NEW YORK – A first Filipino-American theater festival in New York aims to put Pinoys on center stage in and off Broadway.

Pearl Project producer and critically acclaimed actor Victor Lirio said there’s a lack of opportunities for Filipino playwrights and actors in American theater.

“I think it is important for Filipino artists to be seen on stage not just in the realm of Filipino community but to be seen by mainstream audience in New York City,” Lirio said.

The Pearl Project premiered 4 original plays written by Filipinos at the Theater Row in Times Square last week.

Filipino-American stage performer Ali Ewoldt was last seen playing “Cossette” alongside Lea Salonga’s “Fantine” in Les Miserable. Ewoldt also starred in “Quarter Century Baby”, a story of interracial and intergenerational love.

Ewoldt said, as a Fil-Am herself, she could definitely relate to her character.

“We all deal with breaking free of our parents but still keeping that tie to them and I definitely have had that struggle with my own parents. I think it’s completely universal that way and I also think the text is so great, Christine Reyes has written such a wonderful play that it’s so easy to jump right into her world,” said Ewoldt.

“I write what I know, so these experiences that I have as Filipino American definitely form the stories that I write,” added playwright, Christine Reyes.

The 4 plays in the festival were written by Filipinos, including multiple Palanca Award-winning playwright, Eric Gamalinda.

“I think the Pearl Project is trying to tell the mainstream out there that hey there’s a bunch of Filipino artists here, there’s a lot of talent going on here,” said Gamalinda.

The Pearl Project Theater Festival is ongoing at the Theater Row’s Clurman Theater in Times Square until July 25. Balitang America