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JACL 2010 NATIONAL CONVENTION

PROUDLY PRESENTS “A NIGHT AT CLUB CHICAGO”

A PERIOD PIECE FEATURING MUSIC, STORIES, SONGS AND DANCE

JULY 3RD AT SWISSOTEL CHICAGO

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Script by Keith Uchima

Based Upon Ideas Conceived by Tonko Doi and Keith Uchima

Featuring The Grateful Crane Ensemble of Los Angeles

Singer/Actress/Dancer Keiko Kawashima, Singer/Actor Kurt Kuniyoshi, and

Music Composer Scott Nagatani on Keyboards

With Chicago Legend Steven Hashimoto on Bass and Ken Takaoka on Drums

Narrated by Julian Nieh (Host, “Julian on the Radio”) and Actress/Musician/Director Mia Park

With Vocalist Kelly Uchima

and Dancer/Actress Elaine Wong

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 29, 2010

MEDIA: ENERI Communications info@enericom.net

TICKETS: chicago2010@jacl.org

“Issei and Nisei found themselves working in factories- assembling toys, making Baby Ruth and Butterfinger candy bars for Curtiss Candy.  Sexing chickens… Yes that’s what I said – Sexing chickens. Stringing pearls. Cleaning clothes.”

-       -   Excerpt From Keith Uchima’s Script for “A Night at Club Chicago”

CHICAGO, IL – - The Japanese American Citizens League “JACL” proudly presents “A Night at Club Chicago,” a new script set in Post-World War II Chicago by  writer*/musician/composer/producer/actor Keith Uchima, based upon ideas conceived by Tonko Doi and Keith Uchima.

(*As a screenwriter, Keith Uchima previously scripted WMAQ/NBC-TV’s Emmy Award-winning “Nothing is Simple.” His last script, performed in a theater, was the play “Seven Out.” The latter tells the little-known story of Chicago’s underworld based on the adventures of Ken Ito, a Japanese American who ascended the ranks of the Chicago Outfit in the 1950s, and later turned State’s evidence. The Due East Theatre Company’s production of “Seven Out” ran in 2004 at Stage Left Theatre in Chicago.)

“A Night at Club Chicago” is the story of migration in the 1940’s and the search for housing, jobs and a new life – a life that included the music and ambiance of Chicago’s night club scene, will be told through music, stories, songs and dance, during the 2010 JACL National Convention on Saturday, July 3, 2010 at the Swissotel Chicago, Zurich Ballroom, 323 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois from 8 p.m. – 10 p.m. Tickets are $30.00 each. Reservation requests may be directed to chicago2010@jacl.org.

The 2010 JACL National Convention, themed “Embracing Change,” will be held from June 30 – July 3, 2010 at the Swissotel Chicago, 323 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois. This is the 41st biennial convention of the JACL, the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization, founded in 1929.  The convention theme, “Embracing Change,” recognizes the need for creativity and flexibility in adapting to new circumstances while remaining committed to values that promote social justice.

For information about the Convention, please call (773) 728-7171, e-mail chicago2010@jacl.org or click on the 2010 JACL Convention website link at www.jacl.org . “A Night at Club Chicago” is the final event of the 2010 JACL National Convention.

A period piece featuring music, stories, songs and dance, “A Night at Club Chicago” will showcase live performances by three members of the well-known West Coast theatre group, “The Grateful Crane Ensemble” – singer/actress/dancer Keiko Kawashima and singer/actor Kurt Kuniyoshi, with music composer/sound designer Scott Nagatani on keyboards. Joining them in special appearance will be local Chicago musical legend, jazz guitarist Steven Hashimoto (of “Mothra” fame) on bass, and Ken Takaoka on drums.

The Grateful Crane Ensemble is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) Asian American theatre company company based in Southern California, established in 2001. Executive Producer and Playwright Soji Kashiwagi is bringing three members of The Grateful Crane Ensemble from its Los Angeles home to Chicago for the 2010 JACL National Convention, in the group’s Chicago debut. The Grateful Crane Ensemble has produced a number of shows including the touring show, “The Camp Dance: The Music and the Memories” and “Nihonmachi: The Place to Be.”

A special audio/video presentation will precede the concert, featuring images curated by Tonko Doi and courtesy of the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society and the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC) of Chicago. The presentation will be narrated live by top-rated disc jockey Julian Nieh (Morning Drive Host, “Julian on the Radio” of B96 WBBM-FM) and actress/musician/director Mia Park. Special appearances by 17-year-old singer Kelly Uchima, accompanied by Keith Uchima on guitar, with an interpretive dance by Elaine Wong.

Playwright Keith Uchima’s dialogue takes a poignant look at the exodus from American internment prison camps during World War II, when thousands of Japanese Americans decided to settle eastward. The flavor of returning to the West Coast had become tainted, because so many of them had lost everything. Many of them landed in Chicago, as Uchima puts it, the “buzz” was that in Chicago, there were opportunities. “Discrimination was still lingering, but there were jobs and apartments for rent – and there was a chance to make a new start in this huge, daunting “Windy City.” “

Many first and second generation Japanese Americans (Issei and Nisei) ended up settling in one of three areas in Chicago open to integration: Clark and Division – a swaggering commercial area in the mid-1940’s with restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and small businesses and a bustling urban melting pot;  the North Side – especially Uptown, which was in shambles; or Hyde Park – a forward-thinking, integrated area on Chicago’s South Side.

In his script, Uchima writes that, “The need for “Mamasan’s comfort food” was huge, so little Japanese Markets sprung up.  Toguri, York, Excel and Star markets were born out of necessity.  “Real” Japanese Restaurants and Sushi were not acceptable to the public yet, but JA’s owned, worked in or patronized local restaurants and “Chop Suey” joints like Ding Hoe, Liberty Inn, Miyako, Rib House and Johnny’s 3 Decker.”

“The Nisei and young Sansei had always followed the American pop and jazz scene, even while interned.  Now there was a few extra dollars for them to get “gussied up” and go down to the Uptown Theatre for movies which featured live shows, or dancing at the Aragon Ballroom or go clubbing with the “hipsters” at Club DeLisa to see some of the legends of music.”

“A Night in Club Chicago” is funded in part with assistance from Chicago’s Angel Island Theatre Company.

ABOUT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS LEAGUE

Founded in 1929, headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Washington, D.C., the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), is the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organization. The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community. For more information, please visit the JACL National website at www.jacl.org .

MEDIA REQUESTS

Media requests for playwright Keith Uchima and “A Night at Club Chicago,” should be directed to ENERI Communications at info@enericom.net . Images and profiles available upon request.

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FOR:

Playwright Keith Uchima/“A Night at Club Chicago”  at the 2010 JACL National Convention e-mail chicago2010@jacl.org

JACL NATIONAL CONVENTION / A NIGHT AT CLUB CHICAGO  (On July 3, 2010)

PROFILES

KEITH UCHIMA is a Chicago-based producer, performer and writer in the entertainment industry, with SAG, AFTRA, NARAS and EMC affiliations. As an actor/singer, his most recent performance was in Porchlight Theatre’s “Pacific Overtures” where he won praise as “Lord Abe/Old Man”.  He can also be seen in the motion pictures, “Major League” and “Chicago Overcoat.”  As a screenwriter, he scripted WMAQ/NBC-TV’s Emmy-winning “Nothing is Simple.”

Uchima began his theatrical journey in the 1980’s when, as a founding member of MinaSama No, he was commissioned to score original music for Stuart Gordon’s Organic Theatre production of “Dope.”  Since then, he has served in many capacities:  Scoring Music – for Organic (Rubber City) and Latino Chicago (Camino Real); Playwrighting – “Autumn and Spring” (MinaSama No), “The Jade Monkey King” (Angel Island Theatre Company) and “Seven Out” (Due East Theatre Company); Acting – “The Sound of a Voice” (Yamaworks) and Mia McCullough’s Jeff-recommended “Echoes of Another Man” (Stage Left).

Uchima co-founded the sketch comedy group “Stir-Friday Night!” and currently produces voice-overs for actors.  In another lifetime, Uchima sang around Chicago as the opening act for comedian Tom Dreesen.  Uchima is also a Graduate Gemologist, G.I.A. and a recurring columnist for the “Chicago Shimpo” newspaper.

THE GRATEFUL CRANE ENSEMBLE is a non-profit 501(c)(3) Asian American theatre company based in Southern California, established in July 2001. Its mission is to create and present meaningful and entertaining bilingual programs for Japanese American seniors in appreciation of the many sacrifices they have made so the generations that followed could live a better life in America. Executive Producer and Playwright Soji Kashiwagi is bringing three members of The Grateful Crane Ensemble from its Los Angeles home to Chicago for the 2010 JACL National Convention, in the group’s Chicago debut.

The Grateful Crane Ensemble has produced a number of shows including the touring show, “The Camp Dance: The Music and the Memories” and “Nihonmachi: The Place to Be.” “The Camp Dance: The Music and the Memories,” is a tribute to those who endured the U.S. concentration camps for Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II, and how music, song and dances help internees face the hardships of “relocation.”

In 2003 the Ensemble received a grant from the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program to allow “The Camp Dance,” to tour eight cities in California. A second CCLPEP grant in 2004 allowed for additional performances, and for the show to be recorded on CD. In 2006, The Grateful Crane Ensemble premiered “Nihonmachi: The Place To Be – A Musical Journey” at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, as part of the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of San Francisco’s Japantown. Soji Kashiwagi won the JACL Ruby Yoshino Schaar Playwright Award in 2006 for this production. In 2009, The Grateful Crane Ensemble received a California Civil Liberties Public Education Program grant to produce Hiroshi Kashiwagi’s play, “The Betrayed,” which was presented earlier this year (February 2010) at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.

STEVEN HASHIMOTO, a native of Chicago, is one of the City’s best-known and most visible musicians. He formed the Asian Jazz/fusion band Mothra in 1976 (the band is still in existence, and with a CD titled “Giri” on the AsianImprov label and a more recent CD, “Tradewinds”, on the Chicago Sessions label). In 1979 he switched to the bass guitar, and rapidly became an in-demand freelance sideman on Chicago’s eclectic music scene, as well as continuing to lead a variety of bands, including Mothra and Sueños Latin-jazz.

He has played at almost every venue in Chicago, as well as at Taste of Chicago, The Chicago Jazz Festival, ChicagoFest, and The Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival. He has appeared on the television programs, “Wild Chicago,” “Artbeat,” and “60 Minutes.” His CD “Azul Oscuro”, by Sueños Latin-jazz, has received significant airplay, both nationally and internationally.

Hashimoto has been the recipient of three Community Arts Assistance Program grants from the Illinois Arts Council, and has performed with hundreds of bands and artists in Chicago, including Poetry Slam founder Marc Smith, Laurel Massé (one of the Manhattan Transfer’s original members), The Green Mill Quartet (with whom he has anchored the After-Hours Friday night jam sessions at The Green Mill for 23 years), Kodo Taiko Drum ensemble founder Leonard Eto, and other musicians from genres as diverse as salsa, Celtic music, the blues, country, bluegrass, Flamenco, free/avant-garde, alternative rock, reggae, funk, R&B, and big band.

He has appeared on dozens of records and CDs, played in pit bands for musicals, and composed and recorded music for films and corporate projects. In addition to his musical career, Hashimoto has designed the artwork for many CD projects for Chicago area musicians (as well as writing the liner notes for several of them), and has had his reportage of the musical scene widely published (“News From The Trenches”).

KEN TAKAOKA has had experience playing jazz drums in the Chicago and European music scenes for over 30 years. He’s had several years playing jazz in established Chicago clubs, restaurants and hotels as a freelance musician and as a member of the Louis Hall Trio, Jody Christian Quartet, the King Fleming Trio, Karl Johnson Trio, and the Peter Oprisko Quartet. Long-term engagements included The Drake Hotel, Gordon, Gypsy, Philanders and Pete’s Miller’s Steak House and currently, Carmine’s Restaurant. Takaoka has also had several years playing experience in Europe, including jazz festivals, clubs in Sweden and Russia (then the USSR), radio broadcasts and engagements accompanying established European jazz soloists and singers.

JULIAN NIEH was promoted to Morning Drive Personality at CBS Radio WBBM-FM (96.3) in January 2009. He had joined the station as its new evening star in July 2006. Named Evening Personality, he held the same position for more than three years at Clear Channel’s WIHT-HOT 99.5 FM in the Washington, D.C. area. His show, “Julian on the Radio” aired from 7 p.m. – midnight on the Top 40 station, B96, Chicago’s Hits & Hip-Hop.

Nieh’s hometown is Washington, D.C. At WIHT-HOT, Nieh was a ratings winner for many years. Then, he got the call to what he says is “the dream… CHICAGO.” (Chicago is the nation’s third largest media market.) Nieh began his career as an intern for WWZZ-Z104 (Top 40), in 2001 in Washington, DC. He eventually worked his way up through the course of a few years, gaining experience working in various departments at the radio station – from promotions, to sales, to programming. From there he went off to a few small markets for evenings positions. Nieh has done radio in Harrisonburg, Virginia; Charleston, West Virginia; and Norfolk, Virginia.

In 2002, Nieh was nominated for multiple radio awards from the AIR Awards Organization, where he eventually won “Best New Talent, in the Washington, D.C. Market.” In 2008 he was awarded the “Citizen President Award” from Jacobs Media. Also in 2008, he won honors from the Illinois Broadcasters Association (IBA) in the new category of “Best Podcasting.” He has snagged Silver Dome Awards from the Illinois Broadcasters Association for three years in a row (2007-2009) for “Best Radio Personality”.

Nieh regularly appears at various Chicago and Midwest clubs most every weekend.

Julian Nieh participates in as many community-driven functions as his schedule will allow, feeling a moral obligation to do so. He has served as a celebrity presenter for the Asian American Coalition of Chicago Annual Lunar New Year Celebration (2007, 2009).  In 2006, Nieh was honored with the “Pioneer of the Year Award” by the Organization of Chinese Americans, Inc., D.C. Chapter. He has also assisted in raising over $30,000 in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

MIA PARK wears many hats in Chicago as an actress and model, a TV personality, an accomplished musician (drummer), a singer, a producer, an Arts administrator, a writer, and a yoga enthusiast. She says that yoga has changed her life and that her duty to share yoga with individuals and groups is a blessing. Park teaches in studios, at gyms, and to private clientele.

“Miss Mia” has co-hosted Chicago’s cable TV kid’s dance and music show, “Chic-A-Go-Go!” (Rocktober Media, Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV)) for twelve years. Park has joined SAG, AFTRA, AEA and has acted in independent movies, national commercials and industrial films for over ten years. In addition to emceeing, Park does voiceover work and models. She co-founded the Asian American theater company, A-Squared Theatre Workshop, where she produces and performs.

Park has played in over a dozen rock and jazz bands in Chicago since 1995. Mostly playing drums and singing in rock/pop bands, her new band is “Tiny Bones.” As an Arts Administrator, she served as the Asian American Cultural Ambassador for The Old Town School of Folk Music and curated programs at the Chicago Cultural Center. She founded the Korean female art gang, “Team Do!Boo!” in January 2004, and is constantly producing a variety of music or theater shows at any given time.

Park has contributed to Chicago’s non-profit community by working at Women in the Director’s Chair and by teaching English at the Korean American Cultural Resource Center and the Korean Senior Center. She served as a celebrity presenter at the 2009 Asian American Coalition of Chicago Lunar New Year Celebration. She currently volunteers at KAN-WIN.

ELAINE WONG says she loves the chance to freelance as an actor, singer, and dancer when not serving as an internal process improvement consultant at HCSC.

KELLY UCHIMA is a student and incoming senior (Fall 2010) at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago, Illinois. She was cast in the lead role of “Peter” in the musical version of “Peter Pan” presented by Chase Park Theater in Chicago in 2008; named the Grand Prize winner of the Radio Disney Rock Star singing contest in 2003 and 1st Runner-Up in 2004; and winner of the 1st Chicago Chinatown Idol singing contest in 2004.

Her popular cover videos appear on “YouTube” under the channel name, “KellyKoto”. Kelly Uchima has been a featured soloist at many civic, community and school events. She has studied Chinese classical dance, ballet and piano. Represented by Lily’s Talent Agency, Uchima has appeared in TV and print commercials. In addition to singing, she also enjoys dancing, cooking, baby-sitting, swimming and photography.

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