By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
For Leslie Lum, long affiliated with Bellevue College, her creative work’s always been founded in the activism and resistance which marked her family for generations.
Leslie Lum (center) with David Hsieh and Aimee Hong (Photo provided by Leslie Lum)
“I was born in Vancouver, Canada, and raised in the historic neighborhood of Strathcona, adjacent to Chinatown,” said Lum, whose new musical play, “Cat Country,” has free readings in Bellevue on Oct. 2 and Seattle on Oct. 3. “My parents and grandparents were subject to exclusion and the oppression that forced them to become liquid labor moving from occupations like cook, logger, green grocer, and shingle packer.
“Despite this discrimination, my mother (who was not allowed to vote in Canada until age 33, even though she was born in Canada) became an activist and one of the founders of the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association, the first grassroots organization to stop a major urban renewal program, which threatened to level their neighborhood and put a freeway through Chinatown. Vancouver remains one of the most liveable cities in North America because of their activism. I am writing a book about my mother and grandmother entitled ‘Grass Daughter.’”
She wrote poetry and fiction, but not plays, growing up, influenced most by the Argentinian, Jorge Luis Borges, and the Columbian, Gabriel García Márquez. But she never forgot where she came from.
“I am Chinese American/Canadian and was immersed in my ethnic identity while growing up. Our schools were 90% Chinese and my mother’s activism inspired me to participate in movements to bring more resources to our community.”
She’s been in the Seattle area around 30 years, associated with Bellevue College. “Seattle is unique in its coalition building between all ethnic communities, really personified by Bernie Whitebear, Bob Santos, Roberto Maestas, and Larry Gossett. If you look back at the advocacy and community building that they did, there were a lot of comedy sketches and singing. They really understood that it took more than fire and brimstone to unite a community around a cause.”
She wrote one previous play, “Geomancer,” which played as a work-in-progress at the 2026 Revolver Fest in Vancouver. “Cat Country,” the story of a Chinese American woman playing all sides against the middle in an increasingly-frantic struggle for survival, began as a novel, but Lum began to hear Cantopop along with her story, and reworked it as a stage presentation.
“Once I pruned down to its essence, it moved very well in theatrical beats. Then I spent a lot of time studying the music of Anita Mui because I felt that she was the personification of a lot of the struggles that the Chinese diaspora went through. The first go-round, I used the original music and wrote lyrics close to the original songs. People remember the songs like a walk down memory lane, but I could not produce it unless I got original music.”
The two presentations of the play are a staged reading, not a full-blown presentation, but the performers will sing along to pre-recorded karaoke tracks.
“Getting musical collaborators was difficult because the peak time for Cantopop was before the handover of Hong Kong and many younger composers don’t know it. I wanted music that was similar to the original music. I did manage to get two composers [Darren Lee and Yuelan] to come up with the melodies, but the music director, Aimee Hong, who made the songs come alive by putting together karaoke arrangements.
Aimee Hong and Michael Wu rehearsing (Photo provided by Leslie Lum)
“Aimee Hong is one of the most sought-after music directors in this area. She has done multiple productions with Village Theatre and has worked as associate music director at 5th Avenue Theatre. Aimee’s success is important because female and nonbinary are outnumbered by men by three or four to one in most theatre music pits, and it is rare to find an Asian musical director.”
Asked about the difficulties of mounting the staged readings, Lum cited several factors.
“Theatre has been decimated throughout the country. The Bay Area, which has always been one of the most creative incubators of innovative theatre, saw 21 theatre companies close. Washington state has always lagged other states in spending on performing arts. Given the vibrancy of our area, we should be on the forefront creating great art, especially art that reflects the diversity of our Asian community.
“The Puget Sound region has the ability to be an incredible ecosystem of performance that can unite our stories and make us feel less disconnected. All it takes to move faster along the road of recovery is the audience. So I invite all people to attend performances, even something that sounds as crazy as a workplace Cantopop musical.”
Cat Country’s staged readings play Oct. 2 at Bellevue College’s Stop Gap Theatre and Oct. 3 at Seattle’s ReAct Theatre. Tickets are free, but registration is required.
For more information, visit https://geomancer.site/?page_id=457.
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