October 24, 2002 witnessed a revolution underway, a revolution of creativity, expression, and drive. On this evening, Second Generation performed its Second Annual Concert of Excellence to a sold-out audience in its Carnegie Hall debut. The event was comprised of musical and theatrical performances from various Broadway musicals and Second Generation's own musical, Making Tracks, as well as an awards presentation. It was a celebration of Asian and Asian American achievement in the arts.

Founded in 1997 by Taiwanese-American actor-singer Welly Yang and fellow Asian American Broadway performers, Second Generation, or 2G, an Asian-American non-profit theatre group based in New York, has been a pushing force to open another world for Asian Americans - that of the performing arts. The mission of this theatre group is to share and to present Asian American stories to the world's stage, to create a place for art that transcends cultural, racial, and generational lines. This event conceived last year is meant to showcase the talents of Asian American Broadway performers and to present awards, the Remy X.O. Excellence Award, to individuals who have done what 2G's mission is - to cross boundaries and barriers of race, culture, and generation through the arts.

Held at the prestigious Carnegie Hall, 2G worked hard to coordinate this event that included a chorus of children singers selected from nearby public schools. There were phenomenal performances and previews of upcoming 2G productions and collaborations. 2G has commissioned to stage the musical version of Ang Lee's acclaimed The Wedding Banquet and, after touring throughout Asia, 2G will bring the song and dance of The Wedding Banquet to New York. This year's recipients included the actor Jason Scott Lee (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Lilo & Stitch), acclaimed award-winning directors Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding) and Zhang Yimou (Hero), and playwright David Henry Hwang (M.Butterfly, Flower Drum Song).

The overly simplified archetype of Asians and Asian Americans being mathematically inclined academics who pursue careers in medicine and engineering is being broken here. The performing arts is a very difficult world to break into and the obstacles all continue to increase particularly as an Asian American actor or actress. From battling stigmas and stereotypes of what an Asian American is to the new roles an Asian American actor/actress are given, ground is slowly being broken. 2G is helping pave the way by performing original works by up and coming Asian American writers and also producing their own projects. Aside from the musical adaptation of Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet, 2G has worked with the producers of The Donkey Show to create a modernized take on William Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors," in Karaoke of Errors.

Ultimately, 2G is helping to break down stereotypes of what an Asian and Asian American should and can do. The Concert of Excellence reflected their stunning performing abilities and talents, which are all too often ignored or overlooked. The time has now come to let the Asian and Asian American voice and stories be heard.

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