The Working APA Actor is a bi-monthly interview of Asian Pacific Islander American actors in the entertainment world, whether it be theater, film, television, or commercials. It is an inside look at these actors exploring their passion in their craft and how they balance their personal lives with their work. But more importantly, this column is dedicated to knowing these busy actors a little better as individuals.
It’s been a minute since the last interview but we’re back! For this week’s edition of The Working APA Actor, we have an incredible lady, Jennifer Jajeh, who just moved to Los Angeles a few months ago from the Bay area. I was referred to this actor and performing artist by a friend of mine who told me that she was performing her solo performing show I Heart Hamas And Other Things I’m Afraid To Tell You. Say what now?? She loves what?? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? I had to find out who this woman was.
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UPDATE: Congrats to mwei for winning the giveaway!
If you’re in Los Angeles, check out Comedy Zen, a showcase of the funniest and finest multicultural comedians working today! We’ve blogged about a lot of these guys before, so if you want to see more than clips from YouTube, come see them perform live!
- Come see why Steven Ho was the most booked guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. He is a professional stuntman at the A-List level working with stars like Tobey Maguire, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo Dicaprio.
- Joe Wong hails from Boston and was a scientist researching answers for the mysteries of the field. Then he discovered stand up and has never looked back. Joe is the “All American Immigrant.” Even though some Asians might find him to be a novelty act for the white man, we give him full support as an artist mastering a difficult craft, which is the art of laugh inducing. Joe has taken command of this and his appearance on Letterman or the Presidential dinner invitation is proof of this.
- Jay Phillips was one of VARIETY Magazine’s 10 COMICS TO WATCH and his recent film credits include the #1 weekend opener SEMI-PRO opposite Will Ferrell, PROM NIGHT with Brittnay Snow, and BABY MAMMA opposite Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. His stand-up credits include Def Comedy Jam, The Late Show, and Lafapalooza. You can see him at http://jayphillipslive.net/.
Hosted by Hasan Minhaj, comedian, actor, writer and a friend of 8Asians, portions of all shows will be going to the American Lung Association. There will be one show on Friday, December 3, 2010 (at 8:30pm) and will be held at the Downtown Independent Theater (251 S. Main Street, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90012).
Ok, ok, so you just want to know how you can win some free tickets to a funny show? Read on!
Continue Reading »
Shopping With GASP!
While I classify myself as a lover of all things techno and classic rock, I’m a huge fan of hip hop but only when it comes to the artists who treat their work seriously. In the realm of Asian American hip hop, there’s a large number of artists out there that I show tremendous respect for, from the likes of Snacky Chan, Blue Scholars, Kero One, Denizen Kane, Magnetic North, Notorious MSG, and so many more.
There’s a new hip hop artist on the rise and his name is Mondega. Continue Reading »
If I hadn’t been hosting the Q&A for the L.A. theatrical opening of The People I’ve Slept With on Friday night, then I definitely would have been at Kollaboration Acoustic 4.
Luckily, there’s YouTube and fan-uploaded videos of the show, for those of us who couldn’t make it! Dawen, who has performed with Macy Gray and covered songs by Maxwell, won the night’s competition (and a cool $1,000) with an original song called “Shoes.” Congrats to Dawen and to all the performers!
Thanks to HypnoticAsia for the video!
UPDATE: The winner is Ally!
There is no shortage of things to do in L.A. this Friday night: Kollaboration is the largest Asian Pacific American (APA) talent showcase in North America that has been active for 11 years and has grown into a massive grassroots movement within diverse APA communities. Kollaboration is bringing its Acoustic 4 show back at the Ford Amphitheatre for this annual talent competition.
Date: Friday, August 27, 2010
Time: 8:30PM (Doors Open 6:30PM)
Venue: Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd, East, Hollywood, CA 90068
Purchase Tickets Online: $15 General Admission, $25 VIP Admission (preferred seating)
Headliner: Marié Digby
Competitors:
Alex & Jackie (Alex Hwang & Jackie Kim), Justis Kao, Esna Yoon, FlowEthics, Sorah Yang & Brian Fang, Peony (Judy Lee), Hippie Hippie Hoorah, Lily Bee (Lilian Bui), Johnny Le & Iris Leonardo, Misscarolinexoxo, Dawen
Special Performances by: ChannelPKTown
Guest Judges: Marié Digby, Big Phony, Travis Wong, Shinae Yoon
So do you think you’re lucky enough to win these tickets?!
What you could win from 8Asians:
A free pair of tickets for Kollaboration Acoustic 4 on August 27, 2010!How do you enter?
All you have to do is to leave a comment saying why you want to go and ONE lucky winner will be selected to go!What’s the deadline?
ASAP!Rules for entering:
1) Please be serious about using the tickets– unused free tix suck!
2) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.Prize courtesy of: GW, a supporter of Kollaboration and a friend of 8Asians.
We’ve been unabashed fans of the sex-comedy The People I’ve Slept With even before Koji joined our ranks, so it’s with great pleasure that we share the news that the film will be opening in Los Angeles this weekend (starting Friday, August 27th) at the Laemmle Sunset 5. (And if you’re not in L.A., Bay Area folks, it’s coming to you next!)
Yours truly, on behalf of 8Asians.com, will be hosting a special Q&A with the filmmakers and cast, following the 10pm show on Friday, August 27. The People I’ve Slept With is fun, funny, and features many, many crushworthy folks. If you missed the sold-out screening at the 2010 L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival, then this is your chance to see it in the theatre and to meet some of the cast & filmmakers.
People Pictures is proud to announce the Los Angeles theatrical release of The People I’ve Slept With, directed by Quentin Lee (Ethan Mao, Shopping with Fangs) and written by Koji Steven Sakai. The film is self-distributed by People Pictures and will open exclusively August 27, 2010 at Laemmle Sunset 5 Theatres in Los Angeles.“I am thrilled to be opening The People I’ve Slept With in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Sunset 5 Cinemas. It’s an indie filmmaker’s dream come true,” says director Quentin Lee. “With the film playing at both LA’s Fusion and the LA Asian Pacific Film Festivals this year, I feel Angelenos will enjoy and support the adventures of the film’s heroine.”
The People I’ve Slept With is a sexy, romantic story about Angela (Karin Anna Cheung of Better Luck Tomorrow), a young woman with a zealously active sex life, who after every sexual conquest, makes keepsake “baseball cards” of each of her male conquests. One day, Angela finds out she is pregnant and begins a quest to find the identity of her baby’s daddy. Together with her gay, best friend and co-worker Gabriel (Wilson Cruz of He’s Just Not That Into You, My So-Called Life), the two go on a comical and raunchy hunt through her past hook-ups and dates. But as Angela peels back the layers of her frisky past, she begins to realize that the answers she is looking for, reveal themselves in surprising ways.
Featuring a sparkling and daring performance by Karin Anna Cheung, The People I’ve Slept With co-stars Archie Kao (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Lynn Chen (Lakeview Terrace, Saving Face) and screen legend James Shigeta (Flower Drum Song, The Crimson Kimono). The film has found strong support with sold out festival screenings including San Francisco Int’l Asian American Film Festival and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, along with being selected as the official Closing Night Presentation of the 2010 New York Asian American Film Festival. The film is set to open theatrically in Los Angeles at Laemmle Sunset 5, August 27, San Francisco at the VIZ CINEMAS, September 3, and in New York at Clearview Cinemas on August 13, 2010
You can buy your tickets online: Laemmle Sunset 5 (8000 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, 90046. 323-848-3500). See you there and come say hi!
Or if you can’t make it until Saturday night, then check out their 7:30pm screening with the Q&A hosted by Angry Asian Man’s, Phil Yu. After that, you can party with Angry Asian Man and Audrey Magazine at Libertine on Sunset, where Audrey will be hosting an intimate afterparty with the cast & crew.
UPDATE: Winner is the first entrant, Emily Wu!
We’ve been giving a ton of love to Tuesday Night Cafe recently for good reason– it’s awesome! TN Project is so awesome that they’re giving some lucky 8Asians reader a free pair of tickets away to their biggest event of the year– the TN Party!
I mean, the TN Party is a fundraiser, and considering how many amazing performers will be there — not to mention the fact that all the cool kids will be there — everyone should be willing to shell out the few bucks ($15-20) it costs to go! Remember: today (Tuesday @11:59pm) is last day for presale tickets for $15! So be an early-bird and buy your tickets now or just show up at the door with your Andrew Jackson in hand. (Students/seniors can show up and pay $15 at the door. Kids 12 and under are free!)
The TN Party will support the Tuesday Night Project — a hidden L.A. gem celebrating its 12th year of free multidisciplinary arts programming in Downtown Los Angeles. Since 1999, their flagship series, the “1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Cafe,” has presented a variety of Asian American and Los Angeles artists performing music, poetry, visual art, comedy improv, short films, and performance art.
Here are the logistical deets, but check out the program at the TN Party page:
TN PARTY
Date: Saturday, July 31st
Time: 5pm-11pm
Location: JACCC Plaza in Little Tokyo — 244 South San Pedro Street (Between 2nd and 3rd street) Los Angeles, CA 90012
So do you think you’re lucky enough to win these tickets?!
What you could win from Tuesday Night Project and 8Asians:
A free pair of tickets for TN Party on July 31, 2010!How do you enter?
All you have to do is to leave a comment saying why you want to go and ONE lucky winner will be selected to go!What’s the deadline?
Ha ha! I’m not telling you! So enter now! The giveaway will be over when the winner is picked/announced! This could happen at any time!Rules for entering:
1) Please be serious about using the tickets– unused free tix suck!
2) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.Prize courtesy of: Tuesday Night Project and 8Asians.
Special thanks to Traci, Mary Rose, and Quincy.
Fifteen years ago in El Monte, California, law enforcement officials discovered 72 Thai nationals confined in an apartment complex ringed with barbed wire, lured to this country with promises of achieving the American dream. Under conditions of forced labor and slavery, some of the victims had been confined for as long as seven years. A seven-member Thai family led by a ringleader known as the notorious “Aunt Suni” was apprehended at the scene. The story made national and international headlines as the first case of modern-day slavery since the abolishment of slavery in the United States.
Written by Los Angeles playwright, Henry Ong, “Fabric” is the only known dramatization of the 1995 Thai garment workers’ slavery case. Company of Angels, Los Angeles’ oldest professional non-profit theater company, in association with the Thai Community Development Center (CDC), opened “Fabric” to sold-out audiences and standing ovations this past weekend.
Fabric is presented by Company of Angels, inside the Black Box at The Alexandria, 501 S. Spring Street, Downtown Los Angeles, and will run through August 8. Performances are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 4:30 p.m. Tickets at $20 can be purchased at www.companyofangels.org.
Founded in 1959 as an artists’ cooperative, Company of Angels recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, making it the oldest non-profit professional theater in Los Angeles. The theater produces works that reflect the diversity of Los Angeles and the issues the City faces.
Thai CDC was founded in 1994, one year before the El Monte slavery case, with a mission to advance the social and economic well being of low and moderate income Thais and other ethnic communities in the Greater Los Angeles. The issues of human trafficking and slavery are an integral part of Thai CDC’s work as a majority of trafficking cases involve Thai nationals.
FABRIC
by Henry OngCo-Directors: Marlene Forte and Tchia Casselle
Produced by Kila Kitu, Joyce Liu, Henry Ong & Deborah Geer
Assoc. Produced by Gregory Gately
Starring: *Jennifer Chang, *Feodor Chin, Jolene Kim, *Dian Kobayashi, Jully Lee, Rudy Marquez, *P.J. Marshall, Eddie Mui, *Diana Toshiko, Ben Wang, *Jeff Watson, *Andy Hamrick
*Member of Actors Equity AssociationJULY 8 – AUGUST 8, 2010
Friday, Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 4:30pm
$20 General
$12 Students & Seniors
Box Office: (213) 489-3703 / [email protected]Lighting Design: Christopher Singleton
Sound Designer: Dennis Yen
Stage Manager: Amelia Worfolk
Set Design: Luis DelgadoLocation:
Company of Angels
inside The Black Box at The Alexandria
501 S. Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Want to check it out, L.A. folks?
What you could win from Company of Angels and 8Asians:
A free pair of tickets for any show in the run (except for sold-out shows) in LA!How do you enter?
All you have to do is to leave a comment saying why you want to see this production and ONE lucky winner will be selected to go!Hurry, the deadline to enter is: Thursday, July 15 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
ONE lucky winner will be selected and notified directly.Rules for entering:
1) Please be serious about using the tickets– unused free tix suck!
2) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.Prize courtesy of: Company of Angels and 8Asians.
Special thanks to producer Joyce F. Liu
Inception is one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer, opening Friday, July 16, but 10 lucky 8Asians readers in the Los Angeles area will win a pair of tickets to see the film on Wednesday, July 14. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe as two of the main characters of an international cast, this is one film I’ve been looking forward to all year.
We’re almost out of prizes for our 8Asians Inception Prize Package Giveaway, but you can still try for these freebies. If you need help answering some of our trivia questions, I recommend that you “Like” InceptionSaito on Facebook– some of our questions come right off this page!
Want to check out Inception early, L.A. folks?
What you could win from Warner Bros. and 8Asians:
A pair of tickets for a free preview screening of Inception on (7/14/2010 @ 7:30pm) in West Los Angeles (recommended arrival time 6:45)!How do you enter?
All you have to do is to leave a comment with why you want to see the film and whether or not you’re a Facebook fan of InceptionSaito (Did you “Like” him or not?) and TEN lucky winners will be selected to go!Hurry, the deadline to enter is: Monday, July 12 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
TEN lucky winners will be selected and contacted; winners must respond by noon on Tuesday, 7/13 to confirm their prize.Rules for entering:
1) Please be serious about using the tickets– unused free tix suck!
2) Contributors to 8Asians and their immediate family members are not eligible to win.Prizes courtesy of: Warner Bros and 8Asians.
By Ken
“You’re only as good as your last film.”
That’s an accepted dictum in the entertainment industry. Does that apply to being “diverse,” “non-traditional,” or “un-racist”?
Color-blind casting has long-been an attribute of The Blank Theater Company, with its celebrity performers and Noah Wyle serving as artistic producer. The LA Times even praised it for its color-blind casting and the theater’s new musical, See What I Wanna See, is based on the short works by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, a famous 19th century writer who is called the “Father of the Japanese short story.”
While the first segment involves lovers in medieval Japan, the production boasts no Japanese or remotely API actor in the roles.
When asked about the casting, artistic director Daniel Henning responded via email, “The roles have never been played by Asian actors except when the show was done in Seoul.” He also rationalized the casting decisions by saying that the Japanese segment is only about “7% of the show.” While the casting notice on Actors Access referenced the Japanese milieu (sans percentage) and source material, there was no specific request for Japanese or any other Asian ethnicity.
Henning promoted his non-traditional casting history in his response but wouldn’t it be more progressive to break the tradition of casting Caucasians in these roles? Is the percentage of the time on stage pertinent? What if I was casting a film based in Zaire, but justified casting all white people because they’re only in the background? Could the reason he could not find any (as he said) qualified Asian talent, is because the notice didn’t specifically seek them out?
The artistic director concludes his statement:
Our dedication to diversity should be obvious to even the casual observer, and we stand behind our credentials to prove that. But the one thing we will NEVER do is to compromise the artistic integrity of a production in order to cure society’s ills.
As a casual observer, I did notice Alec Mapa’s non-traditional casting in their recent show. But as that same observer, I know only what is happening now. History is not something that creates justification for future ills. It may be a character witness, but the ultimate judgment relies on the immediate.
ABOUT KEN: Ken Choy is an actor, writer, community organizer, and producer of Breaking the Bow. He is gay, green, and gluten-free. He’d like to credit Erin Khue Ninh for helping him edit this post.
[Photo credit: Lyric Stage, Broadwayworld.com]
I am one of the millions of Americans who has seen each and every sorry episode of Jersey Shore. I was horrified at some of the antics of Snooki, The Situation and friends, yet I couldn’t tear my eyeballs away.
Now I’m reading about this ad on Craigslist from Tyrese Gibson’s production company looking for what could be a totally awesome…or truly abominable new reality series: an Asian-American version of Jersey Shore. Here’s what the ad says:
Looking for interesting, attractive, colorful Asian-Americans to cast in a reality show similar to JERSEY SHORE, REAL WORLD, THE HILLS, etc. We need attractive Asian-Americans with lively, strong, and unique personalities between the ages of 18 to 30 with equally interesting life stories and perspectives to share, especially individuals who know about and/or experienced the Koreatown life. If you are not Asian but are obsessed with Asian culture or people in some way, email us and please explain.
Three things came to mind when I read this ad.
- I’m not sure what to make of the fact that they welcome non-Asians who are “obsessed with Asian culture or people in some way.” (The f word is right on the tip of my tongue.)
- Why does the ad ask for Asian Americans, and yet they emphasize “Koreatown life”? Then again, Jersey Shore sought to cast guidos, but they ended up with a couple of non-Italians, like JWoww.
- Reality TV often exploits and stereotypes its contestants, so I have my reservations about how “Koreatown life” would be portrayed.
Regardless of how you feel about this, it’s best to keep in mind that this potential show is a long, long way from becoming a TV series. A long way. It might not even happen. I mean, just think about it. An all Asian American cast on TV? Yeah, right!
There’s a ton of stuff going on in L.A. all the time, but if you love music & art, check out this awesome event “BY ANY DREAMS NECESSARY” featuring work by artist and designer Timothy Teruo Watters, a hapa, who was inspired by his grandfather. One of the singers is Jessie Malay, a super talented hapa. Don Chow Tacos, a Chinese taco truck, will also be there.
BY ANY DREAMS NECESSARY
LIVE ART. LIVE MUSIC. LIVE FASHION.
OPEN BAR. DON CHOWS TACO TRUCK.Date & Time: November 14, 2009, 8pm – 1am
Venue: Gallery 1018, 1018 Santa Fe Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90021Artwork by TIMOTHY TERUO WATTERS
Live Music by JESSI MALAY, TERRA INCOGNITA, SIX REASONS and more…
Live Fashion by DANIELLE KELLY
JOSEPH GETTRIGHT, DJ IZM, TRUTHLiVE, BZ and ED GOLD spinning all nightOFFICIAL RELEASE PARTY FOR DJ SKEE MIXTAPE “ENDANGERED SPECIES” featuring BRIAN “DEEP” WATTERS, PROPHET and SIX REASONS
TERUO ARTISTRY debuting its Fall Men and Women’s line
COL.ABO presents KORRUPTION: A Vinyl Toy ProjectArt raffle benefitting A PLACE CALLED HOME
Sponsored by EVERYDAY and JLP “The President’s Tequila
Want to learn more about what Teruo Artistry is about? Check out these videos by Skee.TV:
h/t: Koji
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Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
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