Project1_Layout 1 4/13/15 12:51 PM Page 1
“Moonlight Myth,” oil on canvas by Carlos Almaraz See page 9
Serving Bixby Knolls, California Heights, Los Cerritos, Wrigley and the City of Signal Hill
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
VOL. 37 NO. 6
July 10, 2015
Local theatre company taking its original production to UK for global festival
Cynthia Price, Ezra LeBank and Taylor Casas in Flight
Photo by Albert Soratorio
Denny Cristales
Cory Bilicko/Signal Tribune
Editorial Intern
TRY APING!
After 45 years of serving family’s recipes, Bixby Knolls Chinese restaurant closing its doors Cory Bilicko Managing Editor
S
iblings Kenny Chan and Susan Woo used to rollerskate around the tables inside Le Yen Chinese restaurant. One time, they were playing catch inside the family-owned eatery and broke one of its lanterns. But that was decades ago, and since then, they have been running their family’s business on Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls. Le Yen, which has been a staple in the neighborhood since 1970, will close its doors later this month after providing longtime customers with the Chan Family’s special brand of Cantonese cuisine. Chan and Woo say the time has come for them to move on with other endeavors, including finding time to rest. “We’re celebrating our 45th year, and we thought it would be a good time,” Woo explained. “We’ve had a really good run.”
L
ast Tuesday, the brother and sister sat down with the Signal Tribune to share their family’s story, in between mid-afternoon customers. “My parents came here from southern China– Canton,” Woo said. “In 1946, my grandfather and my
TIRED OF SMOKING?
The mixed and fluid movements of the individuals at Curbside, a physical theatre company, are making their way toward the United Kingdom with an original production known as Flight. Curbside is based in Long Beach, and its performers will travel to the UK to take part in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (The Fringe) and perform Flight, a story written by Ezra LeBank, a professor of movement at California State University Long Beach (CSULB), and directed by Olivia Treviño. The show will premiere in Scotland on Aug. 6, with more performances through Aug. 31. LeBank is leading the crew of Curbside, which isn’t a stranger to the festival, to The Fringe, as it performed Extinguish in 2010, and received acclaim from Scottish arts magazine The List, citing the performance as “the next big thing!” LeBank returns to the UK after recently releasing a new book in Routeledge, England known as Clowns. Now, he will introduce another original story in the UK in the form of Flight, and will do so through a vivid, visual form of storytelling, he said. “Curbside’s physical approach to storytelling infuses life, momentum and magic with spoken word,” LeBank said. “By creating surreal imagery with our bodies, we take our audience on a journey that awakens their imaginations.” Curbside is known to stretch the boundaries of theatre, taking theatrical pieces to fresh and unfamiliar physical places, according to members like Cynthia Price. Price, a theatre major at CSULB, is part of Curbside and its Flight production, and she said that “this opportunity could not have come at a better time in my life” travelling with the crew over to the UK. “I can’t wait to be surrounded by all the creativity and inspiration that
Susan Woo and Kenny Chan in front of Le Yen, the restaurant their family has operated in Bixby Knolls for 45 years
see CURBSIDE page 15
Weekly Weather Forecast
8
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Low clouds then sunshine
Clouds then sun
Clouds breaking for sun
Low clouds, then sun
Clouds then sun
Lo 63°
Lo 63°
Lo 64°
Lo 65°
Lo 65°
77°
81°
82°
see RESTAURANT page 11
July 10 through July 14, 2015
Friday
75°
uncles opened The Tea Garden in Belmont Shore, and they were there up until [about] a year and a half ago. When my grandfather retired, he gave it to his two sons, which is my uncle and my father. But in 1970, my father decided to come here and open a new restaurant in Bixby Knolls.” Chan and Woo explained that, prior to their family opening their restaurant in the space, it had been the site of a Hamburger Henry’s, and before that, it was a soda fountain. “Back then, when Hamburger Henry’s was here, each booth had a telephone,” Woo said. “So, [customers] used to call in to the kitchen for their order. My dad said that was the first thing he took out, so he wouldn’t be stressed out.” “And a switchboard,” Chan added. “And a switchboard that was in the kitchen,” Woo acknowledged. “I remember a huge box of telephones going out in the trash.” Woo recalled the night the eatery opened. “I remember opening night my dad rented [one of] those big spotlights that go in the sky,” she said. “And there was a huge crowd of people.” While their father, Raymond, and their Uncle Loy
82°
This week’s weather forecast sponsored by:
$5 Gift Certificate w/ purchase of $25 or more Bring this ad!
TRY @ Sterns St | Long Beach (562) 494-1442 VAPING! www.thevapedepot.com
$5 Gift 2139 Bellflower Blvd. Certificate w/ purchase of $25 or more Bring this ad!
2139 Bellflower Blvd.
@ Sterns St | Long Beach
(562) 494-1442
www.thevapedepot.com