Mia Park is an American TV show host, actress, drummer, and yoga instructor based in Chicago. She is the long-time host of the children's dance show Chic-a-Go-Go , and co-founder [1] of Chicago's A-Squared Theatre Workshop.
Mia Park is an American TV show host, actress, drummer, and yoga instructor based in Chicago. She is the long-time host of the children's dance show Chic-a-Go-Go , and co-founder [1] of Chicago's A-Squared Theatre Workshop.
Mia Chan Mi Park was born in Philadelphia. [2] She attended Shimer College, graduating with distinction in 1995. [3] [4] Then located in Waukegan, Illinois and currently located in Chicago, Shimer is a Great Books college with a four-year core curriculum. [5]
Park is the host of the Chicago underground children's show Chic-a-Go-Go , "a dance show for kids of all ages". [6] Lonely Planet described the show as "a kiddie version of Soul Train." [7] Reviews of the show frequently focus on Park's "deliriously chipper" [8] style or "always-up rock-n-roll demeanor". [9] She has hosted Chic-A-Go-Go since 1998. [9] Her connection to Chic-a-Go-Go actually goes back to the very first show in 1996, when her then-boyfriend's band performed as the show's first musical guest, and she appeared as a dancer. [9] [10] Park, who typically moves rapidly from one project to another, has described the show as "the longest thing I've ever done in my life." [10]
As the host (or co-host, as the host is nominally hosted by the rat puppet Ratso), Park interviews the guest musical groups after their performances. In a 2012 Chicago Reader feature, she complained about having missed the opportunity to interview Duran Duran due to a scheduling mixup; [11] In August of the same year, however, Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran made good on their original promise. [12]
A drummer and percussionist, Park began performing in bands in 1995. Many of the bands in which she performs are all-female and/or all-Asian, including Kim (which she described as a "pop-rock, punk-out, all-female Asian band") [13] and Pook Nury (a Korean female drum group). [13] As of 2012, she was a percussionist for the all-female pop orchestra Girl Group Chicago. [12]
In 2001, she wrote of the challenges facing rock groups of this kind:
When I tell people that I am the drummer for an all-Asian American female rock band, I don't expect to be taken seriously. There aren't any other bands like Kim in Chicago, let along in america, so I don't expect the masses to comprehend that, YES, women rock, and that, YES, Asian American women also rock ... and we rock hard, dammit! [13]
Park organizes an annual event of one-night-only female cover bands performing to benefit the homeless, called "Covers for Cover." [14]
Park is a co-founder of Chicago's A-Squared Theatre Workshop, the city's only pan-Asian theater troupe. [4] She conceived of and appeared in the company's highly successful 2012 production My Asian Mom, a series of eight short one-person plays by Asian performers about their mothers. [15] Park's contribution, which dealt with her grandmother's escape from North Korea and also involved a lengthy handstand, attracted particular attention. [16]
Park is an advocate for Asian American representation in theatre. From the Chicago Sun-Times: "For decades, “Chicago Med” regular Mia Park has seen race used as an excuse for lazy or uninformed casting. On the one side, she constantly hears the refrain that Asian-American actors — whether their roots are in Hawaii or India or China or Pakistan — are hard to find. On the other edge, there’s the belief that they simply aren’t right for shows that don’t deal specifically with Asian storylines or characters. Park has a succinct response: “It’s all bulls—,” she said. “The talent base in Chicago alone is huge. And unless ethnicity or culture is specifically written into a character to help drive a story? There’s no reason you can’t cast someone who looks like me.” [17]
In 2006, Mia co-founded the Asian American theater company, A-Squared Theatre Workshop and ran the Chicago Asian American Acting Industry Group which hosted educational acting workshops and supported local Asian American talent. She currently runs the Our Perspective: Asian American Plays program. [18]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | The Lake House | Receptionist | |
| 2007 | The Minx | Linnea Chiang | |
| 2017 | Signature Move | Bookstore Customer |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Pancake Mountain | Miss Mia | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Boss | Clinic Volunteer | 4 episodes |
| 2012 | Shameless | Korean Liquor Store Wife | Episode: Just Like the Pilgrims Intended |
| 2013–16 | Chicago Fire | Nurse | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Chicago P.D. | Nurse Beth | Episode: She's Got Us |
| 2016–19 | Chicago Med | 28 episodes | |
| 2017 | APB | Korean Woman | Episode: Fueling Fires |
| 2018 | Empire | Nurse | Episode: Sweet Sorrow |
| 2019 | Code-Switched | Kevin's Mom |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | At Last, Okemah! | Record Store Owner | |
| 2011 | Instant Slapping | ||
| The Catastrophe | Mrs. Kimballton | ||
| 2013 | 4 Seconds: Ricky Hustile's Last Shot at the NBA | Yoga Instructor |
Park has worked as a yoga instructor since 2006. [19]
Duran Duran are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.
Branson is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. Most of the city is situated in Taney County, with a small portion in the west extending into Stone County. Branson is in the Ozark Mountains. The community was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s. The population was 12,638 at the 2020 census.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1978.
Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. is an American record producer, guitarist, composer, and philanthropist. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 500 million albums and 75 million singles worldwide.
Nigel John Taylor is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s due in part to their music videos which played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV. Taylor played with Duran Duran from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He recorded a dozen solo releases through his private record label B5 Records over the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in a half dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a reunion of the original five members in 2001 and has remained with the group since.
Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia". Ulvaeus and Andersson were involved in the development of the show from the beginning, while singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad was involved financially in the production and also appeared at many of the premieres around the world.
Duran Duran is the debut studio album by English rock band Duran Duran, released on 15 June 1981 through EMI. Produced by Colin Thurston, it was recorded in London and Oxfordshire between December 1980 and January 1981. The instrumental tracks were recorded quickly, but vocalist Simon Le Bon initially struggled to sing in the studio, leading to discussions about replacing him before EMI employee Dave Ambrose intervened.
Andrew James Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a member of Duran Duran across three stints and a former member of the Power Station. He has also recorded and performed as a solo artist, and served as a guitarist, songwriter, and record producer for the likes of Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, the Almighty, Thunder, Love and Money, Mark Shaw, Then Jerico, C. C. Catch, Paul Rodgers, Belinda Carlisle, and Gun.
Megan Mullally is an American actress, singer, and comedian. She is best known for playing Karen Walker in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which she received eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, winning twice, in 2000 and 2006. She also received nominations for numerous other accolades for her portrayal, including seven consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, winning three times, in 2001, 2002, and 2003, as well as receiving four Golden Globe Award nominations.
Beverle Lorence "Bebe" Buell is an American singer and model. She was Playboy magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. Buell moved to New York in 1972 after signing a modeling contract with Eileen Ford, and garnered notoriety after her publicized relationship with musician Todd Rundgren from 1972 until 1978, as well as her liaisons with several rock musicians during that time and over the following four decades. She is the mother of actress Liv Tyler, whose biological father is Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. Todd Rundgren is Liv's legally adoptive father.
The culture of San Francisco is major and diverse in terms of arts, music, cuisine, festivals, museums, and architecture but also is influenced heavily by Mexican culture due to its large Hispanic population, and its history as part of Spanish America and Mexico. San Francisco's diversity of cultures along with its eccentricities are so great that they have greatly influenced the country and the world at large over the years. In 2012, Bloomberg Businessweek voted San Francisco as America's Best City.
Bree Sharp is an American musician and actress. As of the 2010s, she is the lead vocalist of the electropop band Beautiful Small Machines.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion, also known as Pritzker Pavilion or Pritzker Music Pavilion, is a bandshell in Millennium Park in the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is located on the south side of Randolph Street and east of the Chicago Landmark Historic Michigan Boulevard District. The pavilion was named after Jay Pritzker, whose family is known for owning Hyatt Hotels. The building was designed by architect Frank Gehry, who accepted the design commission in April 1999; the pavilion was constructed between June 1999 and July 2004, opening officially on July 16, 2004.
Michelle L'amour is an American neo-burlesque performer who grew up in Orland Park, Illinois. In 2006, she performed stripteases on NBC's America's Got Talent, Showtime's Sexual Healing, and in small touring performances. Her tagline is "The Ass That Goes POW!" and she sells related promotional products.
Chic, currently called Nile Rodgers & Chic, is an American disco band that was formed in 1972 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It recorded many commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " (1977), "Everybody Dance" (1977), "Le Freak" (1978), "I Want Your Love" (1978), "Good Times" (1979), and "My Forbidden Lover" (1979). The group regarded themselves as a rock band for the disco movement "that made good on hippie peace, love and freedom". In 2017, Chic was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the eleventh time.
Louise Pitre is a Canadian actress in musical theatre. She performs on Broadway and in Canada. She is best known for her role as Donna Sheridan in the ABBA-themed musical Mamma Mia!, which earned her a 2002 Tony Award nomination.
Chic-a-Go-Go is a public-access television cable television children's dance show that airs on Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV). The show bills itself as "Chicago's Dance Show for Kids of All Ages".
On 23 July 1983 Duran Duran staged an open air benefit concert at Villa Park, Birmingham, England in front of 18,000 people who paid £8.50 a ticket to raise money for MENCAP. It was one of only two concerts that summer by the band, the other being on 20 July before the Prince and Princess of Wales at London's Dominion Theatre.
The We Will Rock You: 10th Anniversary Tour is world tour started in February 2013, by the We Will Rock You Musical celebrating the musical's tenth anniversary. Although the tour will technically take place between the musical's eleventh and twelfth anniversaries. The tour will play to audiences around the world while the record-breaking run at London's Dominion Theatre will continue.
Tim Chiou is an American actor who has played a number of television and film roles. He most notably played the reoccurring role of the venture capitalist Ed Chen on Season 4 of HBO's Silicon Valley.