Star Trek: Picard Star Isa Briones to Appear in #Hash(tag) America

Isa Briones as Dahj in Star Trek: Picard

If you simply can’t wait until January to meet the newcomer lead of Star Trek: Picard, Isa Briones, then get yourself down to Los Angeles on November 18th, where she’ll be performing in a new stage production.

In Star Trek: Picard, Briones plays the mysterious Dahj. From the footage we’ve seen so far, it’s Dahj’s appearance at Château Picard, and her begging for Picard’s help, that launches the main plotline of the show. Briones is a relative newcomer, and one of the younger members of the cast of Picard, at just 20 years old. But she comes from a family of performers: Briones is the daughter of actors Jon Jon and Megan Johnson Briones, and her brother Teo is a performer as well.

As for the new production, entitled #Hash(tag) America, a piece from Billboard describes it this way: “What began as a song written the day after the 2016 national election has expanded into a concept album and a stage musical.” The performance in November is billed as “a concert production of the theatrical project”.

Co-creator Anthony Fedorov (yes, of American Idol fame) says his goal for the L.A. presentation is to "bring people of all backgrounds and beliefs together to hear these urgent messages and stories in the hopes of finding a common ground.” Oh, and it’s to help promote the production, too. Fedorov continued, “We're also using the opportunity to invite theatrical, film and TV producers and investors to help fulfill our goals.”

As for Briones, she said of her role, “I was so inspired by Anthony's vision for the piece. [...] I just want to be a part of this kind of important work and be surrounded by other passionate artists.” Briones also called out her Filipino heritage as a motivator for her work. “My first performance since Star Trek was Crazy Talented Asians,” she said. “Other Asian Americans came up to me to talk about how much it meant to them that I, a Filipino-American actress, was representing in Picard. That truly touched me so much and reminded me just how important shows like Crazy Talented Asians and #Hash(tag) America are to push for the representation of all races and walks of life in the arts."

Once again, #Hash(tag) America will be presented on November 18th, at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, and tickets are available at catalinajazzclub.com.