Ma-Yi Theater: A Pearl in the Big Apple
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Ma-Yi opened its 30th season with the musical “Felix Starro.”
Ma-Yi Theater was established in 1989 originally as a Filipino American theater company, using the ancient Chinese name for pre-Spanish colonial Philippines, before broadening its focus into Asian American theater.
As a nod to its beginnings, this Off Broadway company ushered in its pearl anniversary season with a production that artistic director Ralph Peña proclaimed as “the first musical created by Filipino Americans to open Off Broadway.”
Ralph Peña is Ma-Yi Theater Company’s artistic director.
It staged the musical “Felix Starro” from August 23 to September 15 this year, which featured a predominantly Filipino American cast depicting the story of a Filipino faith healer who is down on his luck and decides to stage one last healing mission in San Francisco to fleece some money from Fil-Ams there.
Reunion
Based on a short story by fictionist Lysley Tenorio, the libretto was written by playwright Jessica Hagedorn and the music was composed by Fabian Obispo—two longtime collaborators of Ma-Yi.
“It was great,” said Peña of working with his past colleagues once again. “We had lots of short-hands in place and we were all equally excited to be working on a musical.
“Jessica and I worked together on her play ‘Dogeaters’ almost 19 years ago. I was an actor in that play. ‘Felix Starro’ feels like a continuation, even if I wore a different hat this time.
“Fabian and I have worked together many times. I love his music. He and I have an intuitive feel for what the other is going for, so that made it really exciting.”
In addition to having Hagedorn and Obispo on board, the production had founding member Cristina Sison as its stage manager. “Her work at The Juilliard School doesn't always allow her to work outside gigs but she is one of the best stage managers in the business. We were very fortunate to have her in the team,” Peña explained
Response
“The Fil-Am community embraced the show,” reported Peña. “We hadn't seen that in some time, not since ‘Flipzoids’ and ‘Magno Rubio.’”
“The Romance of Magno Rubio,” based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan, has been staged across the US.
“Flipzoids” is his own play that deals with Fil-Am identities. It nudged the company into the city’s radar. It helped that the production was directed by Loy Arcenas, who at the time was already relatively known in the industry as he had several set design credits for Off-Broadway and Broadway shows already tucked under his belt. Not only that, adding to the buzz, actress Ching Valdes-Aran won an Obie Award for Performance in 1996 for her work in the play.
Ching Valdes-Aran won an Obie Award for Performance in 1996 for her work in “Flipzoids.”
“The Romance of Magno Rubio” is based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan. The staging received Special Citations from the Obie Awards in 2003 for Arcenas (director), Lonnie Carter (playwright), and the entire Fil-Am cast. The play went on to be staged across the country.
For “Felix Starro,” Peña felt audiences “responded to the Filipino characters and especially the exploration of faith and religion. The fact that the musical was about a faith healer, it helped bring out the Fil-Am community in droves.”
The theater company also reached out to immigrant networks. “We also worked with many alumni associations [of colleges and universities in Manila such as] Assumption, Holy Spirit, Saint Paul and others as well as Fil-Am groups like University of the Philippines Medical Association. We did that early so we got Fil-Am audiences during previews and it helped spread word of mouth for the show,” he added.
Partnerships
Community and relationships are part of what keeps the company going. This year, instead of a fundraising gala, Ma-Yi opted for something less glitzy.
“We finished our 30th Anniversary Bowl-A-Thon last week. We decided to move away from sit-down dinners, which can be fussy, and opted for a more casual event. It was attended by over 120 bowlers, all bowling to raise money.”
Peña became artistic director in the mid-1990s and has held the position since then. He continues to steward the company along with Jorge Ortoll, who served as Ma-Yi's executive director from the early ‘90s until 2017 and is still involved as a board member.
Jorge Ortoll was Ma-Yi's executive director and currently a board member.
These two gentlemen had cut their teeth as actors with groups in Manila before they moved to the U.S. Peña had trained in his youth with Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta) and then became involved with student activist performance group Bodabil at University of the Philippines, while Ortoll had been involved with Repertory Philippines.
“He continues to be my sounding board for management decisions. Jorge and I have worked side by side since I assumed the artistic director position. He was instrumental in steering the company's growth to where it is today. I focused on the artistic programming and Jorge figured out how to pay for it by developing grant opportunities.
“It was a close, dynamic partnership that allowed us to be nimble artistically while remaining fiscally conservative. This balance allowed us to weather many storms: the ups and downs of the funding environment, both public and private, and the shifting winds of the New York theater movement. Jorge is absolutely at the heart of Ma-Yi Theater's successes.”
Creating works
Peña said that there is much to celebrate at this juncture. “Longevity is one, considering the odds of a theater of color lasting this long in New York City.”
Another point of pride is its nurturing of new works and the artists who create new works. Throughout the years, the company has continued to include Fil-Am playwrights or works dealing with Fil-Am or Filipino themes. Recently, it staged works such as A. Rey Pamatmat’s “Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them” and “House Rules” and Orlando Pabotoy’s “Sesar.”
A scene from Ma-Yi’s production of “Portrait of an Artist as Filipino” in 1997.
Its Writer’s Lab, a support group for Asian American playwrights established in 2004, has had its members’ works staged across the states. Fil-Am playwright Rehana Lew Mirza was the lab’s co-director in the early 2010s and was succeeded by Pamatmat. “Today, no one can ask ‘Where are the Asian American plays?’” Peña beamed.
The company also published Savage Stage in 2007, an anthology of plays that it has produced. Linda Faigo-Hall and Han Ong are just two of the Filipino American playwrights whose works are included in the book; both playwrights received several stagings of their works in the company’s earlier years.
Recognitions the company has received include a Special Drama Desk Award for Excellence in 2010 for "more than two decades of excellence and for nurturing Asian American voices in stylistically varied and engaging theater" and the Ross Wetzsteon Award from the Obie Awards last year, which is given to a theater company that demonstrates exceptional enterprise in its approach to classics or nurtures innovative new work.
“Many generous friends and artists helped us to reach this milestone. The celebration also comes with the realization that there is still much work to be done. We are still trying to survive our 30th year and if we do, we'll stay on this path for a while,” he said.
“There are so many Asian American theater artists we want to serve and who deserve to be seen by audiences. Every year, new ones arrive in New York City with dreams in their eyes. We want to be here for them.”
The company’s 30th season continues with “Suicide Forest” by Kristine Haruna Lee and a co-production with Soho Rep of "Wolf Play" by Hansol Jung, both running back-to-back Feb.-April 2020. Visit Ma-yitheater.org.
Walter Ang
Walter Ang is the author of "Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater History." When he is not writing about Fil-Am theater, he delves into astrology and yoga. http://amzn.com/author/walterang
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