News

A True Asian Hottie

03/07/10 — Eileen battled typecasting when she performed the short solo piece A True Asian Hottie, written by Jo Shui, for Pan Asian Rep's NEWWORKS 2010 series. "'A True Asian Hottie' is one hot lady...and a whole lot more. Ya don't know someone until ya really know someone."

Rosa Loses Her Face

12/14/09 —

Eileen performed in the world premiere comedy Rosa Loses Her Face at the Electric Theatre Co. in Scranton, PA in November 2009, and at Queens Theatre in the Park in NYC in December 2009. She played Amy, the still-single and free-spirited adult daughter of Rosa, her successful first-generation-American Chinese mother. Their attempts at reconnecting and understanding each other are met with frustrating and comical results.

Gypsy of the Year 2009

12/08/09 —

Eileen and her Jaradoa Theater mates were proud to perform, in collaboration with the casts of Avenue Q and In the Heights, the title number from "Shafrika, The White Girl" at the Palace Theater at the Gypsy of the Year annual fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS on December 7th and 8th. Over $4 million dollars was raised this year!

The Lookout

10/05/09 —

Eileen played Esther, the Chinese nail-salon owner with a secret, in Emily Chadich Weiss' short musical play The Lookout in the latest brunch series of the Ensemble Studio Theatre Youngblood Playwrights Group this Sunday, October 4th, which for the first time was a collaboration with The 52nd Street Project.

Shafrika, The White Girl

07/01/09 —

In June 2009, Eileen performed in Jaradoa's third production, Anika Larsen's sassy autobiographical musical, Shafrika, The White Girl, at the Vineyard Theater. The play is the true story of Anika's upbringing as one of ten children, six adopted and of different races. Eileen played both Anika's sister Kari, and difficult grandmother Patricia.

Dahlia

04/12/09 —

The Algonquin Theater Proudly Presents a Reading of:

Dahlia: A Very Nearly True Theatrical Fantasia by P. Seth Bauer

Directed by Hal Brooks

Starring Dawn McGee, Jillian Owens, Michael Pemberton, Eileen Rivera, Ching Valdes-Aran & Anni Bruno

with Joshua Spafford as himself
and James Urbaniak as Dr. George Hodel, Man Ray and John Huston.

April 21st at 6:30pm at the Algonquin Theater (123 e 24th Str., NY, NY)

call 718.596.4121 to reserve.

Click here for the Facebook invite.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies

10/17/08 — From Playbill.com:

The La Jolla Playhouse, by special arrangement with East of Doheny, will offer by-invitation-only workshop presentations of Please Don't Eat the Daisies Oct. 20 and 21 in Manhattan.

Based upon the Jean Kerr book and the MGM film, the new musical features book and lyrics by Robert Lee and music by Leon Ko. John Bowab directs.

The readings at the Hilton Theatre Rehearsal Studios will feature the talents of Brigid Brady, Trevor Braun, Bernard Dotson, Melissa Dye, Gregg Edelman, Steven Eng, Eric Michael Gillett, Beth Fowler, Rosena M. Hill, Dalton Harrod, Eddie Korbich, Chelsea Krombach, Stacey Logan, Benjamin Magnuson, Joy Lynn Matthews, Neil McCaffery, Geoff Packard, Eileen Rivera, Matthew Schechter, Lea Thompson and Andre Ward.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies, according to press notes, "brings to life Jean Kerr's smart, powerful alter-ego, Helen Mackay. Helen is anything but the typical 1960s housewife and mother of four boys. When Helen pens a best-selling play about her family, she becomes the toast of New York. Marital complications arise as her fame begins to eclipse that of her husband Charles, the newly anointed lead theatre critic for the Times."

The creative team also includes musical director Larry Yurman, associate musical director Paul Staroba, choreographer Denis Jones and associate director Diana Baffa-Brill. Jenny Slattery is stage manager, Jim Athens is production stage manager, and Thomas Recktenwald is assistant stage manager.

The Hilton Theatre Rehearsal Studios are located in Manhattan at 214 West 43rd Street.

Beast

10/12/08 — Ms. Rivera helped kick off the 2008-2009 season at New York Theatre Workshop by performing in Michael Weller's new play Beast, with acclaimed director Jo Bonney at the helm. The stellar cast comprised of Raul Aranas, Jeremy Bobb, Dan Butler, Lisa Joyce, Logan Marshall-Green, Eileen Rivera, and Corey Stoll.

A blood-red, comic road adventure that follows two Iraqi War veterans, best friends - badly mutilated but more patriotic than ever, as they try to find their way back home from a military hospital in Germany. Instead, their marauding journey across America ends up in Crawford, Texas with their Commander In Chief, where they propose a surefire solution to all his problems.

The Small of Her Back

06/01/08 — Eileen is thrilled to have starred in Russell Leigh Sharman's first knockout play, The Small of Her Back, in May 2008.

The two-person psychological thriller starring Ms. Rivera and Jeremy O'Grady introduced audiences to two acutely depressed individuals who are indirectly linked in cyberspace. When one of them physically confronts the other face to face, tension and suspense ensues, keeping audiences guessing until the very end. The production was the second successful production by Jaradoa Theater.

Early press releases:
Playbill.com
Broadway World

Rapid Response Team

05/01/08 —

Eileen rookie season with The Rapid Response Team had been a rousing success! RRT performs fresh theater based on last week's news. The live extravaganza of songs, sketches and short plays is performed in front of an audience as a radio play and podcasted for your future listening pleasure. Check out The Rapid Response Team website for bios, archival footage, and a streaming podcasts of previous shows.

2007 highlights

01/01/07 — SERENADE
In December, Jaradoa Theater premiered its debut mainstage production, Serenade, written by company member Nils Olaf Dolven and Rachel Sheinkin, Tony winner for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Ms. Rivera received glowing reviews for her comic role as Hannah's Aunt in this heartwarming musical. Read them here:

Broadway World
Theater Mania
New York Times
Variety
EDGE Boston
Talkin' Broadway
Lighting & Sound America

SOLO WORK

In November, Eileen premiered an autobiographical monologue at the People's Improv Theater, along with other solo writer/performers.

JARADOA THEATER

In February 2007, Eileen became a founding member of Jaradoa (Just A Roomful of Artists Doing Outreach And) Theater, which focuses as much on community service as it does performance. In April, Jaradoa Radio Theater debuted its program for the elderly. Broadway's My Beat is a 1951 radio play performed at various senior centers in the tri-state area monthly. Next up is a playwriting development program with Bronx Connect, a juvenile rehabilitation center.

In November, Jaradoa hosted its first annual Jaradoa Bounce fundraiser at Libation in the Lower East Side.

LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT

Eileen played Nurse Monroe on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, in an episode entitled Seeds, which first aired in October on the USA Network. Repeat airings on USA and NBC will be listed on the episode's IMDb page. Check for updates.

Meanwhile, the episode Privilege from Season 6 guest-starring Doris Roberts continues to air in reruns on NBC and on the USA Network, and can also be purchased on iTunes for $1.99. Check out part of Eileen's appearance as Helena Arcenas in Privilege on the NBC Criminal Intent website.

365 DAYS/365 PLAYS

Ms. Rivera performed Week 37 of Suzan-Lori Parks' 365 Days/365 Plays in July with the Temporary Theatre Company, culminating in a special performance at the Public Theater, which spearheaded 365NYC.

This national and global theatrical event took place over an entire year, from November 2006 and ended in November 2007.

PAN ASIAN REP

In June, Eileen performed in a special workshop presentation of Carry the Tiger to the Mountain for the First National Asian American Theater Festival, hosted by Pan Asian Rep, NAATCO, and Ma-Yi Theater in New York City.

Eileen performed at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre's 30th anniversary gala award dinner on March 5th at the Copacabana. The song, "Jerry's Farewell," is from a production of an original musical, Shanghai Lil's, in which Ms. Rivera performed both off-Broadway and in its West Coast premiere in San Francisco, in 1998 and 1999.

2006 highlights

01/01/07 — AUTHOR, AUTHOR

Eileen wrote her first fiction novel, Parallel's Patriarch, thanks to the National Novel Writing Month internet challenge. Participants attempt to write a 50,000-word novel from scratch beginning at midnight, November 1st, ending at midnight, November 30th. Read the 12/2/06 New York Times article on NaNoWriMo.

Eileen performed in a reading of short plays, which included her first play, I Look Like My Picture, in
Sex and No Sex: A Reading Festival in Two Parts on November 18th, at the Ensemble Studio Theater.

LIVE CORPORATE EVENTS

DeValk Associates, Inc. hired Ms. Rivera to participate in interactive theatre events designed to promote diversity awareness in the workplace. She has performed in venues in Richmond, VA, Atlanta, GA and Brainerd, MN, and in October performed in Southbury, CT.

BrainReserve and PepsiCo sent Eileen around the country throughout the year to perform in a theatrical presentation for corporate clients called Crashing the Culture. Playwright Alexander Dinelaris (Zanna, Don't!) wrote and directed the piece. Eileen played Anita, an entrepreneurial mother of three. Cities performed: Dallas, TX, Purchase, NY, Steamboat Springs, CO, Miami, FL, Chicago, IL, Bentonville, AR, Las Vegas, NV and San Diego, CA.

2005 highlights

01/01/06 — SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL

Ms. Rivera was the female standby in the off-Broadway smash comedy, Sides: The Fear is Real, at The Culture Project with Mr. Miyagi's Theatre Company in the fall of 2005. SIDES is about six hopeful actors' quests for employment as the audience follows them through their audition nightmares. The show is based on true-life experiences of the cast/creators and their friends, and all the sides (audition script pages) are real. Eileen performed the show on October 17th and 19th to enthusiastic audiences. Broadway/film star Anthony Rapp made a guest cameo appearance in two shows on September 30th. Read and watch the NY1 On Stage report on SIDES. Read the New York Times article featuring SIDES.

THE LONG SEASON

Eileen spent the spring of 2005 in Juneau, Alaska at Perseverance Theatre, performing in the world premiere of the new musical The Long Season by acclaimed playwright Chay Yew and composer Fabian Obispo. Peter DuBois, currently the artistic director at the Hungtington Theater in Boston, directed the production at his old stomping grounds in Juneau where he was the artistic director for six years. The production co-starred Paolo Montalban (Disney's Cinderella) and tells the story of Depression-era Filipinos emigrating to Alaska for work and a better life. Ms. Rivera portrayed the sweet, heartbroken Flora.

American Theater Magazine wrote a feature article about Perseverance, The Long Season and the Filipino-Alaskan experience. Read the entire July/August 2005 article, entitled "Alaska is in the Heart."

National Public Radio's Lynn Neary flew to Juneau to report on Perseverance and The Long Season, and the result aired on "All Things Considered" on March 24, 2005, the day before opening night. Listen to the story and rehearsal snippets here on the NPR site.

2004 and earlier highlights

01/01/05 — DOGEATERS

Dogeaters is published by Theatre Communications Group and Eileen is thrilled to live immortal in its pages. The Public Theatre produced Jessica Hagedorn's play based on her best-selling novel about the Philippines during the Marcos era, and Ms. Rivera originated the very different roles of Trini and Pucha in this acclaimed New York production. Michael Greif (Next to Normal, Grey Gardens) won an OBIE for his direction. Read the New York Times review here. Buy the play from the Drama Book Shop.

KARAOKE STORIES

Karaoke Stories, by Euijoon Kim, is published by Playscripts, Inc. Eileen originated the role of the bitter karaoke-bar waitress Nancy in Imua! Theatre Company's production of this outrageous comedy of errors about two slackers who want to write a movie with an all-Asian cast, just because they can. Alan Muraoka (Sesame Street) directed the piece, which co-starred some of New York's most sought-after Asian-American actors. Buy the play on the Playscripts, Inc. website.

GO ROBOT GO

Ms. Rivera made her New York International Fringe Festival debut in August 2004 in the multimedia comedy Go Robot Go, by Julie Shavers, about a young woman trapped in a job and a life that she hates. Eileen played her hilarious cubicle-mate from hell, Luci. Read the FringeNYC 2004 review of the show on NYtheatre.com.