Artist of the Month-January-Angie Palmer
This month's artist of the month is Angie Palmer. We've been covering a lot of traditional theatre artists recently and felt the need to cover a different medium. We came across Miss Palmer who is a local actress in both film and stage. She embodies the melting pot of Hong Kong, speaking several languages and knowing acting techniques from around the globe. On top of everything else, she's super nice.
1. Name, Birthplace, Age
Angie Palmer
Hong Kong (Singaporean)
Are you asking my biological, psychological, or chronological age?
People know me as a "gypsy" as I move around a lot, even in one city. Having lived and worked in countries like Singapore, China, Japan, Australia, and the U.S., I see myself evolving into an international citizen, which shows in my work. I was born and raised in Hong Kong and spent quite some time in Singapore and, whenever I can, I want to showcase my cultural roots and background. It'll be awesome if I can be in a production where I'm required to speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Singlish, and English (and even Japanese) at the same time. I was just cast into a comedic theater play depicting Hong Kong problems that requires multicultural talents so I'm really looking forward to this one.
3. Where did you train?
Mostly in the U.S. where I went to acting classes and worked with some of the best people in the industry. There's a Chinese saying that it's better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 scrolls. I learned best when I was observing and interacting with good actors on stage or on set. Some of the U.S. theater actors who really inspired me were Rudy Frias, Steve Emerson,and Ronald Jenkins in Columbus, Ohio. You really feel their presence when they are on stage and their creativity and professionalism are epic. I'm so blessed to have worked with Rudy and Steve in Romeo and Juliet, and Ron in One Race, One People, One Peace.
My favorite style of theater is multimedia theater. I have seen a few in the U.S. and one here in Hong Kong. In fact, I was in a traveling theater troupe called Flow Theater that utilized videos to enhance the performance. Traditional art forms combined with technology will intrigue people who otherwise may not have interest in theater plays. Multimedia visuals also help convey the message and enhance the set in a more interesting and dynamic way. I come from a business and online marketing background, so injecting technology into a theater production makes perfect sense to me.
I'm tempted to say some of the Broadway shows I saw in New York City, but there are a lot of good theater productions that go unnoticed purely because they are less well-known with no marketing budget. I once saw Richard the Third produced and directed by Steve Emerson in Columbus, Ohio. It was a comedic, contemporary version of this Shakespeare play in a small event space at Gateway Film Center. Their Richard is half-man, half-puppet, but still a thumb-sucking, egomaniac murderer. It's a bold move and by coincidence there were two other local theater companies producing Richard The Third as well. It's crazy competition, but his production turned out to be so innovative and funny that even people who didn't like or understand Shakespearean English found it very entertaining.
It has to be Invincible Truth by Allen Lam and Tony Wong. It's a multimedia theater show that focuses on LGBT issues. I always tell people I enjoy performing on stage and producing films, but it'll be so much more meaningful if the film or show can bring out a special message that invokes thoughts about society and humanity. Films, photos, and words are all tools for us to convey a message, so entertainment is just one element.
Love Stalk, one of the latest films I produced and acted in. I always wanted to be in a project that proudly shows my roots. This is a film about a Singaporean executive having a hard time finding love in the one-night-stand capital of the world, Hong Kong. We have great feedback from people who have watched our trailer and reviewer's copy. It's a romance turned thriller plot that combines the cultural elements of Hong Kong, Singapore, and social media.
It has great production values though we had very limited resources - four cast and crew, a few pieces of equipment with a lot of dedication, tears, and time. We have started submitting Love Stalk to film festivals and are hoping we can make a feature based on this 25-minute short in 2013. We are looking for investors and sponsors at this point. It's a huge undertaking but I know it'll be worth it. For those who are curious about it, please find us on http://www.facebook.com/
8. What is your process like?
Whether it's film or theater, I learn my lines and try to get off-book before the rehearsals with the cast and director. I also like to practice with a friend or two and see what kind of reactions I'll get from them. That's when I can fine tune the character analysis and get inspirations to find alternative ways to play a character. I want to be well prepared before I go on set though things may change around and improvisation is required in certain projects.
My dream project is turning Love Stalk into a feature-length movie as I mentioned. My creative partner Joe Fiorello and I are confident there is great potential in this film. We want to rock Hong Kong and show people that anything is possible as long as you put your mind and heart to it. We want to make it a completely local project with Hong Kong cast and crew. My motto is "let's make Hong Kong independent filmmakers proud!"
Just one thing? I have quite a few! I would love to have more people appreciating and supporting independent films and theater productions. Being independent isn't an easy thing but I love the beauty of being able to produce projects the way we want it. I enjoy commercial blockbusters with celebrities and special effects but I also want to tell my stories authentically and move the audience with scenes they can relate to in their daily lives.
I also agree with Nicole Garbellini West about the difficulties of asking people to cross the harbor to see an English theater. This is on my to-do list to help build a variety club in Tsim Sha Tsui, something like a Fringe Club but on the Kowloon side. Oh, and Chun Ying hit the nail on the head too. We actors need to make a living, so local independent theater companies need to start getting investors and sponsors so they can pay the cast and crew. This is how we can keep the art and love going.
In March you can catch Ms. Palmer in a world premiere play called #hkproblems. You can follow the show on twitter @hkproblems_play. Please also check out her short film, Love Stalk. Local indie film artists need love too!
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