Written & Performed by Richard Chang
Directed by Laura Josepher

WHEN
Jan 29-March 1, 2026

WHERE
A.R.T./New York Mezzanine Theatre
502 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019

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Ai Yah Goy Vey!
Adventures of a Dim Son in Search of His Wanton Father

World Premiere

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Tisa Chang, Founding Artistic Director, celebrates the New Year with the World Premiere of Ai Yah Goy Vey! – Adventures of a Dim Son in Search of His Wanton Father, a solo show written and performed by Richard Chang.

Directed by: Laura Josepher
Venue: Mezzanine Theatre – A.R.T./New York Theatres

Performances:
January 29 – March 1, 2026
📍 502 West 53rd Street, NYC

Opening Performance
Sunday, February 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Tickets: $80
Includes a Lunar New Year Dim Sum Party following the performance

About the Production
In Ai Yah Goy Vey!, a country bumpkin delivers Chinese takeout food through New York City’s diverse neighborhoods while searching for his long-lost Papa—who abandoned his Chinese Opera diva Mama years earlier.

Along the way, colorful characters offer clues in a “Looney Tunes”–style whodunit that blends stand-up comedy, musical theatre, dance, opera, and puppetry. By playing on cultural similarities, the show shatters absurd assumptions and celebrates the diversity—and oneness—of the human race.

A vibrant, costumed romp reflecting all of New York.

Dedication
This production is dedicated to the memory of Ernest Abuba — actor, playwright, director, and co-founding member of Pan Asian Repertory Theatre — a beloved teacher and mentor to Richard Chang.

Performance Schedule
Tuesday–Friday:
7:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 3:00 PM

Tickets
🎟 $45–$60
🎟 Previews (Jan 29 – Feb 1): $35

Artistic Statement

Pan Asian Rep’s 49th Milestone reconnects with Richard Chang (no relation), whose historic play Citizen Wong we world premiered in 2022.

With Ai Yah Goy Vey, Richard takes a witty, satiric turn à la Molière, to follow a food deliverer in search of a long-lost father, intersecting with multi-ethnic New Yorkers in his quest.

Ai Yah Goy Vey, with music and dance, is sprinkled with familiar Chinese and Yiddish idioms, as a celebration of cultural differences that unite us as one humankind. The vibrant costume parade is an homage to Charles Busch and our re-imagined selves.

Both plays were developed and mentored by co-founding Pan Asian artist, the late Ernest Abuba — actor, playwright, director, and master teacher — whose acting and writing labs since 2000 nurtured so many emerging artists.

This production is dedicated to the memory of Ernest Abuba.

Highlights:
Broadway: Loose Ends, Pacific Overtures, The Oldest Boy
Films: King of New York, Twelve Monkeys, Kung Fu
Pan Asian Rep: The Man Who Turned into a Stick, Sunrise, Yellow Fever, Shogun Macbeth, Teahouse of the August Moon

Happy Lunar New Year!

— Tisa Chang
Founding Artistic Director

Richard Chang (Writer/Performer) is a performer-playwright-journalist who seeks to tell neglected stories in entertaining ways that authentically reflect America’s diversity. His works reflect his background in Asian and Western theater, dance and opera; puppetry; and improv comedy. His play, Citizen Wong, premiered at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in 2022, and soon morphed into the Citizen Wong Project to resurrect and celebrate Wong Chin Foo (1847-1898), the first Asian-American civil rights leader. The project’s platforms now also include solo performances, a short film, and a proposed documentary, feature film and TV series, and an upcoming comic developed with AA CARES at San Francisco State University.

Richard’s other acting credits at Pan Asian Rep include The Last Empress and Legend of the White Snake. A founding member of Chinese Theatre Works, he has co-written, directed or performed in Climbing the Gold Mountain, Shadow White Snake, Toy Theater Peony Pavilion and Little Red Riding Hood. Screen roles include Ping Chong & Co’s “Chinoiserie Redux”; “New York, I Love You,” “Windhorse,” “Saving Face,” “Never Forever,” “Chasing America,” “Return to Paradise”; and NBC-TV series “Kidnapped.”

Richard has danced with the New York Dance Theatre, Singapore Ballet Company, Old Dominion Ballet, Kathak Dance Ensemble and Zhongmei Dance Company. As a classically trained bass-baritone, he has sung solo at Weill Recital Hall and Bechstein Hall.

His work has been awarded grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, Queens Council on the Arts, Puffin Foundation. He has received an Urban Artist Initiative/New York City fellowship.

Laura Josepher (Director) New York-based theatre director, Laura Josepher, has been directing, teaching, and coaching professionally in New York City for the past thirty years. Her most recent directing credits include STEEL MAGNOLIAS, and THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG at Cape Fear Regional Theatre in North Carolina, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY at Redhouse Arts in Syracuse, NY, MURDER FOR TWO at Cape Fear Regional Theatre, GODSPELL, and THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE at The International College of Musical Theatre (ICMT); EDGES at Den Danske Scenekunstskole in Fredericia, Denmark; and the new musical SEARCHING FOR ROMEO at the NY Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF). Other credits include a workshop of Tom Gualtieri and David Sisco's musical FALLING TO EARTH at Syracuse University, David Sisco's BAIT 'n SWISH for the Left Out Festival, Garth Wingfield's DATING GAMES at the Theatre Row Studio Theatre, NY and The Elephant Theatre in L.A., DIRTY BLONDE, THE TURN OF THE SCREW and I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE at Stages in Houston, ANNA CHRISTIE at Gallery Players, SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES for Lilli Theatreworks, and HUGHIE at Provincetown Rep. For Rattlestick Productions: WINNING and the award-winning CAR POOL. Operas: LA BOHEME, COSI FAN TUTTE, HANSEL AND GRETEL, DIE FLEDERMAUS, and GIANNI SCHICCHI at Quisisana Resort. Assistant Director for Laurie Anderson's, SONGS AND STORIES FROM MOBY DICK (co-directed by Ms. Anderson and Anne Bogart), Associate Director for BACKWARDS IN HIGH HEELS directed by Scott Schwartz.

Along with co-author David Sisco, she wrote the books Mastering College Musical Theatre Auditions: Sound Advice for the Student, Teacher, and Parent, and Performing in Contemporary Musicals. Laura is a proud member of SDC.

Creative Team
Sheryl Liu (Set Design)
Karen Boyer (Costume Design)
Samantha Weiser (Lighting Design)
Howard Ho (Sound Design)
Scott Leff (Projections Design)
Kristine Schlachter, Production Stage Manager
Cameron Fleck, Assistant Stage Manager

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