Photo by Martha Holmes

Review Excerpts

“PRIMARY COLOR….I will remember Tam Lum long after I’ve forgotten most of this season’s other plays. Randy Kim is very good as Tam; he traps a lot of nuances—he is funny, crazy, smart, dopey, frightened, manly, childish, shrewdly together and hopelessly lost….Despite its weaknesses, ‘Chickencoop Chinaman’ is the most interesting play of the American Place Theatre’s first season in their splendid new house.”
               –Jack Kroll, NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE (6/19/1972) 

“IDENTITY PROBLEM….the acting was smooth and convincing. I liked very much the slightly battered vivacity of Randy Kim as the hero, mildly bewildered and yet determined even in his insecurity.”
               –Clive Barnes, NEW YORK TIMES (6/13/1972) 

“…Jack Gelber, who directed it…is rewarded by fine performances. Besides the indelible Miss Kirkland, Randy Kim is remarkable as the anguished, self-hating, witty hero….”
               –Edith Oliver, NEW YORKER MAGAZINE (6/24/1972) 

“’CHINAMAN’ IN DEBUT….Chin has a way with words but he also has a way of permitting them to run wild. Young Lum—doughty, wise-cracking, whistling in the dark—is an interesting character; but he shouldn’t talk so much about so little. Let it be said, though, that Randy Kim,, the actor who plays him, is assuredly a find, with a splendid voice and fascinatingly bust hands.”
               –Edward Sothern Hipp, NEWARK EVENING NEWS (6/13/1972) 

“’CHINAMAN’ INGENIOUS, FASCINATING….The cast is an excellent one. Randy Kim, as the probing, intense Tam Lum, is magnificent. It is a virtuoso performance to be savored and remembered…”
               –Emory Lewis, BERGEN RECORD (6/13/1972) 

“’CHICKENCOOP’ MISSES’….Randy Kim is very effective as the joke-spouting, tortured Tam Lum, looking for love and recognition. It certainly isn’t a role that’s easy to ‘read’.”
               –William A. Raidy, NEWHOUSE NEWSPAPERS (6/13/1972) 

“Randy Kim gives a tensely arresting performance as the chicken-cooped hero of the title. His Tam Lum arouses the spectator’s sympathy….”
               –John Beaufort, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR (6/24/1972) 

“At a preview performance, Randy Kim was a nervous, high-strung, volcano of energy in the principal role….He is a charisma-laden young man, with a fine voice and body and a monumental determination.”
                –Ben Washer, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER (6/15/1972)