StoryBoards NorthWest to Present Lost Underground Podcast Series Beginning July 31, 2025

Redmond, WA – StoryBoards North West is pleased to present an eight-part podcast series titled Lost Underground, the stories of artists, known as the pre-Misty Poets, who created underground salons during China’s Cultural Revolution in the 1960s/1970’s.  Their search for freedom via these salons was both dangerous and passionate. The podcast can be found on Podbean and Spotify beginning July 30 with an interview between Creator and North West artist Cheryll Leo-Gwin and Podcast Director Gavin Reub providing context to the series.

In the 1960s, at great risk to their lives, a group of teenagers in China defied the authoritarian regime by reading and writing forbidden texts, painting and exhibiting avant-garde works of art, and exploring western music. Held in secret, these early underground salons laid the groundwork for a movement called “The Misty Poets.” Their stories from China’s Cultural Revolution have been buried by fear and fading memory. We present these stories to preserve a history that should never be forgotten and reflects the struggles continuing in America and around the globe.

The accounts from the Misty Poets are as told to Cheryll Leo-Gwin and recounted by actors for the podcast. Names and some identifiers have been changed to protect the identities of those still living in China. A context setting interview between Cheryll Leo-Gwin and Director Gavin Reub can be found on this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gLvPB3vVtoeAj1M2r5F-435vQDMeKfy9/view. The actors in the series include Shin Yu Pai, Kathy Hsieh, Pearl Mei Lam, Morgan Tso, Eloisa Cardona, Owen Yen, and Van Pham.

Alternating with Lost Underground is a series titled Narratives, interviews with Asian American women and their untold stories from similar 1960’s/1970’s time frame.

Alternating bi-weekly with Lost Underground will be a series titled Narratives, interviews with Asian American women sharing their stories from the 1960’s/1970’s time period. This series juxtaposes women’s lives on both sides of the Pacific. These are women’s stories which otherwise might be forgotten. The two podcasts will be offered bi-weekly.

People involved in bringing the podcasts to life are:

Cheryll Leo-Gwin, Creator - A well-known North West artist, Cheryll Leo-Gwin currently uses images from her past decades of sculpture, painting, and photographic images which she isolates, recombines, then translates into large digital prints. Her work reflects a sensitivity to public consciousness, social justice and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Gavin Reub, Director - Gavin Reub is a multidisciplinary director, producer, and dramaturg. He is the Artistic Director of The Seagull Project, and has directed at ACT Theatre, Hugo House, Lewis and Clark College, and the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent Uzbekistan.

Hummie Mann, Composer - Two-time Emmy-award winning Canadian composer/arranger Hummie Mann has collaborated with some of Hollywood's most celebrated directors in both theatrical and television films.

Mimi Gan, Narrator - Mimi Gan is a multiple Emmy-award winning journalist and principal of Mi2 Media who specializes in social impact documentaries.  

StoryBoards North West is a Washington State 501(C)(3) whose mission is to “Preserve and Promote Oral Histories through the Arts.” Information can be found on the website www.storyboardsnorthwest.org.

The podcasts are made possible by grants from 4Culture and ArtWA as well as sponsorship from Jack Straw Cultural Center, Chinese American Citizens Alliance and Strom Jewish Community Center.