‘Weeds’ and wine and he does just fine

TIM DANG is the producing artistic director of East West Players, the country’s oldest and leading Asian American theater company, based at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo. He shared his roadmap to the culture with Lynne Heffley.

TiVo PICKS

I enjoy shows such as “Weeds” for its cutting-edge humor, “Entourage” for the self-reflective cynicism of Hollywood life and “Desperate Housewives” for its strategic mind games portrayed in suburbia. The dark, satirical side of humanity is what is so interesting.

ON THE iPOD

Although it makes me feel old, I am listening to hip-hop artists like Jay-Z and Flii Stylz. East West Players is developing a new musical-theater piece involving spoken word, hip-hop, anime and DJ styles. The music helps me in my research.

FOR THE COMMUTE “Dreamgirls.” It has brought mainstream attention back to the stage, primarily to musical theater.

IN THE NETFLIX QUEUE

Many of the DVDs I have been watching are anime shows, including episodes of “Cowboy Bebop,” “Samurai Champloo” and the hip-hop documentary “Rize.” Although entertaining, this is also mainly research for our developing project.

BEDSTAND READING

Weekly reading materials include the [L.A. Times’] Calendar and [N.Y. Times’] Living Arts sections to keep up with current trends. And plays, plays, plays....

INTERNET FAVORITES

I look for where I am going to go on my next vacation: Hawaii, Mexico, Asia or Europe for traveling. I am turning the big 5-0 soon (the new 30), so I am going for the gusto -- the Beijing Olympics is a high possibility.

CULTURAL ADDICTION

As a red-wine drinker, finding a great-tasting wine at the most inexpensive price is my addiction. Finding a $10 bottle of wine that tastes like 40 bucks is like finding an antique at a garage sale.

GUILTY PLEASURE

Did I mention wine? Being a red-wine enthusiast, I collect wine direct from the vineyards. The wine is delivered to the East West Players office, and staff members are always curious to see what is in these boxes that come in almost weekly and have to be signed by someone who is 21 or older.

SECRET WEAPON FOR

NAVIGATING THE CULTURE

My staff. They keep me young -- and hip.