The famed Second City Comedy Club and school in Chicago today named 15 Asian American and Pacific Islander fellows in comedy and music.
Named after the club’s first Asian American performer, the Victor Wong Fellowship for Asian American Pacific Islander Voices in Comedy supports the training of actors in both comedy and music.
“A program like this is incredibly important for empowering the Asian American community, not only through a comedic lens but in providing more opportunities to share our stories & culture,” said The Second City’s Showcase Director and Program Creative Lead, Jonald Reyes.
It is funded by a donation from the family foundation of Peng Zhao, CEO of Citadel Securities.
Named to participate in the program beginning this month are:
● Ali Khan (he/him)
● Christina Hilliard (she/her)
● Courtney Sullivan Wu (she/her)
● Harrison Hapin (he/him)
● Heather Mari (she/her)
● Huy Nguyen (he/him)
● Jef Chi (he/him)
● Luke Moghimi Connell (he/him)
● Natasha Mirza (she/her)
● Nick Joe (he/him)
● Tanvi Kumar (she/her)
In addition, four others were named Music track recipients.
● Joshua Chan (he/him)
● Katherine Elise Plier (she/they)
● Maya Tanaka Allwardt (she/her)
● Yuxin Lu (they/them)
The program is tuition-free and will culminate in several performances on May 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30.
“We could not be more thrilled with the caliber and diversity of talent and perspectives represented in our inaugural Victor Wong Fellowship cohort. We can’t wait to see what they create together,” said The Second City’s Managing Artistic Director, Julie Dumais Osborne.
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