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Speaking at the Chinese New Year Spring Reception organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (HKETONY), Mr Leung said that international airlines opened new direct flights to Seattle, Dallas/Fort Worth and Newark, adding that Cathay Pacific Airways will launch its inaugural direct flight from Hong Kong to Boston in May.

Hong Kong imported US$40 billion worth of U.S. goods last year (2014), and improved access for US agricultural products and made the city the most open market for US beef in Asia. Meanwhile, Hong Kong and the US concluded agreements to combat tax evasion.

Noting that The Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal have recently ranked Hong Kong as the freest economy in the world for 21 consecutive years, Mr. Leung said Hong Kong would continue to capitalise its position as China’s global financial center. “We’ll leverage our ‘superconnector’ role between the Mainland of China and the rest of the world.”

He told the American guests that Hong Kong was working to promote new growth sectors of arbitration, intellectual property trading, creative industries, as well as innovation and technology. “We are upgrading the quality of our workforce as we are facing an aging population and are making it easier for talented people and entrepreneurs from around the globe to come, stay, live, work and establish a business there,” he added.

Also speaking at the occasion, Director of HKETONY, Mr Steve Barclay said aside from promoting closer economic, investment and trade ties, his office aims also to foster cultural ties between Hong Kong and the 31 eastern states.

He highlighted the first collaboration with the Yale-China Association to bring two promising Hong Kong artists to Yale University on a fellowship program. Parry Ling , a relational artist, and Hao Yang, a choreographer/dancer, are currently on a six-month residency at Yale.

Mr Barclay said the Office would organise a week-long “Spotlight Hong Kong” exhibition at Time Warner Center from February 25. The exhibition will focus on Hong Kong’s vibrant mix of East-meets-West cultures – from cultural heritage, creative and film industries to performing arts.

One of the exhibits will be a series of Hong Kong Street Markets which were painted by US nationally recognized illustrationist Michael Sloan during his residency in Hong Kong in 2012-14.

The exhibition will also help promote the US debut of the Hong Kong Dance Company’s performance, “The Legend of Mulan”, at Lincoln Center from March 5 to 8.

To reach out to the US young generation, Mr Barclay said his office has launched a new Facebook – Hong Kong Meets America. It carries all sorts of trendy, useful and interesting information about the city.
To promote Hong Kong music talents, the reception featured performances by the Cornelia String Quartet, led by violinist CheHo Lam; and singer songwriter Mara Measor, both Hong Kong-born and raised.
The reception ended with a grand lucky draw, with the winner receiving a pair of Newark-Hong Kong round trip premium economy tickets sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airways.

About 370 guests, mainly comprising key members of the business, government, academic and media sectors, attended the reception in New York.

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Previews begin Off-Broadway January 15, Opens January 19

“The Clearing shows all the characteristics of a Jake Jeppson play: complex human beings with a desire and inability to connect, and from his eloquent heart, the author’s own empathic urgency to connect to us all.” ~ Pulitzer Prize Winner Paula Vogel

Theatre at St. Clement’s will host the World Premiere of The Clearing, written by Jake Jeppson (Jerome Fellowship recipient) and directed by Josh Hecht (Drama Desk Award winner for Christine Jorgensen Reveals). The Clearing runs Off-Broadway from January 15 – February 9, 2014. Previews begin January 15 for a January 19 opening. Theatre at St. Clement’s is located at 423 West 46^th Street between 9^th and 10^th Avenues in New York City.

Performances are Tuesdays – Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm with a special opening night show on Sunday, January 19 at 7pm. Tickets are $49.50 and can be purchased online at www.TheClearingPlayNYC.com or by calling 1-866-811-4111. A limited amount of student rush tickets will be available at the box office before each performance. The running time is approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes with no intermission. The space is accessible from the 1,2,3,7,A,C,E,N,Q,R or S train to 42 Street. For more info visit www.TheClearingPlayNYC.com.

Jake Jeppson’s The Clearing is the story of two brothers bound together by a terrible secret they’ve guarded for 18 years. The Ellis’s are a typical American family. But the intense and all-consuming love they share for each other has kept them locked in their tight-knit world for almost two decades. When a handsome stranger inserts himself into their circle, mother and sons must decide whether they are willing to break the bonds that have forced them together for so long. The Clearing is an exploration of the difference between loving someone and living for them by an exciting new theatrical voice.

The cast includes Allison Daugherty (Sir Peter Hall’s An Ideal Husband on Broadway, Holiday on Broadway, As Bees in Honey Drown Off-Broadway), Gene Gallerano (Ivanov at Classic Stage Company, Sheila Callaghan’s Kate Crackernuts at The Flea), Brian McManamon (Bodega Bay at Abingdon, It or Her at P.S. 122, upcoming World Premiere of Rolin Jones and Billie Joe Armstrong’s These Paper Bullets at Yale Rep), and Brian P. Murphy (Stephen King’s A Good Marriage, upcoming film Back in the Day, two-time Golden Gloves boxing tournament competitor).

The creative team includes Daniel Zimmerman (Set Design), Gertjan Houben (Lighting Design), Tilly Grimes (Costume Design), Sam Kusnetz (Original Music & Sound Design) and Choreographic Movement by Lorin Latarro (Broadway’s Waiting For Godot). Emily Paige Ballou is the Production Stage Manager and Robert Levinstein (22Q Entertainment) is the General Manager.

Josh Hecht is a Drama Desk Award-winning director of new plays. His productions have been seen in New York at The Duke on 42^nd (Wearing Lorca’s Bowtie), New World Stages (Bradford Louryk’s Christine Jorgensen Reveals – Drama Desk Award, GLAAD Media nomination), Culture Project (Drew Larimore’s Out Of Iceland), MCC Theater (Bob Morris’s Assisted Loving), The Cherry Lane (Megan Mostyn-Brown’s (girl), 13P (Winter Miller’s The Penetration Play), the DR2 (Anna Ziegler’s BFF), PS 122 (Joseph Keckler’s JOBZ), Ars Nova (The Gay Agenda), Partial Comfort (Ross Maxwell’s Open House), Joe’s Pub, the Ontological and others. He’s directed regionally at the Humana Festival (Allison Moore’s Slasher), The Guthrie Theater (Megan Mostyn-Brown’s Lizards…), No Rules / Signature Theatre D.C. (Brian Sutow’s The Personal(s)) and The Berkshire Theatre Festival (Rachel Schroeder’s Heliantha). Christine Jorgensen Reveals also played internationally at the Dublin Arts Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Fringe First Award). He is a NYTW Usual Suspect.

Jake Jeppson’s plays include Fox Play, The Clearing, and Turtle. His work has been developed and seen at the Orchard Project, American Theater Company, Ars Nova, the University of Minnesota, Axial Theater, the New Riga Theater (Latvia), and the Playwrights Center, where he is a 2013-2014 Jerome Fellow. Jake graduated from the MFA Playwriting Program at the Yale School of Drama, where he studied under Paula Vogel and won the ASCAP Cole Porter Prize.

Lorin Latarro (Choreographic Movement) choreographed Broadway’s Waiting For Godot, Broadway’s American Idiot, Encore’s Fanny (City Center), Queen Of The Night (Diamond Horseshoe Theatre), Scandalous The Musical (Broadway), Cy Coleman’s The Best Is Yet To Come (Drama Desk Award), Sendak’s Hansel and Gretel for PBS (Live From Lincoln Center), among others.

The Clearing is produced by 22Q Entertainment and Jennifer Franz.

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