Forget sending in an audition tape to get on a prime-time sit-com. Paola Presta just wrote to Oprah. Oprah chose the 28-year-old actor as part of her “wildest dreams” promotion. His wish, to be a TV star. He was whisked off to L.A. and paid to do a small speaking role on the set of “Will & Grace,” according to Presta’s agent Lily Liu of Lily’s Talent.

Paolo can’t talk about his experience until the show airs, which will be the week of Nov. 29. What a great Thanksgiving he’ll have.

The Saving Face Theatre Council of Chicago has a somewhat ironic name. The moniker for the newly formed collaborative of not-for-profit theatre and performance companies presenting Asian-American experiences is inspired by a commonly held idea in many Eastern cultures that you don’t want to be caught doing something bad. Yet when the members of Saving Face’s companies take to the stage they want to be seen—it’s part of the reason the council was formed in the first place.

The council was formed six months ago to bring greater visibility to the companies in Chicago presenting Asian stories, said Malik Gillani, executive director of Silk Road Theatre Project, and one of the motivating forces behind Saving Face. “We thought it was probably better for us to work as a group to expose Chicagoans and critics to a story that’s not often told.”

Once Silk Road’s management team came up with the idea, Gillani said, “We started discovering that there were all these organizations that we’d never heard of before, some that had been around for 20 years.”

Silk Road, dueEast Theatre, Mango Tribe, Pintig Cultural Group, Rasaka Theatre Company, Stir-Friday Night! and Tea Company each joined the council. Many were tired of fighting an uphill battle to introduce new audiences to non-Western stories, Gillani said. “I think that many of them felt, I don’t want to say lost, but they weren’t able to attract attention. They weren’t able to get through the cloud that’s created by so many theatre companies in Chicago.”

Saving Face’s membership encompasses cultural and ethnic experiences from the Middle East, India, Asia and even Asiatic Russia. It’s hoped that Saving Face’s upcoming first annual festival of staged readings and performances will be a good way to introduce audiences to the work all of the council members do.

By crossbreeding audiences Saving Face aims to get members of the various Asian-American communities here in Chicago to be more supportive of the arts at large. As it stands now, they often want to see themselves presented on stage, but appear to have little interest in a show drawn from another group on the Asian continent. “That’s a challenge for all the Saving Face constituencies,” Gillani said.

The festival features Saving Face’s seven member companies in performance in the Studio Theatre in the Chicago Cultural Center. Festival events, including an Asian identity workshop for teens, spoken word and music performances, begin Sat. Dec. 4 at 11:30 and again on Sun. Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. Admission is free. For more information call 312/744-6630 or visit www.chicagoculturalcenter.org.

Rudy Hogenmiller was already on board at Light Opera Works, directing the upcoming production of HMS Pinafore. But now he’s also signed on to captain the company’s ship as artistic director.

“It wasn’t something I pursued, they pursued me,” he said. When he thought about it, it made sense. He’s been dancing his whole life but recognizes those days will be over soon. “It was time to think of something else,” he said.

He officially begins work in the position left vacant by Lara Teeter in February 2005. He expects one challenge will be season planning. “I think there’s got to be some reason to do something other than it’s just an old operetta,” Hogenmiller said.

Although unfamiliar with performing the administrative and fundraising responsibilities of the position, Hogenmiller said he’s confident of the support he’ll get from Light Opera Works’ other staffers. Everyone has an arts background and so “it’s very collaborative.”

Hogenmiller first worked with LOW as choreographer for Man of La Mancha. He’s also worked as a director, choreographer or actor around Chicago at Northlight, Pegasus Players, Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Evergreen Park and Theatre at the Center.

Hogenmiller will direct The Merry Widow and The Sound of Music for LOW’s 2005 season. Michael Ehrman will helm Carnival, while the director for Darling of the Day is yet to be announced. Teeter, who joined Light Opera Works in September 1999, moved to Winchester, Virginia to become the Charles T. Lipitin Endowed Chair at the Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University.

In other people news, Victory Gardens Theater has promoted Andrea J. Dymond to Literary Manager/Resident Director. For the past two years, Dymond has worked at the theatre under the auspices of a two-year-fellowship funded by New York-based Theatre Communications Group.

In the past Dymond has directed mainstage shows such as Charles Smith’s Free Man of Color and Pearl Cleage’s Bourbon at the Border. Next up for her at the theatre is the world premiere of Gloria Bond Clunie’s civil rights drama Shoes, which opens in January. Dymond has worked at Victory Gardens since 2000.

Victory Gardens is one of the theatre companies that have donated to The Great Chicago Fire Sale. A walk-on role in the Goodman’s A Christmas Carol or tickets to a gala opening with Steppenwolf’s John Malkovich on stage and Gary Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band as party entertainment are also up for bid. The first charitable eBay auction organized by a municipality, this two-week event benefits the Chicago Cultural Center, Gallery 37, cultural grants and the Clarke House Museum. All auction items are on preview at www.thegreatchicagofiresale.org. The auction runs Dec. 2 – Dec. 16. To donate call Eileen McElligott at 312/742-2151 for more information.

And, finally, an aside involving playwrights in the publishing world: How’s this for a spin-off? Playwright Eve Ensler has paired with photographer Joyce Tenneson to put together a book called “Vagina Warriors.” Don’t worry, the book features portraits of women—such as Glenn Close, Salma Hayek, Gloria Steinem—and not their coochie snorchers.

Are you eager to see your name in bold print? Looking to share your latest industry news? E-mail Jenn at [JQGODDU@SBCGLOBAL.NET] if you have announcements for Behind the Curtain.

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