Asian-American obstacles
"Compared to others, I have been truly lucky, and I feel very grateful for all the help people have given me." Many of his acting friends from high school were trying to eke out a living with jobs at small theaters. Other young people worked very hard and attended every tryout they could but ended up just spinning their wheels. It made him feel that the world of theater was a cruel and calculating place.
Although Yang had a sense of crisis, he didn't have any concrete plans about his own future. But what woke him up was a remark from his father: "Miss Saigon, Aladdin--how long can you play these kinds of roles?" Thenceforth, his father, who had originally opposed his choice of profession, started diligently to plan his career. It was also his suggestion that Welly found a theater company and try writing plays from his own experience.
It was about that time that Welly noticed that the mainland Chinese market was opening up, which in turn stirred up a craze for the Orient in the American entertainment industry. It was a development that excited Asian-American actors who had previously found it difficult to land jobs. But their hopes ended in disappointment. It turned out that the industry was willing to spend a lot of money to bring in actors from China, rather than use its own homegrown Asian-American talent.
"Initially everyone thought that the hard times were over and opportunity was knocking," Yang recalls. "We didn't expect to be kicked down into a deeper hole." At that point Yang resolved that it was time for them to make their own way.
With the encouragement of his family, Yang established the non-profit Second Generation Productions eight years ago. It quickly grew from a small outfit of only three persons to a company of more than 30 collaborating actors, dancers and workers, who were ready at any given moment to work on the company's behalf. Apart from bringing Asian-American performers to work together on the same productions and cultivating new playwrights, the company even more importantly put Asian-American stories on stage, so that Asian Americans would have a chance to sing and shout about their own experiences.
Don Quixote's dream
In 1998 Yang asked Korean Woody Pak, who has won numerous awards at international film festivals for his scores, and Brian Yorkey, who has written many works of musical theater, to create a major musical Making Tracks, with the idea of getting people to recognize the talents of Asian Americans and revamp the image of Asian Americans in American society. Making Tracks was a hit, receiving excellent reviews in the Chinese-American community and mainstream American media.
Because Yang had received much help to achieve his current success, once he had established his company, he actively sought to cultivate talent by having them learn from the best. For instance, he sought out Tony-winner David Henry Hwang and hot Broadway playwrights or composers. He hoped that the newcomers in his company, by learning from these leading lights, might one day be honored themselves on the world stage.
Yang received much affirmation for his hard work during this period, including a commendation from the National Arts Club and recognition from A. Magazine as one of the "hottest Asian-American entrepreneurs under 30." The CBS television network also awarded him their sixth "Fulfilling the Dream" Award.
Having played so many roles, Yang now most wants to play Don Quixote, because that character, through his tireless striving to fulfill his own dream, truly ends up changing others' lives. A prostitute that he insists is a princess ends up believing it herself at the last moment.
Yang believes that the challenges he now faces are a lot like the struggles his parents went through for the Taiwanese democracy movement. Although the fruits of democracy may not all be entirely sweet, democracy has truly changed the nature of life in Taiwan. Yang finds that extremely moving. And now his own Quixotic dream has in fact been realized--because he is in San Jose, California playing that role of his dreams.