Theater Mu and the Jungle Theater today announced Lily Tung Crystal will step in as director of their upcoming co-production of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band. Joshua Kahan Brody was originally set to direct the award-winning, part-theater/part-rock-concert show.

“I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to dream about the Jungle and Mu’s production of Cambodian Rock Band with my friend and longtime collaborator, Lauren Yee. Due to changing family circumstances, I’m no longer able to be in residence in Minneapolis during the rehearsal period. I’m delighted that Lily is able to step in to take the lead. The play will be in excellent hands with her at the helm.”

— Joshua Kahan Brody

“I’m truly excited to welcome Lily to the Twin Cities and collaborate with her as a director on Cambodian Rock Band. Her insights, energy, and affinity for music are truly going to make this piece rock next summer. It’s really special to be bringing Lauren’s work to the Jungle. She and I are both UC San Diego alum, and I’ve long admired her storytelling. I’m so proud that she’s one of this country’s most produced writers.”

— Sarah Rasmussen, artistic director of the Jungle Theater

Cambodian Rock Band will be the second show Tung Crystal directs in her first season as Theater Mu’s artistic director.

“I’ve known Lauren and loved her work since we first collaborated in San Francisco a decade ago. I’ve been hoping for another chance for us to work together, and I’m thrilled that it’s happening at the Jungle with such a heartfelt, singular theatrical experience as this. This is an exciting moment for everyone involved — for Joshua and me on our new personal and artistic adventures; for Mu and the Jungle as we continue building this friendship; and for the Twin Cities, who will experience the regional premiere of one of the hottest shows in the country.”

— Lily Tung Crystal

Theater Mu and the Jungle Theater join other theaters across the country in producing one of the most popular plays of the year. According to American Theater Magazine, Cambodian Rock Band is the fifth most produced play and Lauren Yee is the second most produced playwright of the 2019/20 season. Earlier this year, Cambodian Rock Band was named the winner of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. The award recognizes the best scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City and carries a $25,000 prize.

LILY TUNG CRYSTAL is an actor/singer, director, and artistic director of Theater Mu. Her directing work includes David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish and his revival of Flower Drum Song at Palo Alto Players, and the San Francisco leg of the simultaneous world premiere of Leah Nanako Winkler’s Two Mile Hollow at Ferocious Lotus. For all three shows, she was named a Theatre Bay Area Award finalist for Outstanding Direction. Tung Crystal also directed the Bay Area premiere of the musical Allegiance at Contra Costa Civic Theatre. She is a 2016 YBCA 100 honoree, named by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as a “creative pioneer making the provocations that will shape the future of culture.” 

Cambodian Rock Band, which uses flashbacks, live rock music, and a father/daughter relationship to explore the legacy of the Khmer Rouge genocide, runs June 24 - August 2, 2020 at the Jungle Theater. Tickets go on sale March 2, 2020. More information can be found HERE. Tickets can be purchased through the Jungle Theater’s box office at 612.822.7063 or jungletheater.org.