By MIKEY HIRANO CULROSS
Rafu Arts & Entertainment
“I’m not sure how much I can look like I’m in my 80s, but that’s my part in this play,” said Naoyuki Ikeda, flashing a wide, leprechaun-esque smile.
The 40-ish Nagoya-born actor plays an elderly restaurant patron, as part of the ensemble cast who will take the stage this weekend in a production of “Imported Bride,” playing Friday and Saturday at the Armstrong Theatre in Torrance.
Based on a novel by Chang Jinyi, the story is set in a small 1990s cafe in L.A.’s Chinatown. The bachelor cook at the restaurant suffers a disfiguring kitchen accident that leaves him convinced that he will never find love.
Ikeda is one of the cast of characters of staff and customers that all have their own dreams and desires. He plays a widower who befriends the immigrant waitress and takes her under his wing as if she were his child.
“This play asks many questions about what is love, what is culture, how family relationships are defined,” Ikeda said. “My character, who was heartbroken after the death of his wife, finds reasons to live when the waitress becomes like his own daughter.”
The play also features Mike Hagiwara, Alison Minami and Doris Usui.
Ikeda said the theme of food as culture, as a thing to be shared, is central to all the emotions of “Imported Bride.”
“It’s difficult to survive in a foreign culture, to find your place and feel at home,” he explained. “In the play, the chef, the waitress, the customers, all become a kind of family.”
“Imported Bride” will be performed Friday, May 8, and Saturday, May 9, at the Armstrong Theatre, 3330 Civic Center Dr. in Torrance. Both shows begin at 8 p.m. For tickets or more information, call (310) 781-7171, or visit www.torrancearts.org.
You can now move your WhatsApp chat history from iPhone to Android (but there's a catch)Apple's latest MacBooks Pro will be backordered until at least DecemberFacebook's new iOS app will let you make and share your own AR filtersHow to set up a VPN on XboxNetflix's 'The Harder They Fall' is a stirring spectacleHinge launches voice notes and voice promptsHertz orders 100,000 Teslas to build the largest EV rental fleet in the U.S.The most exclusive 'dating app for Jews' is not actually that JewishFaceTime helps Good Samaritan rescue opossum on streets of NYCThis random restaurant bot account is the best thing on Twitter Emmys 2020: Check out the full list of winners Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold is finally ready to pre 'The Fresh Prince of Bel All 45 seasons of 'Saturday Night Live' are coming to Peacock Amazon’s new Echo speaker puts Alexa in an orb Apple's next iPad Pro to have mini Amazon One lets you pay at stores with the palm of your hand Biden/Harris amps up Animal Crossing campaigning with new virtual swag Roku's newest 4K streamers: A redesigned Ultra and a miniature soundbar Everything coming to Amazon Prime Video in October 2020
0.2194s , 10116.921875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【????? ???????? ?? ???? ????】Enter to watch online.A Mix of Food and Family,