The Kids Are All Right: The teen stars of ‘Be Like Water’
September 19, 2008
W.C. Fields famously advised actors to never to work with animals or children. But perhaps Fields didn’t dislike kids; he was just afraid of being upstaged by their natural charm.
Watching three of the young stars of East West Players’ production of Dan Kwong’s new play Be Like Water, one can see the validity of Fields’ fear. During an interview in the lobby of East West Players’ theater in downtown Los Angeles, the teens — Saya Tomioka, 14, Shawn Huang, 14, and Jonathan Decker, 13 — spoke candidly, joked with each other, jumped up and ran around the room to emphasize a point and Tomioka even snuck a peek at my notes to make sure she was being quoted properly. If they match this level of energy on stage, it’s clear the adult actors won’t stand a chance.
Be Like Water, which East West Players is world premiering in association with Cedar Grove Onstage, is set in 1978, almost two decades before these actors were born. Tomioka plays 14-year-old Tracy Fong, who is facing a number of problems including a racist bully (Decker). She finds guidance from two very different Bruce Lees — her disco loving friend (Huang) and the ghost of the martial arts legend who acts as sort of a supernatural sensei.
Most would have heeded Fields’ advice and cast older actors who could pass for teens, but for director Chris Tashima, that was never an option.
“Dan wrote about a very specific experience, at a specific age,” Tashima said. “A real teenager brings a certain truth that really can’t be faked.”
Their collective credits range from TV shows like HBO’s John From Cincinnati to a national Volvo commercial, but for the most part they are all new to live theater, and none were planning on auditioning in the first place.
“I didn’t know if I wanted to do a play,” Huang said. “I only knew plays from my school, and they were ridiculous. The plots made no sense.”
For Tomioka, who wakes up at 5 a.m. every day to commute from her San Pedro home to her North Hollywood high school and is working three hours a day to get her black belt in karate by the end of the year, she wasn’t sure she could make the commitment.
Decker was supporting his friend who was auditioning but ended up getting the part himself after the casting person asked if he’d like to read.
Although all three knew who Bruce Lee was before doing the play, there is much they’ve learned about the martial arts legend, which they hope will translate to the audience.
“I learned that he really spread martial arts to the world of entertainment and made it easier for others like Jackie Chan and Jet Li to come later,” Tomioka said. “He wasn’t just someone who did martial arts, but he had an amazing philosophy about life. I hope the audience takes that in.”
Speaking of martial arts legends, the two-disc special edition of last spring’s Jackie Chan-Jet Li pairing The Forbidden Kingdom is now out on DVD. As I said in my original review, anyone watching the film with too high of an expectation for the first pairing of these two legends will be disappointed. But if what you crave is just an entertaining family action film that doesn’t pretend to be anything more, check out the DVD. It includes a number of fun extras covering everything from the historic pairing of the two leads to filming in “Chinawood.”
Be Like Water will be staged at the David Henry Hwang Theater at the Union Center for the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 and runs until October 12. For tickets or more information, call East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit www.eastwestplayers.org.
Philip W. Chung is a writer and Co-Artistic Director of Lodestone Theatre Ensemble.
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One Response to “The Kids Are All Right: The teen stars of ‘Be Like Water’”
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Philip, me boyo:
Just how “young” can these urchins get?
Fourteen?
Well, they’ve already been upstaged by a 12-year-old in Portland?
This one is a genius, bar none.
But, heck, just being 14 is great as well.
Onward, the arts.
And the ” martial” variety as well.
But make sure the neophytes are aware the hlood, sweat, and tears precede the glory.
Frank