This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with cast members Austin Ku and Maria-Christina Oliveras from the new play-with-a-musical, Soft Power, at the Curran (445 Geary Street) in San Francisco through July 8.
Written by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, Soft Power takes a look at our recent political history and re-plays it through the Chinese lens of an East-meets-West musical, set in the future, when 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.
From Ferocious Lotus, the San Francisco Bay Area’s premiere Asian-American theatre company, we meet with director Lily Tung Crystal, to discuss Two Mile Hollow, a new play by award-winning playwright Leah Nanako Winkler.
Two Mile Hollow is a comedy about the Donnellys, a wealthy, dysfunctional Caucasian family, portrayed by an entirely Asian cast. Joining the conversation is actress Rinabeth Apostol, who plays Charlotte. Two Mile Hollow runs through July 15 at Potrero Stage (1695, 18th Street) in San Francisco.
Also stopping by are conductor/trumpeter Jason Park, and Bruce De Benedictis from the Friends of the Oakland Municipal Band (OMB), to share details about upcoming concerts by the ensemble, one of the oldest music organizations in the United States. The Oakland Municipal Band has been presenting free concerts at Lakeside Park in Oakland since 1912.
Plus, Open Air’s regular contributor and critic at large, Peter Robinson, offers some suggestions for visits to Bay Area museums.
Open Air with host David Latulippe; heard live on Thursday, June 28 at 1pm. Listen now or anytime…
