"I was romantic too." : A Tribute to Alvin Ing
Alvin Ing (Photo: Lia Chang)
The theatrical community has lost one of its greatest guiding lights. Alvin Ing, a theatrical trailblazer, passed away this week at the age of 89.
To know Alvin Ing was to adore him. In the theatrical industry, there are many great talents, and there are many great people, but it is rare to meet a person who so thoroughly inhabited every definition of the word good. He loved openly and immediately, comforting and caring for nearly every person he came across.
Born in 1932, he moved to New York City from Hawaii in 1957, one year before the debut of Flower Drum Song, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that became inextricably linked with Mr. Ing, who performed in so many regional productions of the musical that he eventually lost count. In a time where the majority of Asian characters were being played by Caucasian performers in yellowface, Mr. Ing fought to open the door to recognition for Asian performers in the musical theatre across the globe. In 1975, Mr. Ing made his Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Pacific Overtures, where his clear tenor and graceful wit were on full display as the Shogun’s Mother, among other roles.
In 2002, Mr. Ing appeared in the Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song, where he introduced a previously excised song entitled “My Best Love.” Mr. Ing was the only known performer to debut a song written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, as well as Stephen Sondheim. He stood at the crossroads of an artistic generation and guided all who worked with him toward empathy and an earnest celebration of life. There was no one like Alvin, and there never will be again.
“How can a young man know where his heart will go?
Only an old man knows what a man should know.
All that was true for me shall be true for you.
You are romantic, I was romantic too.”
In lieu of flowers, Abingdon Theatre Company is accepting donations for Alvin Ing's New York Memorial Celebration and the Alvin Ing Scholarship Fund. Click here to donate. https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/store/34152/alldonations/43970