East West Players Adds Its Muscle to Soft Power

The company will partner with Center Theatre Group in the upcoming world premiere of the new work by David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori.

Kenji Fujishima

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July 26, 2017

David Henry Hwang has collaborated with Jeanine Tesori on Soft Power, a new work that will receive its world premiere at Los Angeles's Ahmanson Theatre next year. — David Henry Hwang is collaborating with Jeanine Tesori on *Soft Power*, a Center Theatre Group commission that will receive its world premiere at Los Angeles's Ahmanson Theatre next year.
(© David Gordon)

Center Theatre Group artistic director Michael Ritchie announced that the company with partner with East West Players — the nation's premier Asian-American theater organization — on the upcoming world premiere of Tony winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's Soft Power, at Ahmanson Theatre May 3-June 10, 2018.

The East West Players will now add this work to its 2017-2018 season. In addition, they will collaborate with Center Theatre Group on four Community Conversations — a series of free panel discussions exploring the themes of the work, which is a Center Theatre Group commission — scheduled for October 26; January 18, 2018; March 15, 2018; and June 5, 2018. Locations, topics, and panelists will be announced later.

With book and lyrics by Hwang and music by Tesori, Soft Power is described as beginning "as a contemporary play before jumping 100 years into the future and exploding into a Chinese musical about present-day America." The production will be directed by Leigh Silverman, with choreography by Sam Pinkleton.

For tickets and more information, click here.