‘Varekai’ Costumes Designed by Award Winning APA
February 28, 2004
Patrons of Cirque du Soleil’s new production Varekai are thrilled with the exotic, colorful and dramatic costumes of this production, which runs through April in San Jose. Eiko Ishioka, head costume designer, makes her Cirque du Soleil debut with Varekai. Explaining her designs, she said, “One of my objectives of Cirque du Soleil is to design costumes that will accentuate and even reinforce the visual and emotional impact of the risks taken by the artists, while ensuring their complete safety.” Read more
First Fil-Am State Legislator?
February 27, 2004
One of California’s most populated Asian Pacific American state legislative districts has attracted four APA candidates for the March 2 Democratic nomination to succeed termed-out legislator John Dutra.Among the four APAs is former Milpitas Mayor Henry Manayan, who could become the first Filipino American elected to the 80-member state Assembly. Read more
Tomita Continues Along the Edge
February 27, 2004
In a way, Toyoji Tomita has come full circle in his musical career. He’ll be playing next to his high school trombone teacher, Dan Livesay, this Friday in a performance of the Oakland Chamber Ensemble. A career that began in the Oakland public school system continues at Mills College, where Tomita received his M.F.A. in 1986. But it’s the years in between that define the Berkeley-born trombonist and new music aficionado. Read more
S.F. Courts OK Gay Marriages
February 27, 2004
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger waded deeper into the roiling debate over same-sex marriage by ordering California’s attorney general to “take immediate steps” to get a court ruling that would make San Francisco authorities stop granting licenses to gay couples. Read more
CACA Supports Prop. J Housing Initiative
February 27, 2004
An initiative to create 10,000 new residential units in two San Francisco neighborhoods received the endorsement from one of the city’s most respected Asian Pacific American organizations, a move proponents hope would garner votes from one of the most important and influential voting blocs. Read more
On the Wings of Shirota: Japanese Irish trio hits San Francisco
February 27, 2004
They’re northern island nations stuck off the coast of giant, foreboding continental masses. Whatever Japan and Ireland have in common, Junji Shirota has been exploring it through music for the past two decades. He’s touring with two of Ireland’s most respected musicians, Frankie Gavin and Paddy Keenan, in a trio called Eire Japan. (Like some mythical travel company because “eire” in the Irish language is pronounced “air”). Read more
A Big Roar: Theresa Nguyen swings into all roles in ‘Lion King’
February 27, 2004
Theresa Nguyen, 26, is always on call. As the swing dancer in the premiere engagement of The Lion King playing in San Francisco through September, she must always be ready to swing into action when other performers are not. Read more
UpFront News Briefs
February 27, 2004
“If the court has to weigh rights here, on the one hand you are talking about voting rights, and on the other you are talking about equal rights.”
— Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay gave gay and lesbian newlyweds in San Francisco another reprieve when he ruled that lawyers for the Campaign for California Families’ failed to prove the weddings would cause irreparable harm. Read more
His (Asian Pacific) America: Minneapolis photographer Wing Young Huie hits the road
February 27, 2004
Wing Young Huie, 48, began digging up the subtext of everyday life as a boy growing up in Duluth, Minn.
Being the only one in his large Chinese family born in the United States, the us-and-them equation, in which things were either American or Asian, did not quite fit. Huie notes that even his parents “at times seemed exotic.” His outsider status was confirmed by the common refrain he remembers so well: Where are you really from? Read more
How to Direct a Nude Love Scene
February 27, 2004
Recently, I finished directing a short film for Lodestone Theatre Ensemble. It’s a piece entitled Harlequin, and can best be described as being in the horror genre since it’s about a computer program that comes to life and wreaks bloody havoc in an Asian Pacific American office building. Read more
Death Penalty Questioned: Groups aim to stop Le execution
February 27, 2004
Death penalty opponents, Vietnamese American community leaders and the American Civil Liberties Union are working to prevent the execution of a Vietnamese national convicted of killing a man with a meat cleaver and kitchen knife. Read more
New and Notable Books
February 27, 2004
The Island of Bicycle Dancers: A Novel
By Jiro Adachi (St. Martin’s Press) Read more