Queens Gazette

Flushing Town Hall Presents: Specially Processed American Me, and Lucky 88 Food Court, the Musical


Queens Council on the Arts’ Artist Commissioning Program (ACP) and Flushing Town Hall present a play reading and talkback of Jaime Sunwoo’s Specially Processed American Me, a surreal autobiographical performance using SPAM, the canned meat, as a portal into her Asian American upbringing and her family’s experiences of the Korean War. It investigates SPAM’s legacy in the military, its significance in the Asia-Pacific, and its influence on Asian cuisine through music, shadowplay, and cooking. Oscillating wildly between absurd humor and sober tragedy, Specially Processed American Me is a thought-provoking exploration of one of America’s most misunderstood foods.

Written by Jaime Sunwoo. Directed by Karim Muasher. Dramaturgy and stage management by Alex Lee. Music, lyrics, and stream tech by Matt Chilton. Performed by Jaime Sunwoo, Juella Baltonado, Arielle Rabano, Yurina Kutsukake, Adrianna Mateo, Eunji Lim, and Nathaniel Basch-Gould. Stage directions read by Vanessa Rappa. Visual designs provided by Jaime Sunwoo, Kyu Shin, and Cinthia Chen.

Jaime Sunwoo is a Korean American multidisciplinary artist from Brooklyn. She combines video, audio, sculpture, and storytelling to create sensory performances in galleries, theaters, and public spaces. She is one of the hundred women artists commissioned for Park Avenue Armory’s 100 Years | 100 Women. She was a resident artist for HB Studio Rehearsal Space Residency and received awards from the Queens Council on the Arts’ Artist Commissioning Program and the NYC Women’s Fund for Specially Processed American Me, a performance reflecting on the significance of SPAM in the Asian American community. More at jaimesunwoo.com

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 8 PM. This event is free and open to the public. Registered attendees will receive an email with the watch link. To watch the events live on YouTube, RSVP is required to receive an email with the watch link, go to Flushingtownhall.org for more info.

Flushing Town Hall & Queens Council on the Arts present Lucky 88 by Marcus Yi

Sunday, Oct 4, 2 PM

Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) and Flushing Town Hall present a virtual showcase of Marcus Yi’s Lucky 88 Food Court the Musical, a new musical theatre piece selected by local Flushing community members, or “art commissioners,” as part of QCA’s Artist Commissioning Program.

Inspired by all of the food courts in Flushing, this new musical uses the food court environment to explore the multi-faceted lives of people that the average American might not otherwise get a chance to know.

The show focuses on 3 food stalls and the people that work there: 60 year old Shen Zha Wang at the hand pulled noodle stall struggling to put his son through law school; 50 year old widow Mei Ling Fu at the dumpling stall who is ready to start dating again; and 50 year old Si Ling Xiu at the boba tea stall hiding her cancer diagnosis from her daughter.

Marcus Yi is an award winning musical theater writer and composer based in New York. He was the winner of 11th Annual NJ Playwrights Contest (Musical), was named one of Indie Theater Now’s 2014 People of the Year, an inaugural member of the 92nd Street Y Musical Theater Development Lab Collective, and 2018 member of Prospect Musical Theater Lab. His work has been produced by the National Asian Artists Project, Yangtze Rep, Prospect Theater, Pan Asian Rep, and Ingenue Theater. His musicals have been seen at the New York Times Center, Green Room 42, The Duplex, and National Opera Center.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.