Spotlight on Daniel K. Lai

We are happy to add Daniel K. Lai to our cast for this production of Lost and Found in the Mission at the Fringe (see panel on the right side of this page for performance details). In his own words: Daniel's last performance in S.F.'s One-Act Fringe was in Durable Theatre's Ritual Trio, a 6-7 minute one-act in the middle of Short & Sweet: 3 Plays. His last "real" thing was a docudrama called Aftermath of War: In Their Own Words, in which he played actual U.S. soldiers from Iraq using their real words. His last musical was at the end of May with fellow Lost & Founders Joan & Scott, Songs for a New World with Studio A.C.T. Yet a play with music (& music not in the background)? This is his first! Outside of theatre, Daniel shot a pilot with Danny Bonaduce for Spike TV this February. He is also a U.S. Citizenship tutor and teacher's aide at City College of San Francisco-Chinatown/North Beach Campus--kudos to Owen for the Mandarin lesson. Thanks to masterminds Susie & Row, Ben's flava, Joan's referral, cast's warmth & magic, Row's "blind" faith. Also, Mom, Dad, Patty, Ava, Nancy.

Daniel also tells us: I'm passionate about some things in life, but very much so for acting and education, and it gets even better when acting becomes a forum for education, because it challenges you to think in different ways, or see a perspective of someone who'd you normally ignore, judge, ostracize, etc. I like to act because it's a healing art and a real key to self-discovery, it's never the same thing twice, it's educational to others as well as ourselves (like playing a doctor and having to study all that scientific lingo for instance), it's getting to do or say what you normally can't in the "real world," it gets you in the gut where you're living life to the fullest, and it's good storytelling.