Northwest Asian Weekly, November 2000
Dim Sum! The Musical! is simply scrumptious
By Yayoi Una Winfrey
For the NW Asian Weekly
During the Sun Dynasty of 960 to 1280 AD, drinking tea became a popular Chinese custom. Following a grueling day in the fields, agrarian communities; relaxed at local teahouses with their favorite beverages and snacks. As the varieties of tea offered to the public grew, so did the accompanying munchies.
Although the characters for dim sum are written as yin cha and is literally translated as "to drink tea,' the word now means the supplementing delicacies. Prepared in bite-sized pieces so that several different kinds can be sampled, dim sum was traditionally served in bamboo steamers.
According to good friend and Chinese food expert Serena Louie, the dim sum experience hails from Canton. It also has another definition – "a little piece of the heart' because each steamed dumpling is symbolic of apportioned love.
Dim Sum! The Musical!, on the other hand, is inedible, albeit chock full of little pieces of the heart.
Entertaining and educational, the play is a collection of comical sketches and songs that humorously looks at the various ways dim sum is prepared, served, sampled, bought and sold from the perspective of cooks, wait staff, customers, restaurant owners and even the dim sum themselves.
Featuring the Pork Filled Players, Seattle's only multicultural comedy group, Dim Sum! is performed as a series. of titled vignettes. Each actor is named after a dim sum ingredient, but portrays several nameless characters, making it exasperating Ito figure out which skit is on according to the program.
Cleverly choreographed by Wendy Chinn, Dim Sum! opens with, a burlesque-like production number featuring dancers in black fishnet stockings, leather pants and vinyl shorts.
David Kobayashi (nor mei gai) is the appropriately snooty maitre'd who speaks with a French accent and guides us through the acts as if they were luncheon specials.
In between bits, Seung Yon Lee (chicken feet) as a harried waitress urges a cart full of goodies across, the stage, aggressively hurling suggestions at the audience. In another scene she is excellent as the put-upon immigrant employee, fighting off sexual harassment by boss Kobayashi.
Popular American culture is parodied in pieces about the television series "Charlie's Angles" and "X-Please," a spoof on the comic book superhero movie "The X-Men." In a lampoon about Russian agents, there's a spy named Jackoff, while "Loan a Part" features adorable animals tricked into trading body parts for money.
Eric de los Santos (manapua boy) is a gifted actor stealing scene after scene. In "'Hot Wasabi:' he's a pocket protector-wearing dork with taped eyeglasses who turns on his female companion with his steamy reaction to their spicy meal. His animated facial expressions are priceless.
"Our food is so bad, even white people won't eat it," complains an Asian restaurant worker. "Dim Sum Master" (de los Santos) is the see-all mystic who instructs the restaranteur and his staff on improving their venue. Annoyed with the loud piped-in Oriental music, he demands it be turned off.
"If I wanted to bear this music, I'd go back to Taiwan" he blurts out.
Marinel de Jesus (siu mai) is a skillful songstress with a lovely voice. One hilarious bit has her singing her heart out to a table full of Asian customers who are all too polite to eat the last piece of dim sum- her. Finally, she appeals to the lone white patron and proclaims her love for him when he agrees to shamelessly devour her..
In "The Bill," manapua boy and Darren Wade (cheng fun) argue over who will pay the dinner bill. When manapua boy insists that he should since he makes more money, the fight (and the laughs) is on.
Produced by Roger W. Tang and directed by Cyndie Mastel-Rokicki, "Dim Sum!" showcases an ensemble of incredibly talented actors singers. dancers and comedians.
Though skilfully written with lots of clever quips, Dim Sum! could use a little music to segue the vignettes. At times, the choices didn't quite fit with the theme of either the previous or following act. It was also irritating to strain to hear the mic-less actors when the audience's loud guffaws overpowered their lines. Still, the production is both captivating and comical.
All in all, Dim Sum! The Musical! is a delicious way to spend an evening. Go and share a piece of the heart, but be prepared for the hunger pangs afterward for some real dim sum - the edible land.
"Dim Sum! The Musical!" plays now, through Nov. 19 at the Theater Off Jackson, located at 409 Seventh Ave. S. in Seattle. For tickets and show times, call (206) 221-5621.
City Collegian, November 2000
An' Dim Sum!
Dotstry Jackson
City Collegian
Dim Sum! The Musical! opened to a near-cpacity audience of cast friends, family and people with 
an obvious fetish for the insane, October 27, at the Theatre Off Jackson. Performed by the Pork Filled Players, a local comedy troupe, the cast took to poking fun (with a red hot dagger, directly to the eyes) of every politically correct or incorrect cliche they could think of. During the performance, they also tackled many mysteries: What are the origins of the Dim Sum? Cantonese hillbillies, maybe? Why do record companies love multicultural superstars? "Two languages, two Cds!" Think about it, silly. And, most importantly, why the hell are you not at the Theatre Off Jackson Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights?
The interior of the Theatre Off Jackson is an interesting sight. Paper lanterns line the hallway of the lobby, giving it an impressive, antiquated look despite the set of modern track lighting next to it. This combination of cultures begins to set the tone for what is in store: a seemingly ridiculous, yet dead on satire on what various ethnicities living in America consider American Culture to be.
The Pork Filled Players, consisting of a huge range of personalities, showed their impressive skills and their total disdain for traditional racial roles by rarely having actors/actresses play roles typically played by people of that skin color. For example, "goofy but sexy white guy" and "Dim Sum Master", a master of martial arts as well as culinary arts, were played by the same Hawaiian actor. In a series of sketches meant to either educate or humiliate the stereotypical gaijin (an outlander, for those of you not in the know). Even though the production insists "It ain't no musical," the cast gives their hilarious take on quite a few Broadway and Top 40 hits, in addition to original non-musical material.
As impressive as the show was, regardless of the fact that each biting remark hit home with accuracy normally reserved for political science teachers, there were some topics they really should have left alone. For example, who needs to be reminded of the extremely annoying Pepsi girl that induces violent shudders with every attempt to be cute and consumer savvy. "out of sight, out of mind" is how the saying goes, and the longer, the better.
But don't be surprised if you never see the same sketches ever again. The actors gave off the impression that every performance was unique and even decided to stray from the program every once in a while.
Dim Sum! The Musical! is running from Oct. 27 to Nov. 19 every Friday and Saturday at 10:30 pm and Sundays at 4:30 pm, at the Theatre Off Jackson, right under the Wing Luke Museum.
Email oink@porkfilled.com