TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY

A COMEDY ABOUT LONELINESS IN THE AGE OF CONNECTION

Emily, a 29-year-old would-be writer, retreats home to O'ahu after Manhattan finally gets the best of her. But trading one island for another doesn't help. When she stumbles into a gig as an actor on a shock-jock radio dating show, she falls for her fake love interest and finds herself strangely determined to turn that fantasy into reality. Told through a playful combination of phone calls, voicemails, and live radio spots, Stanton’s quirky show illustrates life with a thousand friends on Facebook, but no one to talk to on a Saturday night.

GENERAL INFORMATION

DATES

February 5, 2021: Preview performance

February 6 - 14, 2021: LIVE broadcast performances

February 15 - 28, 2021: Video-On-Demand (UPDATE! We’ve extended our run. Video-On-Demand is now available through February 28.)

TICKETS

Theater Mu strives to voice the stories of the Asian American community, and in order to bring performances to those communities whose stories we tell, we are committed to making them as accessible as possible. PAY AS YOU ARE pricing asks those who routinely pay $35 for theater tickets to choose to pay that amount; it is the actual fair market value of the ticket. If an audience member needs to pay less, they can choose to do so—as little as $5 per ticket.

VENUE

Today Is My Birthday will be broadcast LIVE through Theater Mu’s new private and secure streaming platform. A minimum of one ticket per household is required to watch the show. If audiences prefer to watch on their own time, they can purchase the Video-On-Demand recording of the show and view it anytime between February 15 - 28, 2021.

Click HERE to learn more about our streaming platform and the virtual stage.

SHOW PROGRAM

Click HERE for a PDF of our program with full bios of the cast, designers, director, and playwright.

SPECIAL EVENTS

February 11, 2021: Post-Show Discussion - Stay after the show to have a talkback with the cast and production team.

February 13, 2021: An Evening with CAATA - Join the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists for a pre-show happy hour. Click HERE for more information.

Theater Mu’s production of Today Is My Birthday is produced with support from our friends at East West Players.

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board operating support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Culture Fund.

CAST

KATIE BRADLEY *

Emily

CHINA BRICKEY *

Halima, DJ Solange, Goddess Sweet Leilani, Restaurant Hostess, Generic Female Voice

ERIC SHARP *

Kurt, Richard, Sebastian, Franklin, Keoni, Jonathan

JOMAR TAGATAC *

DJ Loki, Grandpa Z, Dr. Johannes Connection, Landon, Amazingpresence83, Harumi

GREG WATANABE *

Dad, Bill Tapia

EMILY KURODA *

Mom, Mrs. Kobayashi, Danielle, Joyce, Mrs. Asuncion

PRODUCTION TEAM

LILY TUNG CRYSTAL

Director

RICH REMEDIOS

Associate Director

LYNDSEY R. HARTER *

Stage Manager

KYLA MOLONEY

Assistant Stage Manager

LEANNA KEYES

Streaming Producer & Production Manager

MINA KINUKAWA

Scenic Designer

SARA RYUNG CLEMENT

Costume Designer

WU CHEN KHOO

Lighting Designer

C ANDREW MAYER

Sound Designer

ABBEE WARMBOE

Props Designer

ANNIE JIN WANG

Dramaturg

JOSH DYRUD

Camera & Tech Consultant

* MEMBER OF ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, THE UNION OF PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS IN THE UNITED STATES

MEET THE DIRECTOR

LILY TUNG CRYSTAL is an actor, director, and Artistic Director of Theater Mu. After taking the helm of Theater Mu in 2019, Tung Crystal directed Jiehae Park’s peerless. Soon after, she initiated the creation of virtual events throughout the pandemic shutdown, such as the TwentyPho Hour PlayFest, RE:Plays, and Mu-tini Hour. Outside of Theater Mu, Tung Crystal’s directing work includes David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish and his revival of Flower Drum Song at Palo Alto Players, and the San Francisco leg of the simultaneous world premiere of Leah Nanako Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow at Ferocious Lotus. For all three shows, she was named a Theatre Bay Area Award finalist for Outstanding Direction. She also directed the Bay Area premiere of the musical Allegiance at Contra Costa Civic Theatre. Tung Crystal is a 2016 YBCA 100 honoree, named by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as a “creative pioneer making the provocations that will shape the future of culture.”

MEET THE PLAYWRIGHT

SUSAN SOON HE STANTON Susan Soon He Stanton is a playwright, screenwriter, and TV writer from Aiea, Hawai‘i. Her plays include we, the invisibles (Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival), Today Is My Birthday (Page 73), Takarazuka!!! (Clubbed Thumb and East West Players), Solstice Party! (Live Source), Moana Jr. (book for Disney Theatrical Group), and more. She is a Sundance Theater Lab Resident Playwright and was awarded Leah Ryan’s FEWW and the Venturous Playwrights Fellowship at the Lark. She is a member of New Dramatists. Commissions include Yale Repertory, American Conservatory Theater/Crowded Fire, South Coast Repertory, and Ensemble Studio Theatre, among others. She has received a Feature Film Development Grant from the Sloan Foundation. Her film Dress won the audience award at the Hawaii International Film Festival. She is a writer and producer for HBO’s Succession. BFA: NYU Tisch’s Dramatic Writing, MFA from Yale School of Drama. susansoonhestanton.com