Theater Star Jay Kim Proves his Diversity

LOS ANGELES - April 10, 2015 - PRLog -- Love can take on many forms, and passion can cause people to do things out of the ordinary. For actor Jay Kim, his deepest love and strongest passion is for the stage.

“I can’t count how many times I’ve snuck into theatres before or after rehearsals or shows,” he recalled, “Just to lie down looking up at the ceiling and feel as though I were lying on a beach in paradise.”

It is his love for theatre that began Kim’s acting career; and it is his passion that has fueled his journey into the highest levels of his talent and craft.

Some of the most recent theatrical productions in which Kim has starred include "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui," “The Rose Tattoo,” and “Blood Wedding.”

Written by German playwright Bertolt Brecht in 1941,"The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" is about the rise of Arturo Ui, a mobster in Chicago in the 1930’s. Ui and the members of the mob portrayed in the production were all created as satirical allegories for actual members of the Nazi party in Germany during World War 2. Ui represented Hitler, while Giri played by Kim, represented Hermann Wilhelm Göring, a leading member of the Nazi Party.

“Göring Hitler’s right-hand man, and an exceptional ace pilot. Based on the script and the real life of Göring, there was no question that the character had to be a professional killer,” explained Kim. “It was interesting to work on Giri due to the elastic similarities of Giri and Göring, and finding the balance between how much of the real Göring that Brecht wanted in the character Giri.”

Kim’s portrayal of the character Giri is a powerful example of the message of "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui," which still rings as true today as it did when it was originally written in 1941.

“It is about standing up and not cowering in when some tyrannical bully starts to stir up trouble,” Kim described.

One of Kim’s most enjoyable roles was Jack Hunter in “The Rose Tattoo,” written by Tennessee Williams and directed by Yorgos Karamihos. “I was overjoyed when I was cast as Jack,” Kim said, “I put my heart and soul into every part.”

In “The Rose Tattoo,” Jack represents the clash of the old and the new: a proud and virtuous young sailor who falls in love with a young girl named Rosa. The two have a picture perfect teenage romance with true love at the core. However, a dynamic conflict arises as Rosa's mother Serafina insists that her daughter shun romance, due to the betrayal and death of her late father.

To contrast the virtuous Jack, Kim played Leonardo, “the loveable bad boy, I suppose,” he recounted, in Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Blood Wedding.”

In this production, “the bride-to-be is to wed another man,” Kim explains, “but when Leonardo, who is now married, hears of this news, he has a conflict of heart. After the wedding, Leonardo and the girl run off together, initiating a manhunt.”

“Working on Leonardo was terrific fun; and tremendously exciting” Kim recalled.

Born in South Korea, Kim now lives in Los Angeles and has already risen to the top as he continues to capture leading roles in theatre, film, and television. His list of special skills only begins with fluency in more than five languages, and also includes mixed martial arts and competency in a variety of sports.