Asia Society Presents: I LAND

ARTISTS

Keo Woolford (Co-creator/Performer)
Keo Woolford is a multi-disciplinary artist, born and raised in Hawai`i, who began dancing hula in high school. In 1999, he became a member of Robert Cazimero's Halau Na Kamalei. Since then he has been performing hula with the halau and The Brothers Cazimero around the U.S. and Japan. Between high school and Halau Na Kamalei, a music contract took him to Los Angeles, but he instead caught the acting bug. His career in theater began in 1995 with his critically acclaimed and self-penned one-man show, He Hawai`i Au. He went on to play The Councilor in East-West Players' multiple Ovation Award-winning production of Pacific Overtures and originated the role of Chang in EWP's world premiere of Heading East. In 1996 he garnered the Virgo Award for Best Actor for his role as Franco in In My Father's House. At the end of 1998, Keo returned home to become a member of Brownskin (Hawai`i's equivalent to ‘NSync). Their self-titled release was the best-selling pop album in 1999. His final concert with the group was before a sell-out crowd of 12,000 as co-headliners with Christina Aguilera. Keo is also a prolific songwriter, having written many songs for Brownskin and a number of other recording artists in Hawai`i and Japan. His songs are featured in the films Kids In America and Americanese. As a songwriter and vocalist, he contributed to the Island Warriors CD, which was the first album from the U.S. ever to be nominated for a Grammy® Award in the Best Reggae Album category. In 2002, Keo completed his starring run as the King in Rogers And Hammerstein's The King And I at the London Palladium in London's West End. It was the longest running revival of a R&H production in history. In New York he has been seen in Karaoke Stories, The Greeks, References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, Sonnets For An Old Century and The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen. His film and TV appearances include East Broadway, Hawaii, True Vengeance, and Happy, Texas. He continues dancing with Halau Na Kamalei, including their recent appearance at the 2005 Merrie Monarch Hula Festival where the group was awarded first prize in the kahiko (ancient), auana (modern), overall male and overall festival categories. Keo is the co-producer of the award-winning documentary featuring Robert Cazimero, Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula. He is a graduate of William Esper in New York City and currently studies under Ivana Chubbuck in Los Angeles.
AsiaSource Interview with Keo Woolford
Keo Woolford's MySpace Page

Roberta Uno (Co-creator/Director)
Roberta Uno was born in Honolulu and raised in Los Angeles. She is the founder of the New WORLD Theater in 1979 and its artistic director for twenty-three years. New WORLD Theater has earned a national and international reputation as a visionary theater dedicated to works by artists of color. She has recently been working on collaborating in the development of solo performance; she was dramaturg for Blessing the Boats by Sekou Sundiata, Blood Cherries by Dawn Akemi Saito and for Marc Bamuthi Joseph's Word Becomes Flesh. A member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, her directing credits include: Clothes by Chitra Divakaruni, Blues for Mr. Charlie by James Baldwin, Unmerciful Good Fortune by Edwin Sanchez, the bodies between us by thuy le, Dance and the Railroad by David Henry Hwang, Sneaky by William Yellow Robe, Miss Ida B. Wells by Endesha Ida Mae Holland, Flyin' West by Pearl Cleage, Stop Kiss by Diana Son, and Sheila's Day by Duma Ndlovu. Her books include The Color of Theater: Race, Culture, and Contemporary Performance (Continuum: UK), Unbroken Thread: Plays by Asian American Women (UMass Press), Monologues for Actors of Color Men and Women (Routledge Press), and Contemporary Plays by Women of Color (Routledge Press).
AsiaSource Interview with Roberta Uno

K.R. Munson (Technical Director)
K.R. Munson has worked on theatrical productions in NYC, Europe, Asia, and South America. She has worked as a creative team member on projects for the National Basketball Association, Universal Studios, Mohegan Sun, and MCA music. Some of her favorite artists to kokua for include: Reza Abdoh, Urban Bush Women, Liz Swados, and Keo Woolford.