Let Hands Do What Lips Do

Giving a quick shout-out to director Aaron Sawyer and Red Theater for their hit play R+J: The Vineyard, a reconceptualization of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet incorporating American Sign Language (ASL) along with spoken text. It's been getting a lot of good reviews and good buzz, and hopefully I'll get around to catching it before closing.

Aaron actually attended one of the intro classes at my dojo back in July, seeking something different for the fight choreography in the show. Afterward I did some coaching with the actors in the early stages of rehearsal, showing them the fundamentals of contact and flow used in Aikido.

Unfortunately, per Aaron, a lot of my original work didn't survive the transition as the show workshopped its way through rehearsals to tech/dress and finally opening, as the cast made adjustments to the performance space and their actual prop weapons (Well, that and I wasn't around to do any additional tweaking). However, I'm still getting a "Combat Consultant" credit, and given that this show looks like it's pretty groundbreaking, that's a small issue for me. Congratulations to all involved!

Telling the Tale Again: 

The Story of Chiune Sugihara

Back in August I was in a staged reading of Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust, a short play by Philip Pinkus, portraying the WWII era Vice-Consul for Japan in Lithuania who helped more than six thousand Jews escape the Holocaust. It turned out to be a rewarding experience in a couple of ways.

Held at the  Japanese American Service Committee (JASC)  and produced by  Genesis Theatricals, only a handful of people were anticipated. So, it was quite surprising when some 50 people or so showed up, requiring the organizers to lay out more folding chairs than expected. The reading was even attended by representatives of the Consulate-General of Japan in Chicago and the Japan Information Center. 

Even more heartwarming and moving was the appearnce of Chaya Small, who as a young girl was one of the many Jews whose lives were saved by Sugihara. During the talkback afterward with myself and my director, Elayne LeTraunik, Chaya spoke to the gathered crowd about her experiences and her undying gratitude for the man she described as having "done so much, but always shunned  recognition and honor."

I don't do much acting nowadays, with my son Jack taking up most of my spare time. But in many ways, I consider doing this less acting and more serving my community. In the context of World War II, being Japanese usually means you are the enemy (in the case of the war in the Pacific and Asia) or a victim (in the case of Japanese American internees). So I find it both important and valuable to know there was a tale of genuine heroism on the part of a Japanese national during that time period.

And on Tuesday, November 9, I will get two more opportunities to share this story with others.

First, I will be reading a short five-minute excerpt via Skype to a crowd of 200 to 250 people at Miami Dade College-Homestead Campus. It will be part of their Annual Kristallnacht Commemoration in remembrance of the Holocaust, and in addition to students and survivors, the local consul generals of Japan and Germany will be present.

Later on in the evening, there will be a second public reading of the full play at the Ner Tamid Ezra Habonim Egalitarian Minyan synagogue in Northtown.

I'm looking forward to both opportunities to share Sugihara's story with new audiences. I think it is truly profound, moving and unfortunately, largely unknown story. Strangely, this past September, the Japanese government began taking steps for Sugihara to be recognized in Unesco’s Memory of the World Register. So perhaps the timing just happens to be right.

Genesis Theatrical Productions presents a Dramatic Staged Reading of

Chiune Sugihara: Unsung Hero of the Holocaust by Philip Pinkus

The show features Dwight Sora as Chiune Sugihara.  Directed by Elayne LeTraunik

Tuesday, November 9 at 7:30 pm

Ner Tamid Ezra Habonim Egalitarian Minyan
7311 N Western Ave, Chicago

RSVP to Scott Adams at scottbeeadams59@gmail.com

No admission, though donations to a Holocaust survivor charity are welcome.

Your Democratic Presidential Primary Candidates

"I remember once, in Japan . . . "

Too Many Guns?

I love action movies. I doubt direct correlations between pop culture violence and real life (Otherwise every 80s kid raised on Stallone/Schwarzenegger flicks would have become Eric Harris or Dylan Klebold). But in light of the gun violence epidemic, maybe some new narratives should be offered through entertainment. Maybe instead of ordinary guys pushed too far and embarking on violent revenge, how about violent guys giving up on revenge and seeking a peaceful, ordinary life?

Hollywood movies set in or about Hawaii.

South Pacific (1958)
Starring Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr

Blue Hawaii (1961)
Starring Elvis Presley, Joan Blackman, Angela Lansbury

Hawaii (1966)
Starring Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow, Richard Harris

The Hawaiians (1970)
Starring Charlton Heston, Tina Chen, Geraldine Chaplin

The Descendants (2011)
Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller

Aloha (2015)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone

There's a pattern here. Assuming you can create patterns with an overwhelmingly monochromatic palette.

Recent photo of me with my wife, son and cousins from our recent visit to my father's hometown of Eleele on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. My family has been there for four generations. Altogether, we represent a combination of Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, Filipino and European ancestry.

My Asian parent-style take on Kim Davis: See, many Americans celebrate a woman who doesn't do her job or follow the rules. That's why their children can't get into good colleges.