The longtime Mu artist brings decades of theater—both local and national—to the interim position. Starting August 2024, Katie Bradley will be Theater Mu’s interim artistic director, joining managing director Anh Thu T. Pham in co-leading the Midwest’s largest Asian American theater company. As interim, Bradley will report to the board of directors, produce the 2024/25 season programmed by departing artistic director Lily Tung Crystal, and oversee Mu’s ongoing outreach and community programs. Bradley has worked with Mu since 2006 as an actor, teaching artist, producer, and director, most recen ..read more

Lily Tung Crystal will transition in August to head the nation’s largest Asian American theater company. (May 15, 2024) Theater Mu announced today that artistic director Lily Tung Crystal will step down from her full-time role at the end of Mu’s 2023/24 season to lead Los Angeles-based East West Players, the longest-running and largest Asian American theater company in the United States. During her tenure, Mu was named a regional cultural treasure by the Ford and McKnight foundations, doubled the size of its staff, and doubled its budget from $650,000 to $1.3 million. “This is a bittersweet mo ..read more

This is a bittersweet moment because of my deep love for Theater Mu and the Minnesotan theater and Asian American communities. My heart is both happy and breaking. I’m grateful to Mu and the Twin Cities for giving me such a significant artistic and spiritual home and for welcoming me and my family here in 2019. My five years at Mu have been some of my best and most meaningful.    My life’s work has centered on the intersection between art and social justice; increasing representation of Asian American and other marginalized artists on stage, TV and film; and telling more Asian ..read more

Picture this: It’s on the cusp between the roaring twenties and the swing era, and America is in love with celebrities such as Fred Astaire, Josephine Baker, and Lester Allen. Amongst the buzzing air of music and dance, a young Chinese Polish American family performs on stages throughout the Twin Cities. This act will eventually rise to fame as the Kim Loo Sisters, a vocal quartet taking their singing prowess from the Midwest all the way to Broadway, the Hollywood silver screen, and across the world.  This May, the Kim Loo Sisters are coming home. Created by Jessica Huang and Jacinth Gre ..read more

Come back closer to Opening Night for historical context around Blended 和 (Harmony ..read more

In 2001, Yangsook Choi wrote and illustrated The Name Jar, which follows a young girl named Unhei who has moved from Korea to America and is wondering if she should change her name to fit in more. This timeless story is still at the top of many Asian American children's booklists, but now it is making the leap to the stage thanks to playwright Susan H. Pak and a collaboration by Stages Theatre Company and Theater Mu. The show runs from Mar 22-Apr 14, and tickets are on sale now.  Audiences will have a chance to meet both Choi and Pak during the closing performance of The Name Jar on Apr ..read more

From above left, clockwise: Kaitlyn Cheng, Ryan Colbert, Becca Claire Hart, Gregory Yang, Matt Lytle Keiko Green’s Hells Canyon is truly created for an ensemble cast, and we’re fortunate to have snagged these five! Gregory Yang and Ryan Colbert have returned to the Twin Cities to be a part of this world premiere—they’ve been working on projects in LA and New York—and Becca Claire Hart is making her Mu debut after gracing other Twin Cities stages. Kaitlyn Cheng and Matt Lytle are also making their Mu debuts, and we couldn’t be more excited that they’re bringing this story to life. Get to know ..read more

Check back closer to the Opening Night of Hells Canyon for more information about the tragedy that helped inspire Keiko Green’s world premiere ..read more

Haruna Lee, Aya Ogawa, and Drae Campbell in The Nosebleed. All photos by Brian Rogers. This Q&A was first published Dec 11 in the Walker Art Center’s Walker Reader. See the original web page. The 2023 Obie Award-winning show The Nosebleed is about Aya Ogawa’s failure to hold a funeral service for their father. The fact that the cast asks the audience: "Who here hates their father?" is just the start of the “why.” The show’s autobiographical vignettes, which hit both raw emotion and everyday absurdity, show how we got there. In addition, the costuming shows the weight of lineage and silenc ..read more

THE NAME JAR AUDITIONS based on the book by YANGSOOK CHOIstage adaptation by SUSAN H. PAKdirected by JAKE SUNG-GUK SULLIVAN Nov 27 & 28 (callbacks Nov 29) SIGN UP Stages Theatre Company and Theater Mu are seeking youth actors for the world premiere of The Name Jar! The show opens Mar 22 and runs through Apr 14, and it has youth roles for those ages 10-18 years old. Potential rehearsal schedule (Feb 12-Mar 21) Performance dates (Mar 22-Apr 14) SYNOPSIS Unhei has moved from Korea to America with her family and has started a new school. When the kids struggle with her name, she wonder ..read more