My First Time

                                                                                                             Photo by Bronwyn Barnwell
I'm pleased to report that the great delay in posting after the fabulous Asian American shirtlessness of "Charles Francis Chan" this fall was entirely due to the process of creating more Asian American male shirtlessness for this winter.  Not only did I manage to create another opportunity for a lucky Asian American actor to take off his shirt on the usually white white New York stage, but I even found a way to get in on the action myself!  Voila, I give you my own first time of being featured on the blog!

I hope my gentle readers will enjoy this promotional photo for my current Off-Broadway play "Washer/Dryer," running through February 20th at the Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row.  I certainly enjoyed taking it!  I'm also enjoying doing something else for the first time, playing a romantic lead along with my buff leading man, Johnny Wu, who is also popping his romantic lead cherry on the show.  Given the positive response by the audience, one has to ask oneself why so few opportunities exist for Asian Americans to look sexy and take off their shirts?  If we take off our shirts, are we not shirtless?  Just as there is a desire for more male shirtlessness, I'm convinced that there is a strong desire for sexy Asian characters out there too.  IMS to the rescue, one play at a time!

I must share that almost every Asian American actor who auditioned for the role of Michael mentioned how rare it was to audition for a romantic lead.  While Asian American females are often portrayed as sexual fetishes for white men in modern media, Asian American males are undoubtedly emasculated by it.  This is why it was  important for me that both leads be of Asian descent, so that the chemistry looked like connection rather than exoticism in proximity to whiteness.  In my play, we only need each other to be turned on.  I purposefully strove to create characters who, like the leads in other traditional rom-coms, cared deeply about connecting with their partner, rather than about expressing feelings about their Asian American heritage.   Also, I wanted to create a situation in which a woman could ask for and receive sex without being labelled as damaged in any way.  Much has been said about the stereotyping of Asian characters, but very little about how damaging it is for an entire community to be excluded from any discussion of love, romance, and sexuality.

                                                                                                           Photo by Hunter Canning

The result of all this striving and trying is my play! The New York premiere of "Washer/Dryer" has been playing to packed houses for the last two weeks and a rave review on NY1.  Since shirtlessness is best experienced live, I suggest you click here for tickets to see the Asian American sexiness for yourself.  You might also witness the President of IMS herself get to say "Take off your shirt!"  Until then, I continue to be...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President of IMS

Challenging Shirtlessness

Gentle readers, over the past few months I found myself daunted by the prospect of posting.  Not that shirtlessness is so hard to find, but alas, it seemed all the shirtlessness in the media was being exhibited by white men.  Are people of color not considered sexy in our society?  This prospect depressed me, and I needed to take a hiatus from posting.  But recently a friend and colleague, Peter Kim, suggested that I use my blog for good by sharing information about a play that addresses some of these issues, and I heartily agreed.  For one, it afforded me the opportunity to interview the charming leading man and talk about Asian American male masculinity in the theater.

The show in question is Lloyd Suh's "Charles Francis Chan Jr.'s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery," presented by the National Asian American Theatre Company at Walkerspace in Tribeca.  This send up of an Agatha Christie novel turns Asian American stereotypes on their heads and asks the audience to examine its own image of Asian Americans, and especially Asian American men.  The titular character, played with verve by Jeffrey Omura,  rails against the boxes he feels pushed into as an "Oriental" attending Berkeley in the 60s.  His quest to forge a new Asian American identity is paralleled by a Charlie Chan murder mystery replete with yellowface as well as his own personal journey to understand his father.

Mr. Omura, who identifies himself ethnically as half-Japanese and half-English, was kind enough to spend some time with me on his day off to answer a few questions about the role.  When asked about his general attitude towards male shirtlessness, he replied that since "women's bodies are exploited all the time, it's only fair that men should be equally exploited."  I inducted him as a member of IMS immediately.  We went on to talk about other opportunities he has had to be shirtless in shows and his opportunities to portray romantic characters.  He told me a story about auditioning for Puck in "Midsummer Night's Dream" last year when the director asked him to read the sides for Lysander.  Since graduating from drama school, he had never been considered for one of the lovers before and was actually shocked in the audition.  Happily he booked the role, but it did give him pause to think that while he had auditioned for Puck multiple times, this was the first time a director had thought to see him as a lover.  I think this story is not an unusual one for Asian American actors.

As Charles Francis Chan, however, Mr. Omura gets to play more than a lover; he plays a fully fleshed out man who struggles with his own identity in relation to society, his family, and in his relationship.  What drew him to the role was the way in which Lloyd Suh created two very aggressively opinionated Asian American characters (the female lead, Cathy, played with defiance by the stunning Jennifer Ikeda) to contradict the common perception of the Model Minority which he found unique.

Though Mr. Omura does not take off his shirt onstage, he was kind enough to share his shirtless backstage antics with IMS, challenging the myth that Asian American guys are not hunky all on his own.  As you can see above, he also does a tank top proud in the show.  If this is not reason enough to see "Charles Francis Chan Jr.'s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery" before it closes on November 21st, I don't know what is!  Click here to get your tickets now while I continue to be...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Shirtlessness Acheived!

Gentle readers, I realize that it has been six months since I last posted to the blog.  While 2014 was a bit of a lackluster year for IMS, I will defend my latest lapse in posting as rather more time spent on the cause rather than less.  For in these last six months, I have been working hard on the world premier production of my play "Washer/Dryer" at Los Angeles' East West Players, and I am pleased to announce that this production does indeed feature male shirtlessness!  After years of blogging about other people creating opportunities for male shirtlessness, I am so happy to announce that I have joined that community of creators.

Although the above posted segment only hints at the shirtlessness in the show, I assure you that there is good shirtlessness to be found at multiple instances.  It most certainly lives up to the Two Point Standard of Fitness and Seeing the Sun, and also strikes a blow on behalf of Asian men by presenting a sexy and sexual Asian American leading man.  I'm very happy!

I'm also very proud of the production because it portrays two Asian American characters having sexual desire and agency.  My South Asian female lead wants her husband to take off his shirt and he complies to make her (and himself) happy.  I often laugh about this blog and my writing it, but on a serious note, when we are bombarded by images intended to please the white male gaze, I'm happy that I can add something into the cultural landscape that acknowledges women of color and their desires.  Baby steps, I know, but steps nonetheless.

So gentle readers and IMS members, I hope you will forgive my putting the blog on pause while I concentrated on putting some good diverse shirtlessness into the world.  If you are in the Los Angeles area, check it out for yourself!  And remember that I continue to be...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Supportive Shirtlessness

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The Vice President of IMS and I have returned from Italy, and after battling some severe separation anxiety from the land of cheese and pizza which we both classified as jetlag, we seem to back on track and ready to promote the cause.  As a returning officer to a cause, I thought it seemed only right to watch "Madam Secretary" last night.  Honestly, I thought I would be supporting the crazy idea that you could have an entire night of programming on network television led by women, but happily within the first few minutes of the show, I was also treated to some male shirtlessness to go with that female power.  In the opening sequence, we see our smart and powerful leading lady, Tea Leoni, awakened by a phone call with her husband, Tim Daly, lying shirtless beside her.  As she takes the call, he remains shirtless and appears supportive of his wife's incredibly stressful job.  I can't even say how happy it made me.  Perhaps "Shirtless Supportive Guy" is a new archetype that we should be touting on the blog.  I like Ms. Leoni and Mr. Daly on the show, and despite some obvious tear-jerking pandering, I like the show.  I can only hope that the cast becomes more diverse as it proceeds through the season, and that of course, Mr. Daly continues to take his shirt off to support his wife's career.  Until next week, I continue to be...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Arrivederci Shirtlessness!

Gentle readers, I am off to Italy for a two week vacation with the Vice President of IMS in tow.  In honor of our sojourn, I give you the Italian National Football Team in Dolce & Gabbana.  I understand it's still quite hot in Rome, and I'm hoping that shirtlessness will be part of our tour along with gelato, cheese, pork products, and wine.  So please know, that even as we frolic along the Amalfi Coast, we will continue to be working for the cause.  Until I return, I remain...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Shirtlessness for Good

Gentle readers, I am happy to report that I have found some shirtlessness for good to post as an antidote to all the bad news in the world.  The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has taken the internet by storm, and I'm happy to see that some participants decided to take it shirtless.  It restores some hope that shirtlessness can be a force for good in the world even in the face of darkness.  You all know my love for the Old Spice Guy, and here he is, doing his part to battle the disease.  One IMS member also alerted me to this list of shirtless ice bucket challenges, perhaps not as eloquent as the one above, but certainly worth checking out.  Enjoy, gentle readers!  And please remember that our cause can spread not only joy but healing in the world.  I continue to be...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

No Shirtlessness Today

I'll admit that I did not post last week because I understood that my blog seemed to be driving some traffic toward my friend Isaiah's photography website.  (If you haven't checked it out, yet, please do!)  But since last Monday, the news in the world has been so sad, it seems inappropriate to post shirtless pictures of men.  I realize that one needs levity in order to get through the tough spots, and I promise to bring some next week.  But for today, I think it's best to take a dark night in honor of all the tragedies that have happened and continue to happen to people caught in the midst of politics larger than themselves.  I leave you respectfully...

Simply yours,
Nandita
President
Indians for Male Shirtlessness