Dear Yoko at Whitefire Theatre

Her Asian mother and her white father divorce acrimoniously while she's still a little girl. When the court awards her father sole custody of her younger sister, her mother Keiko flees with her two daughters to Tokyo, where she enrolls them in a Christian school. Anzu is beautiful, which Keiko recognizes. She enters Anzu in beauty contests, and Anzu lands a modeling contract at age 14. Anzu misses America and, as her teen years progress, she enters a world of wild parties and meets rock stars visiting Tokyo. She has some musical abilities and is encouraged to sing by Jon Anderson of the supergroup Yes. She records a #1 song on the Tokyo pop charts and becomes a big J-Pop teen star. Keiko attempts to keep her in Japan and reveals a shocking family secret (which won't be revealed here; You'll have to see the ahow). Fleeing to America, Anzu discovers her fame in Japan does not follow her here. She pursues acting and lands a leading role opposite Viggo Mortensen in the film American Yakuza. But this is a time when there are not many roles for Asian-American actresses, let alone leading roles. She sustains herself with a succession of jobs: waitress gigs, then a job as personal assistant to martial arts film star Steven Seagal. She exits after he attempts to take liberties with her. She becomes a masseuse to the stars, literally rubbing the shoulders of Hollywood's biggest and brightest. She sings vocal tracks for the film scores of composer Hans Zimmer. Upon appearing in a television episode with Brad Garrett, he encourages her to try her hand at stand-up comedy. She continues to study acting, and her instructor, taking note of her exotic good looks, suggests that she portray Yoko Ono. Ono becomes a source of inspiration for Anzu. Ono is a multidisciplinary Asian artist who lived for years in New York. Once one of the most hated women in the world, Ono persevered to become an internationally acclaimed artist and humanitarian. Dear Yoko is the story of Anzu's growth as a woman and an artist, in an odyssey that spans two continents and how she found in Yoko Ono an example of an extraordinary Asian woman of accomplishment who lives her life authentically.