By Chau Nguyen
The first annual Miss Vietnam U.S.A., the 10th anniversary of Ang Lee's "Wedding Banquet", Asian comedy night with Chopschtick comedy, and much more in this issue of News Bites.
First Annual Miss Vietnam U.S.A. Pageant
After five years of planning, the first annual "Miss Vietnam U.S.A." pageant will be held on December 20 at the Grove of Anaheim. Hosting the show will be Mai Phuong and Tuan Cuong. To promote the event, the coordinators produced a 30 second commercial that will be shown on ESPN during the next five Sunday Night Football games.
The show will feature sixty contestants from all over the nation competing for the grand prize of $20,000 and a brand-new Mercedes Benz. The first-runner up will win $10,000 and the second runner-up will win $5,000. There will also be a reward of $3,000 each in the categories of Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality and Miss Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress).
Along with the beauty pageant, the show will feature the R&B group All-4-One performing their smash hit "I Swear," and Last Comic Standing winner Dat Phan. There will also be a host of Vietnamese singers such as Y Lan, Don Ho, Trish, Tuan Ngoc, Quynh Huong, Thanh Ha, Diep Thanh Thanh, and many more. According to Guy Hua, one of the pageant coordinators, invitations were sent to celebrities such as Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and local TV News anchor Leyna Nguyen to serve as judges.
Tickets will be sold at TicketMaster, Vietnamese music store Tu Quynh, and the Asian Garden Mall Phuoc Loc Tho. Tickets range from $35 to $100. For more information, please call 1-800-618-1922 or visit missvietnamusa.com.
Amy Anderson's Chopschtick Comedy
"Chopschtick Comedy," the Asian American Comedy Night held at the Hollywood Improv on the first Saturday of every month will be having its next show on December 6. This show's lineup will include Pat Leborio, Bobby Miyamoto, Dan Nainan, and many others.
Hosted by Amy Anderson, "Chopschtick Comedy" is a groundbreaking show that features some of the hottest Asian American comedians in the country. Comedians who have appeared on past shows include Henry Cho, Dat Phan, Dr. Ken Jeong, Edwin San Juan, JoKoy, Donelle Tai Prado, and many others.
For reservation or ticket information, please call 323-651-2583 or visit amyanderson.net.
Mountain Dreams Exhibit at Philadelphia Museum of Art
From September 2 to December 31, over 25 works of art by Yoon Kwang-cho will be featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in an exhibit entitled "Mountain Dreams: Contemporary Ceramics by Yoon Kwang-cho." This exhibit marks the artist's first solo exhibition in an American museum.
Yoon is a Korean contemporary ceramist who specializes in the traditional Korean pottery known as buncheong. He has adapted this style to create his own distinctive ceramics with triangular and rectangular shapes that have white brushwork or characters incised on the surface.
This exhibition coincides with several events including the 27th Annual Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, Korean Heritage Weekend, and the 50th symposium of the American Ceramics circle.
The exhibition was sponsored by the Blackmore Foundation, the Korean Heritage Group of Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Korean Foundation, and the Hollis-Baldeck Fund.
The exhibit will be held at the North Auditorium Gallery on the ground floor. For more information, please visit philamuesum.org.
Echo of Dreams at UCLA
The Korean American Symphony Orchestra will be making its debut in "Echo of Dreams" at UCLA on December 10. Hosted by the Korean Youth and Community Center (KYCC), this show will feature the finest Korean American musicians from across the country.
There will be solo performances by artists such as violinist Joo Young Oh, pianist Alpin Hong, baritone In Joon Chang, and soprano Johee Choi. The event will be conducted by Jong-Hoon Bae, most notable for his collaboration with the St. Petersberg Philharmonic Society Orchestra. This event will be held as a musical celebration commemorating the centennial of Korean American art and culture.
The show will be held at Royce Hall. Tickets are currently on sale starting at $25. For ticket information please contact Christopher Lee at (213) 365-7400 ext. 129 or email him at clee@kyccla.org.
KYCC is a non-profit, community-based organization that has been serving the Korean American community since 1975. The programs and services are directed specifically at recent Korean immigrants, helping them and their families adjust to life in America.
For more information, please visit kyccla.org.
Korean Costumes Through the Ages
The Asia Pacific Museum in Pasadena is hosting the "Korean Costume Through the Ages" from November 1, 2003 until February 1, 2004. This exhibit will be the first of its kind in Southern California to trace the development of the hanbok (traditional Korean dress) from the Three Kingdoms Period (1st century BC- AD 668) to the modern period.
Curated by Dr. Kim Young Jae, the exhibit will feature over 50 costumes and accessories that were worn primarily by members of the Korean aristocracy. Some of the costumes on display will be the original pieces from the periods they represent, while others will be reproductions copied from paintings and sculptures. Also featured will be examples of contemporary Korean clothing designs.
Accompanying the exhibition will be a Korean American Timeline designed by Hesed Choi. The event is supported by the Government of the Republic of Korea, Korean Cultural Center of Los Angles, and Wells Fargo bank.
For information, please call 626-449-2642, ext. 19, or visit pacificasiamuseum.org.
10th Anniversary of Ang Lee's Wedding Banquet
A special event was held on November 20th at the San Francisco's Herbst Theater to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of Ang Lee's "The Wedding Banquet." The event featured an exclusive screening of the film, dinner and post-movie reception, and a performance by the cast of the hit stage adaptation of the film, "The Wedding Banquet: the Musical." There were also special appearances by the Oscar winning director, actress May Chin, and actor Mitchell Lichtenstein.
"The Wedding Banquet" was not only a groundbreaking film for the Asian American community, but the gay community as well. The movie was about a gay man trying to hide his homosexuality from his traditional Chinese parents by setting up a sham marriage. The topics that the movie dealt with such as race, culture, and sexual orientation continue to be pertinent today, especially in the Asian American community.
The event also doubled as a campaign to inform the Asian American community about the risk of hepatitis B infection. May Chin and Sihung Lung, two of the lead actors in "The Wedding Banquet" were diagnosed with liver cancer caused by hepatitis B. Although Chin is recovering, Lung passed away last year. He was a well known actor in Asia, who also appeared in Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman." All proceeds raised by the event will be donated to the Jade Ribbon Campaign of the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University.
This event was hosted by Noodle, a gay Asian American magazine, and presented by Glimpse.com with corporate sponsors HBO and Gilead. It was also co-sponsored by Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Frameline, NAATA, and the Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center.
Goryeo Dynasty Exhibit at San Francisco's Asian Art Museum
The San Francisco Asian Art Museum will be hosting the "Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918 to 1392" exhibit from October 18, 2003 until January 11, 2004. The exhibit will examine the artistic works produced during the Goryeo Dynasty with over 113 rare artworks on display, seven of which have been designated as the National Treasures of Korea. Items on display include celadon ceramics, Buddhist paintings and sculptures, illustrated Buddhist sutras, ritual implements, metal crafts and lacquer wares.
For many of these objects, it will be their first time on display in the U.S. They have been collected from over thirty-five lenders throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States. This is the first exhibition of its kind outside of Korea.
The event was organized by the museum and curated by Dr. Kumja Paik Park. Accompanying the exhibit will be a comprehensive 320-page catalogue published by the Asian Art Museum. The exhibit is currently held in conjunction with the exhibition of contemporary Asian art entitled "Leaning Forward, Looking Back: Eight Contemporary Artists from Korea."
For more information, please visit asianart.org.
Published: Friday, November 21, 2003
