A Los Angeles Theatre Review: ‘नेहा & Neel’

October 19, 2025October 19, 2025 Edward Hong

For better or worse, one of the oldest tropes in Asian American identity stories is often the generational & cultural divide between the immigrant parents and their American-born children. Ankita Raturi’s नेहा & Neel, now having its world premiere at Latino Theater Company in collaboration with Artists At Play, manages to breathe new life into this trope while also being downright hilarious in such an inexplicable mad genius kind of way, thanks to one of the actors playing over a dozen(!?!) characters.

Movies, Television, Theatre

Spotlight on Spectacular SWANASA Stars, Part 3

December 18, 2023December 18, 2023 Edward Hong

We are now on the third part of our ongoing spotlight series on some rather amazing SWANASA (South West Asia, North Africa, and South Asia) actors that you should know, whether they are well known or not. What they have in common is that not only are they are all terrific artists but wonderful human beings that have come to my attention recently in their art and advocacy. Here are the eight that you should know:

Animation, Interview, Television

‘Mira, Royal Detective’ and Celebrating Diversity and Community in the Time of Social Distancing

March 20, 2020March 20, 2020 Jason Sperber

This was supposed to be a different kind of article.

Two weeks ago, The Nerds of Color youth correspondents and their parental units were invited to attend the premiere screening party for Disney Jr.’s landmark new animated series, Mira Royal Detective (premiering on Disney Jr. today in the United States and India) and interview the cast of voice actors from the South Asian diaspora on the red (or rather blue) carpet at Disney’s Burbank studios. It was a celebration of diversity and community, of difference and commonality, full of music and laughter, of children of all colors and artists and craftspeople from all parts of Hollywood joining together to marvel that this milestone of representation was finally on-screen.

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