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The East West Players have extended their stage version of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club for two weeks. Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang, says that though the play is about a Chinese family, “the mother-daughter relationship is universal, striking a chord in all communities.”
The show will continue until December 21st, 2008 at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Downtown Los Angeles with special ticket prices for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Better yet, the EWP have also organized a series of forums to discuss the themes of The Joy Luck Club. Entitled “Beyond Presence: Her Stories Our Stores,” the Saturday forum series offers participants a chance to discuss the roles of Asian American women in relation to Tan’s best-selling book. Check their site for the forum dates, locations and special guests.
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I love “chick-lit,” also known as fiction written for and targeted to young, working women in their twenties and thirties. I must say, it’s about time chick-lit is written by and for Asian American women, and Christine Son’s Off the Menu does just that. Intertwining the lives of three best friends — Hercules Huang, Whitney Lee and Audrey Henley, Son paints a picture of three very distinguished lives, careers and passions, and the friendship that glues them together.
Hercules is a top chef with her own restaurant of fine-dining and line of cookware. Whitney is a corporate lawyer with an Ivy League education and a hidden passion for singing. Audrey is a schoolteacher and adopted daughter of Texas billionaires. Over good food and laughs, the three share their stories and struggles, and over a weekend vacation, discover what they want more in life.
Highlighting themes like cultural assimilation, adoption and generational misunderstandings, Off the Menu illustrates some of the complexities and realities of being Asian American. While Hercules, Whitney and Audrey challenge their parents’ expectations, struggle to climb the corporate ladder and fall in limbo and in love, you are bound to journey with these characters as they delve into the intersections of life — friendship, family, love and happiness.
Off the Menu is a book many can relate to — building courage, pursuing passion and finding oneself. So, what are your favorite chick-lit books?
(Visit Christine’s website and visit her blog! Thanks to TLC Book Tours for asking me to be a part of my very first Blog Tour!)
Follow the rest of Christine Son’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
15 Comments | Posted in: Reviews, The Arts
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Ever since my cousin in the Bay Area added this guy to her Facebook, I’ve been watching and paying attention. And if you happen to be close, wedding and portrait photographer Junshien has got to be worth every penny in my opinion.
So far, every single photograph that he’s posted on his blog is done in such a way that I just sigh and wish that it didn’t cost so much to fly a great photographer out to do a wedding. Or actually, any sort of photograph.
I guess you could say that I’ve fallen hard for his photographs. They all seem to speak the romance between two people, but with vibrant colors and amazing crispness and clarity. Each one tells a story about those that are in love. At least the wedding and engagement sessions do. The rest are the type of things you’d expect to see on the cover of Rolling Stones or some magazine where you just wish you had an inkling of the picture taking talent that he has.
In the end, it’s all about right time, and right place. And I think that if you went with this photographer, he seems to always have a knack for capturing that particular moment.
Did I mention the vibrant colors? No? See, I’m just in awe.
2 Comments | Posted in: Observations, The Arts
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The 12th Annual Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival kicks off this coming Wednesday, November 12th at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto’s Annex Village and runs till Sunday, November 16th. Billed as one of the best little film festival the city has to offer, 15 features and 60 shorts pack the 4 days with film, video, music and multimedia art.
To give you a brief snapshot and review of the festival, I’ve gone ahead and have done reviews (in 88 words or less) for some of the films. Part 2 is tomorrow along with a POP 88 exclusive interview with the festival’s Executive Director, Deanna Wong.
We currently have one invitation for two tickets to give away for the Opening Night Gala on Wednesday, November 12th at 6:30pm in Toronto. That gets you two tickets to see the Opening Night film The Drummer starring Jaycee Chan (Jackie Chan’s son) and also into the After Party at the Century Room after.
Want them? Email christine [at] popcast88.com with the answer to the following question: How old is the festival? Good luck, and after the jump, some film reviews in 88 words or less.
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For regular listeners, and those who subscribe over at POPcast88.com would already know this has been out for about a week. (Sorry for the delay in posting this here.)
In this episode, thanks to an overwhelming amount of response is the ballad special, plus a small taste of what to expect from this year’s Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival. Listen for your requests, plus Jewelry, Cheon Sang Ji Hee and some other surprises — so wave those hands in the air and sing like you’re a diva!
Again, if you would like to show your support for this podcast, I ask that you show your support by purchasing the music played in the show through the link on the site.
Feedback, comments, suggestions and requests, please leave a comment over at Popcast88.com or send an email to christine [at] popcast88.com.
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No Comments | Posted in: Movies, Music, POP 88, The Arts
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The 15th Annual Filipino American Cinefest, a film festival of Filipino American movies, is Friday, October 31 ( 1-5 pm) and Saturday, November 1, 2008 (3-6 pm) at the San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium. (100 Larkin Street @ Grove Street, Civic Center, San Francisco). A panel discussion and new works are included with the free admission. More details here. I am particularly excited that a work that my sister executive produced and that my niece is in is being shown. Below is a trailer. As I mentioned before, I don’t find Travis’s bad Tagalog that amusing, but I have to admit that I do find a “heart rendering” moment in the trailer rather moving!
No Comments | Posted in: Announcements, Entertainment, Movies, The Arts
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My friend Ariel has this knack for recommending books I end up enjoying immensely, so when she recommended Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese
First thing first: the book is targeted towards “young adults” — it won a Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, and it’s a very quick read for that reason; those of you that are expecting a version of “My Dinner with Andre” in comic book quotes will probably be more comfortable with something like Derek Kirk Kim’s Same Difference. (Which I also totally recommend, by the way.)
All of that said, it’s a very good graphic novel. American Born Chinese consists of three seemingly non-tangential stories: a tale about the Monkey King, a story involving a Chinese American teenager adjusting in an all-white school, and a faux-sitcom-with-laugh-track plot line involving a white guy and his stereotype Asian cousin named Chin-Kee. The three stories touch on topics that we’ve all been through growing up and still go through as adults: the desperate feeling of wanting to fit in somewhere, racism, both subtle and overt, one-way crushes that make you want to stab your face with an icepick. (And a out-of-the-blue one-panel reference to Western Christianity, but that’s kind of a spoiler of sorts. You’ll see what I mean when you read it.)
Because it’s a graphic novel, the plot lines of the three stories tie together neatly at the end, and because it won an award in Young Adult Literature, you can expect healthy doses of self-identity exploration, and the resonating theme that it’s okay to be yourself, whether monkey or Chinese American. That said, I wholly recommend the book for any adult who can appreciate a good story in comic book format, and I certainly recommend the book for Asian Americans, as this book certainly resonated with me.
You can buy the book at Amazon
7 Comments | Posted in: Entertainment, The Arts
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One of my favorite artists, Mari Inukai, is having another show–this time, she’ll be a part of their Blender show with Vincent Hui, Melissa Haslam, Ryuichi Ogino and Deth P Sun.
As the official press release states, the Blender show at Cerasoli: leBASSE gallery in Culver City, CA highlights The selection of artists in Gallery I reflects “the second wave of emerging Asian influenced painters. Hailing from Japan, China and Australia these artists are exploring the juxtaposition of cultures both in their daily lives and artwork.”
Hmm…this sounds really familiar. Like another show that Mari participated in earlier this year. 
I luuuuuuuurve Mari’s work: she has two different styles of expressing herself, which is either a cutesy, anime-ish assortment of creatures and backgrounds, or a more realistic take on her surroundings. Am I even making sense?
Mari wrote that she will featuring 5 paintings in the show, most (or all) which focus on her daughter, Sena and celebrating her coming-of-age, in homage to the Japanese tradition of seijinshiki.
While American teens love to celebrate their Sweet 16 with extravagant parties (thank you, MTV), young adults in Japan consider their 20th birthday to official mark their entry into adulthood. Their special birthday is celebrated with an official photograph, which led me to take a really embarrasing portrait where I looked like a picture bride (thanks, Mom.)
Mari says,
But for this year, I was trying to visualize,, her placement (psychologically, physically…beyond) which in between of child and adult. doors, walls, windows……whites yellows. blues, reds and blacks..water, fire, and fish..birds..monkeys….
so all paintings I created in this year are related to the idea…and I am still doing it.(>_<)
If you’re interested in checking it out, the opening reception is Saturday, October 11th from 7 to 10pm. The Cerasoli: leBasse gallery is located at 8530-b Washington Blvd. Culver City, CA 90232. Open bar, people! Woo-hoo!
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