Interview: Lisa Helmi Johanson & Kimberly Immanuel Talk KIM LOO GETS A REDO, Opening Tonight at ICE Factory Festival

Kim Loo Gets a Redo, opening tonight as part of New Ohio Theatre's 28th annual Obie Award-winning ICE Factory Festival, is an original work highlighting the history and impact of the Kim Loo Sisters, the first Asian American act on Broadway.

Written by and featuring Lisa Helmi Johanson and Kimberly Immanuel, both bi-racial AAPI women who aim to use their art to lift up and amplify marginalized voices, the piece was created in response to the rise of hate crimes against the Asian community. Featuring multi-instrumental arrangements of 1930's and 1940's songs, original music performed both pre-recorded and live, percussive tap dance, and spoken word, the work hopes to reclaim agency lost, and educate the audience on the lesser-known history of the Kim Loo Sisters.

The show runs July 7 through July 10.

Tickets are available HERE!

We spoke with Lisa Helmi Johanson and Kimberly Immanuel about what inspired them to create Kim Loo Gets a Redo, about showcasing this important work during a time when hate crimes against the AAPI are on the rise, and more.

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When did you first hear about, and become interested in, the Kim Loo Sisters?

Kimberly: I participated in an online seminar about AAPI representation in the arts in January of 2021, and The Kim Loo Sisters were briefly mentioned. Their story stuck with me, because I had grown up as a half-Asian girl who loved golden age Hollywood movies, but never saw myself in them. When I heard about this incredible quartet of half-Asian women who broke countless barriers for AAPI performers in the 1930s and 1940s, I was instantly enthralled. I immediately began researching them, and kept thinking about what a difference it would've made in my life if I had known about these women sooner. I knew that I had to create a piece that shared their story with the world, and decided to contact my good friend Lisa Helmi Johanson to collaborate on the project with me.

What inspired you to create Kim Loo Gets a Redo?

Lisa: Kimberly and I had been working on the Kim Loo show for a couple of months, mainly doing virtual work sessions where we were trying to shape scenes and integrate elements of storytelling that incorporated our contemporary sensibilities - we wanted to tell their story but find an authenticity to us. It was tricky because the story of the Kim Loo Sisters is a pretty fascinating one! But we were coming up with some cool ideas of larger motifs and super-objectives for the show that were starting to resonate with us and thread in some modern throughlines...and then the Atlanta shootings happened. We were both deeply rocked. We checked in with each other but didn't have our work sessions for a while and had both quietly started writing to cope with the grief and the reckoning that we were going through. It was a deeper recognition of the very real violence people were capable of based on our race. Based on our appearance and what they associated with us. While microaggressions are nearly constant for so many people of color and marginalized communities, the level of violence of the shootings and the continued attacks on AAPI people across the country became undeniable.

But accepting the racism in your daily life is not easy, duh. To move through this grappling, Kimberly and I, independently of each other, started sharing what we were writing on social media. I was writing a lot of poetry and spoken word and Kimberly actually filmed and choreographed a spoken word piece she wrote and it is breathtaking. I was so moved seeing what she had made, and then I happened to see in a Facebook group that the deadline for the ICE Factory had been extended by a handful of days. I hadn't even heard of it but I saw the flyer, clicked the link, and just started writing a proposal. I took a primary element from the Kim Loo show we had been developing but pitched it alongside our current pieces we had written and were still actively writing inspired by the Atlanta shootings. I sent it to Kimmy who thought I was proposing that we go do a show in Ohio when I was, oh, by the way, eight months pregnant, but she loved the integration I was proposing and was game! Needless to say, she was glad when I told her weeks later that we had been accepted into the festival...and that it was actually in NYC.

What does it mean for you to be able to showcase this piece of work that uplifts and celebrates these amazing figures in the entertainment industry during a time when we are living through the rise of hate crimes against the Asian community?

Kimberly: It means everything to us. In many ways, this piece is a direct response to the rise of hate crimes against the AAPI community, and there are many very vulnerable moments in the show in which we share our personal reactions to the Atlanta shooting. It feels more important than ever to share these forgotten stories, educate audiences about the dangers of erasure, and celebrate the contributions of the Kim Loo Sisters.

Lisa: It is also meaningful to be passed the mic. Before the shootings happened, being focused on the elevation of Black and Brown communities became a focus for me that I had been woefully complacent of in the past. But to recognize that I, too, deserve some time being heard in that same way has been a significant part of my own unlearning and growth. Through the production of this piece as well as another podcast I've been showrunner on during the pandemic, I've started occasionally asking myself, "How would a cis white man in my position ask this question?" and it has been astonishing, despite my general capability of speaking up, to witness my own discomfort and subtle questioning of confidence. I recognize that this kind of confidence and elevating of my own voice is part of a privilege that I can continue to claim for myself with compassion and humility. So, all that to say, it means a lot.

What can audience members expect to see and hear with this show?

Lisa: I think that despite the source of our inspiration for the piece, which is quite heavy, audience members can expect to laugh a lot more than they might have guessed, as well as be delighted by certain elements of the traditional musical theater that both Kimberly and I love.

How does it feel to have this piece be performed live after so many months of it only being safe for art to be shown virtually?

Kimberly: This is the most personal and intimate piece that both Lisa and I have ever performed, so getting the chance to perform it for a live audience and have real human connection after over a year of virtual performances is invaluable to us.

What has it been like for you working with the New Ohio Theatre and having this show be a part of the ICE Factory Festival?

Lisa: Our initial virtual meeting with Jaclyn and Robert of the New Ohio and ICE Factory was so exciting and galvanizing. Kimberly and I were incredibly moved at how much they believed in our piece and wanted to help us make it happen, despite the fact that I also had to inform them after being selected that I was going to be at my due date during the first dates they proposed! They made it happen for us and we are so grateful.

What do you hope audiences take away from Kim Loo Gets a Redo?

Kimberly: We hope that audiences not only learn a little something about the Kim Loo Sisters and the erasure of AAPI women, but that they're also able to take away some hope, joy, inspiration, and empathy from the piece.

Lisa: Hopefully it can also serve as a piece that shows how listening to marginalized folx can be a meaningful and heartfelt human interaction and is not just being told that they're wrong. I think that our country is struggling deeply with how to listen to others without bringing in an element of validating their own pain in a prepared response as a defense that they, too, are hurting. Hopefully this piece can be one more affirmation put out there that tells folx we can all listen to each other's experiences and release our defenses as we move forward, seen and heard, together.

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