FAST COMPANY

Mar 18

Leviathan Friends,

My boyfriend and I had the giddy delight of seeing a preview Carla Ching's fantastic new play FAST COMPANY on Saturday night, March 15th, produced by Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in partnership with Ma-Yi Theatre Company. The show was directed by Vampire Cowboy's Co-Artistic Director & Co-Founder, and all around genius visionary Robert Ross Parker, and stars the spectacular acting chops of Leviathan Lab founding artistic staff member Moses Villarama, and Leviathan mentor Mia Katigbak, along with equally captivating fellow cast members Christopher Larkin and Stephanie Hsu; with friends Michael G. Chin (Fight Choreography), Ruy Iskandar (Magic Consultant) and Nick Francone (Lighting Designer). Seattle-based critic, producer, and Asian American thought leader Roger Tang was also in attendance, along with Leviathan stage manager alum Laurel Detkin.

I can't recommend this play enough – a funny, on-the-edge-of-your-seat, anti-hero crime caper cum family seriocomedy reminiscent of Jackie Brown and The Grifters, two of my favorite movies of all time. Ruy's magic training for the cast paid off in spades, making for a thrilling evening. The preview performance I saw had the same electricity in the air as the current Off-B'way MCC Theatre production of HAND TO GOD (originated at EST). FAST COMPANY deserves to move up also, as well as enjoy a long regional life. Kudos to EST and Ma-Yi for their commitment to this fantastic play by woman playwright-of-color!

Please go and support the work of this incredible Asian American creator led play! You won't regret it.

My best,
Ariel Estrada
Executive Director

Ariel Estrada

Actor | Producer | Graphic Designer | Grant Writer Ariel is an actor, singer, producer, and Executive Director of Leviathan Lab, a creative studio for Asian American performing artists. Under Leviathan Lab, he has produced acting and writing salons, cabarets, fundraising events, staged readings, showcase productions, and short films – including a critically acclaimed 2011 production of TWELFTH NIGHT, starring Obie-award winning actor Jojo Gonzalez, and directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III (Assistant Director under Daniel Sullivan, The Public/NYSF 2011; Lincoln Center Directors Lab), with music by Jason Ma (Broadway: MISS SAIGON, THE SLY FOX, SHOGUN THE MUSICAL). In 2012, Ariel served as Executive Producer for Leviathan Lab’s multiple-award winning short film TWO WEEKS (Featured Film, 2013 Screen Actors Guild Shorts Showcase; Winner, 2013 Film Festival Flix Short Film Competition; Winner, Best Ensemble, 2013 Asians on Film Festival; Award of Merit: Asian American, Best Shorts Competition (December 2013); and Official Selection, 20th Annual Filipino American Cine Festival, (December 2013). As Executive Director, Ariel has secured two consecutive grants (2012, 2013) from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for his work with Leviathan Lab, as well as for the international award-winning men’s barbershop chorus Voices of Gotham (2013) and for Empire City Men’s Chorus (2013). Ariel served as both a performer and Executive Producer of Leviathan Lab's first LMCC-supported project, MIGRATION NATION, which took ten new short plays inspired by the experiences of Filipina overseas contract workers, and assembled them into a three day, site-specific, immersive theatre event at the Tribeca brownstone/artists collective Space on White. For Leviathan's second LMCC-supported project in 2013, Ariel served as Executive Producer, Assistant Teaching Artist, and Performer for their Chinatown Kids' Playbuilding Project (JOURNEY TO THE WORLD OF PLAYWRITING), which took plays created through a 10-week workshop with the 5th grade students of P.S. 124, and produced them using the adult professional actors and directors of Leviathan Lab. Leviathan was also a 2011 resident artist at Space on White, and was recently selected for the 2013 Artists-in Residence program at University Settlement. As an actor and singer, Ariel has performed on television, film, commercials, industrials, new media, and on, Off, and Off-Off Broadway. You can visit his IMDB page here. Ariel is also an accomplished, Fortune 500 level graphic designer. To view his design portfolio, please visit arielestradadesign.com.

FAST COMPANY

THE VENUS PROJECT