MOCA PERFORMS – Echoes of Arrival: Becoming

Immigration is never a single arrival but an ongoing process of becoming. Beyond legal status and paperwork, immigrants navigate displacement, alienation, adaptation, and the long, sometimes complicated journey toward belonging. What did you have to learn to survive and build a life in the United States? What did you choose to carry with you from the culture you came from? What was lost in translation? And what new part of yourself emerged along the way? Echoes of Arrival returns to the Museum of Chinese in America for a new iteration, Becoming. Through a collection of personal stories, the ensemble explores the many ways immigrants remake themselves while making a life in a new country. These stories of change, resilience, loss, discovery, and belonging illuminate how immigration does not simply transform individuals. It continues to shape the rich and ever-evolving cultural fabric of the United States. CREATIVE TEAM Conceived by Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li Devised & Performed by Shan Y. Chuang, Nikkiesha N. McLeod, Timmy Ong, Pascal Phoa, Jeremy Rafal, Nedelka Sotelo, Fang Tseng PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Friday 10/2 Shan Y. Chuang, Nikkiesha N. McLeod, Pascal Phoa, Jeremy Rafal, Fang Tseng Thursday 10/8 Shan Y. Chuang, Timmy Ong, Pascal Phoa, Jeremy Rafal, Fang Tseng Friday 10/16 Shan Y. Chuang, Timmy Ong, Pascal Phoa, Jeremy Rafal, Nedelka Sotelo Thursday 10/22 Shan Y. Chuang, Nikkiesha N. McLeod, Timmy Ong, Nedelka Sotelo, Fang Tseng Friday 11/6 Nikkiesha N. McLeod, Timmy Ong, Jeremy Rafal, Nedelka Sotelo, Fang Tseng ABOUT ARTISTS SHAN Y. CHUANG Shan Y. Chuang is a Taiwanese queer multidisciplinary performing artist, actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, and immersive theater artist based in New York City. For over a decade, she has performed, collaborated, and created across the city’s vibrant arts community. In June 2026, she premiered her dance work Quiet Acts of Becoming at the Museum of Chinese in America, inspired by the stories of pioneering Chinese American lesbian women. Her work explores LGBTQIA+ identity, social justice, and self-discovery through theater, movement, and dance. She has performed at Prelude Festival ’23, PhysFestNYC ’25, and MOCA, and is a member of the New York Chinese Cultural Center. IG: @shanychuang | shanychuang.com DENNIS YUEH-YEH LI Dennis Yueh-Yeh Li is a director/playwright. His works explore sexuality, power structure and diaspora experiences, culminating often in devised, immersive and participatory theatre. Dennis excels at adapting modern classics, connecting them with timely sociopolitical issues. His directorial portfolio spans across plays, musical theatre, and opera. His playwriting focuses on queer and diasporic lived experiences, and has received support from organizations including Queens Council for the Arts. Master’s in Performance Studies, NYU. Dennis is an alumnus of Drama League's New York Directing Fellowship, Target Margin Theater's Institute Fellowship, and a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Dennis worked with The Living Theatre and is Al Límite Collective’s founding member. Currently, Dennis is the Director of Performance, Storytelling & Community at the Museum of Chinese in America. www.dennisyuehyehli.com NIKKIESHA N. MCLEOD Nikkiesha Nicole McLeod is a queer, non-binary/trans Trinidadian singer-songwriter, drummer/percussionist and writer. They began playing the steel pan at the age of twelve when they convinced their parents to let them join the neighborhood steel­band orchestra, Panasonic Connection. Their debut EP, Quarrel, was released in 2018 that FRESH ON THE NET described as “unique to the ears and is a complete triumph”. In the summer of 2025, they released the steelpan driven singles “Fever to Touch”, and “Rush”. The single “Rush” was song of the day on the prominent radio station KUTX FM 98.9. “Rush” was described as “a brilliant microdose of McLeod’s affinity for flair and flourish”. Nikkiesha “Nikkie” played the drum kit for many bands in New York City, the most notable are Telenovela Star and Kenyon Phillips & The Ladies In Waiting. Nikkiesha's work has appeared in the literary journal [sic], and on the online literary and artistic expression of queer and trans* people of color forum Black Girl Dangerous, and the LGBTQ mental health anthology Headcase published by Oxford University Press. Nikkiesha also hosts and co-produces the podcast "When We See Each Other" which focuses on BIPOC queer/trans/non-binary musicians/singer-songwriters/artists. Nikkiesha’s website:https://nikkieshamcleod.com. IG: @nikkieshamcleodmusic TIMMY ONG Timmy Ong is a Malaysian theater artist based in NYC. As a performer, Timmy has originated leading roles on both Malaysian and US stages. Selected credits: Libao Gong in “Late Blooming” (world premiere), Lamont in "Mr. Holland's Opus: A New Musical" (world premiere), and Procopio in "The Sacrifice of Cassamba Becker" (nominated Best Performance In A Play in the BroadwayWorld Off-Broadway Awards). As a theatermaker, he has created commissioned site-specific and multidisciplinary work with/for Riuh, A.R.T./NY, the Museum of Chinese in America, and the New York Chinese Cultural Center. One-half of The Green-Eyed Monster Project. 2024-25 Performance Project Fellow at University Settlement. MFA: The New School. IG: timmy_ong PASCAL PHOA Pascal Phoa is a New York based actor from Indonesia who loves performing in contemporary and classical plays. He is super thankful for the opportunity to be working with MOCA again to tell AAPI stories. He has acted in numerous theatre festivals in New York including the Chain Theatre Festivals, and is currently an acting member of Dot in the Box Theatre Company, under Circle in the Square Theatre. @pascalphoa. JEREMY RAFAL Jeremy Rafal is a New York–based Filipino American actor, musician, and writer. A classically trained pianist and international prizewinner, he holds a doctorate from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. His film and television credits include FBI, Raising Kanan, The Hunting Party, Law & Order, and Bikini Moon. Stage credits include Galas (Little Island), Heart Strings (Atlantic Theater), Maple and Vine (Constellation Stage & Screen), The King & I (Interlakes Theatre), and Machinal (The Mechanicals). Jeremy is the creator and performer of the internationally acclaimed solo play The Boy from Bantay, which earned him the Asian Arts Award for Outstanding Male Performer at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He is currently a resident creator/performer in Theaterlab New York’s Gallery Series, where he is developing his new solo show, Schubert Was a Rice Queen. A Queens Arts Fund recipient, he is also developing Lingering Voices: A Theatrical Fugue for Six Actors and will present his opera Standing Above Pájaro, created with playwright Conrad A. Panganiban, this November. His other plays include Where Voices Linger, Funhouse Funk, and Waiting. His short film Exit 15 won Best Short Film and Best Screenplay at the Southeast Asian Film Festival. Jeremy is thrilled to return to MOCA for the latest iteration of Echoes of Arrival. IG@thatonepinoyguy NEDELKA SOTELO Nedelka Sotelo is a Mexican transdisciplinary artist and cultural practitioner working at the intersection of performance, creative economy, community engagement, and cultural management. Born and raised in Mexico City and based in New York City, she is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) and has worked as a performer, teaching artist, and singer-songwriter. Her work has expanded into arts administration and community programming through initiatives including Culture Pass NYC, Queens Rising, and Casa de las Américas at LaGuardia Community College. In 2026, she received the CUNY Lead Loudly: Voice, Vision, and Valor Staff Leadership Award for her commitment to leadership and community engagement through arts and culture. Whether onstage or behind the scenes, Nedelka’s work is rooted in storytelling, cultural representation, and creating spaces where people feel seen, heard, and celebrated. She is deeply grateful to Dennis and the Museum of Chinese in America for the opportunity to share her story as part of Echoes of Arrival. FANG TSENG Born in Burma and raised in Taiwan, Fang is a trilingual performer, director, and teaching artist based in New York. She is a member of the Taiwanese performance group ISLANDERS and a resident dancer at the New York Chinese Cultural Center. Her work spans musicals, plays, clowning, dance, music videos, and voiceovers in both Taiwan and the US. Selected credits include Mulan the Musical (Singapore tour), Starry Memory (Taiwan national tour), War+Lovers (Theater Row), Bliss Street (Theatre for the New City), Islanders3 (Gibney Theater), The Unfolding Voyage (Abrons Arts Center), Siguete Moviendo (Jorge Alberto’s music video), and Echoes of Arrival (MOCA). IG: @fang_nytw