Nancy Kwan

Nancy Kwan was just 18, studying dance with England's Royal Ballet School, when she was spotted by producer Ray Stark, who tested her and gave her the starring role of a free-spirited Hong Kong prostitute who captivates artist William Holden in "The World of Susie Wong" (1960). She followed it the next year with the hit musical "Flower Drum Song" and became one of Hollywood's most visible Asian actresses. "Both roles were very bold," Wong recalls today.

If the 1960 drama "The World of Suzie Wong" -- about the relationship between an American painter and a Hong Kong prostitute -- had been made five years earlier, Hong Kong native Nancy Kwan would never have been cast in the lead role. Hollywood's Motion Picture Production Code didn't allow portrayals of interracial romance, stating that "miscegenation is forbidden. " Miscegenation laws were on the books in some states until the late 1960s. That hadn't been the case before the code was written in 1930.

Nancy Kwan recalls that the 1961 film version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Flower Drum Song" was such a big hit with audiences, "I used to go to Chinese restaurants and get Chinese for free all the time! It was very well-received. We were very proud because it was an all-Asian cast and it made money." Kwan, a vivacious 62, played Linda Low, a beautiful and ambitious performer in a Chinatown nightclub in San Francisco.

Nancy Kwan sat behind a desk on the stage of the David Henry Hwang Theatre, gazing at James Shigeta to her right. He kept his eyes on the script as he read from A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters." But Kwan didn't look away from Shigeta as they prepared for two readings of the play Saturday, benefiting East West Players. There was a logical explanation for why she looked at him but he didn't look at her. He was reading words of love from his character to Kwan's -- after Kwan's character has died.

It's hard to pinpoint the cause of the immediate allure of Morgan Fisher's monochrome paintings at China Art Objects Gallery, except perhaps to say that they seem instantly like puzzles solved. Lots of monochrome paintings start out seeming like inscrutable puzzles, but these work backward to that point. If technology indeed demands the most elegant solution to a specific problem, then Fisher is a technological whiz. The show includes two types of paintings.

If the 1960 drama "The World of Suzie Wong" -- about the relationship between an American painter and a Hong Kong prostitute -- had been made five years earlier, Hong Kong native Nancy Kwan would never have been cast in the lead role. Hollywood's Motion Picture Production Code didn't allow portrayals of interracial romance, stating that "miscegenation is forbidden. " Miscegenation laws were on the books in some states until the late 1960s. That hadn't been the case before the code was written in 1930.

Nancy Kwan sat behind a desk on the stage of the David Henry Hwang Theatre, gazing at James Shigeta to her right. He kept his eyes on the script as he read from A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters." But Kwan didn't look away from Shigeta as they prepared for two readings of the play Saturday, benefiting East West Players. There was a logical explanation for why she looked at him but he didn't look at her. He was reading words of love from his character to Kwan's -- after Kwan's character has died.

. . . Co-producer Don Simpson--who has, at most, two lines in "Days of Thunder"--gives himself fourth billing, ahead of much busier players. . . . The "winner" of the summer movie body count tally would seem to be Fox's upcoming "Die Hard 2." Along with the usual bloody mayhem, it has a passenger-filled jet liner going down in flames. . . .

East West Players, the nation's foremost Asian Pacific American theater, explores the symbiotic relationship between two antagonistic siblings who come to terms with their differences in "Arthur and Leila," a complex psychological play. The Los Angeles premiere of Cherylene Lee's new play, a bittersweet comedy set amid the backdrop of family strife, is the East West Players' second production during a 28th season that has been dedicated to plays written by or about women.

B.J. Baker, a backup singer on dozens of recordings from the 1950s and '60s, including hits by Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke and Bobby Darin, died April 2 in Rancho Mirage of complications from a stroke. She was 74. In addition to her work at the microphone, Baker was a highly regarded vocal contractor--a person who selects and directs background singers for recording sessions.

It's hard to pinpoint the cause of the immediate allure of Morgan Fisher's monochrome paintings at China Art Objects Gallery, except perhaps to say that they seem instantly like puzzles solved. Lots of monochrome paintings start out seeming like inscrutable puzzles, but these work backward to that point. If technology indeed demands the most elegant solution to a specific problem, then Fisher is a technological whiz. The show includes two types of paintings.

Nancy Kwan recalls that the 1961 film version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Flower Drum Song" was such a big hit with audiences, "I used to go to Chinese restaurants and get Chinese for free all the time! It was very well-received. We were very proud because it was an all-Asian cast and it made money." Kwan, a vivacious 62, played Linda Low, a beautiful and ambitious performer in a Chinatown nightclub in San Francisco.

Nancy Kwan was just 18, studying dance with England's Royal Ballet School, when she was spotted by producer Ray Stark, who tested her and gave her the starring role of a free-spirited Hong Kong prostitute who captivates artist William Holden in "The World of Susie Wong" (1960). She followed it the next year with the hit musical "Flower Drum Song" and became one of Hollywood's most visible Asian actresses. "Both roles were very bold," Wong recalls today.

Growing up in San Francisco's Chinatown, Arthur Dong loved going to the movies and began collecting movie fliers when only 7. The first one, like first love, is imprinted in memory — "Flower Drum Song" (1961), based on a hit Rodgers and Hammerstein musical about the Chinese American generation gap. "It was really something because it was the first English-language film shown at the Great Star Theatre," he recalls, "and also because it was a Hollywood film with all Asian actors."

The day after the conclusion of the Mark Taper Forum's successful three-month engagement of Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical "Flower Drum Song," four cast members from the sold-out revival arrived at the Leo S. Bing Theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Jennifer Paz, who played Mei-Li, Jodi Long (Madame Liang), Jose Llana (Ta) and Sandra Allen (Linda) were a bit sleepy-eyed from the closing-night festivities but eager to watch the 1961 film.