Elizabeth Liang (aka Lisa) designs transformational workshops that draw on her 20+ years of experience as an actress, writer, producer, and keynote speaker. Her one-woman show, Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey, toured internationally for seven years and was made into a film, while her essays on developing the show and producing Chekhov's Three Sisters have been published and reprinted. Lisa has led workshops on creating a solo show, memoir, keynote, or personal essay at colleges, universities, and conferences in the US; she has also led private sessions in L.A. and online with participants all over the world. A seasoned performer, Lisa is an in-demand keynote and closing presentation speaker for conferences and corporate events. She has additionally co-hosted Hapa Happy Hour, the longest running podcast on the mixed race and TCK experiences. Click here to read her interview for VoyageLA.
CV - Click here for résumé
LONG BIO
Elizabeth (Lisa) was raised in Central America, North Africa, the Middle East, and Connecticut as a Guatemalan-American business brat of Chinese-Spanish-Irish-French-German-English descent.
Education & Training
She graduated from Wesleyan University, where she got her B.A. in English Literature with a minor in Film Studies. Elizabeth transferred to Wesleyan from Wellesley College, where she had won the Isabelle Eastman Fisk Performance Prize for acting. After graduating, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York City during the summer before she moved to Los Angeles.
In L.A. she studied acting with Jonathan Banks, Marilyn Fox & Gar Campbell at Pacific Resident Theatre, and Cinda Jackson at The Lost Studio. She also studied Shakespeare with Louis Fantasia, and improv with ComedySportz and Gary Austin, co-founder of The Groundlings.
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Stage
On stage Elizabeth has acted at the Bootleg Theater, Critical Mass Performance Group, East West Players, Theatre of NOTE, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Quantum Theatre Company, 2100 Sq Ft, and Pacific Resident Theatre, among others.
On stage Elizabeth has acted at the Bootleg Theater, Critical Mass Performance Group, East West Players, Theatre of NOTE, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Quantum Theatre Company, 2100 Sq Ft, and Pacific Resident Theatre, among others.
She also served as Co-President of the Artistic & Management Committee at NOTE. Elizabeth has won Stage Scene LA, Garland, and LA Weekly Awards. Her stage performances were twice named among the "5 Best of the Year by Leading Actresses" by Review Plays and one was also included in the "Top 10 of the Year" by Dave Barton of the OC Weekly.
Screen
Elizabeth has acted in both English- and Spanish-language features and short films that have been screened all over the globe. Some of her television credits include "NCIS," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Bob ❤️ Abishola," and a recurring role on "The West Wing."
Alien Citizen
Her one-woman show, Alien Citizen: An Earth Odyssey, toured in 14 states and four continents. It is now a film on DVD and streamable.
Writing & Podcast
Elizabeth is also a published author. Her essay about the process of writing her solo show, “Checked Baggage: Writing Unpacked,” was published in the anthology Writing Out of Limbo: International Childhoods, Global Nomads and Third Culture Kids. For three years she had the column "TCK Talent" in The Displaced Nation, in which she interviewed adult Third Culture Kids (ATCKs) who work in creative fields.
Elizabeth was the co-host of Hapa Happy Hour, the longest running podcast to explore and celebrate the mixed-heritage experience. This subject was highlighted in her production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters, in which all of the siblings were played as Hapa (multiracial of partially Asian and/or Pacific Islander descent) by hapa actors. She wrote an essay about the experience, “Transforming Three Sisters,” which was published in a special issue of the scholarly journal Asian American Literature: Discourses & Pedagogies.
Workshop
Elizabeth leads a workshop on writing one's solo show, memoir, keynote, or personal essay. She also wrote a blog about solo show creation for six years. She has a special affinity for cross-cultural stories and continues to search for ways to give voice to the experiences of global nomads and multiracial/multi-ethnic people like herself.
Contact: email Lisa or subscribe below and receive her free eBook.