experience their exciting battles as they flee the massacre of the Shaolin Temple toward the safety of the marshes. Each of the Five displays a unique personality and distinct martial arts fighting style.

Scene V

Finally managing to escape the Imperial Bandits, the Five collapse in shock and fatigue underneath a peach tree far from their demolished temple. They vow loyalty to the Shaolin Way and agree to split up for safety and then reunite years later to take revenge upon the traitor Gar Man Jang.

Scene VI

While the temple burns above her, Gar Man Jang discovers the vault of the Shaolin Secret Scrolls. It is forbidden for any but the highest elders of Shaolin to read the scrolls, as martial arts are taught through an oral tradition, teacher to student. Gar Man commits the ultimate betrayal and reads all the scrolls. The awesome power of this martial arts knowledge is too much for any human to handle at once and Gar Man undergoes a terrifying gender-bending transformation. Her soul is turned inside out and she becomes a beast maniacally focused on killing the Five who escaped her madness.

Scene VII

Ten years later the Five reunite as they vowed, underneath the peach tree. They learn that Gar Man has stolen the knowledge and power of the scrolls. Knowing that she has as much or more martial arts knowledge then they do, they set about creating a new tradition. Inspired by the lower classes, the Five invent a new form of martial arts they call Drunken Fist. They use this new form in a final cataclysmic battle against the beast Gar Man.

Epilogue

After the defeat of Gar Man Jang, the Five rebuild the temple and harmony is restored. But, as the lights dim, we are reminded by the Narrator that this story of loyalty and betrayal has been repeated throughout every century. As long as there is ambition above the honor and respect of tradition, this story will continue to be told.

33 \A/oo's \A/oo _

Fred Ho (composer, producing artistic director, Ho's Journey beyond the West, presented in writer, baritone saxophonist, band leader) is a BAM's 1997 Next Wave Festival, at the former construction worker and retired hand-to­ Guggenheim Museum, and other venues. hand combat specialist trained in stealth assault techniques. His most recent recording Ruth Margraff (co-writer) is the recipient of a is the soundtrack Once Upon a Time in Jerome, McKnight, two Rockefellers, NYSCA, Chinese America... (Innova Recordings and Big and NENTCG fellowships in playwriting and Red Media). new opera. She will teach playwriting at Brown University next year. Mira Kingsley (director) has choreographed for and performed on Broadway (the Roundabout Allen Hahn's (lighting designer) recent opera Theatre Company) and in such venues as the work includes Mozart's Mitridate re di Ponto for Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, at the HBO Santa Fe Opera; Rinaldo at New York Aspen Comedy Festival, Lincoln Center, BAM, City Opera; La fanciulla del West for Opera the Folger Shakespeare Theatre, New York Zuid in The Netherlands; Der Freischutz for Stage & Film Festival, the Kitchen, Joseph OLBE-ABAO in Bilbao, Spain; and Luisa Miller Papp Public Theater, the Yard, and the Seattle at the Spoleto USA Festival. Hahn has also International Children's Festival. She has twice designed A Midsummer Night's Dream and tou red nationa Ily with the high Iy accla imed Impressions de Pelleas for the Curtis Institute Aquila Theatre Company, performing in their in Philadelphia. productions of Comedy of Errors, Julius Caesar, The Iliad, and The Odyssey, and also served as Kenneth Chu (costume designer) has designed choreographer for the National Tour of Rodgers for the New World Theater (Bodies between and Hammerstein's Cinderella. In addition to Us; The Return of Elijah, The African; Cloud Once Upon a Time ... , Kingsley is the director Serpent); the University of Texas-Austin and choreographer for Fred Ho's opera, Warrior (Dialogues of the Carmelites; West Side Story; Sisters, and is the resident director for his pro­ Korlzak and the Children); the University of duction company, Big Red Media. Kingsley Massachusetts-Amherst (Merchant of Venice; played Gar Man Jang in the original production Reckless; In My Abyss) and has been an assis­ of Once... and received her bachelor of fine tant designer at the Washington Opera (Sly; La arts from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts. rondine; Samson et Delilah; L'elisir d'Amore) and the Los Angeles Music Center Opera Jose Figueroa (martial arts choreographer and (Carmen; II trovatore). performing as Chen Jak) has more than 15 years of unrivaled success as one of America's Michael Forrest Kurtz (scenic designer) is a premier internal Chinese martial arts competi­ graduate of New York University's Tisch School tors. He has won numerous grand champi­ of the Arts where he received his bachelor of onships and first place titles at every major fine arts degree for scenic and lighting design. Chinese martial arts tournament in the United Recent scen ic-design cred its incl ude West Side States. As a national champion, he traveled to Story (Theater under the Stars), Angels in with Master Ren in 1998 to train in America /I (the Elmwood Playhouse), The Chen village and compete in the International Choice (J.E.TJ, Camille Claudel (the Shop Taiji Competition held in Wenxian, , Theater, NYU), and Once Upon A Time in China. Jose has innovated a revolutionary cur­ Chinese America... (John Harms Center of the riculum using Taiji in inner-city physical educa­ Arts and BAM). Some of his lighting designs tion that has resulted in improvements in stu­ include Bluff (12 Miles West), Three Days of dents' academic performance, self-esteem, self­ Rain (the Villagers), West Side Story, Damn respect, self-discipline, and conflict resolution Yankees, and Crossing Delancey. Currently, skills via cross-cultural understanding. He Kurtz is working on the scenic design for The received a Choreography Fellowship from the Who's Quadrophenia, as well as designing the New York Foundation for the Arts, the first mar­ upcoming 2001-2002 seasons at Tri-State tial artist to do so. He has choreographed Fred Actors Theater and Dreamcatcher Repertory.

34 \ALbo'~ \AIbo _

Tony Kun-Feng Chen (scenic designer), multi­ the full-length version of the same show. Other media designer and fine-art artist who designed credits include Carefully Taught (Greenwich St. the Shaolin Secret Scrolls, was born in 1971 in Theater), X x Infinity (Manhattan Theatre Taipei, Taiwan, graduated from the National Source), Fables (Denver Center Theatre), Inside Institute of the Arts, Taipei, and completed his Out (Liz Swados, Lincoln Center Workshop), and masters degree at New York University in an original Wizard of Oz (Ordway Music 2000. His education includes both traditional Theatre). Chinese and contemporary western art. He has had severa I grou p shows and one solo show in Malcolm Chin-Soong Murray (Eunuch/Manchu Taiwan and the United States. Flaming Warrior) was born in New York City of a Chinese-Jamaican mother and an African­ Mathew Welander (production stage manager) Tobagonian father. He took an early interest in received his undergraduate degree from all aspects of his diverse cultural heritage and Dartmouth College in 1997 and is currently this initial exposure later became a commitment on the prod uction staff at The JuiII ia rd School to the study and transmission of the musical, in New York. He also freelances as a technical martial, and sacred traditions of both Africa and director, production stage manager, and wilder­ Asia. They have often been the subject of his ness educator. work and involvement in film, photography, dance, and theater. Murray's martial arts train­ CAST ing includes kung-fu, karate, and street scrap­ ping, but currently focuses on both the Afro­ George Crayton, III (Gee Shin) has been Brazilian art of capoeira Angola with Mestre studying martial arts since childhood. He was Nego Gato (and Grandmestre Joao Grande) and the martial arts choreographer and appeared in the Indonesian art of Silat Perisai Diri with Guru the world premiere of Fred Ho's Warrior Sisters: Tharyana Sastrenegara. He has trained in Afro­ the New Adventures of African and Asian Cuban dance and percussion with Pupi, former­ Womyn Warriors at the Kitchen in NYC. He ly of the Cuban national company Yoruba also performs in Peggy Choy's Passage of Andabo, and in Congolese percussion with Oracles. drummer Rodney Naves. Murray's religious training has been in Lucumi/Yoruba, Congolese, Kathleen Cruz (Gar Man Jang) has been per­ and Taoism. He currently lives and teaches in forming, teaching, and choreographing in New Brooklyn where he can often be seen chasing York since 1989. She has worked with Fred around his two-year old son, Sule. Ho/Big Red Media since 1999 and has been a company member of the Marlies Yearby Movin' R. Scott Parker (Li Wen Mao) has been Spirits Dance Theater since 1996. Cruz has a studying and performing wushu kung-fu for bachelor of fi ne arts degree in da nce from the more than 16 years. He has competed nation­ Boston Conservatory and a master of arts ally and internationally and is a three-time degree in dance from Teachers College, member of the United States Wushu Team. He Columbia University. She has been a student of is a company member of the Nai-Ni Chen Yee's Hung Ga Kung-fu Academy since 1997. Dance Company. Parker has also performed in Fred Ho's Journey Beyond the West and Sharon Soomi Kim (Ng MuD Native Oregonian Warrior Sisters. Soomi Kim has been performing in New York City and regionally as an actress and multidisci­ Michael Pasigan ("Bolo" Super Macho plinary performer for the last seven years. She Manchu), a New York-based actor, has a mas­ has an extensive background in theater, dance, ters degree in performing art and has been gymnastics, and music. She recently completed training for several years in the martial arts. He a successful run of her original show, Bruce Lee: currently studies with Shaolin monk Shi Xing inside the Lost Interview at the Nuyorican Poets' Peng and hopes to one day use his skills in Cafe (Kim plays Bruce) and is in the process of other action-adventure projects on stage and collaborating with playwright Derek Nguyen on screen. 35 \1\100' c: \1\100""----- _

Jose Quinones (Manchu Super Fighter) has and recorded with Juba, Talking Drums, Wadada studied martial arts for the past six years. He Leo Smith, Fred Ho, Bill Dixon, Keven Norton, achieved his blackbelt in less than a year and Royal Hartigan, Tyrone Henderson, and others. is pursuing a goal of becoming an actor. "Sweet" Sue Terry (alto sax), a composer, educa­ Philip Joseph Silvera (Miao Hin) was born in tor, and alto/soprano saxophonist, began her pro­ the Bronx in 1976. A proud Puerto Rican, he fessional career in Hartford, Connecticut, where currently lives on Long Island where he works she was a graduate of the Hartt School and a pro­ at the Associated Help for the Mentally tE~ge of saxophonist Jackie McLean. Terry has Challenged as an instructor. He is currently worked with Dr. Billy Taylor, Clark Terry, AI studying graphic design at Suffolk County Jarreau, Walter Bishop Jr., Chaka Khan, George Community College. He has been involved in Duke, Irene Reid, Juan Carlos Formell, Dr. John, the martial arts for more than seven years and Jazzberry Jam, and Dianne Reeves, among oth­ has been tra ined by Si Gung Moses Arrocho for ers. She has appeared as a jazz soloist with the the past five years at Shaolin Kung-fu Studios. National Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and New York Pops (conducted by Skitch Henderson). Shyaporn Theerakulstit (Narrator) is a graduate of Her compositions are featured on The Trouba­ New York University, where he trained at the dours (Consolidated Artists) as co-leader of Terra Stella Adler Conservatory and the Classical Studio Mars. Artists whose recordings have featured her and received the Creative Artist/Scholar award. playing/writing include Charli Persip, Clifford Besides Once Upon a Time..., his credits include Jordan, Derwyn Holder, Mini All Stars, Jaki Byard, the title role in Oedipus, Benedick in Much Ado Fred Ho, and DIVA. She is musical director of the about Nothing, Prospero in The Tempest, the dance/music ensemble Beauteez 'N the Beat and Doctor in Woyzeck, Jesus in Godspell, and author of the book Practice Uke the Pros. More Dennis in In Perpetuity throughout the Universe. about Terry can be found at www.sueterry.net. He appears as Vincent, the Chinese vampire god and in the book Madame Jazz by Leslie Gourse, in the new film God of Vampires. which features Terry's photograph on the cover. www.shyaporn.com. Terry is a Yamaha artist.

Vera Vanguard (The Widow-maker) is currently Royal Hartigan (drum set and Chinese percus­ studying Shaolin kung-fu and tai chi chuan sion) has a doctoral degree in ethnomusicology with Shaolin monk Shi Xing Pengo When not and world music from Wesleyan University, working at a law firm on Wall Street, Vanguard where he taught. His book West African can be found on a set filming indie martial arts Rhythms for the Drum Set (Warner Brothers) movies, modeling for fantasy illustrators and received five stars from Modern Drummer mag­ sculptors, or at a comic book/games convention azine. He currently teaches at the University of as Lara Croft. Massachusetts in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Earl Weathers Jr. (Manchu Super Warrior) has Wesley Brown (electric bass) has performed been a kung-fu and wushu student of Alan Lee for and toured with a wide range of musical per­ 14 years, trained in empty hand forms, weapons, sonalities and has appeared on more than two and free-hand fighting. He presently studies the dozen records with various artists, including attributes and applications of chi-gong. extensive experience touring with Earl UFatha" Hines and Anthony Braxton. THE AFRO ASIAN MUSIC ENSEMBLE (LED BY FRED HO) Hitomi Tono'oka (vibraphone and marimba) is from Nagoya, Japan, and has a bachelor of David Bindman (tenor sax), with Fred Ho, co­ music degree in classical music from the Toho leads the Brooklyn Sax Quartet (www.brooklyn­ School of Music in Tokyo and a bachelor of saxquartet.org), whose debut CD, The Way of the music degree in jazz from William Paterson Saxophone, was released by Innova Recordings University in 1999. She is the newest member (www.innovarecordings.com). He has performed of Fred Ho's Afro Asian Music Ensemble.