East West Players, the nation’s premier Asian American theatre organization, is partnering up with online musician AJ Rafael for “Crazy Talented Asians,” a concert series started by Rafael in September 2018.
The Holiday Edition of this virtual event will happen live on Facebook and YouTube on Sunday, Dec. 13, at 5:30 p.m. PST and features performers Isa Briones (“Picard,” “Hamilton”), Josh Dela Cruz (“Blue’s Clues”), Cathy Ang (“Over the Moon”), Dante Basco (“Hook,” “Avatar”), Deedee Magno Hall (“Steven Universe”) and many more.
“Putting on this show has been really important for me to continue through this pandemic because I know people need some joy right now, especially going through the holidays,” Rafael says. “The fact that it also celebrates Asian and Asian American representation makes it that much sweeter. I am excited to help further East West Players’ mission in uplifting performers of color and the Asian American community.”
“2020 has been a year unlike any other, and one of the positive constants here at East West Players has been our partnership with ‘Crazy Talented Asians,’” says EWP Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai. “I am glad we can close out the year with this incredibly talented line-up of Asian and Asian American performers led by the intrepid AJ Rafael. We are so happy AJ, Alyssa, and all the performers continue to showcase all of the amazing talent that underscores the brilliance of Asian American performers in L.A. We hope it brings a little bit of the holiday season into everyone’s home.”
The show will be co-hosted by Rafael and Alyssa Navarro, who recently became viral TikTok sensations for their cover of “Reflection” from “Mulan,” which has garnered over 10 million views. Their videos recently have been featured on Buzzfeed, Philippine news network ABS-CBN, and “Good Morning America.”
More featured performers include Jasmine Rafael and Justine Rafael, singer/songwriters Melissa Polinar, Gabe Bondoc and Jeremy Passion, podcast trio AsianBossGirl, singer/actress and EWP alum Jules Aurora, GALVN, Twitch streamer Albert Chang, Grammy Award-winning musician Daniel Ho, Yvette Lu, Leo Matsuyama, and TikTok musician Kevin Chung.
The event will be live-streamed on East West Players’ Facebook page and YouTube channel and is sponsored by Karat, the premium black card for creators, and Xoom, a PayPal service, with media partners Myx Global and Tremendous Communications.
Check out http://eastwestplayers.org and http://instagram.com/crazytalented_asians for more info on the show.
“Crazy Talented Asians: Holiday Edition” will be available around the world and is free of charge.