Joy Luck Club - The Westward Interview

Vintage Theatre is an amazing theatre that was founded in 2002 in Denver, Colorado.  It has been around for 10 years now, and started with only staging two shows in it's first year.  In 2010 they staged ten.  They have recently moved from 17th and Vine Street in Denver, to Colfax and Dayton Street in Aurora, Colorado, just up the street a block or two from the Aurora Fox.

I am forever thankful to Vintage Theatre for casting me in their recent and latest show, "Joy Luck Club."  It was an amazing experience playing Rose Hsu, one of the daughters in the play, who along with three other daughters and four mothers tell the stories of life in America after their mother's immigrated over from China.  I grew so much as an actor on this show.  Before, I had never cried on stage, in front of an audience, but the character Rose (although quite similar to me in daily life) was a challenge for me.  I was very excited to take on the role of Rose, and to bring her to life in the world of the play. 

What amazed me so much about Rose, was she starts out in the beginning of the play, weak and meek, and not sure of her own self.  She lacks "wood" one of the five Chinese elements that allows her to be firm and strong.  During the course of the play, we see Rose discover her voice, her own power, and her strength to be strong.  She discovers the "wood" she had lost, and develops and new appreciation for her own mother. 

It was so in-powering every night to portray Rose Hsu.  There is one scene that plays out in my mind over and over again.  In act one Rose recounts a life changing memory, about her and her family at the beach.  She was in change of watching her four brothers.  Three of them were old enough to keep themselves amused, but one was only four.  She trailed behind him, as he picked up rocks and tossed them at the surf, and she made sure that he didn't get too close to the water.  However, like life, a chain of events take a turn for the worst, and she ends up witnessing her brothers drowning.  It was a tough scene, to be honest, being so venerable and emotionally open to the scene.  Each night was different, and that's what is so beautiful with live theatre.  Some nights the tears came right when they needed to, and other nights they weren't there.  What is the most important is acting with the believability and the intention of portraying the character in the most beautiful state.  Committing to the text and the words of the playwright with the right amount of emotion and will, made every night beautiful to watch.

At one point during rehearsals, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the Westward and specifically Show and Tell.  It was an exciting experience interviewing with them, and being able to talk about the play and how we found our characters.  The article is below:

Theater

The Joy Luck Club creates a club of mothers and daughters

By Shaughnessy Speirs Mon., Apr. 30 2012 at 9:56 AM

Categories: Theater 

The Joy Luck Club, the new production at the Vintage Theatre's new home, weaves a tapestry of relationships, memories and tragedies in its depiction of Chinese and Chinese-American women. During World War II, the invasion of China by neighboring Japan inspired a wave of Chinese immigrants to move to the U.S., an ally of China during that time. The Japanese invasion proves tragic for many of the women in this story, and the play -- based on Amy Tan's 1989 novel of the same name -- aims to convey how these women not only cope with these tragedies but how they grow in their relationships with one another.
The women of the play form the "Joy Luck Club" to play mahjong, keep company and take their minds off the troubles they endure. They are coping with the loss of home and familiarity, learning the complexities of their new cultural surroundings, grieving deaths and other losses, and navigating the rough waters of motherhood.
"It's about mothers and daughters," says Kim Yan, the actress playing the role of An-Mei Hsu, a mother and member of the Joy Luck Club. "It's mainly about the immigrant mothers coming to America and having Chinese-American born daughters, and the differences in having those same traditional values and having a daughter grow up in America."
Yan is no stranger to navigating these parental and cultural relationships; she is a first generation Chinese-American. "My parents immigrated from Hong Kong. I was the first born here in this country, growing up American and trying to understand my mother," she recalls. "Actually, it's interesting doing the role reversal, here, and really understanding some of the nuances. It's very cathartic, actually."

Kim Yan (left) and Jennifer So rehearsing a scene in The Joy Luck Club

For Jennifer So, who plays An-Mei's daughter, Rose, the connections are subtle, but present. "I really connected with my father's influence, because my mother's American. He didn't teach me Chinese or celebrate any Chinese New Year... just American holidays," she says. "With my character of Rose, she feels the pressure of her mother, just making her mother proud...I get to see a glimpse of a little bit more pressure from parents. I still had it from him. I wasn't always listening to him, but it definitely influenced me to realistically look at how I go about life and making sure I'm honoring the family."
But though there are cultural divides to bridge, there is a level of universality to the story, too. "I think it actually showcases how similar we all are more than it does differentiate," says Craig Bond, the show's director and artistic director of Vintage. "I think it's very relatable. It's really great if people can experience their own humanity through the work."
Bond approached the show with a level of caution, knowing that "typically 300 people audition for a season, of which there might be two Asian actors" -- and the show's cast calls for 21 actors from the Asian community. But the response was supportive, and people continued to emerge. "They would come to me saying, 'I hear you're doing this, do you have something for me?' This particular piece is so rich and such a great vehicle for their heritage that they continued to flock to it," he notes.
Things came together in the nick of time after a brief postponement to allow the Vintage to relocate from its old Vine Street location to a new home at 1468 Dayton Street in Aurora, an inviting, modern space formerly occupied by Shadow Theatre that Vintage now owns. The show, which opened last weekend, will be running Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 through May 20 (fittingly, one showing falls on Mother's Day, May 13). Tickets are $20 in advance or for students and $25 at the door. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to the Vintage Theatre website.

I am so proud of the show, and the experience I have had.  I am forever thankful to Craig Bond, and Vintage Theatre for giving me the chance and the opportunity to be part of this amazing show.  I close my eyes now, and watch the memories of the stage and the experience of the show play through with my head.  I hear the cast warming up and laughing back stage, having fun.  I am so blessed to be part of this show, and thank everyone who came out to see it, because it was very well received.  I cant wait for the next show, that I can be part of, and look forward to what I may learn.

Drama is Life.