Cambodian Rock Band

LAUREN YEE

Playwright

Lauren Yee (Playwright) Cambodian Rock Band premiered at South Coast Repertory, subsequent productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, City Theatre, Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Victory Gardens, and Jungle Theater/Theater Mu. Her play The Great Leap has been produced at the Denver Center, Steppenwolf, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theater, Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and Asolo Rep. Honors include the Doris Duke Artists Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ATCA Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, a Hodder Fellowship at Princeton, and the #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List. She’s a Residency 5 playwright at Signature Theatre, New Dramatists member, Ma-Yi Writers Lab member, and Playwrights Realm alumni playwright. Current commissions include Arena Stage/Second Stage, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory. TV credits: Pachinko (Apple), Soundtrack (Netflix), Interior Chinatown (Hulu), Billions (Showtime), The Sterling Affairs (FX). She is currently developing pilots for Netflix and Apple. BA: Yale. MFA: UCSD. laurenyee.com

CHAY YEW

Director

Chay Yew (Director)’s New York credits include the Public Theater, Playwrights Horizon, New York Theatre Workshop, Signature Theatre, New York City Center's Encores!, Playwrights Realm, Audible Theater, Rattlestick, Ensemble Studio Theatre, National Asian American Theatre, and Ma-Yi. Regionally, he directed for the Humana Festival, Goodman Theatre, Kennedy Center, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep, Hartford Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, Huntington Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Rep, Woolly Mammoth, Long Wharf, Alley Theatre, Denver Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Round House Theatre, Center Theatre Group, 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. chayyew.com

TAKESHI KATA

Set Designer

Takeshi Kata (Set Designer) has designed over 200 theatrical productions including plays, musicals, opera, and dance. Broadway: Clyde’s, Derren Brown: Secret. Off-Broadway: Office Hour (Public); Man from Nebraska (Second Stage); The Great Leap, Through a Glass Darkly, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Atlantic); Until the Flood (Rattlestick). Regional: Alley Theatre, American Players Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Central City Opera, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Theatre for the Performing Arts, Ford’s Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, Mark Taper Forum, Nashville Opera, Old Globe, Portland Center Stage, Steppenwolf, Williamstown, and Yale Rep. Kata has been the recipient of Michael Merrit, Drama Desk, Obie, and Jeff Awards and has been nominated for Ovation, San Francisco Critics Circle, Elliot Norton, TBA, and Barrymore Awards. Kata is an Associate Professor at University of Southern California, School of Dramatic Arts.

LINDA CHO

Costume Designer

Linda Cho (Costume Designer) Arena: A Thousand Splendid Suns; Dear Jack, Dear Louise; Sovereignty; Book Club Play; Light in the Piazza; Legacy of Light; Noises Off; Awake and Sing!; Good People; Passion Play; Anna Christie; Piano Lesson; Orpheus Descending. DC: Way of the World at Folger; Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Dog in the Manger all at Shakespeare Theatre. Broadway: Summer, 1976; Take Me Out; Grand Horizons; Anastasia (Tony nomination); The Great Society; A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award, Henry Hewes Award); The Lifespan of a Fact; Velocity of Autumn. Numerous Off-Broadway, regional, and opera productions. Advisory Committee of the American Theatre Wing. MFA, Yale School of Drama. lindacho.com

DAVID WEINER

Lighting Designer

David Weiner (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to continue bringing Chay Yew’s production of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band to audiences since its world premiere at South Coast Repertory in 2018. Previously at Arena, David remounted his design for the Tony Award-winning revival of The Normal Heart. His work has been seen in over 100+ productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in regional theaters across the country over the last 30 years. David also has a thriving architectural lighting design practice. His recent clients include award-winning restaurants Tatiana by Chef Kwame Onwuachi, Al Coro, Saga, Crown Shy, Cote (NY, Miami, Singapore) and Naminori. www.DavidWeinerDesign.com

MIKHAIL FIKSEL

Co-Sound Designer

Mikhail Fiksel (Co-Sound Designer) is a Tony Award-winning designer, composer, audio producer, and DJ working in theater, dance, film, and audio-forward media. Besides numerous productions of Cambodian Rock Band, other projects include collaborations with Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, La La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Victory Gardens, Albany Park Theater Project, Audible Originals, and Make-Believe Association (where he serves as the director of audio production and with whom he just released a new audio drama series “Lake Song” featured at Tribeca Audio Premieres). Film credits include original scores for Glitch, The Wise Kids, and In Memoriam. Other awards include three Lucille Lortel Awards, multiple Jeff Awards, and 2020 Obie Award for Sound Design. Fiksel is on the faculty at Columbia College Chicago and is a proud member of USA and TSDCA.

MEGUMI KATAYAMA

Co-Sound Designer

Megumi Katayama (Co-Sound Designer) is a NY-based sound designer. Her Arena Stage credits include My Body No Choice. Off-Broadway/NY: The Light in the Piazza (Encores!), Regretfully, So the Birds Are (Playwrights Horizons), The Nosebleed (LCT3), for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (Public Theater), The Life (co-design, Encores!), The Gett (Rattlestick), NAATCO, Signature Theatre, Ping Chong + Company. Regional: Studio Theatre, Woolly Mammoth, Everyman Theatre, Alley Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Long Wharf, Yale Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Kansas City Rep, Denver Center, Berkeley Rep, Two River Theater, and more. MFA Yale School of Drama.

FIVE OHM PRODUCTIONS

Projection Designer

Five OHM Productions (Projection Designer) is a New York City-based production company specializing in theatrical and experiential audio and video applications. Five OHM has employed hundreds of design and technical artists and has an ever-expanding roster of technicians and venues in New York City and beyond. Notable design credits include video design with Tal Yarden for the Apollo’s original production of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me performed at the Apollo and Kennedy Center and the eventual subject of an HBO documentary of the same name. Other notable credits include New York Times’ DealBook Conference with Jazz at Lincoln Center, original animations and design for Fahrenheit 451 at the Hippodrome, and video design for Cambodian Rock Band with Luke Norby at Signature Theatre.

TOM WATSON

Wig Designer

Tom Watson (Wig Designer), originally from N. Ireland, has headed the wig/ makeup department at the Metropolitan Opera for 17 years. He has designed more than 100 Broadway productions, including Wicked, Rock of Ages, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, Oslo, Falsettos, The Little Foxes, Junk, My Fair Lady, King Kong, All My Sons, Great Society, and Plaza Suite.

JANE LUI

Music Supervisor & Co-Music Director

Jane Lui (Music Supervisor & Co-Music Director) is a songwriter, vocalist, producer, keyboardist, and percussionist. Recent credits include “Opera Evelyn” vocal contributions to the soundtrack of Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24), Arranger/Pou in Cambodian Rock Band (Off-Broadway Signature Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory), Huong in Vietgone (East West Players), original compositions in All’s Well That Ends Well (OSF), and composer and music director in Secret in the Wings (Coeurage Theatre Co). Her music project, SURRIJA, explores glitch and warm electronic design in song form. The album earned a nomination for Best Pop Album at San Diego Music Awards 2021. The music video “Southern Winds” earned Best Music Video at Dublin Web Fest 2017. She has worked with Matt Chamberlain, Son Lux, Felicia Day, CDZA, and toured internationally. Surrija.com Instagram: @surrija

MATT MacNELLY

Music Supervisor & Co-Music Director

Matt MacNelly (Music Supervisor & Co-Music Director) is a musician and actor living in Los Angeles. He co-arranged Cambodian Rock Band and, prior to the current tour, worked as Music Director for most of the previous productions including Signature Theater (NYC), the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Rep, and Victory Gardens, among others. He’s been playing guitar and singing for over 20 years. Matt is thrilled to be back in DC, where he started his career at Studio Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library, Rorschach Theatre, and Synetic Theater. Matt has a BA in Theater and Performance Studies from Georgetown University, and an MFA in Acting from the University of California, San Diego.

GRAHAM SCHMIDT

Associate Director

Graham Schmidt (Associate Director) is a theater director based in New York. Graham has directed and developed work at the Orchard Project, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Lark Theater, the Wild Project, the National Winter Playwrights Retreat, Salvage Vanguard Theater, Aye Defy, the Blue Theater, the Off Center, NYU Grad Acting, Fordham University, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and UT-Austin. Graham teaches acting in BFA programs at Pace University. Find out more at www.grahamschmidt.com.

MERRICK A.B. WILLIAMS

Stage Manager

Merrick A.B. Williams (Stage Manager) Broadway: The Book of Mormon, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. NY City Center: Call Me Madam (Encores!). Off-Broadway: Sanctuary City, Othello, Dreaming Zenzile, An Ordinary Muslim (NYTW); Good Enemy (Minetta Lane); Somebody’s Daughter, The Layover, Invisible Thread, The Other Thing (Second Stage); Gently Down the Stream, Sweat Mobile National Tour, Measure for Measure Mobile (The Public); Daphne’s Dive (Signature). Regional: Cambodian Rock Band (Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage); Seder (Hartford Stage); 10x10 2016 (Barrington Stage); On the Town (Boston Pops).

CAROLINE DUFFIN

Assistant Stage Manager

Caroline Duffin (Assistant Stage Manager) is so excited to be a part of Cambodian Rock Band again! Broadway: Clyde’s. Off-Broadway: Good Enemy; HEART (Minetta Lane); ¡Americano! (New World Stages); My Mother’s Severed Head (Theatre Row); Whisper House (59E59). Regional: Cambodian Rock Band (Alley Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Arena Stage). Concerts: SuperYou Musical Concert (Carnegie Hall), Bridesmaids: A Dance Narrative (Symphony Space).

TARYN FRIEND

Rehearsal Assistant Stage Manager

CHRISTI B. SPANN

Performance Assistant Stage Manager

Christi B. Spann (Performance Assistant Stage Manager) has been working as a stage manager in DC since 2011. Favorite Arena Stage productions include A Raisin in the Sun and Junk. She previously spent 12 seasons on the stage management staff at the Denver Center Theatre Company and has also worked with The Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN and Virginia Repertory Theatre in Richmond, VA.

CHARLES M. TURNER III

Production Consultant

Charles M. Turner III (Production Consultant) Broadway: Death of a Salesman, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Parisian Woman, Hand to God, The Heidi Chronicles, The Performers, Golda’s Balcony, and Metamorphoses. Other credits include 25 years of Off-Broadway, regional, and international work.

SIGNATURE THEATRE

Signature Theatre celebrates playwrights and gives them an artistic home. Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright’s body of work, producing several plays by each resident writer and delivering an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright’s singular vision. Founded in 1991 by the late James Houghton, the Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre is now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans and Executive Director Harold Wolpert. Signature fosters a cultural community within our permanent home on West 42nd Street, the Frank Gehry-designed Pershing Square Signature Center, which boasts three theatres and two rehearsal rooms, including The Ford Studio, a flexible space that can be converted into a 99-seat theatre.

ALLEY THEATRE

Alley Theatre, one of America’s leading nonprofit theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company led by Artistic Director Rob Melrose and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. The Alley is committed to developing and producing theatre that is as diverse as the Houston community. The Theatre produces up to 16 plays and nearly 500 performances each season, ranging from the best current work and re-invigorated classic plays to new plays by contemporary writers. Home to a fulltime resident company of actors, the Alley engages theatre artists of every discipline—actors, directors, designers, composers, playwrights—who work on individual productions throughout each season as visiting artists. The Alley is comprised of two state-of-the-art theatres: the 774-seat Hubbard Theatre and the 296- seat Neuhaus Theatre. The Alley reaches over 200,000 people each year through its performance, education, and community engagement programs. Its audience enrichment programs include pre-show and postperformance talks, events, and workshops for audience members of all ages.

BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has grown from a storefront stage to an international leader in innovative theatre. Known for its ambition, relevance, and excellence, as well as its adventurous audience, the nonprofit has provided a welcoming home for emerging and established artists since 1968. Over 5.5 million people have enjoyed nearly 500 shows at Berkeley Rep, which have gone on to win six Tony Awards, seven Obie Awards, nine Drama Desk Awards, one Grammy Award, one Pulitzer Prize, and many other honors. Berkeley Rep received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 1997. To formalize, enhance, and expand the processes by which Berkeley Rep makes theatre, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep’s Center for the Creation and Development of New Work was launched in 2012. The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre engages and educates some 20,000 people a year and helps build the audiences of tomorrow with its nationally recognized teen programs. Berkeley Rep’s bustling facilities—which also include the 400-seat Peet’s Theatre, the 600-seat Roda Theatre, and a spacious campus in West Berkeley—are helping revitalize a renowned city. Learn more at berkeleyrep.org.

ACT THEATRE

ACT Theatre is a collective that believes in the inherent power of story and art as the ultimate agent of change through the shared experience of live theatre. Steadfast in its dedication to producing work that sparks an authentic curiosity about the human condition, ACT produces bold, audacious works of contemporary theatre. Over the last 55 years, ACT has been a trusted Seattle destination presenting necessary and relevant works on contemporary themes, producing more than 300 plays and musicals. History of Theatre will become ACT's 47th world premiere during the 2022-23 season. Led by Artistic Director, John Langs and Managing Director, Anita Shah, ACT is a theatre where artistic ambition and civic engagement unite around the mission to nurture theatremakers of the next generation.

5TH AVENUE THEATRE

5th Avenue Theatre is one of America’s leading musical theater companies. We enrich the community we love with the art form we love—giving the Pacific Northwest a front-row seat to original powerhouse productions that go on to light up marquees and audiences all the way to Broadway. From the page to the stage, we bring passion and epic scale to every musical we create with big talent and bigger-than-life productions. As a nonprofit theater company and our region’s largest performing arts employer, we spread the joy of great musicals with people of all ages across our region and state. Each year, we reach 30,000 young people through our nationally acclaimed education programs. Programs designed to develop new musicals ensure that the next generation of great musicals will be there to tell the stories that captivate tomorrow’s audiences. On the national stage, we are a leading voice for the power of this art form to lift the human spirit.