As the lights lowered in the decorated Modern Theater and the audience took their seats, a spectacle of Asian culture appeared before them at the Asian American Association Cultural Showcase.
The event highlighted performers from different cultures and countries, showcasing unique talents and skills and ended in a performance by comedian and The Daily Show correspondent, Ronny Chieng.
Leah Magno, a freshman in the AAA, explained that the organization chose Chieng last year for this year’s showcase. The group was able to contact his booking agent and since he lives in New York, it was a perfect match.
The event was a community effort, as AAA public relations chair Anna Nguyen gave a shout out to SLI, SGA and WSFR for their help to make the event possible, as well as the Asian Student Union at Boston University.
Events like the showcase provide Suffolk students with a chance to experience a multitude of cultures.
“We need more events like these to get the Suffolk community out to show that there are other cultures and that they’re having events and showing respect to these holidays,” said Ben Chan, a senior global and cultural communications major.
The AAA itself strives to be inclusive to all asian cultures, providing a variety of activities and events for different cultures. You do not to be of asian descent to join the club as well.
“It’s every Asian culture possible. We just want to share our love and interest in different cultures and be able to explore new things,” said Kathy Le, a sophmore in the AAA.
To kick off the night, Liane Wong, a relative of AAA president Brandon Wong, played three songs on the dulcimer, a classical chinese instrument. The instrument’s unique sound filled the air as the audience watched Wong’s precision and memorization,
Later on Yoojin Lee, a south korean student, serenaded the audience with her rendition of “I’m Not The Only One” by Sam Smith. Audience members were so impressed by her singing they held up their phone lights as if they were at a concert and sang along.
“Not just in one area of Asia… [you’re] getting a bit of every taste possible from China, to Japan, to different towns all around [Asia],” said Le.
The next act was Jamzy, a rapper from London that has been featured on BBC’s Asian Network. He performed two songs off his EP WordSmith and gained the crowd’s approval as audience members were clapping along to the beat with the artist.
Boston College was also represented at the event as one of the school’s dance teams Conspiracy Theory dance crew performed a variation of hip hop and breakdance moves. Each member of the crew confidently strolled out onto center stage and performed their variation of moves, ending with a dance battle between two of the members.
Guests were delighted when it was time to announce the winners of a raffle that was passed out as they entered the theater. The main prize of the night was a voucher for a meet-and-greet with Chieng himself, along with an AAA shirt.
As the last act of the night, Chieng made his Modern Theater debut to cheers from the audience as he strolled onto the stage. Speaking on his own move to America, specifically living in New York City, Cheng connected with the audience, often times straying from his act and directly interacting with people in the crowd.
Chieng entertained the Suffolk community with topics relating to Amazon Prime, the excessiveness of goods in America, and saving the earth. While mentioning his roots of being born in Malaysia, Chieng has a personal New England connection. He was partly raised in Manchester, NH and would often come to Boston’s Chinatown with his family.
Even after the event closed, Chieng could be seen milling around and talking to the other performers at the event and posing as SU Photography Club snapped pictures.
“It was a great experience…during the meet and greets he was patient and considerate wit each person he talked to, you could tell he really cared.” said Casey Grosjean, president of SU Photography Club.
