The first Asian-American female lead in The Phantom of The Opera

JULY 22, 2016 BY NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

By Zita Lam
Northwest Asian Weekly

After a 28-year run of the most classic Broadway show of all time, the New York production of The Phantom of the Opera has made history this year by recruiting the first Asian American Christine, Ali Ewoldt.

Together with Jordan Donica, these two new faces officially took the stage in Broadway’s ‘Phantom’ on June 13. “The audiences have been amazing!” Ewoldt told the Northwest Asian Weekly. “Family members, friends across the country, and a wonderful group from The King and I of Broadway, which I used to work with, have come to the show. They are thrilled and very proud.”

This new leading lady, whose mother is from the Philippines, instantly made headlines after the casting announcement. “I want to perform the role to the best of my ability and to be able to tell the story just as well as anybody has been able to. To then keep the door open for other Asian actresses or people of ethnicity to play the role in the future.”

“It has been really remarkable. I have been completely moved and overwhelmed by the responses I have gotten from my colleagues, other Asian American performers, and people from the Asian community.” Ewoldt believes the climate in America is changing, especially for the performing community. “Students being inspired to get to play Christine one day, now they believe it is possible.” Ewoldt remembered as a child, watching Lea Salonga play Éponine in Les Misérables. “She was incredible in it, and it had nothing to do with being Asian. It’s very much inspired me to be able to play different kinds of roles.”

As far as Ewoldt’s version of Christine is concerned, she said, “We don’t have to discuss anything about me being Asian American.” Having a supportive producer and an amazing creative team, Ewoldt was grateful for all the support. “I know that they approve of what I am doing and they are helping me to do my job to the best of my ability. I think the best thing that we can do is do the show well.”

This was Ewold’s first time working with Donica, the first African American actor to play Raoul. Ewoldt said she appreciated learning the show together with her leading man. “He just got out of school, but he has already been an incredibly beautiful, grounded performer. He’s got an amazing voice and we have been able to lean on each other and really create as a team.”

When asked about her favorite scene of all, Ewoldt replied, “I love that in the final scene, when both Raoul and the Phantom are there, a love-triangle emerges. There are dangers and emotions, and also Christine’s opportunity to stand up for herself and make choices in her life.”

After graduating from Yale with a BA in Psychology, Ewoldt started her career at the University’s Graduate Music Program.

As a young student, she received performance training while completing her degree. After graduating, she landed great jobs right from the get-go. Prior to ‘Phantom,’ Ewoldt was in many well-known productions, including Disney’s Aladdin, Les Misérables, West Side Story, and The King and I.

Between acting and having a career in psychology, Ewoldt said her first love will always be musical theater. Despite the fact that she grew up in love with performing, she understands the challenges of the field and therefore decided to focus on academics. However, she emphasized, “I just love performing so much that I would be willing to make it work anyway I could.”

Ewoldt considers herself very fortunate to break into the industry immediately after graduation. “Certainly for me, there have been many months of unemployment and desperately searching for jobs or auditioning, and getting very close but not booking things. Overall, I would say that I have been able to do very well. My mother, I think, had a harder time with the deposed period, the months where I wasn’t getting any major jobs.” She continued, “It is so much about being in the right place at the right time, and being prepared for that moment. In many ways, it is just sort of a game of persistence and patience.”

Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera is playing until Jan. 28, 2017.

http://nwasianweekly.com/2016/07/the-first-asian-american-female-lead-in-the-phantom-of-the-opera/

22 Jump Street – Is it worth your time in a theater?

Believe it or not, within the first week of release, “22 Jump Street”has already made $60 million in ticket sales, and then hauled in more than $38 million overseas on the following week. Compared to the prequel “21 Jump Street”, which has only made half of the profits on the opening week, 22 has become a mystery that “why a comedy can earn that large amount of money” and has enticed more and more audience to seek for the answer.
 
To be honest, it is a little bit risky for everyone to spend two hours and a 10-dollar ticket for a Jonah Hill’s comedy. But thank goodness Channing Tatum has stepped out from a typical action-thriller actor. The chemistry between the two actors has led the movie to become one of the biggest R-rated comedies ever worldwide.

Starring by two different styles of actors, Morton Schmidt (Hill) and Greg Jenko (Tatum) continue their career in the Jump Street program, an undercover organization against drug dealers. Goes beyond the simple plot that “two old cops go back to college”, the story spices a lot of bromance, unknown consequences,embarrassment, self-mocking, confusion and ups and downs all together in one movie. In contrast with the other comedies, 22 is so entertaining that you would think you are sitting at the round table in front of the Cabaret show. Those unexpected ideas keep the movie running in a fast rhythm, boredom is never exist in which otherwise. You will be drawn in with story flow and will be cheered up while the two hours passes by just like ten minutes. The reason you should go for it, I would say, is that the movie is silly yet funny, and not every comedy can do this in a clever way.

Since Sony Pictures announced that there will be a sequel to “21 Jump Street” two years ago, it has not only given enough time for Michael Bacall, who developed the story into a screenplay, and Hill to improve the sequel as professional as a Hollywood production in a funny way, but also for him and Tatum to build up their brotherhood. It is not surprised to see enthusiasm sparkles around between them in many interviews, having fun throughout acting and real life seem to be their philosophy to lighten the atmosphere as hilarious as just looking at the face of Ice Cube. And two years later, Tatum became more than a co-actor, a producer.

Last but not least, to make a comedy not an excuse to write an easy story, conversely it needed to put more effort on editing, scripting, and directing. Thanks to the whole crew of “22 Jump Street” earning back audiences’ trust on comedy, its creativeness has splashed the first puddle of coolness for this summer.

Rate: R
Running time: 112 minutes

Written by Shita Lam

Monday, 30 June 2014 15:44

http://www.seattlechinesetimes.com/english/lifestyle/18652-22-jump-street--is-it-worth-your-time-in-a-theater

Monty Python's Spamalot: Let the laughter get louder

Produced, rehearsed, and staged entirely by The 5th, “Monty Python's Spamalot” is one of the Seattle's proudest moments starting 2014. This musical comedy has been showing since 2004, it went through Broadway-New York, Australia, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, etc., almost all over the world, and ran over 1,500 performances. The original 2005 Broadway production won three Tony Awards, including the Best Musical of the 2004 – 2005 season, and received 14 Tony Awards nominations. This year, David Armstrong, the Executive Producer and Artistic Director, decided to put up our own World-Class show together with the Director, Josh Rhodes. Based on an epic 1975 British comedy film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, Eric Idle --- the script, music and lyrics writer, developed the legend of Camelot to Spamalot. The term “SPAM”, in Idle's definition, refers to the irrelevant dances and songs which audience are about to laugh uncontrollably. This signature self-mocking humor also has become one of the main components that transformed the plot to a funky parody show. It is not surprising to have a scene in which men and women slapping each other in the face with fishes in such a burlesque and comedic form, the simple story line of King Arthur travels the land to recruit Knights of the Round Table to join him in Camelot and looks for Holy Gail competed by the burlesque traditions including the Arthurian legends. Not to forget the church scene, traditional folk songs and historical myths. Lastly, of course, Las Vegas floor shows and disco are expected. “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” To gather up all these popular shows is easy. Completeness is hard. During the two hours, it can be as sentimental as experiencing love and life in different circumstances; as rational as bringing up the historical issues; and as digressive as performers turning cartwheels with their Seahawks jerseys. I admire Idle to smoothly cope with the dilemma between freedom of the stage and coherence, and not changing it to a heartless, boring and regular dancing show. Let the laughter out, featuring an All-Star Seattle Cast, “Monty Python's Spamalot” playing at 5th Avenue Theatre through March 2 2014.

Written by Shita Lam

Wednesday, 19 February 2014 14:33

http://www.seattlechinesetimes.com/english/lifestyle/17226-monty-pythons-spamalot-let-the-laughter-get-louder

"Her", the closest yet the farthest

Loneliness is falling with withered chords to where the society up beyond recovery. People got distracted from real conversations with others face to face, people got isolated.

The impacts on people overly dependent on technology have been told for several years, doesn't everyone love fast, convenient and organize system as an assistant in our lives? Story starts at the new era of the modern voice technology, unlike the "everyone is checking their phone" scene we are familiar with our lives, everyone speaks coldly only due to control their devices.

Loneliness seems to be the first theme Spike Jonze, the director and the writer, chooses to layer. In the city Theodore Twombly (starred by Joaquin Phoenix) belongs to, people's failure to express feelings makes a big contrast with his job of writing passionate personal letters. This loveless man has been heartbroken after he got divorced until he developed a platonic relationship with a computer operating system, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), her curious, sentimental, and humane personality has lighten up Theodore with glee and views of the whole new world. 

By and by Samantha was no longer a product for Theodore, things got strange between them. Although Samantha is just an advanced version of Siri, she is smart enough to be a good girlfriend and a soul mate. The problem is, she can never become a "human being". She is programmed to date with thousands other people at the same time that you may not know. Once Samantha became a fantasy to Theodore, just like a great creature fulfills mankind`s greediness at all times and to pull us out from the deep hole of the loneliness. However, Theodore made the same mistakes to Samantha as to what he did to his ex-wife before. Life is like a mouse running in circles if you don't turn your steering wheel in the right directions.

Not sure if Jonze's purpose in the movie is to confuse the audience, just like Theodore was confusing the "Her" in his life. Jonze puts a lot of first person point of view vision which is good for building up the atmosphere, on the another hand, there is a risk of challenging audience's patience. He might be too focused on the negative side of people using the smart operation system, nevertheless, it helps to stick out the interesting plot how Theodore would deal with a fall in love operating system. 

Indeed, a cultural movie requires audience's extreme imagination and patience, technology and human is a never ending topic, "Her" provides space for people to imagine what it could be like and to see it in a dream state.
When we rather swipe our phone to see "friend's" news feed than have a conversation with each other, who got ourselves isolated? In the night when my boyfriend and I got home, we were still discussing the context of the movie on the bed, his leg hair were scratching me as usual, it was then when I told him "It feels so good to touching you and be touched."

Running time: 126 minutes; Rated: R

Written by Shita Lam

Wednesday, 25 December 2013 00:18

http://www.seattlechinesetimes.com/english/lifestyle/16618-qherq-the-closest-yet-the-farthest

Joseph Gordon-Levitt puts up the ingenuity “Don Jon”

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt, no longer a strange name to us since he has achieved a sparkle in our eyes for starring Arthur, Leonardo DiCaprio’s assistance in “Inception”. Three years later, He has featured in a number of Hollywood movies as well such as “50/50”, “The Dark Knight Rises”, “Premium Rush” and “Looper”, this glamorous man decides to give people a “Joseph’s brand” movie by writing, directing, and starring an original, offbeat but touching romantic comedy, “Don Jon.”

If you are familiar with the legends of Don Juan, which also used synonymously for womanizer, there is no surprise why Jon Martello (starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets the name Don Jon from his friends. His orderliness, besides repeating every ingredient he cares about in life, “his body, ride, family, boys, and church”, his addiction to porn has reached such magnitude that it can be properly seemed compulsive. It made him hard to evaluate the satisfaction between real sex life and stimulation from porn even after he met the perfect girl, Barbara (starred Scarlett Johansson).

It is always a smart choice to bring out issues in a simple story. Basically, this can easily be a boring one telling us how couple broke up because of the boy’s secret habit, and yet Joseph did a remarkable job of putting spotlights back on the issues: Real sex is nothing like porn? Jon said yes. Girls, calm down, your boyfriend will never admit it. This is where the movie started to spice up with plenty of humor and affection, telling us the difference between men and women in watching those adult movies, and also the “thing” goes above sex.
In addition to gut-busting laugh moments, Don Jon is likely to give people a lesson about love. A simple and basic truth that finding a person attractive is not the reason you fall in love, it is the “thing” in which two people build up in a relationship. When Jon’s sister said, “She is just that kind of girl wants you to do whatever she tells you, she doesn’t like you”, not only it has broken people’s greeds, but also wiped their blindness at the same time.

In reality, compare with the plot, audience are more interested in the cast all the time. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson fall in love in Don Jon? These are two names that can be enticing most people to watch the movie. There is never lack of Joseph’s fans, besides he is absolutely handsome, he is active in supporting all the creative spirit. In these years, Joseph’s online collaborative production company HitRECord has been encouraging talented artists all over the world to share the great works including short films, live performance, music, animation, literature, photography, graphic art and etc. On the network, his efforts not only help spreading creativity but also his own ideals for the movie and teaching him what he needed to know to make Don Jon. Probably inspired him to figure out which type of girl can sparkle with the characters.

Scarlett Johansson, the accredited “criminally sexy” actress has changed to a hot but sensitive girlfriend which is quite a big difference from the role she used to get in the past. In this movie, she put in an effort to act malicious and spiteful manner to this character by chewing gum with an overbearing attitude. Although she talks in a very rude and an annoying way, it is not uncommon to see this kind of relationship around us; guys fall for her body but lose their dignity, they hate it but they can’t help to love it. Here is the question, how much would you sacrifice for it?

Running time: 90 minutes; Rated R

Written by Shita Lam

Thursday, 03 October 2013 11:02

http://www.seattlechinesetimes.com/english/lifestyle/15720-joseph-gordon-levitt-puts-up-the-ingenuity-don-jon

You’re Next to flight for your live

For years of experiences in my disappointment of horror movies, questions like “how would this be ended?” or “this doesn’t make any sense” have always come up to my mind during the 90 minutes which I supposed to be scared, apparently for most of the time, I don’t.

Adam Wingard, director of “You’re Next” (2013) probably has learnt from other’s failure in dealing home-invasion story. Adam believes in a surprising horror movie which should not treat people as an idiot, to compare with people seeking how characters survive in this type of scary movie, Adam didn’t waste people’s time by watching boring and illogical scenes. Indeed, audience would not only be satisfied by outstanding jump scare timing, but the story line which keep them stick to their seats.

In the very beginning, screenwriter Simon Barrett has already successfully terrified the audience with the fast pace action which two victims were violently killed by masked murderers. Meanwhile, Crispian (starred by A. J. Bowen) was heading to family reunion vacation with his girlfriend, Erin (starred by Sharni Vinson), in the shadow of unknown murderers, this wealthy family have unexpected became the next victims like an innocent beast in a cage, either escape the tragedy by will power or begging for a chance to survive.
In the following hour, Simon intends not to give audience a break, they can only watch the family got killed inhumanly one by one without any merit. And question arose who these talented killers were. Were they just killing for fun? What did they do with the neighbor as well?

Puddles of blood is not the only thing which can attract audience’s attention, but their eyes just can`t stay away from Sharni Vinson, the best known Australian actress in 2010`s “Step Up 3D”. She didn`t required to be that typical girl who only knows how to scream and run away from the horrific scene.  Sharni’s performance as a dancer in “Step Up 3D” has impressed Adam and Simon in which inspired them to turn her into an agile, clever and precise character who needed abundant body movements against the killers.

“You’re Next” might not has an Oscar winning story, Adam and Simon did a great job in building the alarmed and panicky atmosphere, good background music, and talented in using rhythm. Whoever has watched this not only can be stunned by its scary factors, but also the smart ideas of mixing comedy and black humor in a horror film.  Surprises will make your thinking completely out of control. Scary, funny, and criminal, this is what your relaxing movie night is all about.

Running time: 96 minutes; Rated R

Written by Shita Lam

Tuesday, 27 August 2013 13:52

http://www.seattlechinesetimes.com/english/lifestyle/15289-youre-next-to-flight-for-your-live
 

The Butt : #1 高處看Frappuccino

夏天，為Starbucks帶來數以千計的Frappuccino. “Thank you for choosing us” said no barista ever。 Frappe，是可享用而不能無間斷製作之；是適合day off時喝的甘醇；也是on duty時聞Frap色變的惡夢。

很多人總把Starbucks幻想得很中產，把一個拿著Starbucks冰水的黃毛丫頭也看成是時尚的事。以為背景播著 John Mayer 的歌，坐在窗邊看小說是一群像Taylor Swift的少艾？還是偶然進來一位女仕，揭開手提電腦，點了一杯drip coffee待上一整天就是Katy Berry？Sorry，更多的是沒梳洗的Nicki Minaj，帶著一群像Rebecca Black青少年，吵吵鬧鬧的一併要了十杯飲品，Caramel Frappe 要Layer，一層沙冰一層焦糖漿；Mocha Frappe要Decaf且用脫脂奶，朱古力漿要先繞了杯子幾周，whipped cream上加一圈焦糖漿；再要兩杯冰水，一杯冰要比水多，另一杯水要比冰多。離開之前留意到有新產品，於是嚷著要嘗嘗，數十杯Sample一下子被那一家十口蒸發掉。

尤其當食物卷*可在華州買Frappe/ Ice coffee，太多「拿著Food Stamp當令箭」的人就開始肆意折騰barista。No offense。因為你總是毫不費力就看得出誰是那部份人，從她們囂張跋扈的不客氣，從他們佈滿毒品的腦筋想出來的不邏輯，從他們過得了今天就多一天的不快樂，從她們給過你的 hard time，從他們想盡方法投訴咖啡如何不好喝，務求拿一張送一杯Free drink的優惠卷…在他們面前，每一個barista都是生來服侍諸君，正如美國政府奉旨養著他們一樣。


Frappuccino跟麻煩兩字畫上等號，是barista不告訴你的事。

此時，一位女仕大嚷：「給我一杯Coconut Frappe」，這裡只是一個一百呎不足而嵌進Safeway的 Starbucks 小部門，我輕聲的回答：「這是季節性的飲品，我們現在沒有了。」

「為什麼會沒有？」她臉脥兩邊陷下去，毒品使這年齡還不到四十的女性的牙齒退化到再沒有撕開食物的功能。

「季節過了，我們就不再訂那些糖漿」又一個自甘墜落卻有政府養著的人，我想。

「Bullshit! You just don`t want to make me the drink I want today!」她再次提高嗓子，雙手神經的震動令她花了好長時間才能把EBT卡*收好。

「態度是所有」當我跟Tara說起連請我倒一杯水的 Homeless也比某些拿著雞毛當令箭的他們來得禮貌，她是這樣回應我的。

最初我認同的是態度影響生活，生活造就人生。但後來想一想，無論是Homeless、拿Food Stamp的人、或是你價值有十萬年薪，其實也只是一個社會身份，看一個人，大慨不靠看他被分門到那個類別。

而從交談再到咖啡準備妥當，再到奉上他們手裡時這短短兩分鐘，經濟狀況如何，受過多少教育，認為自己高人一等的，或是一個普通人，他們選擇什麼的態度，態度決定了他們是誰。讓人看在眼內的，是你選擇裝腔作勢還是願意說一句簡單的“Thankyou”， 而不是一張Credt card或  EBT card的分別。

難道所謂的「中產」或是一個普通人就不會給臉色我們看嗎？未必。


*食物卷(Food Stamp) ：美國援助計劃每月均為低收入的個人和家庭提供補貼，獲得補貼的人可在接受的商店使用這些食物券。

*EBT卡：Electronic Benefit Transfer（EBT）電子福利轉賑。美國與英國用於發放社會福利的一種電子財務系统，食物券福利受益人可以使用EBT卡在支持該系统的零售商處進行消費。