Brett Singer & Associates, LLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

PRESS CONTACT: Brett Singer (212)575-0263

Urban Stages

(Frances Hill, Artistic Director, T. L. Reilly, Producing Director, Sonia Kozlova, Managing Director)

Presents

COMFORT WOMEN

A New Play by Chungmi Kim

Directed by Frances Hill

Tina Chen Will Lead A Cast of New York’s Best Asian Actors

Performances Begin Saturday, October 23^rd, Opening Night set for Thursday, October 28^th

At 259 West 30^th Street (between 7^th and 8^th)

September 14, 2004

Urban Stages is pleased to announce the first show of their 21^st season - the New York Premiere of COMFORT WOMEN, a play by Chungmi Kim. Urban Stages’ Artistic Director Frances Hill will direct. Performances will be at 259 West 30^th Street (between 7^th and 8^th); previews will begin on Saturday, October 23^rd.

The Japanese Imperial Forces abducted thousands of young women during World War II to be used as sex slaves. Chungmi Kim’s powerfully lyrical play depicts the collision of past and present when a young Korean NYU student and her grandmother meet two of these “comfort women” during the 1994 UN protests.

Chungmi Kim, originally from Korea, has a multifaceted career as a poet, screenwriter, television producer/writer and playwright. She is the author of Chungmi—Selected Poems and Glacier Lily, her latest poetry book published by Red Hen Press. Her screenplay, The Dandelion, received the 1^st place Open Door Writing Award from the Writers Guild Foundation, West. She wrote and produced for television, receiving Emmy nominations for her work as a co-producer of a one-hour news documentary (“Korea: The New Power in the Pacific”) and a 23-part news series (“Korea”) for KCBS-TV. Hanako (an earlier version of Comfort Women) had a world premiere at East West Players in Los Angeles. Ms. Kim earned an M.A. in Theater Arts from UCLA and has participated in the Mark Taper Forum’s Mentor Playwrights Workshop.

Leading the cast of COMFORT WOMEN will be Tina Chen. On stage Ms. Chen has had leading roles in Empress of China, The Joy Luck Club, Arthur and Leila, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Family Devotions (by David Henry Hwang) among many others. Her films include The Hawaiians (opposite Charlton Heston) for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination, Alice's Restaurant (as Arlo Guthrie's girlfriend) directed by Arthur Penn, and Three Days of the Condor (as Robert Redford's co-worker) directed by Sydney Pollack. On television, she has starred in numerous programs including playing the title role in “Lady From Yesterday” and was nominated for an Emmy Award for “The Final War Of Olly Winter”.

Also in the cast will be Jade Wu (The Shanghai Gesture), Jo Yang (The Joy Luck Club at Pan Asian Rep, and Ah, Wilderness! at NAATCO), Haerry Kim (La Mama ETC, Cherry Lane), and Ji-young Kim (Cherry Lane Theater, Metropolitan Opera).

Director Frances Hill is the Artistic Director and Founder of Urban Stages. Her most recent directing credits are John Picardi’s Italian-American themed plays, THE SWEEPERS and SEVEN RABBITS ON A POLE, which both received rave reviews in New York and have gone on to several regional productions.

The schedule will be Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm.

Tickets will be $35.00 and may be purchased by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444, or online at www.urbanstages.org. Photos will be available for download at www.brettsinger.com/pics/urbanstages.html.

COMFORT WOMEN

A new play by Chungmi Kim, directed by Frances Hill

At Urban Stages, 259 West 30^th Street (between 7^th and 8^th avenues)

October 23^rd through November 28^th

SCHEDULE: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm

TICKETS: $35; call Smarttix at 212-868-4444, or visit www.urbanstages.org

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240 West 44^th Street phone: (212)575-0263

New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212)575-2240