Asian Cultural Festival has dazzling lineup

With a lineup of Broadway performers, contemporary Asiandancers, and a 10-year-old piano prodigy, among many others, organizers of the Queens Theatre in the Park (QTP) Asian Cultural Festival hope to wow audiences for five straight days.
Beginning Wednesday, April 18 and running through Sunday, April 22, the second-annual event - this year presented by Bank of America - will combine traditional Asian art forms with pop culture performances under the curatorial direction of Vivian Chiu, a Taiwanese native who curated a portion of the show last year.
“We also have a very diverse program this year,” said Chiu.
On Friday, March 16 QPT Executive Director Jeff Rosenstock along with two performers - poet and musician Taiyo and Korean percussionist Vong Pak - held a press conference at the recently opened Deluge restaurant in the Sheraton LaGuardia East Hotel in Flushing to announce the list of performers. Rosenstock thanked event sponsors Bank of America, Korea Village Open Center, ImaginAsian TV, The Korea Channel TV, Crystal Window & Door Systems, Ltd., The Korea Society, and the Arts Council Korea.
During the Asian Cultural Festival, Taiyo and Pak will perform with violinist Tanya Chien-Shin Huang and Poet Laureate of Queens Ishle Yi Park in a free show at 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 19 - the second day of the five-day festival.
But Chiu said she believes the event’s biggest draw might be the opening night performance at 8 p.m., featuring Broadway stars Deborah Lem, now playing Beauty in Beauty and the Beast; Christine Toy Johnson, who has performed in Grease and The Music Man; Sal Malaki, a tenor for the L.A. Opera; and Jose Llana, now playing Chip Tolentino in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. “The event celebrates Asian singers on Broadway.”
A 17-member orchestra - led by Maestro Michael Dadap, a principal conductor for The Children’s Orchestra Society - will accompany the performers as they sing traditional Asian folk songs and hit Broadway tunes.
On Thursday, April 19 the Pasha Dance Company - a Korean dance company - will make their U.S. debut.
“This is the top Korean dance company … We are very excited to present them in the festival for their U.S.A. premiere,” Chiu said.
For three consecutive days - Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 3 - Desipina & Company, a film/theater project founded by two Fillipina sisters, will perform Seven 11 Convenience Theatre, a performance of seven, 11-minute-long plays set in a 7-Eleven convenience store, in the QPT Studio Theatre.
“This year we have added more artists from different Asian ethnicities,” Chiu said, explaining that last year the event was more focused on Chinese and Korean artists and this year the lineup has been expanded to include South Asian groups.
Also on Friday will be a performance by the Kun Yang Lin / Dancers at 8 p.m. on the QPT main stage. Other attractions include performances - all on Saturday April 21 - by Ping Chong & Company of Undesirable Elements at 8 p.m., on the QPT main stage; by Slant Performance Group, a three-man dance group, at 8 p.m., at LaGuardia Community College’s Performing Arts Center; and at 7 p.m. by violinist Joo Young Oh and pianist Niu Niu at 7 p.m., at Queens College’s LeFrak Hall.
The festival will wrap up with a free screening of The Grace Lee Project, a humorous documentary during which the filmmaker interviews dozens of women who share her name - Grace Lee. The film will show at 3 p.m. on the QPT main stage.
For tickets to any of the nine performances or for more information, call the QPT box office at 718-760-0064 or visit their website at www.queenstheatre.org. Ticket prices for the different events range from $20 to $34 for full-price admission, $18 to $32 for seniors, and $10 and $20 for students.