This legendary show brings New York City's premier American Asian performers together to fire up the stage with their Broadway voices, Killer Stand Up Comedy, Incredible Dance, Rock and disOrientalist vibes.

And with the echoes of “Kung Flu” and “China Virus” #stopAsianHate speech echoing throughout the AAPI community, it's a great time to uplift, amplify, and  connect with world class talent across disciplines who change the dynamic and give you the best of the best in one electrifying show. 

Come see why New York is a haven for top talent in every category from the virtuostic vogue-realness of Akiko Tokuoka of the House of Ninja, to the sonic ear candy of electropop godess D'Lourdes, to the deep dance skills of rising starts Jacob Thoman and  Kevin Pajarillaga to the Broadway chops of Ellis Gage and  the comedy prowess of AGT's Usama Siddiqi. 

Curated and hosted by notorious comedienne/rapper Kate Siahaan-Rigg alongside child star-turned-Broadway-actress Olivia Oguma, the program lasts about 75 minutes and is designed to boost your immunity against against boredom, inaction, xenophobia, orientalism and bowl cuts.

Kate Siahaan-Rigg (@kateriggnyc): A star on the Manhattan comedy scene, host and curator Kate Rigg graduated from Juilliard's drama division and immediately began moonlighting in comedy and spoken word club stages around the country, creating solo shows (Zombie Asian Moms, Happy Lucky Golden Tofu Panda Dragon Good Time Fun Fun Show) and creating wild events like this one all over the city. She is the lead singer and lyricist for legendary Nuyorasian power duo Slanty Eyed Mama, and has had her original works invited to the Smithsonian, The Comedy Central Theater, HBO Time Warner Workspace, LA Grand Performances, and many International Festivals. As a comic you have seen her on Comedy Central, Showtime, NBC, PBS, and in dive bars and comedy clubs all over. She is currently the chief creative officer for the newly formed Center for Diversity, Disability & Inclusion (DD&I) in Cincinnati and  professor emeritus of the LGBTQ+ stand-up class at Manhattan Comedy School.

Olivia Oguma (@olioguma): Co-host Olivia was the first Asian-American Young Cosette in Les Misérables and has been wowing New York audiences ever since in the Broadway casts of Mamma Mia, A Christmas Carol, Disney’s High School Musical and many off Broadway shows. She has appeared in many, many productions of Miss Saigon (and zero productions of King and I. ) She does a lot of plays where she is usually crying or playing a 14 year old and sometimes, she plays a crying 14 year old. She has also been on a bunch of TV shows where she usually plays the token Asian assistant who drops something at inopportune times.

D'Lourdes first appeared on the music scene in May 2022 with their independent debut release: D'LOURDES.  The self-titled EP began to gain wide-known traction when a sound bite from the first track "How Did You Get So Good?" went viral on TikTok. In turn, the track has earned nearly 3 million streams on Spotify, along with 100k monthly listeners across platforms. They have released their first single "East Coastandthe music video for "Texas In The Spring", "Catholic Guilt", and "How Did You Get So Good?" Their final music video from the package, "Melancholy", was released Feb 2023.

Ellis Gage appeared in the original cast of Pasek & Paul/Graciela Danielle’s “James & the Giant Peach” (Goodspeed), “Dani Girl” (Cherry Lane Theatre), & Phyllis Newman’s “Flying To Neverland” (LCT/AOP), won an IRNE for “King & I” (NSMT), was Seth Rudetsky’s “big belt kid,” & sang roles at the Metropolitan/NYC Opera. Recently, he starred in the acclaimed “Far From Canterbury” world premiere, “FlyBoys” (US Tour), “Next To Normal” (Original Taiwan Cast) “Into The Woods” (The Arden), “Imaginary Boy” (Kennedy Center/NTAA), development of Richard Maltby’s “Noble Family” & Paul Gordon’s “Gospel According To Heather.” Other credits: Public, Signature, Bay Street, Prospect, York, Huntington, Passage.
Ellis Gage Website

Usama Siddiquee (formerly known by his stage name “Usama Bin Laughin”) is a Bengali-American stand-up comedian and actor based in New York.He is on Netlifx’s Inventing Anna, HBO’s And Just Like that, Comedy Central’s Nora from Queens, and FX’s Better Things. He was recently was featured on the 2020 season of America’s Got Talent. He traveled to Montreal as one of the New Faces at Just For Laughs in 2018. He made his standup television debut on BET's 50 Central. He has been featured on Showtime’s Desus and Mero, MTV’s News, and Bravo’s Cash Cab. Usama has also featured on videos for NBC, Buzzfeed, Refinery29, The Scene, Mic.com, FusionTV, and Huffington Post. IG: @UsamaStandsUp

Kevin Pajarillaga, a Filipino American, has been an artistic associate with Gibney Company since 2020. Pajarillaga is most curious about the process of sharing the lived experiences of the body through time and space fused with a little bit of fantasy and imagination. Pajarillaga made his TV debut performing for MTV VMA’s 2021 with Doja Cat. He has worked with companies including NW Dance Project, Yin Yue Dance Company, and Sonya Tayeh Dance. He  guest performed with Parsons Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. Pajarillaga has originated roles with choreographers: Alan Lucien Oyen, Felix Landerer, Gustavo Ramirez,  Ihsan Rustem, Yin Yue, Michaela Taylor, Maleek Washington and others.  He also co-founded Moving Forward Dallas, a non-profit dedicated to nurturing the thriving young artists in Dallas. He has choreographed for Gibney Company’s “Company Created’, NW Dance Project’s “In Good Company”, The Juilliard School’s senior showcase, and the DREAMscape Gala. He has appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, and HypeBeast. 

Jacob Thoman spent his childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio and Manila, Philippines, where he trained and performed with Exhale Dance Tribe, following Missy Lay Zimmer and Andrew Hubbard, and received additional training at The School for Creative and Performing Arts, and at Cincinnati Ballet. Graduating from The Juilliard School in 2019, under the direction of Larry Rhodes and Alicia Graf Mack, they have performed works by Roy Assaf, Crystal Pite, and Stefanie Batten Bland. Jacob has worked with Benoit Swan Pouffer and Alexandra Damiani at Cedar Lake 360 Intensive, as well as with Alexandra Wells at Springboard Danse Montreal. In Summer 2019, Jacob performed in the inaugural production of Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise at The Shed, choreographed by Akram Khan. They are in their fourth season with Gibney Company.

Akiko Tokuoka, originally from Kyoto, Japan, is a dancer, choreographer, and actress based in New York City. With 15 years of dance experience, Akiko specializes in vogue, ballet, contemporary, kabuki, baton twirling, and freestyle. After seeing Willi Ninja perform in 2005, Akiko fell in love with the New York voguing and ballroom culture. She is now an official member of the Legendary House of Ninja with the crew name KiT Ninja. Most recently, Akiko featured in the Google Doodle “Celebrating Willi Ninja” and joined The House of Ninja to bring vogue to the 113th NAACP National Convention. In 2011, Akiko was personally selected by Madonna for an exclusive performance celebrating the icon’s birthday. Akiko’s notable performances include: Ciara’s Level Up at the MNF Genesis Halftime Show and performing and choreographing Lovari's Paparazzi music video, featured on MTV. She has also performed at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, New Era, and in several commercials. After completing Maggie Flanigan Studio’s advanced acting program in 2022, Akiko produced dance theater performances TANABATA 2021 and Wakashu-Timeless Beauty of the Third Gender with the generous support of a New York City Artist Corps Grant and Queens Arts Fund Grant. @nyc.performanceartist Akiko Tokuoka Wesbite

Music Director and token white guy Cody Owen Stine is a songwriter, composer, performer, musician, and music director working on and off Broadway. He is currently the Associate Music Director of Hadestown on Broadway. As a composer/lyricist, his work has been produced at Ars Nova, Prospect Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Joe’s Pub, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Second City, LA, and others. Cody Owen Stine Website

Photo courtesy the artists.

V-Day Website

disOrientalism 5 was made possible by a generous donation from V (formerly known as Eve Ensler) and V-Day, A global activist movement to end violence against all women, girls and  the earth.