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2009 News, Features & Reviews ENVY
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MARGARET
CHO IS READY TO ROCK!!!! MARGARET WILL ALSO GUEST ON “THE VIEW” JULY 9, “THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON” ON JULY 20 AND “CHELSEA LATELY” ON JULY 21 Margaret Cho, comedian, actress, director, author, activist, shit starter and now rock star!!! Yes, that’s right, Margaret has strapped on her guitar and is ready to rock audiences this Fall as she workshops a new stand-up show that will include a healthy mix of new stand-up and live music. Margaret will even be singing! In the spirit of Cho’s diverse identity and equally diverse career, her workshop shows will feature her burgeoning foray into the realm of comedy music. She will be showcasing songs from her forthcoming album, tentatively titled Guitarded, a release she is writing for with Patty Griffin, Jon Brion, Grant Lee Phillips, among others. Music is a new endeavor for the provocative comedian, who's built a cult following through tours, concert films and TV specials. Cho’s workshop shows feature her trademark raunchy, socially relevant and politically-charged comedy, and also offer a unique chance to see her in a more intimate setting as she develops a new stand-up show and songs for her comedy album. Tickets for many of the markets go on sale Friday, July 10 with a fanclub pre-sale beginning Wednesday, July 8. For tour dates see below. In other news, Margaret is starring in the all-new comedic drama series, Drop Dead Diva, debuting on Lifetime, Sunday, July 12th at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT The one-hour, comedic drama tells the story of a shallow model-in-training who dies in a sudden accident only to find her soul resurfacing in the body of a brilliant, plus-size and recently deceased attorney. Television newcomer and stage actress Brooke Elliott (Wicked, Taboo) stars alongside Margaret Cho (Notorious C.H.O.), Jackson Hurst (The Tree of Life), Kate Levering (Cashmere Mafia), April Bowlby (Two and a Half Men), Josh Stamberg (Lie to Me), Brooke D’Orsay (How I Met Your Mother) and Ben Feldman (The Perfect Man). The 13-episode series – not simply a “feel good” show, but rather a “feel everything” comedy – joins Lifetime’s Sunday night line up featuring Army Wives, the #1 rated and most watched original drama on cable among women 18-49. Guest stars throughout the first season of Drop Dead Diva include Rosie O’Donnell, Tim Gunn, Sharon Lawrence, Kathy Najimy, Jorja Fox, Teri Polo, Elliott Gould, Chuck Woolery and Diedrich Bader. Says Margaret, about Drop Dead Diva: “This show, I absolutely love. It’s really funny, but it’s also touching. It has a lot of heart, and I think the acting is really incredible. I think people are going to fall in love with Brooke and the character Jane and realize that beauty comes in all sizes. When you look at women in movies and TV, it’s an unrealistic view of what women really look like. With the show, we are promoting a real woman who is beautiful with real curves, has a real attitude and is fabulous.” Look for Margaret to hit the morning show and late-night TV circuit as a panel guest on the following shows, The View Thursday, July 9, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Monday, July 20 and Chelsea Lately on E! Tuesday, July 21. Complete ticket info for Margaret Cho’s fall tour can be found at MargaretCho.com.
For press inquires on Margaret Cho please contact: Ken Phillips Publicity Group, Inc. (323) 845-9997 or kpgroup@yahoo.com as well as http://kenphillipsgroup.com/Phillips/cho.htm for hi-res images,etc. Unleash your inner diva! LIFETIME
TELEVISION SETS JULY 12 PREMIERE FOR
STARRING EXCITING NEWCOMER BROOKE ELLIOTT Stylish
13-Episode Series from Sony Pictures Television is Created by Ensemble
Cast Includes MARGARET CHO, JACKSON HURST, Season
Guest Stars Include ROSIE O’DONNELL, TIM GUNN, LOS ANGELES, CA (June 8, 2009) – Sometimes life throws you “curves,” so, on Sunday, July 12 at 9PM ET/PT get ready for Lifetime Television’s premiere of Drop Dead Diva. The one-hour, comedic drama tells the story of a shallow model-in-training who dies in a sudden accident only to find her soul resurfacing in the body of a brilliant, plus-size and recently deceased attorney. Television newcomer and stage actress Brooke Elliott (Wicked, Taboo) stars alongside Margaret Cho (Notorious C.H.O.), Jackson Hurst (The Tree of Life), Kate Levering (Cashmere Mafia), April Bowlby (Two and a Half Men), Josh Stamberg (Lie to Me), Brooke D’Orsay (How I Met Your Mother) and Ben Feldman (The Perfect Man). The 13-episode series – not simply a “feel good” show, but rather a “feel everything” comedy – joins Lifetime’s Sunday night line up featuring Army Wives, the #1 rated and most watched original drama on cable among women 18-49. ABOUT DROP DEAD DIVA Guest stars throughout the first season of Drop Dead Diva include Rosie O’Donnell, Tim Gunn, Sharon Lawrence, Kathy Najimy, Jorja Fox, Teri Polo, Elliott Gould, Chuck Woolery and Diedrich Bader. Drop Dead Diva showcases Lifetime’s long-standing commitment to raising awareness about issues that matter most to women. In partnership with women’s non-profit organizations, including Step Up Women’s Network and The National Association of Women Lawyers, Lifetime will guide a public discussion about stereotypes, work/life balance and being healthy at every size. In collaboration with self-esteem and body image expert and author Jess Weiner, viewers will be driven each week to mylifetime.com for “toolkits” that will lead positive, entertaining and informative discussions about the issues that each episode raises. Drop Dead Diva is
produced by Sony Pictures Television for Lifetime Television. Josh Berman
(Bones, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) is creator and executive
producer. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Academy Award-winning Chicago,
Hairspray, Lifetime’s Living Proof) of Storyline
Entertainment are executive producers. Alex Taub (Eli Stone)
is executive producer and show runner and David Petrarca (Brothers
and Sisters) is a director and executive producer. Thania St. John
(Eureka) is a consulting producer as are the team of Jeanette
Collins and Mimi Friedman (Big Love).
LIFETIME PICKS UP "DROP DEAD DIVA" DRAMA STARRING ELLIOT AND CHO, PREMIERES JULY 12
Lifetime Television has picked up the new comedic drama "Drop Dead Diva," which stars The Pirate Queen's Brooke Elliott and stage and screen star Margaret Cho. Josh Berman ("Bones," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation") is the creator and executive producer of the new series, which, press notes state, "tells the story of a shallow model-in-training who dies in a sudden accident only to find her soul resurfacing in the body of a brilliant, thoughtful and plus-size attorney." Craig Zadan and Neil Meron of Storyline Entertainment are the executive producers of the series. Zadan and Meron are the famed producing team behind the Oscar-winning film of Chicago, the acclaimed movie of Hairspray and the recent TV film "A Raisin in the Sun."
Produced by Sony Pictures Television, the new series will premiere in summer 2009 on Lifetime Television. JoAnn Alfano, executive vice president of Lifetime Networks, said in a statement, "I couldn't be more excited about 'Drop Dead Diva.' It's the type of show that truly enhances the Lifetime brand – the duality of emotionally compelling drama with an equal balance of humor." Margaret Cho is well known for her stand-up work in I'm the One That I Want, which also enjoyed a wildly successful run Off-
Broadway, on national tour and was subsequently filmed and adapted into a best-selling book. Her other one-woman shows include Notorious C.H.O., which would lead the comedienne to Carnegie Hall; Revolution; and the politically charged State of Emergency and Assassin. Cho was also seen by television audiences in her sitcom "All-American Girl." Brooke Elliott has been seen on Broadway in The Pirate Queen and Taboo as well as in the national tour of Wicked.
Margaret directs Jill Sobule's new video for "San Francisco" (click here)
Margaret Cho is an innovator and pioneer on many levels and has been performing stand-up since the age of 16, when she snuck into a comedy club above her parents’ bookstore in San Francisco. Soon after, she won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. After hitting the college circuit, she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. She performed over 300 concerts within two years and subsequently won the American Comedy Award for Female Comedian in 1994. In 1999, her groundbreaking one-woman show, I'm The One That I Want, was a hit Off-Broadway and toured nationally to critical acclaim, eventually becoming a best-selling book and a self-produced feature film of the same name. In 2001, she launched Notorious C.H.O., a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. The live show was also released as a feature film, lauded by The New York Times as “Brilliant.” Revolution marked her third sold-out national tour and the CD of the show was nominated for a Grammy® for Best Comedy Album of the Year in 2003. The year 2004 saw the launch of her politically charged State of Emergency, hailed by The New York Times as “Murderously funny.” That show ultimately gave rise to Assassin, perhaps her most political and topical work to date. Assassin toured the US, Canada and Australia, aired on Here! TV in late 2005, and is currently available on CD (Nettwerk Records) and DVD (Koch Entertainment). Cho’s first narrative feature Bam Bam and Celeste premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in late 2005, and has also played at the AFI Fest, Frameline, Fusion and the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival and is available on DVD. In the Summer of 2007, Margaret hit the road with 80’s legends Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry & Erasure along with indie faves The Dresden Dolls and The Cliks to host the True Colors tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. In the Fall of 2007, Margaret took her new burlesque-style variety show The Sensuous Woman Off-Broadway, where it enjoyed two extensions and played for a successful eight-week run. The Sensuous Woman starred Margaret performing burlesque, rap, sketch and stand-up, with a supporting cast of the country's
most renowned burlesque performers, and emerging standup and sketch comedians. Margaret has proven herself an established writer and blogger; her second book, a collection of essays on all subjects political and pop, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight was published by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group (2005). Her many television credits include her groundbreaking ABC sitcom All-American Girl and a recent recurring role on Fox’s ‘Til Death. She has been honored by the ACLU of Southern California, GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, PFLAG and the National Organization for Women for “making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity.” Reviews of "Beautiful"
Cho laid
her dirty comedy on thick at the Orpheum Saturday night, and the near-capacity
crowd ate it up. Cho was larger than life on the video screen above
her - all the better to see her masterful facial expressions. She can
contort her eyes, her mouth, even her nose into the funniest positions,
whether she's imitating her mother imitating Julia Child or "...her
latest tour, Beautiful, which on April 4 saw Cho return to the more
honest and personal material that marked her earlier years....Cho seems
to have re-embraced the best of what made her big in the first place." "Of
course, it wasn't her beauty or lessons of being beautiful that captured
the audience's attention of a nearly sold-out theater. It was her comical
anecdotes on political issues such as Iraq, sex scandals, prostitution
and immigration that induced the entire laugh-filled evening." "In
a way, Beautiful is a return to I'm the One That I Want, the hit 1999
tour that marked her comeback from the failure of her sitcom, All-American
Girl.....She made me uncomfortable, but she also got my attention. That's
why Margaret Cho is so necessary. The sharpest
Margaret Cho was born December 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. "It was different than any other place on Earth," she says. "I grew up and went to grammar school on Haight Street during the '70s. There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the '60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot - that's the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time." Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean. "Books like 1001 Jokes for Public Speakers - real corny stuff," Margaret says. "I guess we're in the same line of work. But we don't understand each other that way. I don't know why the things he says are funny and the same for him." Margaret started performing stand-up at age 16 in a comedy club called The Rose & Thistle above a bookstore her parents ran. Soon after, she won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and lived in a house with several other young performers.
I moved out because I wasn't the most famous. If the Manson Family had come, I wouldn't have been Sharon Tate; I would have been one of the supporting victims, and who wants that? Janeane Garofalo moved into my old room. Anyway, 'Cho' written in blood on the wall doesn't look as cool as 'Garofalo.' Still in her early twenties, Cho hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity. In 1994, she starred in a short-lived ABC sitcom called All-American Girl. Says Margaret: There were just so many people involved in that show, and so much importance put on the fact that it was an ethnic show. It's hard to pin down what "ethnic" is without appearing to be racist. And then, for fear of being too "ethnic," it got so watered down for television that by the end, it was completely lacking in the essence of what I am and what I do. I learned a lot, though. It was a good experience as far as finding myself, knowing who I was and what direction I wanted to take with my comedy.
In 1999, Margaret chronicled her experience on the sitcom in an off Broadway one-woman show called I'm The One That I Want. The show was extremely well received, toured the U.S, and was made into a concert film and a best-selling book of the same name. The film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke the record for the most money grossed per print in movie history. After the success of her first show, Margaret launched Notorious C.H.O. in 2001, a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O. was also recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as "Brilliant!" Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks in 2004 and are currently airing on their channels. Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution, in 2003. The tour ultimately grossed 4.4M and was heralded as "Her strongest show yet!" by the Chicago Sun Times. The concert film premiered on the Sundance Channel in 2004 and was released on DVD later that year. The CD of Revolution was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album of the year for 2003.
In 2004, Margaret took her politically charged State of Emergency tour through the swing states of the Presidential election. Lauded as "Murderously funny!" by the New York Times, State of Emergency eventually evolved into her fourth national show, Assassin. Her most political and topical work to date, Assassin toured the US, Canada and Australia and was filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. The concert film premiered in select theatres and on the gay and lesbian premium channel Here! TV in late 2005 and is now available on DVD.
This year Margaret is returning to her stand-up roots with a brand new tour, Beautiful, debuting in Australia at The Sydney Theater on February 27, 2008. This will mark the first time that Margaret has premiered a new show abroad. Margaret quips, "I love Australia! The audiences are so smart and rowdy, it's really exciting. I love that they just voted out Bush's boyfriend, John Howard. How thrilling!" Immediately following the Australian dates, Margaret will launch a national U.S. run of Beautiful, beginning on March 6 in Hawaii and running through June. Ticket and show info is available at MargaretCho.com. In describing what Beautiful means to her, Margaret explains:
Margaret was the recipient of the first ever Best Comedy Performance award at the 2007 Asian Excellence Awards. She also recently received the First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California, and the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW). She has also been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and PFLAG for "making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity." I didn't mean to be
a role model. I just speak my truth. I guess speaking from your heart
really creates a huge impact, and if I can encourage people to do
that, then I would love to be a role model. If I could encourage people
to use their voices loudly, then that's my reward. I don't care about
winning an academy award; I don't care about mainstream acceptance,
because it's never going to be what I want it to be. I just want to
do my work and love it.
For more information, please contact Ken Phillips at The Ken Phillips Group (323.845.9997) or via e-mail (kpgroup@yahoo.com) or log on to Margaret Cho's official web site at www.margaretcho.com.
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