Performer and activist Alvin Ing died July 31 at his home in Los Angeles. Born May 26, 1932, in Honolulu, Ing earned his bachelor’s in music education from University of Hawaii, then came to New York for graduate studies at Columbia. A chance meeting in Times Square with Bob Magoon, a friend from Hawaii, landed Ing his first agent, who arranged an audition with Broadway producer Salvatore Dell’Isola. “I auditioned for Dell’Isola, he accepted me, I took the train back, packed my bags, and I was in show business,” Ing said in a recent interview.
Ing’s first break was the national tour of Flower Drum Song, understudying the role of Wang Ta. “If it hadn’t been for Flower Drum Song, I probably would have quit the business. There was hardly any work for an Asian then,” Ing said. (Below is Ing with Jose Llana and Telley Leung singing “You Are Beautiful” in BC/EFA’s tribute to Flower Drum Song during the 2018 Red Bucket Follies.) To improve the job opportunities for Asian actors, Ing and Catherine Okada Robin founded Theater for Asian American Performing Artists (TAAPA), best known for its skits during the US Commission on Civil Rights hearings in New York.
Over the next decade, Ing’s other musical work included roles in the Philadelphia tryout of Chu Chem (1966), in the Off-Broadway premiere of Charles Strouse’s Six (1971), and in the national tour of Two Gentlemen of Verona, as well as the score for Gustavo Ames’ Anti-classical Presentation (1971) at La Mama Chinatown (now Pan Asian Repertory Theatre). Then came Ing’s next big break: the original production of Pacific Overtures (1976), in which he played Shogun’s Mother, debuting the song “Chrysanthemum Tea.” Below is a clip of the show from its TV presentation.
In 1977, Ing moved to Los Angeles, where he began a long film and TV career, as well as a long association with the theater company East West Players. In the 1990s, Ing returned to more regular musical work, including the national tour of City of Angels (1991), the world premiere of Sing to the Dawn (1996), and the East West Players revival of Pacific Overtures (1998). He began the next decade with the Broadway revivals of Flower Drum Song (2002), in which he premiered the song “My Best Love,” and Pacific Overtures (2004). Below is Ing in the revival of Flower Drum Song.
Ing worked well into his eighties, competing on The X Factor in 2013 and creating the cabaret show Got a Lot of Livin’ to Do in 2016. During the past decade, he also released the albums Swing with Ing (2010) and Broadway Is Still Calling (2020). Below is a rehearsal video from his 2016 cabaret show with guests Jose Llana, Darren Lee, Hazel Anne Raymundo, and Virginia Wing.