Reviews:
"Bang Bang" - ReviewHyphen Magazine
Fresh off of winning Best First Feature at the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival, gangster drama Bang Bang is set for several screenings in San Jose next week. The feature directorial debut of Byron Q, Bang Bang follows the lives of two young Asian Americans as they get pulled deeper into gang life. Justin (rapper Thai Ngo) runs away from home, crashing with friend and fellow gangster Charlie (David Hyunh in his second Asian American gangster role since 2008's Baby). A rich latchkey kid whose parents are perpetually away on business, Charlie's enamored by the idea of gang life so different from his own. But Justin, jaded with the lifestyle, seeks a way out.
Bang Bang's plot -- centered on an escalating gang war -- is almost an afterthought. The film is presented as a series of loosely connected vignettes that gradually flesh out the characters rather than advance the plot. Scenes are often filled with small talk, asides and jokes among characters that bring an added element of realism. Some moments are intimate almost to the point of voyeurism. Several scenes of Charlie practicing his pistol draw in front of a mirror (reminiscent of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver) feel like walking in on a child playing dress up. At one point, Justin and gang member Hoang (Hoang Bui) fumble with their first forays into music-making -- sometimes it's uncomfortable, sometimes it's endearing. But it always rings of truth.
As the title suggests, Bang Bang is not just a character study. Violence and death are constant threats. Fights break out frequently, are quick and often brutal, without sensationalism or sentimentality. Scenes of domestic violence also remind the viewer that violence goes beyond gangs. For many, it's an everyday reality.
Altogether, these elements of intimacy and grittiness create a heightened sense of realism. And with the no frills dialogue (heavy on the slang) and handheld film shooting, Bang Bang often feels more like a documentary than a narrative.
The actors live up to their roles quite well, owing to the fact that many were amateurs with real life gang backgrounds. For instance, Thai Ngo was also in a gang before finding a way out through music. And David Huynh, himself an outsider playing a gangster, hits the right notes as Charlie, compensating for his background by out-gangstering the gangsters.
The film stumbles by trying to add too many elements, such as a hallucinatory drug trip and a perfunctory romance with flower shop girl Jenn (Jessika Van). They're interesting distractions from the heaviness of the rest of the film, but in the end feel out of place. Meanwhile, the lack of a strong plot, while adding to the sense of realism, makes it difficult to get invested in the story. As such, the film at times seems to meander.
But these few missteps aside, Bang Bang is a serious and unflinching look at a side of Asian America that rarely gets portrayed in film, and even more rarely with this candor.
--Carlos Cajilig
June 10, 2011
Asian Pacific Arts
Asian American street gangs are the subject of this very gritty narrative, told mostly with long takes and slang-laced dialogue. Byron Q, who makes his feature film debut, has a good eye for natural, believable performances by mostly amateur actors and the all-too-real flipside of the model minority myth -- the underachievers to Better Luck Tomorrow's overachievers. Justin (played by rapper Thai Ngo) runs away from home to live with his parachute kid friend, played by David Huynh, whose award-winning turn in Baby makes him one of the film's few pros. As Charlie violently makes himself into a gangster, Justin moves away from the lifestyle and even becomes a DJ. Shot in San Diego, the suburban wasteland of these teenage thugs is portrayed with much pathos in its subtler moments: in a mother's tearful defense of her derelict son and in a gang leader's frustration as he scrubs his friend's dried blood off his driveway. The film has rough-around-the-edges feel as it frequently fades to black and uses black-and-white still montage without much consistency. However, Byron Q succeeds in his overall mission, which is to give us a glimpse into this story's world and feel for its characters.
--Howard Ho
June 8, 2011
Back Stage
The spirit of a character we never see hovers over Michael Golamco's play. She is Chea Vichea, a Cambodian woman who fled to a refugee camp in Thailand after her brothers and sisters were murdered by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. There she met her husband, and the two immigrated to Long Beach, Calif., where they opened a store. After his death, she continued to run the store and raise her two children: a girl, Ra (Christine Corpuz), and a younger boy, Vuthy (David Huynh).
When the play begins, Chea has died, and the children are still trying to cope with the loss. Ra is a student at Berkeley, planning to enter medical school and semi-engaged to Glenn (Eymard Cabling), a Chinese preppie med student. She means to move in with Glenn in Berkeley and farm out 16-year-old Vuthy to a friend of her mother's in Long Beach, until he can finish high school. This is a second abandonment for Vuthy, a misfit who loves hip-hop and Dungeons & Dragons and hates Glenn. But the shape of their lives changes when a neighbor, Han (Tim Chiou), is released from prison, where he was sent because of his involvement with a Cambodian gang. He was once a sort of surrogate son to their mother, and now he loves Ra and assumes the role of elder brother to Vuthy. Ra is torn between safe good-boy Glenn and dangerous bad-boy Han.
Golamco's play is subtle, character-driven, and engrossing, revealing its secrets via nuance and indirection, and director David Rose meticulously charts its shifting shades of feeling. Corpuz captures the sweetness and determination of a young woman trying desperately to do right by everybody: her brother, Glenn, and Han. Chiou's Han is a tormented figure, torn between the urge to go straight and his commitment to his gang past, and Cabling lends a touch of genuine humanity to the predictable and slightly smug Glenn. But the acting honors must go to Huynh for his rich, endearing, and multifaceted performance as the oddball kid Vuthy, whose only confidant is a skull he keeps in a cookie jar.
David Potts' richly detailed set is dominated by Chea's enormous collection of tiny china figurines, which occupies every available surface.
--Neal Weaver
June 8, 2011
LA Times
For assimilated children of immigrants, probing beneath the American melting pot veneer to try to reconnect with more ancient roots can prove an unsettling journey. Case in point: the recently orphaned Cambodian American and her younger brother at the center of “Year Zero,” Michael Golamco’s fresh, moving take on conflicted cultural identity at the Colony Theatre.
Golamco writes with insight and compassion about unique challenges facing the offspring of Cambodian refugees: their lack of stature even in Asian communities and the horrific legacy of Khmer Rouge genocide.
Events unfold in Long Beach in 2003. The recent death of an immigrant shopkeeper — a survivor of the "killing fields" — has drawn her daughter Ra (Christine Corpuz) back from pre-med studies at Berkeley to pack up their apartment and deliver her troubled adolescent brother Vuthy (David Huynh) to the care of a family friend. Ra’s return to the impoverished site of her childhood compels her to understand the family tragedy from which their mother had carefully shielded them.
Caught between the dream of a better future and an unresolved past, Ra’s predicament is further complicated by the release from prison of her former flame, gang member Han (Tim Chiou). His return is an unwelcome development for her current boyfriend Glenn (Eymard Cabling), a clueless upscale Chinese American.
Layering humor with heartbreak, David Rose’s staging builds emotional impact with sure-footed momentum, though at times the conversational rhythms could use some fine-tuning. Most important, the play doesn’t settle for easy heroes or villains — each of these flawed characters tries to do the right thing as he or she sees it, but unfilled need for belonging clouds moral vision and lends the dilemmas universal resonance.
--Philip Brandes
June 9, 2011
LA Weekly
Anyone who thinks the Colony Theatre in Burbank only caters for the blue rinse set with safe, theatrical selections will be pleasantly surprised and refreshed by the first of this year's six-show season. Brilliantly directed by David Rose, Michael Golamco's play about a young med student and her teen-aged brother facing an uncertain and divided future is a tender story filled with beautifully calibrated, incendiary performances swirling around the psychological fallout from the Cambodian killing fields. Newly orphaned, Ra (Christine Corpuz) and Vuthy (David Huynh, giving a broad but convincing teen performance) are the offspring of a recently deceased Cambodian refugee. It turns out these two knew little of their mother's grim fight for survival. Running a store in the Long Beach's Cambodian community, she concentrated on keeping her kids away from gangs and teen pregnancy. Young, ripped and inked up gang member Han (Tim Chiou) has just been sprung from prison, but he's no thug. Han remembers the Mother's kindness over the years and wants to help his neighbors, to "give back." But Ra is proud and thinks she can cope by sending her brother to live with an "Auntie" while she completes her studies at Berkeley. Vuthy is being bullied at school and looks to Han for advice. Succumbing to Han's fervent interest, Ra starts contemplating a future minus her milquetoast Chinese boyfriend (Eymard Cabling). Short but satisfying scenes glide by with the grace and precision of a figure skating, effortlessly skirting stereotypes and predictable outcomes, while a dynamic pace is fuelled by Peter Bayne's contemporary, driving score.
--Pauline Adamek
June 6, 2011
LA Stage Alliance
Survivors and Immigrants in Four Midsize Theaters
Is summertime theatrical fare supposed to be light and fluffy?
Apparently not at two of our major theaters, where June is bustin’ out all over with dramas that examine the aftermath of the 1970s Cambodian genocide.
Year Zero at the Colony and Extraordinary Chambers at the Geffen are both worthwhile, yet they’re quite different. They make a fascinating matched set.
For the more finished and satisfying production of the two, I’d pick the West Coast premiere of Year Zero, which perhaps benefits from the fact that it’s already been through Chicago and New York productions. Extraordinary Chambers, in its first full production, still needs a little tweaking before it reaches the current state of Year Zero.
Read entire article here.
--Don Shirley
June 7, 2011
Broadway World
The cast is outstanding. Huynh is so appealing as the sassy, confused Vuthy. His outbursts in hip hop song and dance are spontaneously hilarious. Corpuz is riveting as Ra, and Chiou makes Han a true enigma. A tower of power on the outside, his loyalties become severely challenged. Obsessed with a caring way for both Ra and Vuthy, he keeps his own hurt subdued, private. An intense performance! Cabling is also wonderful as Glenn, the struggling outsider who really loves Ra.
Golamco's claim that Superman is the definitive story of the plight of the immigrant in America is a brilliant analogy and propels Vuthy in his tenacious quest for self-esteem. Rose makes great strides as director keeping the pacing quick and allowing each character to find his shining moment. The set by David Potts is beautifully detailed with the mother's multitude of tiny figurines adorning wall shelves. The front wall also rises to show an elevated platform upon which exterior scenes are played out, as in a local whore house, a temple exterior and a car interior. It's cinematic, placing us as true observers within the confines of this Long Beach community, kind of like in South Central LA, and works beautifully on the tightly compact stage.
Don't miss Year Zero, an extraordinarily perceptive look at the Cambodian American immigrant. It will give new insight and understanding of our neighbors' culture and hopefully instill more tolerance of human nature.
Read full review here.
-- Reviewed by
Don Grigware
June 7, 2011
Back Stage West
Scott Heim's wrenching 1996 novel "Mysterious Skin" was made into an equally wrenching movie by Gregg Araki, never known as a filmmaker hesitant to shock. Now the venerable and often conservative East West Players has joined the fray by presenting the L.A. debut of Prince Gomolvilas' stage adaptation of Heim's original tale, a production unexpectedly even more disturbing than anything ever filmed by Araki.
Brian (Scott Keiji Takeda) was only 8 years old when he lost five hours of his life in rural Hutchinson, Kansas, a town bordered on its four sides by a meat packing plant, a prison, the longest grain elevator in the world, and, prophetically, a space museum. A decade later, constantly troubled by dreams seeming to have something to do with his missing five hours, Brian has become convinced he was abducted by aliens, a conviction further fueled when he meets a lonely 32-year-old geek named Avalyn (Elizabeth Liang) who is even more fanatical about close encounters of the third kind than Brian is. Before her clumsy physical advances insinuate there may be other issues distressing Brian, she helps him find Neil (David Huynh), a young man once on his Little League team who is also an integral part of his recurrent visions.
Locating Neil, now a self-destructive New York City rentboy, begins to unravel the mystery of the missing five hours. Considering how gritty and creepy the reality of the incident the two shared at age 8 is, perhaps alien abduction would have been preferable, probes and all. Even for a more adventurous viewer, Gomolvilas' penchant for stomach-turning and vivid descriptions of a twisted childhood molestation—as well as a bloodily graphic and violent onstage rape sequence—is a bit more than necessary.
Under Tim Dang's direction, this is a haunting and unforgettable presentation, starkly designed, somberly staged for an adults-only audience, and performed with a passion that might leave the audience nearly as exhausted as it leaves its two leading actors. The Spartan direction is intensely accentuated by Alan E. Muraoka's towering set, dominated by an ominous moon and high chain-link fencing harshly lit by Jeremy Pivnick. But beyond all mechanisms that make this startlingly brilliant theater, including a stellar supporting cast (particularly the heartfelt work of Takeda and the sweetly sad turn by Liang), the play is lifted from excellent to world-class by the presence of Huynh, whose masterful performance of a young man destroyed by his past is sure to stay in your thoughts—and perhaps your own nightmares—for a long time to come.
--Reviewed by
Travis Michael Holder
September 30, 2010
Louise On The Left
"Mysterious Skin" is, without a doubt, one amazing night of theater: It is undeniably powerful, most certainly shocking and unexpectedly haunting.
It is certainly not a show for faint of heart. Trust me: I'm an Orange County, mom, so I can vouch that you should leave Grandma and the kids at home for this one. However, for the rest of us living in 2010, it was a very moving, memorable theatrical experience.
Everything, from the cast to the elegantly paced direction, exemplified what kind of magic happens when talented people come together and focus on a shared vision. This was evident last night.
I have to admit, that while watching "Mysterious Skin" I was reminded of another play,"Angels in America," which was similar to this production in a variety of ways. Although it is hardly derivative of Tony Kuschner's "Angels in America" there are some parallel aspects to both plays. I won't give away any spoilers, but the parallels are not just in the narrative, but also in the kind of writing that just jumps off the page. It's at turns, terse, funny and unexpectedly moving, all woven together into an astonishing ensemble piece all reminding me how fortunate I was to have seen this particular production with this cast at this time. I know how rare it is for everything to come together so seamlessly as this ensemble piece does with such elegance.
Performances such as David Huynh's work as Neil in the play, as well as Scott Keiji Takeda's Brian, each provide a lovely counterpoint to the other. One graceful, bold and evocative, the other character eerily imploding under the weight of his character's burden. A moving journey through unexpected territory, thanks to the combined talent of both Heim and Gomolvilas.
Huyhn exudes a cat-like, mercurial physicality, bringing to mind the work of James Dean. This actor's work is simply breathtaking. He unselfconsciously brought an emotional transparency to the writing without ever "showing" us he was doing so. If you don't know what playing the subtext is, yet, then watch Huynh and you will.
All in all, last night was the first night of a ground-breaking theatrical run which I can honestly say was as memorable as it was thought provoking. I can't recommend it enough.
--Louise Larson
read the entire article here.
Stage Scene LA
Mysterious Skin, Scott Heim’s powerful 1995 novel about two teenagers with a shared secret almost too horrendous to talk about, is the kind of book that would seem unadaptable to screen or stage, if only for its scenes of child sexual abuse. Still, miracle of miracles, Mysterious Skin The Movie and Mysterious Skin The Play did end up written, produced, and presented to audience bravos, the former by film maker Gregg Araki and the latter by playwright Prince Gomolvilas. It’s Gomolvilas’ ingenious stage adaptation that now gets an absolutely stunning Los Angeles Premiere at Little Tokyo’s East West Players in a production easily the Asian-American theater’s finest non-musical since Durango, three years ago.
Unlike novel or film, Gomolvilas’ cleverly conceived stage treatment contains no scenes between eight-year-old Brian and the adult character key to his childhood trauma, yet is no less effective for taking its own approach, one which begins with Benjamin (Marcus Choi), the host of an Unsolved Mysteries-like TV program, asking the audience, “Have aliens contacted you?” in a deliciously portentous voice. The host then goes on to list the “signals to look for,” including “missing days, hours, or even minutes that you cannot account for,” “the occurrence of unexplained bruises, sores, small puncture wounds...or nosebleeds,” and “continued interest in movies, trivia, or books about unidentified flying objects—sometimes to the point of obsession.”
Cut to a Kansas bedroom circa 1991, where thirty-two-year-old Avalyn Friesen (Elizabeth Liang) is showing eighteen-year-old Brian Lackey (Scott Keiji Takeda) a tiny scar on her inner thigh, which she says is evidence of having been “tagged, marked, branded” by aliens she claims to have been abducted by more than twenty times. Then Brian himself confesses to having lost four hours of his life at age eight, followed by a second blackout a couple years later. Obviously, declares Avalyn without a trace of uncertainty or irony, Brian too has been the victim of an alien abduction.
We then move to New York City, where gay eighteen-year-old Neil McCormick (David Huynh) reveals to longtime “fag hag” best friend Wendy (Christine Corpuz) that he has returned to hustling, a trade he eagerly undertook at the age of fifteen, early for some but not all that surprising for a kid who had his first sexual experience at age eight. (Neil’s claim that this happened because “I wanted it” and that “it was perfect” is at least one of several reasons Mysterious Skin has the word controversial stamped all over it.)
As Act One continues, the play’s action alternates between Kansas and New York, between 1991 and earlier years, between two very different pairs of characters and two very different stories, until a violent, traumatic encounter sends Neil back to his native Kansas where Act Two unfolds in a series of scenes almost entirely between the two teens, the contents of which will be not revealed in this review.
Theatergoers should be forewarned that child sexual abuse, though never shown, is talked about in explicit terms, that there is ample foul language (sometimes used for humorous effect as in “Someone call Ripley because I do not fucking believe it”), and a simulated yet graphic gay rape scene involving a very brief flash of frontal nudity.
Still, though socially conservative East West regulars may balk (and even write a few angry emails) about the R-rated subject matter, East West Players’ decision to push the envelope with Mysterious Skin will be greeted with cheers by audience members wanting to be challenged and dazzled by daring, beautifully staged and acted, cutting-edge material.
Gomolvilas’ script is brought to striking life by Tim Dang’s inspired direction, the performances he elicits from his superb cast among the best I’ve seen at East West.
At its heart are two very difficult-to-cast lead roles, both of which have been cast to perfection and are made absolutely, heartbreakingly real by a pair of gifted young actors. Looking considerably like the film adaptation’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Huynh makes for a potent blend of cocky swagger and boyish cuteness, his slight frame so perfectly at odds with Neil’s decade of sexual experience that it’s hard to imagine Dang having found a better choice for Heim’s antihero. And if Act One can be said to “belong” to Huynh’s foul-mouthed yet sweet-at-heart Neil, it’s Takeda who gets the prime acting challenge in Act Two, one which he nails to perfection, his character’s nerdy comic charm making way for some of the most moving work you’re likely to see any time soon.
Liang makes Avalyn totally her own, a terrific mix of weird, geeky, (outer)-spacey, and absolute certainty in her outrageous claims of alien abduction. Corpuz plays four characters, most importantly Brian’s loving, concerned Mom and Neil’s loving, concerned best friend, and differentiates so clearly between them, making them seem (among other things) decades apart in age, that it was not until intermission that I realized they were being played by the same actress. Choi shines too in five small roles, from the opening scene’s slick TV host to a married man trolling for sex with teenage hustlers to a violent john who initiates the production’s most sexually and physically explicit scene, which both Choi and Huynh play without a trace of self-consciousness. Completing the cast is Rufffy Landayan, doing fine work as Christopher, the teen hustler who initiates Neil into “the life,” and as Benjamin, the Modesto-to-Kansas transplant who dares not reveal his secret love for best friend Neil.
Set and projection designer Alan E. Muraoka’s decision to back up Mysterious Skin’s set with the kind of chain link fence which surrounds a baseball diamond’s home plate is an inspired one, and his imaginative projections which fill the huge full moon suspended center stage facilitate and clarify the play’s many scene and time changes. John Zalewski’s sound design is one of the master designer’s finest, with punch-in-the-gut sound jolts and subtle, suspense-enhancing hums which underscore much of the play. Nicholas Hirata has designed the cast’s character-defining wardrobe, from Neil’s worn jeans and dirty t-shirts to Brian’s and Avalyn’s nerdy garb to the costume changes which aid Corpuz and Choi in creating distinct characterization for each of their multiple roles. Jeremy Pivnick’s lighting design is dramatic and for the most part highly effective, the one brief exception being the lighting choice which concludes Act One, one which seems more likely than not to make audience members think that some technical glitch has taken place. Ken Takemoto is property manager and Ondina V. Dominguez is stage manager.
Mysterious Skin offers East West Players the rare opportunity to achieve two of its primary goals: to spotlight the work of an Asian American playwright and to give Asian American actors access to roles too often denied them by the kind of narrow-thinking casting that remains too often the rule, not only in Hollywood but in Los Angeles theater. With a baseball leitmotiv running throughout the play, it seems entirely appropriate to declare that with Mysterious Skin, Tim Dang and East West Players have scored a home run.
--Steven Stanley
September 15, 2010
LA Theatre Review
In an instant this seemingly quirky tale about a young man who believes he was abducted by aliens is turned by the obvious revelation that his recurring dreams are not what they seem. Presented by East West Players (EWP), Mysterious Skin, is a dark drama set in Kansas and New York City in 1991.
Kansas: Brian Lackey (Scott Keiji Takeda), turns to Avalyn Friesen (Elizabeth Liang), a fellow believer in alien abductions, for help in uncovering the mysteries that plague him nightly. As they slowly piece together fragments of his nightmares, he realizes the boy being probed in his dreams, Neil McCormick (David Huynh), was a team member from his little league years.
New York: Neil is living out his fantasies as a hustler for the money, sex, and perhaps love. After a bad night picking up a trick, Neil returns to Kansas only to find Brian waiting for him; hoping he holds the key to regain his sanity.
Directed by EWP’s Producing Artistic Director Tim Dang, Mysterious Skin, is an emotional roller coaster for the audience as well as the actors. Capturing the stylized essence of classic Sci-Fi TV, Mr. Dang effectively stages eery images as a backdrop to an already pulsating scene. The tension is palpable across the stage and reaches the last rows of the theatre. However, playwright Prince Gomolvilas doesn’t offer much more mystique within the text to draw your attention in act two. We quickly learn enough nuggets of information to help us connect the dots faster than the characters. This lack of dramatic anticipation draws out act two to a lull, but is saved by the performances.
Mr. Takeda and Christine Corpuz (Deborah, Margaret, Wendy, Receptionist) give stellar performances. Ms. Corpuz, is as flawless an actor as they come. Seamlessly stringing together four varying characters with depth and purpose. Mr. Takeda holds fast to his emotions and carefully reveals the complex layers of Brian’s state of being. His final moments on stage make up for the lack of text support in act two and reveal a vulnerable eight year old in this young man’s flesh.
Upon entering the theatre, my breath was taken away by Allan E. Muraoka’s stunning set. The projection design creates a new environment for each scene and serves the play well as it propels itself onto the actors as a portal into another realm. Coupled with Jeremy Pivnick and John Zalewski’s designs (light and sound respectively), the stage was set for an out of this world experience. As lights surged intermittently during pre-show, a satellite image of earth towered behind chain linked fences which served as walls for Brian’s room and a cafe in New York.
Mysterious Skin offers a unique look at the connection between alien abduction and our human need to suppress hurtful memories. Sci-Fi fanatics be warned: Except for a couple of UFO tales, the play is hardly about debunking or confirming theories on the existence of alien life. This is not a discouragement, however, to treat yourself to a provocative night of theatre.
The Los Angeles Premiere of Mysterious Skin plays Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8pm; and Sundays at 2pm. through Sunday, October 10, 2010.
--Sylvia Blush
September 24, 2010
Curtain Up - Los Angeles
From a plot point of view, at least, the less revealed about Prince Gomolvilas's Mysterious Skin the better. Not that staying in the dark will be so very easy since Mysterious Skin was adapted from a novel by Scott Heim and has previously been a low budget 2005 film with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brady Corbet and Elisabeth Shue.
Go in cold to the play's L.A. premiere directed at East West Players by Tim Dang, and you'll likely find yourself drawn into a world — and a supposition — that is as eerie and discomforting as its title suggests. This is a world of young people, lost hours, days or even weeks; inexplicable nose bleeds and the seemingly too real prospect of alien abductions.
We begin the play with two people, a boy of 18, a woman of 32, for whom the very possibility of extra terrestrial encounters isn't just a possibility, it's a lifeline. Without this possible explanation, Avalyn Friesen, 32 who is holed up in her Kansas bedroom, would be in some serious existential trouble as well as being a lonely misfit.
As it turns out, the creepy, Halloween-worthy backdrop of things unknown is something of a dodge. There are grim, dark secrets to be unearthed in spooky abandoned houses, and two 18-year-olds living thousands of miles apart will have to meet and reconnect in order to bring them cathartically into the light, but they do not have to meet at Roswell. The likelihood, is that once these secrets are revealed, the result is a kind a shrug. Awful, but not earth-shattering, a kind of a standard issue revelation.
The build-up is something else entirely. In addition to being strongly cast, Dang's production embraces its dual subjects' creepiness and makes sure that the discomfort of Gomolvilas's characters are every bit our own. There is a first act closing scene, violent and as quease-inducing as anything placed on stage in recent memory followed — 15 semi merciful minutes later — by the play's revelation. Dang might have better opted to skip the mercy and stage Mysterious Skin without an intermission. Better, it seems, not to let an audience catch its breath.
Gomolvilas opens his play with the only person in Mysterious Skin who appears to have his foundation underneath him: Benjamin (played by Marcus Choi) an alien parapsychologist lecturing to explain the symptoms (or, if you prefer, the rules) of alien abduction. The likelihood, he argues, is that aliens exist. They operate by stealing time from their abductees (which the abductees never get back) and they implant some sort of tracking system within their contact-ee's skin.
Choi, who plays three or four other parts in the play, is all business. And then the expert disappears from the play leaving the potential followings of his teachings to figure things out for themselves. Which is precisely what Avalyn (Elizabeth Liang), a 32 year old community college student, has spent the better part of the last two decades doing. Possessed as she is with so much unaccounted for time, Avalyn works and reworks her hypotheses. Her glasses are too big even for 1991, and her clothes a bit outdated. She's a KIIS fan. Everything about her appearance, manners, etc. say "weirdo." She's looking for fellow abductees. In Kansas, where she lives, there aren't many, although you would think maybe with all those corn fields. . .. But in Kansas there is Bryan Lackey (Scott Keiji Takeda), 18, a New York transplant who does also in fact seem to have some missing time on his hands, who experiences nosebleeds and who is open to Avalyn's hypotheses. In her own semi subtle way, Avalyn takes to Bryan like a heroin addict to the needle. She's that lonely.
Back in New York, Neil McCormack, also 18, tells his "seriously pissed off fag hag" friend Deborah (Christine Corpuz) that he's been "going out again," meaning Neil's hustling, taking money for sex from older men. A bit of a thrill seeker, Neil can't really resist the temptation of the money. Deborah excepted, Neil has left plenty of things and people behind: family, past lovers a future. And aliens or no aliens, there are parts of his life he simply has no interest in remembering or revisiting. But this man who likes his connections casual will have to do some serious reconnecting, for Brian's sake as much of his own.
Neil proves to be a multi-layered character and Huynh creates a persona that is both fast and surprisingly vulnerable. Takeda's Brian is a character who is potentially even more lost, but Gomolvilas — and his play — are more concerned with Neil, the man with the answers.
About that afore referenced scene that closes Act 1. It's a hugely cathartic double seduction (more like two rapes, actually) taking place in bedrooms which are thousands of miles apart. Dang places the two encounters side by side, occurring simultaneously, permitting us to shift or avert our gaze when things start to get intense. Which is often.
Although we are eventually plunged into blackout, when the lights come out, we are left with two casualties who bruised and bloodied, and stumble agonizingly back into their clothes. The house lights are left on as this is happening, giving the proceedings an even more public and intrusive feeling. Once the stage is finally empty (house lights still on) it's finally intermission. Collective exhale.
Obviously, nobody can end a play like this. Mysterious Skin has a second act catharsis up its sleeve, one that is — while horrifying — easy to get one's mind around and not entirely unexpected. If it seems a little unfair to consider oneself cheated when the aliens don't arrive, well, there it is. The production makes effectively ominous use of the enormous moon-shaped projection surface center stage (set and projections are by Alan E. Muraoka) and John Zalewski's sound.
--Evan Henerson
September 2010
Los Angeles Times
It’s not outer space but inner demons that menace in “Mysterious Skin,” the dark drama now staged by East West Players at the David Henry Hwang Theater. Nerdy Brian (Scott Keiji Takeda) believes he was abducted by aliens at the age of 8, an event somehow tied to Neil (David Huynh), a former Little League teammate turned hustler. As Brian puts together the broken clues of his life, he begins to wonder whether he was probed by space creatures or experienced a close encounter of a more earthly kind.
Gregg Araki filmed Scott Heim’s cult novel in 2004 to some acclaim, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil. This East West Players stage production captures a certain eerie vibe, enhanced by John Zalewski’s sound design and Alan E. Muraoka’s set, a chain link fence behind which looms a massive blue moon. But while Prince Gomolvilas’ adaptation contains some strong monologues, his sense of narrative falters. The storytelling is schematic, and Brian’s quest never feels as urgent as Neil’s self-destructive path. It’s a shortcoming that can’t be blamed on Takeda or Huynh, who give performances of affecting vulnerability. In their eyes, the terror and pleasure of contact are very real.
For mature audiences only.
--Charlotte Stoudt
Published: September 16, 2010
LA Downtown News
Little Tokyo Theater Company Shakes Up Its Audience With Plays About Dark Secrets, Internet Porn and Hip-Hop
by Richard Guzmán
Published: Friday, September 10, 2010 5:29 PM PDT
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Mysterious Skin, the first play in East West Players’ 2010-11 season, is probably not what longtime audiences of the Little Tokyo-based theater company are expecting.
For one, there is the sensitive subject matter. But the thing more likely to surprise those in attendance is the onstage nudity.
These bucks to tradition are intentional for the company founded in 1965 and known for producing musicals and plays usually about the Asian-American experience. Call it a theatrical mid-life crisis, or maybe just a way to stand out and reach new crowds, but the company’s 45th season bears the title “Shake It Up.”
The goal, said Tim Dang, the producing artistic director for the company and the director of Mysterious Skin, is to give East West Players a more daring reputation and attract a younger audience while still staying true to its Asian American roots.
“We felt like now is the time for East West Players to start taking some risks,” Dang said last week, while the company was in rehearsals for the play written by Prince Gomolvilas.
“This is very edgy, a very graphic kind of storytelling, but it’s something East West Players could pull off in a myriad of ways,” he continues. “The story is about these two teenage youths in Kansas City who are Caucasian. So with East West Players and our history of nontraditional casting, we’re casting the show all Asian, so that’s something else we’re bringing to the show.”
Based on Mysterious Skin, a novel by Scott Heim (there was also a 2004 movie by Gregg Araki), the show that opens Sept. 15 follows the story of an 18 year old who believes he was once abducted by aliens until he meets up with a childhood classmate, who is now a hustler. He goes on to discover that his friend knows the truth about their childhood trauma.
“I think the audience will be very shaken by this play,” said Gomolvilas. “They’ll question their beliefs about trauma, sexuality, about desire.”
Murder and Sex
Mysterious Skin is just the beginning for a company that has traditionally trod in safe fare such as last season’s Road to Saigon, about actresses who played the role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, and numerous Asian-American-tinged productions of Stephen Sondheim musicals.
After Mysterious Skin closes on Oct. 10, EWP will stage November’s Crimes of the Heart, a play by Beth Henley about three dysfunctional sisters, one of whom has just shot her husband. In February, the company will get into the porn business with Wrinkles. The play by Paul Kikuchi and developed through EWP’s David Henry Hwang Writers’ Institute is about a 73-year-old named Harry Fukutani who becomes an X-rated Internet sensation.
The season closes in May with Krunk Fu Battle Battle, a piece set in a high school about a hip-hop dance battle. Dang will also direct that show.
Dang knows this is not what people will expect, but he believes it is where East West Players needs to go.
“We’ve been around 45 years. I think people think we are a very traditional theater,” he said. “We want to show we’re still very relevant and contemporary.”
Dang acknowledges that the sour state of the economy played a role in the decision to go in a more risky direction. He said he was partly inspired by a Kennedy Center program he participated in where he learned that sometimes the best way to survive is to expand.
“We have been in a recession and a lot of our programming involved less risk taking, smaller casts and smaller shows,” he said. “So when you are in these troubled economic times the thing to do is not get smaller and contract and save money, the thing to do is get bigger and be noticed and rise above the rest of the field.”
That led to the decision to lead the season with Mysterious Skin. Dang expects the production and the nudity to have a powerful effect.
“Mysterious Skin is going to shake everyone up on some level, and that’s what we want,” he said.
Beyond Edgy
Gomolvilas, a Thai-American playwright whose previous works include Big Hunk of Burnin’ Love and The Theory of Everything, which both world premiered at EWP, teaches in the Masters of Professional Writing program at USC. While he is well-acquainted with the theater and Dang, he said he was surprised they chose to perform this play.
“When I first wrote it I didn’t send it out to them, I didn’t think it was right for that theater, didn’t think it was a good match,” he said. “It was surprising to me that they wanted to produce something more daring and edgy, and this play is beyond that.”
The subject matter may turn off some of the theater’s regular audience, but the track record of the book and movie could lure a crowd that would otherwise never step inside EWP, he said. He added that those who have read the book or seen the film will get a different take with the play — while the book and the movie reveal the secret of the boy’s past right away, in the stage version the reveal does not occur until the end.
That was appealing to Gomolvilas.
“I though it was more interesting for the play. I think the mystery aspect of the play gives it a stronger plot and structure,” he said.
Scott Keiji Takeda, a recent graduate of Pepperdine University, plays Brian, the teen who believes he was abducted by aliens. In another indication of Dang’s effort to take risks, the play is Takeda’s first professional theater production.
“It’s a very challenging, very deep kind of character that you always hope you can play and it required me to push myself,” Takeda said. “I think it’s definitely going to challenge the audience and push them to a point of being very uncomfortable due to the subject matter. It may not be something all people want to hear, but it’s something very relevant.”
Canadian actor David Huynh, who plays Neil the hustler, said the role is one of the toughest parts he has ever had.
“The reality of the story is the most important thing about the play, the reality of these characters. It’s a story that rings true for a lot of people,” he said. “The first act ends with a bang and it’ll shake people and test the audience’s perspective of theater.”
East West Players won’t stop the testing all season.
Mysterious Skin runs Sept. 15-Oct. 10 at East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., (213) 625-7000 or eastwestplayers.org.
--Richard Guzmán
ladowntownnews.com
page 25, 09/13/2010
Asiansonfilm.com
Gregg Araki did a masterful job of bringing Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin to the big screen and now Prince Gomolvilas has done a brillant job of bringing the book to stage with the East West Players. While the costume design is a weak spot and a bit distracting at times, the cast is strong and kudos go out to Alan Muraoka's set and projection design which is simple but so powerful and effective.
Ultimately what brings any written work to life is the directing and the acting and neither disappoints. That said, it should be noted that the stage performance of David Huynh is without a doubt the highlight of this play. While there are many good actors in this production including standout performances by Elizabeth Liang and Marcus Choi, David Huynh is able to invoke the nuances of acting with his body language and facial expressions that are the difference between a good and a great actor.
Now for the bad news. To see this you must be in Los Angeles where it officially opens on September 15th and is scheduled to run through October 10th, but it is a such a great production we can all hope it will continue its run much longer and be seen in other cities as well.
--asiansonfilm.com
Story First Published: 09.10.10
Asiansonfilm.com
1. As a Canadian working in Hollywood , do you find you have added obstacles or considerations to getting acting roles?
David: From my personal experience, the biggest obstacle I faced from being a Canadian actor in Los Angeles, was only administrative, i.e. gaining clearance to work, or even to be in this city. I find most people are impressed with actors from Canada, especially since they are familiar with names like Jim Carrey, Michael J. Fox and especially young actors like Michael Cera and Ellen Page. That said, when I walk into a room for an audition or meeting, and with them knowing Im from Canada, it makes me feel a certain amount of pressure; I better be good, or get the fuck out of this town.
2. Your career thus far has been dominated by theater and television roles. What are the different challenges for you as an actor working between theater, television and film? Which do you think is more difficult for an actor? Which do you prefer?
David: One could say that the foundation of each medium, theatre, film and television are the same, that being the challenge to obtain honesty and truth. But with theatre the challenge for me is the focus of the moment. From waiting in the wings to the time you walk on a stage the focus is the challenge. You have to leave behind everything that just happened the moment before and forget things like you are sweating buckets under stage lights when in fact you are behaving like its the dead of winter. For me, theatre ultimately challenges my imagination. Film, though it can be as difficult, provides the environment and that is more tangible for me so the challenge lies in my commitment to the character. These days, actors on television talk with lightening speed and keeping up the pace of dialogue in television can be challenging. For me, theatre is the most challenging, rewarding and spiritual experience I get from the three mediums. I love the theatre, good theatre, that is.
3. You are now starring on stage in Mysterious Skin and Dustin Nguyens film Fool For Love is being released in the USA at the same time! What can you tell us about the upcoming film Saigon , CA being directed by Mark Tran who you also worked with in All About My Dad that is said to star you and Dustin!
David: Unfortunately, I cant really comment on this question. The film has yet to be made, and to be honest Im not sure if and when it will. I love Dustin Nguyen. I really wish we could work together really soon. And Mark Tran is a fantastic director. Hopefully something will work out for the three of us!
4. While nudity in theater is nothing new, it is much more foreign to asian actors and asian theater. Was that something that concerned you when considering the role for Mysterious Skin?
David: Not initially. I knew that if I worked on Mysterious Skin that yes, nudity was going to be involved, but it didnt bother me until I started to talk about it to my friends. Someone who I respect as an artist told me that she does not favor nudity in art, thats a subjective choice, but my respect of her made me think again about this aspect. Also, other actor friends of mine doubted the choice as well, so, thats when I became concerned about the decision and that was before the nudity was even rehearsed. I trust my fellow actor, Marcus Choi, who shares that particular scene with me. To be honest, Im not sure if I really could do the scene with anyone else. We developed such a quick bond and deep trust as actors, that once we did it, it was no problem.
5. It is possible that Mysterious Skin could be extended to more performances and more cities if it is successful. Are you committed to a long run if that happens or do you have other acting projects in the works already?
David: East West Players have extended performances before, but only if there is demand. So I think theres a possibility, but we are not contractually held to it. Mysterious Skin is a fantastic play. If the opportunity comes, I would certainly run with it. Theres some other things going on, but to be honest, Mysterious Skin kicks their ass. Um, actually I think just by saying that, maybe I dont have other projects going on anymore! That is if a producer reads this ah fuck em. This show is amazing!
--asiansonfilm.com
Story First Published: 09.10.10
2009 10th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival
10 Questions for David Huynh, Lead Actor in the Family Comedy "All About Dad"
Interview by Lee Ann Kim
Lee Ann Kim: It's good to have you back at SDAFF after your standing-room only premiere of the "Baby" in 2007.
Do you have fond memories of San Diego?
David Huynh: The experience was wonderful, and what stood out most was hanging with all the fans and festival
goers after the screenings. Personally, I think San Diego has one of the best audiences for films. From my experience,
they're very receptive and really know how find the best in the films they see. I'm really excited for the start of this
year's festival!
LA: I don't think you could have played more opposite roles in "All About Dad" and "Baby". "Baby", being a shoot-em-up
gangster film, and "All About Dad" being a family comedy with you as the biology student who wants to be a filmmaker.
Talk about the different experiences between the two films.
DH: "Baby" had been the first major role that was given to me in a feature film. Making "Baby" was a one of kind
experience, and nothing will ever compare to that. Working with veteran actors like Tzi Ma, Ron Yuan, Kenny Choi
and Feodor Chin provided a great deal of professionalism and focus on the work for me, but what made filming so
singular was that I really felt like they took me under their wings. I was scared walking into production, but I
didn't want to show it. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do a good job, to impress them. I had a lot of
pre conceived ideas of how the process was going to be like. I didn't want to make any mistakes. Then, on the
first day of shooting a lot went bad and when I realized that I wasn't at fault for any of it, a certain amount
of responsibility escaped from me. Making films is certainly not a one man show; it's the encompassment of multiple
creative wits and responsibilities of everyone involved. I saw Juwan Chung just collected his shit and move on. So
that's what I learned. Things will never go the way you plan, but just collect your self and move on. So, when we
filmed "All About Dad", I felt I was ready to just have fun, and see what happens. And that's pretty much how it went.
For me, "All About Dad" was about how well I could prepare for the role and be able to throw away everything I thought
was right.
LA: What is it like watching yourself on the big screen, and what was your initial reaction to watching the film?
DH: Watching me on screen is akin to sitting in an empty waiting room. I find myself incredibly bored, however,
tolerating enough to keep from squirming like a child in my seat. If I had a choice, I would rather not watch my self.
The first time I saw "All About Dad" on the screen, I sat with a bottle of wine in by lap. By the end of the film,
I had drunk just about the entire bottle, and I'd say I thought I had enjoyed the film. I laughed. Chi Pham (Dad)
makes me laugh. He's such a peculiar person, almost like a Vietnamese Christopher Walken, not that I know Christopher
Walken, but I imagine if Walken was a Vietnamese man, he'd be like Chi Pham. So there.
LA: Your father in "All About Dad" is such a strict Catholic! And your relationship with your onscreen siblings is
hilarious. Does the film remotely reflect your own family experience?
DH: No. Yes.... Uh, not really. Like Ty, the character I play, I also am the youngest of four, so growing up I got
away with a lot of shit that my older siblings had to struggle a little bit with. And I also studied film at University
in Canada where I'm from. And my best friend growing up was also a tall handsome white guy who also was in love with my
big sister... I think he still is, actually. The similarities end there.
LA: Mark Tran, the director, is quite the prodigy, having written the screen play I think before he was 20. Hey, you
may actually be older than him! What was it like working with such a young director?
DH: Excruciating. It's difficult to take some one seriously who is two years your junior and receive direction
without wanting to scream out "respect your elder, Boy!". Mark Tran gives his actors no respect. A tyrant on the set,
not to mention pretentious. He would always wear this brown gabardine suit. Never take it off. BUT, having some one
like Mark direct you from a script he wrote couldn't be more fun. He knows films and knows how to tell a story and
really his age has nothing to do with making a good movie. It didn't impress me or deter me away from the project.
But, I'll say this, as an actor I trust him and he really knows how to get under his actors' skin. That's a good thing.
And a compliment. Probably the only one I'll ever give him.... He makes me so jealous...
LA: Any funny behind-the -scenes stories to share?
DH: I got a few, but mostly just 'you've had to been there' kind of stuff. Tell you what, if you find me, buy me a drink
and then I might be able to tell a story or two.
LA: How do you prepare for your roles? Do you consider yourself a method actor?
DH: Well, I do have a method, it's just not The Method. Music I find is very helpful and important for the roles I take on.
There's a unique individuality that comes from the choice of music people listen to. I like a lot of preparation.
The more time I have, the better it is for me. In most circumstances, I actually enjoy the rehearsal and preparation
process so much more than the performance itself. I think I would be totally satisfied to research and prepare a role
for a year or however long it would take to discover a character and never to actually have to perform it.
LA: What do you do when you're not acting?
DH: Read. I read a lot, take photos and make really, really bad electronic rock music that no one will ever hear.
Unless you're my neighbor and I sincerely apologize to for the noise pollution.
LA: What's one thing about yourself people would be surprised about?
DH: I really don't know... how much do people actually know about me? I can cook up a really, really tasty smoked salmon.
Surprised?
LA: What are you working on next?
DH: I'm preparing for a feature film shooting in November, in San Diego! It's a very San Diego specific story by a
local San Diego filmmaker. Needless to say, I hope the film will screen at SDAFF in the near future!
--2009 SDAFF
Film Critic . com
Trumpeted by its own marketing as "the Asian-American Boyz n the Hood," Baby suffers somewhat in comparison. Yes it is a vicious and violent gang flick set on the scruffy streets of a crummy LA neighborhood, but while Boyz had some deep emotional underpinnings (remember when Cuba Gooding Jr. mattered?), Baby goes for the gun every time, and as the bodies pile up, the viewer's main response is shell shock.
Although Baby (David Huynh) was barely more than a baby when he was sent to juvie on a manslaughter rap at age 11, he emerges after seven years a traumatized young man whose entire world has passed him by. His older brother is dead, his father (Tzi Ma) has surrendered to alcohol, and even his playground crush Sammy (Christina Stacey) has a boyfriend with a BMW. Even though he takes a stab at going legit by working as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant, Baby knows that the only thing he's any good at is "rollin'" with a gang. Flashbacks show us how his felonious brother got young Baby involved in crime in the first place. No wonder he feels he has no options.
Baby also has revenge on his mind, and one of his first orders of business is to visit Benny (Feodor Chin), the current neighborhood kingpin against whom Baby has been holding a grudge for those seven long years. A gang war inevitably starts, and there is so much wild and random carnage that it requires an epic suspension of disbelief to accept that so many corpses could pile up in one town without the police ever putting in an appearance.
The main problem here is there is no one to root for. At times, Baby is positioned as the "gangbanger with a heart of gold." He's a victim of negligent parents, of society, of the prison system. And yet, rather than rising above it or getting on bus for Portland, Oregon or finding a new girlfriend, all he can think to do is get a gun and start killing. In fact, the only real good guy in the film is Baby's childhood friend Petey (Peter Cho), a straight arrow who begs Baby to clean up his act. But we all know what happens to goody-goodies in gang pictures.
Despite all those complaints, Baby is quite watchable, with a kickass soundtrack, MTV editing, and multiple flashbacks to keep the action moving forward (and backward). David Huynh deserves better than this script. Tiny and tattooed, he mumbles through his role, giving Baby a modulated James Dean-like angst that serves the character well. It will be interesting to see what kinds of roles he can find in the future.
--Don Willmott
FilmCritic.com
Hertfordshire Mercury
Billing Baby as an Asian-American Boyz N The Hood is halfway right, although this film is more concerned with a single individual's moral crisis than that of an entire community.
Growing up in East LA with no mother and a drunk for a father, Baby is just 11 when he's taken under the wing of a local gang after witnessing a murder.
His apprenticeship in crime continues in youth prison until he's freed at 18 and returns to his old 'hood; flirting briefly with the drudgery of a straight McJob, he's soon looking for old friends who have moved up and joining new ones on the rise.
Writer/director Juwan Chung allows his camera to watch Baby (David Huynh) in long moments of silent contemplatation, adding a little of the sorrowful tone of, say, Abel Ferrara's King Of New York.
He's also confident enough to make the troubled youth a conflicted and often weak character rather than a simple cipher of redemption the audience can root for, adding an additional edge as Baby attempts to determine how to be a man and tries to reconnect with the lost optimism of his past.
--Hertfordshire Mercury
Story First Published: 29/01/2009
"David Huynh Of The Movie Baby"
Deep Something
A recent movie we watched on DVD was the 2008 movie "Baby". It was a well made movie that provided a tense and gritty look at gang life in East L.A. I was especially impressed with the
actor who played the Character, Baby, David Huynh. After reading up on him, I was especially impressed at how authentic he made the character, but he seems to share none of Baby's background.
Huynh won a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival for Emerging Actor. I can concur with that. As noted, he played the part with sophistication and intensity,
and it came across as very authentic. His acting was very subtle, but he conveyed a depth of emotional strain.
Huynh is a from Canada and has performed on both Canadian and American theater, television and film productions. David was seen on Canadian television on YTV's "2030 C.E." and appeared in
Kiefer Sutherland's directorial debut "Woman Wanted". His stage performances include "Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang" and Berthold Brecht's "The Caucasian Chalk Circle".
David studied at The Prairie Theatre Exchange, and was a student at The University of Manitoba, working on a major in Theatre and a minor in Film studies.
Hardly the background to so convincingly portray an L.A. gangster.
He's also been on U.S. television as Sun Kim on the ABC program, "Invasion". But certainly his role as the title character in Baby has been his breakthrough performance.
Unfortunately, I don't think it was seen by enough people.
--John Masters
Deep Something 2009
"Baby - A Movie Review"
Deep Something
A tragic tale of an Asian youth's gang life in South East Los Angeles, set during the mid 80's to the early 90s.
I'm not sure the movie ever went into general release in the theaters. It was released in 2008. Some scenes show graphic violence, and the language is a little salty from time to time.
There was only one little sex scene showing no real nudity.
We rented this movie on DVD. This was a very interesting movie. It showed the dark side of gangs in general, and specifically within the Asian community, but it is not an Asian film.
It really was more around the whole theme of how gang members come to be. The movie uses the classic construct of jumping back and forth between the past the present to tell the story.
I'm OK with this approach, but it got a little chaotic in this movie. The interesting part is, the Director, Chung, managed to have me both rooting for Huynh's Baby, while at the same
time questioning his choices. This is hard to accomplish, but the
writers and director did a great job of it in this film.
---------------------------------------------------------SPOILER ALRT---------------------------------------------------------
The movie opens with Huynh's character just arriving home from serving time in a juvenile prison for a murder. We eventually are "flashed back" to learn he was about 11 or so when he
committed the crime, but we're first shown how he wound up involved with a gang at that young age. Interspersed, we see him attempting to find a place in this new life after prison.
Without much help or hope, he returns to the old gang ways, and we follow him through that as well. As I noted, it's easy to root for him, in that we get a sense he could turn out
to be a decent guy and turn things around, but he just never quite gets there.
---------------------------------------------------------SPOILER ALRT---------------------------------------------------------
It also speaks clearly to how we wind up with kids in gangs. It's not hard when their parents and other positive influences are absent, I'd definitely recommend the film.
--John Masters
Deep Something 2009
"Mini-Interview"
NEAATO!
Who are ya?
- David Huynh. Actor & Young Asian Man.
Whats you're websites (myspace or others)
- www. david-huynh. com / www. myspace. com/actordavidhuynh
What would you say are your skills?
- I just learned how to make a mean baked salmon. And I can roll amazing cigarettes, with filters, in less than 30 seconds. But I quit smoking. Really.
Where ya at?
- Home.
Why are you different?
- I don't take showers.
How did you get started/your Aha moment?
- I got cast in a T.V. program in Canada where I'm from, whilst in high school. I thought, man, I wanna do this forever.
What is your goal?
- To be the best actor I will possibly be. I figure it'll take me at least 20 years.
Any upcoming projects/things we should check out?
- Oooh! Please, be on the lookout for my film "Baby" which should be released later this year. And also, check me out on "Cold Case" THIS Sunday (June 29th)!! I guest star in this episode where I play a Japanese American teen, in Manzanar. Get the tissues going. The show will air on CBS at 10pm.
BONUS ROUND:
Any friends/links of friends that we should check out?
- http://www. myspace. com/affili8d, http://www. myspace. com/feodorchin, http://www. myspace. com/kenzolee13
Whats your summer music rotation?
- Coldplay, Clap Your Hands, MGMT, Band of Horses
Flicks/movies you love that others probably haven't seen?
- Breaking The Waves, Love Streams
--N.E.A.A.T.O!
"BABY"
DisOriented FILM FESTIVAL 2008
Described by many as the Asian American answer to BOYZ N THE HOOD, director Juwan Chung's BABY is a disturbing and dark look at urban gang life in East Los Angeles.
It's gritty and ultra-violent style will make audiences grimace and wonder what's next for child-gangster Baby played by newcomer David Huynh. It is obvious that
no one puts Baby in a corner, as he defies and defiles those in authority while silently struggling with his lost childhood. At a young age, Baby is a witness
to a murder at the hands of a Chinese gang. Instead of killing Baby to cover their tracks, they recruit him to a life of drugs, sex, and violence that ultimately changes his life forever.
BABY has got to be one of the most unforgettable films of this year's festival, as its brutal violence is tempered with quiet scenes of loneliness and despair.
The film's acting is top notch, especially Huynh who plays the motherless Baby.
--2008 DISORIENTED FILM FEST
"BABY"
FilmThreat.com
Being toted around the festival circuit as an Asian American "Boyz n the Hood," director Juwan Chung's film "Baby" stands alone as it makes an attempt to showcase that Asian American street gang life is not as glamorous as most movies would make it seem. These characters don't know martial arts. They don't have full-body tattoos. They don't wield Katana swords, and they suffer the same consequences that anyone else who chooses that life does.
Set in anywhere town, Southern California, "Baby" follows the exploits of the title character, as he has just gotten out of juvenile hall. He has spent the last seven years of his life there because he murdered someone when he was just eleven years old. As Baby is trying to readjust to his new life, he can't seem to escape from the one that he left behind. Baby continues to spiral downward as the choices he makes keep making life worse for him.
Newcomer David Hyunh does a good job of playing the confused lead. Mostly playing through a tough exterior, Hyunh never lets go of the scared child that starts out the movie. Veteran Asian actor, Tzi Ma does an excellent job of playing a drunk, poet father who is completely detached from his son's life. The one who steals the show here is Feodor Chin, as Benny. His portrayal of the villain in this story is spot on. He's the guy you absolutely love to hate, and he does an excellent job in this role, while allowing the other actors a great deal of room to play off of him. Unfortunately, this villain has a much bigger character arc than the main character does, and makes for a much more interesting and empathetic character.
The poor lighting of the film unfortunately overshadowed the great acting. I'm not sure if it was the theater I was in, but some of the key dramatic scenes were completely lost due to the fact that I couldn't see the actor's faces. Some of the best scenes of dialogue take place in the darkest of offices. There is one scene in the film, in which this was so distracting, that I couldn't tell which one of the characters had been killed.
Despite its lighting issues, "Baby" is an interesting take on one side of the Asian American culture that is rarely seen. Director Juwan Chung and co-writer Felix Chan obviously grew up with these kinds of stories surrounding them. I remember seeing stories on the news about shootouts in pool halls, and knowing there were certain Asian communities you didn't want drive through at night. These were no less scary than any of the stories we heard about Compton or East Los Angeles. The tale in "Baby," is just as tragic as any other regardless of Race. Though it probably would have played better in the early 90's, it doesn't make the story any less relevant.
--Jeff Wong
(2007-10-18)
2006, Un-rated, 100 minutes
SAN DIEGO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2007
Dubbed by some critics as the Asian American Boyz n the Hood, Juwan Chung's second feature film BABY is undeniably a slice of urban ganglife type of film. The title character, Baby,
is a motherless 11 year old boy who is taken under the wings of the gangsters next door in East Los Angeles during the 1990s. One dark evening ends with Baby shooting a rival gang member
and landing him 7 years in juvenile hall. The adult Baby, played by newcomer David Huynh, re-enters society but has no real opportunities to change his life. The only father figure he really has is the
gang ringleader Benny (Fedor Chin). The hardened and disillusioned Baby attempts to pick up the pieces of the adolescence he never had through the underbelly of Monterey Park and Alhambra. He is faced with
conflicts as he tries to reconnect with his childhood best friend and his childhood sweetheart, both of whom seem to have grown up and moved on. Can Baby walk the straight and narrow path, or will he join his gang
family once again?
The slow burning BABY packs an emotional punch in to several scenes and contains brutal depiction of violence. Huynh's portrayal of Baby is one of the most memorable performances in the film festival, one that must
convey both ferocity and yet loneliness and vulnerability. It is rare to see a film about Asian American gang culture, even rarer to see it executed with stylized direction and a supreme cast.
--2007 SDAFF
"Interview on KUCI 88.9 FM"
The Subversity program with host Dan Tsang - (approx. 24min)
"BABY"
LOS ANGELES VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS FILMFEST 2007
Baby (David Huynh), The titular character of Juwan Chung's slow-burning new full length feature, is introduced to us on the day he is released from a California state youth
facility...
At turns grim and electrifying BABY's prevasive fatalism recalls Albert and Allen Hughes' controversial 1993 breakthrough MENACE II SOCIETY in its efforts to paint a realistic,
unsympathetic portrait of the 199s-era Los Angeles Asian American gang culture...
This altogether shocking stuff, helped along by the uniformly stellar acting performances headed by newcomer David Huynh as Baby.
BABY, the movie, is assured, accomplished filmmaking - and an unflattering slice of life that is rarely, if ever, told from such a perspective.
Read the entire review here.
--Abraham Ferrer
2007 Visual communications Film Festival
San Francisco Chronicle
"Baby" (Juwan Chung, USA, 100 min)
The (San Francisco International Asian American) festival notes hail this as the Asian American "Boyz N the Hood," but Juwan Chung's absolutely captivating feature debut also reminds me of "The Departed" (or, if you will, "Infernal Affairs") -- a young kid in East L.A.
is taken under the wing of a gang leader, but that's just the beginning: the kid becomes a young man during a 7-year stretch in prison, and finds little chance of staying on the straight and narrow.
A mesmerizing performance by David Huynh in the title role and excellent support work by the rest of the cast, "Baby" is brash, stylish and super-violent. (Sat. 3/17 9:30 p.m. Van Ness; Tue 3/20 9:15 p.m. Van Ness; Sat. 3/24 9 p.m. Camera 12)
--G. Allen Johnson
2007 San Francisco Chronicle
Backstage West
Into Dennis' filthy apartment bursts Warren, suitcases in tow. "What's with the suitcase?" Pause. "Nothing." Pause. "What are you doing?" Pause. "Nothing." Long pause. So goes Kenneth Lonergan's dialogue in this glimpse into New York's upper-middle-class Jewish youth during the 1980s (here specifically mentioning the George H.W. Bush years). And yet, so clever a craftsman, Lonergan never leaves us behind. Characters are deep, though they don't know it; dialogue is expertly expository while realistic.
The difficulty with directing this piece lies in the languid angst of the characters and the unheightened language. Director Danilo Di Julio seems to have given his actors a unified tone and armature, but the pacing is excruciatingly slow and the blocking noticeably static. Lonergan's pauses, therefore, are dead rather than dramatic.
None of this keeps us from caring about the contents of the characters' baggage - literal and figurative. Jason Ciok is the drug-using and dealing Dennis, abusive to himself and all around him. Ciok gives him boyish charm and us a shard of hope. David Huynh creates a reprehensibly dejected Warren, willingly kicked around by those he loves. And among Warren's favorites is Jessica, whom he's admired from afar. She's bright, argumentative, and - as it turns out - prescient; she's played with youthful sweetness and extreme naturalness by Kim Kutner.
The actors need to rid themselves of a few bad habits: Ciok's Canadian accent seeps in during moments of Dennis' anger, Huynh must stop wringing his hands and folding them back on themselves - it's not clear whether this was a character choice, but it's annoying - and Kutner's voice needs volume. But the men do excellent phone monologues, and none of the line readings sound false. And there are moments when all jells and we get lost in the story. Lonergan looks back on painful years we either lived or watched. It's a blessing that, for those of us lucky or wise enough to be alive, the expression "doing lines" has come to mean rehearsing, not ripping body chemistry apart.
--Dany Margolies
2006 Backstage West
Backstage West
Can politics be as outrageously brutal as the political satire that tries to
define it? With George W. (pronounced Dubya) gearing up for four more years,
the entire Bush family--in league with monsters from hell--prepares for victory.
The presidency is only one of the trophies sought in its diabolical plans, or
so it is told in the world premiere of writer/director Joe Jordan's follow-up
to Rik Keller's spoof, Dubya 2000.
With 18 actors playing approximately 45
characters, this lampoon covers not only the Bush family but also a few Kennedys,
the governors of Florida (an over-the-top David LM Mcintyre) and California
(Tom Kiesche in a fun caricature), and an ex-prez (Troy Joe Vincent) and his
Barr (Alicia Wollerton). Thrown in are a set of twin teenage assassins
(the delightful duo of Shannon Tesser and Emily Marver), the man who decides
what news we hear and see (a smoothly ominous Jacob Sidney), and Dubya
(Conor Duffy) himself, who's just realizing things are going on that may not
be the nicest entries for history to record. Tying burlesque to reality is a
widowed FBI agent (Jenette Goldstein) on the trail of truth. She and her
teenage son (David Huynh) get swept up in a storm of intrigue, espionage,
and danger.
Jordan tinges this multistyled, cluttered, and somewhat clumsy piece with
dark melodrama, sheer buffoonery, college camp, gross-out shtick, and even
touches of some pleasantly surprising profundity. The script, like the
performances, hit everything from the bull's-eye to all the concentric
circles running outward and off the board. An extremely likeable Duffy
offers up a Dubya who is authentically dumb, pouty, and almost forgivable.
Goldstein and Huynh, functioning exclusively in the dark reaches of the tale,
do fine work. Goldstein makes a fiery hero, and the disarming Huynh presents
all the emotional confusion of today's youth. Music director Eric Layer and
Weston Hudson's rock snippets before, during, and after scenes are a big plus,
as is Carlos Fedos' patriotic set of stars and stripes and a mountain of
functioning TVs.
-- Dave DePino
2004 BackStage West
"Night School"
The Manitoban
Night School gets graded
Pinter performance proves positive
by Andrew Young
As the last of the latecomers took to their plastic folding chairs (which were oddly comfortable), the heavy doors to the Richardson Hall at the CanWest Global Centre for the Performing Arts lumbered to a close, extinguishing the last of the streaming orange light from the lobby beyond. Bodies lay in wait for their cue to rise from their respective beds. A tall and skinny, ash-blond-haired old crone polishes teacups with frantic, absurd passion. A Schultzian, Peanuts-esque melody sounds as the lights come on softly and breathe life into the somber figures.
Walter Street (John Bryans) is arriving home after serving his time "in the nick" for a minor felony. He is greeted warmly, if not boisterously, by his two loving aunts, Sally (Brenda McLean) and Milly (Michelle Palansky). He is also greeted with the devastating fact that, due to his prolonged absence, his room has been let out to some "Annie" character (Angela Chalmers). As the screeching calls of senile Sally rouse the broad-bummed bumble of her maladroit older sister Milly, we begin our spiral downwards into the morose and abysmal philosophy of Harold Pinter's Night School.
The subjects of truth and communication are two of Pinter's most salient themes in this tragic and "twisted" (as John Bryans described it to me before the show) love story, and it is these subjects that are brought into comforting clarity through the directorial choices made by Philip Duncan of The Conspiracy Network.
Walter is a man on a quest. At first he wants his childhood room back - to do this he wants to find out who this "Annie" girl really is. By the time that the bearded, beer-bellied, bald-headed old-age pensioner Solto (Curtis Lowton) comes back with the solid evidence of Annie's ill repute he had been sent out for, Wally has already figured it out. He has also figured out that he has fallen in love with this "lady of the night" (the title of the play comes from the lie Annie tells Sally and Milly when she goes out to walk her walk - she says she is going to "night school").
Lies and half-truths are how Pinter highlights the uncertainty inherent in all use of language. The theme of deceit is etched into the character of Wally, the protagonist, who has failed as a forger and a fraud. Annie's entire inner struggle is based on her shameful profession and, as a result, the ironic and critical deception of anyone she wants to love or form a lasting relationship with.
In this production, Sally and Milly, a Tweedledee and Tweedledum of sorts, illustrate clearly the chronic failures of communication - Sally, as the old bitty who overhears everything she doesn't want to but doesn't have the sense to put together, is a representation of the common act of ignorant submission to the world of "truth" as taken on authority. Meanwhile, Milly is the decrepit, plaintive and immobile sage, and the disability of the intellect to arrive at any truth a priori, or without immediate experience.
As the sly and manipulative Wally Street, John Bryans succeeds at conveying the delicate, inwardly damaged nature of this pathetic failure. His performance was, as a whole, consistent and pleasing with the one exception, and that exception was the bedroom scene. This, the initial and, at this particular stage in the plot, self-serving seduction of Annie by Wally was one of a seemingly antiseptic nature. For a scene meant to be charged with furious sexual politics and spiked with sensuality fraught with carnal cravings this is a letdown. However, never has losing a battle less meant losing a war - Bryans plays a lovely villain one can at once be disgusted with and feel pity for.
The dualities of Annie's character are put forward subtly by the un-melodramatic Chalmers. She plays the part with the grace of an actress who means to help in the development of Pinter's narrative without slipping into the cheap theatrics that make a performance memorable for all the wrong reasons. Annie does come off as a character without much to her - whether this is something Pinter meant to do or not is hard to say, but, given characters like Sally on her right and Milly on her left, a more memorable portrayal of Annie would be hard to come by.
Sally and Milly, the characters Pinter had called Pearl and Ruby, are two sides of the same coin - as director Duncan did well to change their names so. The Shakespearian duo are the comic relief of the play that, due to the iridescence of McLean and Palansky's performances, quell all too effectively the tragic poignancy that Bryans and Chalmers worked so hard to evoke. The performances of these two were magnificent as things in themselves and fit, albeit in an eccentrically adjacent fashion (that Pinter might approve of but never intended), nicely, though at times overpoweringly, into the background of Lauren Ritz's labyrinthine set design.
As a character, Solto is hardly given the chance to fail. As the old curmudgeon, Lowton, while entertaining, brings little to the sad part of a lonely old crank hiding behind a Dionysian constitution. Large and bland, grumblesome and stodgy, Solto is not a part that is meant to shine at all and Lowton does well to be so banal in a role of immense banality.
The role of Tully - a character of extremely little significance in the grand scheme of Night School - was sadly given to David Huynh, an actor with a vitality and spirit that was not made for small and insignificant bit-parts. Playing a failed nightclub owner, Huynh exudes a charm and Technicolor enthusiasm that hardly fits as any sort of failure in any industry.
The Conspiracy Network is an inventive company that challenges itself season after season, creating new, colourful productions of modern works that are as potently produced as many more conventional endeavours. High on the Network's agenda is making theatre accessible in a way it has never been before in this city. I would put "making theatre accessible" at the top of the list of what this company knows how to do with precision.
--Andrew Young
2002 The Manitoban