Reading of ‘Masao and the Bronze Nightingale’

A reading of “Masao and the Bronze Nightingale,” a new original work by Dan Kwong and Ruben Funkahuatl Guevara, will be presented on Sunday, March 31, from 2 to 5 p.m. at casa 0101, 2202 E. First St. in Boyle Heights.

Dan Kwong and Ruben Funkahuatl Guevara

Supported by the Eastside Arts Initiative, this play attempts to unearth the little-known history and cross-cultural pollination that was taking place in the diverse communities of Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights post-World War II.

Spring 1946. Japanese Americans are returning from the wartime camps to Boyle Heights and Little Tokyo. Renamed “Bronzeville” during the war, Little Tokyo is now populated by thousands of African Americans who came for jobs. Bronzeville became a home to a rich jazz culture with over a dozen nightclubs, where musicians like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis jammed and people from all over Los Angeles intermingled.

In this community in flux, a cross-culural love emerges between a Japanese American zoot-suiter musician and a talented African American jazz singer.

The audience will be asked for feedback after the reading.

RSVP for this free event by calling (323) 263-7684 or emailing tickets@casa0101.org.