Dallas Theater Center (DTC) proudly presents the world premiere of The Supreme Leader. Don X. Nguyen’s new comedy begins its performances on October 28 at Kalita Humphreys Theater.
While in boarding school in Switzerland, Kim Jong-Un learns he is next on the list as a The supreme guide after his older brother’s career-ending trip to Tokyo Disneyland. But he has to prove himself. Under the watchful eye of his guardian, he puts down his brush to spy on his pretty American friend Sophie. Will “Oony” have the girl? Will he be his father’s pride? Set in the snowball world of smelly cheese and mountaineering, this coming-of-age comedy imagines the last twists of Kim Jong-Un’s youth before his fateful return to North Korea.
The supreme guide is the first live production produced by DTC in their history, Frank Lloyd Wright has designed the home theater since March 1, 2020.
“I loved Don X. Nguyen’s play from the first moment I met it reading at The alley theater‘s New Play Festival in 2019, “said Kevin moriarty, Enloe / Rose Artistic Director. “The plot is inspired by the historical fact that in the 1990s, as a teenager, Kim Jong-Un attended an international boarding school in Switzerland. From this small fact, Don wrote a fictional story of he was a witty, funny, surprising and ultimately moving adolescence.I am delighted that DTC is presenting such a smart and entertaining piece to audiences for the first time.
Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. He wrote several pieces including Hello, Children of Planet Earth, Ring, Flaming red, The beginning of William Tan, and The man from Saigon. Nguyen is the recipient of the 2015 Aurora Theater GAP Award and the New York Stage & Film Founder’s Award. Although he currently lives in New York, he has been in Dallas since day one of rehearsals. Nguyen will stay during the opening weekend.
“I started this play about seven years ago, when Kim Jong-Un had only been in power for a few years and the world didn’t know much about him. It’s been a long and winding road for arrive at this point, but we’re finally here and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share this play with the audience, â€Don X. Nguyen, playwright The Supreme Leader. “There are very few places like DTC that would host or be able to host an out-of-town playwright throughout the process. This is a testament to DTC’s continued commitment to new work.“
Production is particularly important for Oscar Seung who plays Kim Jong-Un. Seung was born in Switzerland, but raised in Arlington, Texas, and studied opera at TCU. He created, produced and performed in American Dynasty. The short won awards at four national film festivals, including the Best Actor nomination for Seung at the Ouchy Film Festival in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is the first prominent Asian American man to appear on the DTC. It is also the first time that Seung has shared a stage on stage with another Asian American actor.
“Growing up as an AAPI (Asia-American Pacific Islander) immigrant, I always wanted to be an actor but never saw a face like mine on stage or on screen. said it just wasn’t an option for someone who looked like me. I will always be grateful to Kevin and Don for proving me wrong, “Oscar Seung, The supreme guide. “From our very first rehearsal, Kevin created a warm and inclusive space that allowed me to share my stories and bring my full and authentic self to this production. I am blown away by the amazing staff and creative team at DTC who welcomed this cast with open arms. Their overwhelming enthusiasm and enthusiasm for this piece was palpable. I know I speak for the rest of the cast when I say that we are delighted to share this story with audiences. “
Dallas Theater Center will offer social distancing seats during their live performances of The supreme guide. Customers are encouraged to select the option of being placed in the social distancing section during the checkout process when purchasing tickets online. The performances will also forgo the intermission to allow additional comfort for the guests. To view DTC’s COVID-19 guest policy, please visit www.dallastheatercenter.org/covid-19-guest-policy.
The supreme guide takes place from October 28 to November 21 at Kalita Humphreys Theater. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.dallastheatercenter.org/show/the-supreme-leader
IN REGARDS TO Dallas Theater Center:
One of the country’s leading regional theaters and recipient of the Regional Theater Tony Award® 2017, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs annually to an audience of over 100,000 North Texas residents. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theater, designed by REX / OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at his original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only stand-alone theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Dallas Theater Center is one of only two theaters in Texas to be a member of the League of Resident Theaters, the nation’s largest and most prestigious nonprofit professional theater association. Edited by Enloe / Rose Artistic Director Kevin moriarty and Managing Director Jeffrey Woodward, Dallas Theater Center produces a year-round subscription series of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program award-winning Project Discovery, a partnership with the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University; and numerous community collaborations. In 2017, in collaboration with Ignite / Arts Dallas at SMU Meadows School of the Arts and AT&T Performing Arts Center, DTC launched Public Works Dallas, a groundbreaking community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members. , culminating with an annual production featuring over 200 Dallas citizens performing a full-scale theatrical production. Throughout its history, Dallas Theater Center produced many new works, including The Texan trilogy through Preston Jones in 1978; Robert penn by Warren All the king’s men, adapted by Adrien room, in 1986; and the recent premieres of Miller, Mississippi through Boo Killebrew; Stagger Lee through Will; Hood: Robin Hood’s Musical Adventure through Douglas carter beane and Lewis flinn; Bella: a great American tale through Kirsten childs; Penny candy by Jonathan Norton; Clarkston through Samuel D. Hunter and Moonshine: The Musical Hee Haw through Robert horn, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Dallas Theater Center warmly thanks the support of our season sponsors: Texas Instruments and Texas Instruments Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, American Airlines, City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, Lexus, TACA and Texas Commission on the Arts.
Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion: to Dallas Theater Center, everyone is welcome. We want to be the best place to work and see theater, and be a positive, transformational force in Dallas and beyond. We champion equity, diversity and inclusion within our business and our community. As a premier national theater, we recognize that creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive environment is central to our relevance and sustainability in the community we serve and love. We recognize that the land on which this production was filmed is the ancestral home of many indigenous peoples, including the Caddo, Wichita, Tawakoni and Kiikaapoi, as well as the tribes who may have lived here and roamed the region, including the Comanche, the Kiowa and the Apache and those natives whose names we no longer know. We honor, revere, and respect those who have been stewards of this land long before we made it our home. We also recognize the neighborhood we inhabit as one of Freedman’s original towns in Dallas, built by those who were enslaved by European colonization.
