Laughing in the Wind (笑傲江湖)

After 8 weeks of intensive training and rehearsal - It's hard to believe the time has finally come.

The show opens this Friday, April 30th, 2010.

Yangtze Repertory Theatre of American proudly presents: "Laughing in the Wind: a Cautionary Tale in Martial Arts" - based on one of the Chinese-speaking world's best known martial arts novels by Jin Yong, the most popular writer of the genre.

Cast include: Wayne Chang, Rachel Filsoff, Aki Goto, Zane Hayes, Carl Ka-Ho Li, Ashley Liang, Ajia Maximillian, Phillip Redmond, Adrian Sinclair, Peter Song, Derrick St. Hill, Rashawn Strife, Steven Sun, Stephanie Willing, Sen Yang, Cedric Yau, Sarah Yu and Jie Zhuang.

Choreographed by is David ChienHui Shen, Set designed by Yoki Lai.

For more information regarding the show, please visit the show's website.

April 30 to May 23, 2010

Th - Sat at 7:30 PM, Sun at 3:00 PM,

additional performance Wed., May 19 at 7:30 pm

Theater for the New City

155 First Ave. (at E. 10th St.), Manhattan, New York

$25.00; $20.00 Seniors/Students; TDF accepted.

20% discount for groups of 10 and above.

Box Office 347-574-4369; or reserve by email: office@yangtze-rep-theatre.org

Running time 2 hours plus a 15 minute intermission.

This is the 3rd year that I work with Yangtze. Back in 2007, I first participated as an Actor for the stage production of "Love in Tears and Laughter."

Then for 2008's "Forbidden City West" and 2009's "In the Silence of the Heart" I was the Casting Coordinator.

This year, I also functioned as the Casting Coordinator for "Laughing in the Wind" - but I was so tempted to audition (which, I did) - especially that I have been crossing over to the casting side of the business... I really wanted to do to another stage production. (Plus I'm a HUGE Jin Yong (金庸) Fan!)

Originally, I wanted to a principal/ensemble role... I kind of wanted to take it easy - So I will have the time and energy for my day job, plus the casting service.

But after a few changes in the casting process, I was offered one of the antagonists role in the play. Probably one of the most noted 'villians' in Jin Yong's work - the infamous 偽君子 - 岳不群. Not only I have to protray a father with a 16 years old daughter, I have to deal with a bunch of "Ancient" Chinese.

(Believe me, I'm a native Mandarin Chinese speaker... But I have never used any of those "old" Chinese text in a conversation... I struggled so much...)

People who know the story of "Laughing in the Wind" could not believe that I get to protrayed the part of "岳不群" - they kept on saying "What? No Way! You are not that cunning..."

The role challenged me both emotionally and physically (and, vocally as well). I personally felt that I have grew so much within the first month of the rehearsals... (and I lost 7 lbs! yay!) - And this it the first time I get to share the stage with two of my very talented friends Sarah and Carl. I have known them for 5+ years, but never get to work in the same production. (Isn't fate wonderful?)

So here I am, among the wonderful cast members... Getting ready to put on a great show!

If you are in New York area, and interested in Jin Yong's work, we'd love to see you at our performances!