Cedar Grove OnStage

About me:

MISSION STATEMENT:

To entertain, enrich and enlighten, through the sharing of Asian Pacific American art, culture and history, broadening perspectives of the American experience and empowering our community.

By examining and preserving, through media and theatre arts, the rich culture and history of Asian Pacific Americans, we can come to an understanding and appreciation of our past, which informs and shapes our present and future.

FAMILY OF ARTISTS:

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR:
Chris Tashima, Actor / Director [bio on wikipedia]

PRODUCTION MANAGER:
Irma Escamilla

COLLABORATING PLAYWRIGHTS & PRODUCERS:
Anne Etue, Producer
Stacey Hayashi, Producer
LuCien Hioe, Producer
Soji Kashiwagi, Playwright / Producer
Dan Kwong, Playwright / Performance Artist [bio on wikipedia]
Pablo Miralles, Producer
Lisa Onodera, Producer [bio on wikipedia]
Aaron Woolfolk, Playwright [bio on wikipedia]

CEDAR GROVE PRODUCTIONS FOUNDERS:
Chris Donahue, Producer [bio on wikipedia]
Tom Donaldson, Actor / Director / Producer
Chris Tashima, Actor / Director
Tim Toyama, Playwright / Producer [bio on wikipedia]

About Our Company:

Cedar Grove OnStage (CGO) is an Asian Pacific theatre arts organization, and a member of the “Cultural Roundtable” at The Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC), in downtown Los Angeles. CGO is a division of the independent entertainment company, Cedar Grove Productions, which was originally formed in 1996 by playwright Tim Toyama, actor/director Chris Tashima, producer Chris Donahue and actor/director Tom Donaldson. CGO was established in 2006 when it was invited to join the “Cultural Roundtable,” a multicultural theatre arts consortium brought together at The LATC to create programming for a diverse audience that is the City of Los Angeles. Cedar Grove Productions co-founder Chris Tashima serves as Artistic Director for CGO, guiding the development, production and presentation of new and original Asian American theatre works, staged at the newly-renovated Los Angeles Theatre Center venues. (SUBMISSIONS WELCOME: Playwrights, actors, designers and techies, see below for guidelines)

Members of the “Cultural Roundtable” at The LATC include:

In its brief history, CGO has presented comedy troups, the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors in THREAT CONDITION: YELLOW and Cold Tofu in EDAMAME NIGHTS at THE NEW LATC, as well as award-winning performance artist Dan Kwong's most recent, IT'S GREAT 2B AMERICAN. CGO also produced, in association with East West Players, their mainstage production of Kwong's new play, BE LIKE WATER (see below for more details).

Company History:

“Dedicated to developing and producing projects which boldly defy mainstream Hollywood by giving Asian Americans the close-up on screen, or the spotlight on stage.” Cedar Grove Productions was founded in 1996, to bring the heroic saga of Holocaust rescuer Chiune “Sempo” Sugihara to American and International movie audiences with the Academy Award® winning dramatic short film, VISAS AND VIRTUE (1997). This small creative family was first formed to pay tribute to Mr. Sugihara by adapting Tim Toyama’s original one-act to the big screen, following a successful run of the play at The Road Theatre. Our company takes its name from the literal translation of the courageous diplomat's name: sugi meaning cedar, and hara meaning field or grove.

Cedar Grove Productions has also created for television, producing the half-hour PBS special, DAY OF INDEPENDENCE (2003), a fact-based story of a young Nisei baseball player facing the tragic circumstances surrounding the internment of 110,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry during World War II. This ambitious effort produced by Lisa Onodera has been officially selected to over sixty film festivals across the country, and worldwide, having been shown in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Chile, Italy and Canada, garnering twenty-five international awards and an EMMY® nomination.

Cedar Grove Productions has received recognition for cultural and artistic contributions to the community, with honors including the Biennium Award from the Japanese American Citizens League, a Community Award given by the Japanese American Service Committee, of Chicago, a Special Recognition Award from the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, a Visionary Award from East West Players, and a Humanitarian Award received from The “1939” Club, a Holocaust Survivors’ organization.

As part of our educational efforts, Cedar Grove Productions organized and presented “The AJA Circle: Artists of Japanese Ancestry,” a day-long seminar where Japanese and Japanese American theatre artists came together to share cultural experiences — of the Japanese American community's history in the U.S. and the artistic community of Asian Americans working in Hollywood. Moderated by playwright/producer Soji Kashiwagi and Chris Tashima, panels included Nisei playwrights Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Wakako Yamauchi, as well as noted actors George Takei, Tamlyn Tomita, Clyde Kusatsu, Amy Hill, Marcus Toji and Greg Watanabe.

Past Events:

MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION:

SEPT. 2008 – Cedar Grove OnStage develops this new work, and in association with East West Players, mounts the World Premiere to open EWP's 43rd Season:

Chicago, 1978. Disco rules. Five years since the tragic death of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. Tracy Fong is a 13-year-old ass-kicking, gung-fu fanatic tomboy, challenged by school bullies, airhead rivals, and a mother who just wants her to be a "normal girl." When bad goes to worse, the ghost of Bruce Lee appears to teach her the true meaning of strength and the true power of water.

BENEFIT PERFORMANCE:

JUNE 2008 – CGO hosts “Rodney Night” at PIPPIN at EWP



We thank everyone who joined us on June 6, 2008 for our benefit performance of PIPPIN at East West Players – A special evening of theatre and friends, coming together to support veteran actor and community volunteer, Rodney Kageyama, as he recovers from Non-Hodgkins lymphoma. This celebration was a huge success, in monetary as well as moral support!