Reviews
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RICHARD III * GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL * SUMMER 2016
"Of particular note is Kalean Ung's Margaret, a whirling, witchy presence whose deadly curses against the usurping Richard presage his fate." -Kathleen Foley, Los Angeles Times
"Ung’s performance of Old Margaret’s curse (a magic diagram that proves true in almost every particular) is one of the highlights of the show." - Gray Palmer, Stage Raw
"Kalean Ung, as Margaret the widower of Henry Sixth, held the audience spell bound in her grief and rage."
-Philip David Morton, The Huffington Post
"Only one woman can stand up to such a demon and listening to Margaret rain down curses on Richard, and the entire court, is one of the best scenes of the night. An excellent Kalean Ung is in full command of the stage and when this cornered cougar finds her moment to attack, she unleashes a firestorm. Listen well to her words for everything she says is about to come true. There isn't a man or woman in the audience who won't want to burst into spontaneous applause after her tirade and she deserves every bit of the acknowledgment."
-Ellen Dostal, Shakespeare in LA
THE TEMPEST * GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL * SUMMER 2016
"Kalean Ung is a fabulous Ariel." -Dena Burroughs, The Fume of Sighs
"Kalean Ung as a take-charge version of Ariel, a spritely fairy who serves Prospero in the hopes of securing her freedom. Ung, along with an energetic chorus of spirits, exhibits a beautiful vocal range as the troupe performs various sequences of the Bard’s poetic script, set here to Chris Porter’s original compositions."
-Dink O’Neal, Arts in LA
"Ariel, the irreplacable Kalean Ung." -Gray Palmer, Stage Raw
OTHELLO * INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO. * SPRING 2016
"Ms. Ung however, was the most devastating. She was outstanding as the confused newlywed brought down by lies and envy." -Erin Fair, Discover Hollywood
"Kalean Ung is Othello’s wife Desdemona and once again the Independent Shakespeare Company has brought on stage a truly magnificent actress who goes beyond acting the part but rather becomes the character."
-Ron Irwin, Los Angeles Post Examiner
"Kalean Ung nicely traces Desdemona’s devolution from a witty, outspoken noblewoman to a woman in shock who, “as a sheep before her shearer, is dumb.” -Theatre Ghost
KURT WEILL AT THE CUDDLEFISH HOTEL * THE ACTORS’ GANG * JUNE 2015
“Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel wows and astonishes with musical performances from two incredibly talented women Shay Astar and Kalean Ung. These two exceptionally expressive, richly voiced actress/singers extraordinaire dominate in this staging as Sand directs the most striking, still, no-frills performances from his leading ladies. Ung's soaring soprano and her exacting phrasing in her story-telling of "Pirate Jenny" simply mesmerizes! The many, multiple notes her vocal cords make with the simple line "the ship with eight sails" astound! And Ung could sure teach budding ingénues how to deliver a song that's sensuous, instead of overtly sexual, as she seductively demonstrates in "Barbara Song." (The heavy breathing wasn't from Ung, but from the audience!).” -Gil Kaan, Broadway World
"...the extraordinary Kalean Ung .." -Jay Weson, The Huffington Post
PERICLES * INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO * APRIL 2015
“That daughter is played by a radiant Kalean Ung... the lissome actress has a haunting singing voice and a dancer's ability to set a mood.” - Ellen Dostal, Broadway World
“The entire cast.... and Kalean Ung were simply superb. However I do admit to one small bias and that would be toward the lovely Kalean Ung who fills the room with hauntingly beautiful sound and whose inescapable smile can illuminate the farthest reaches of the universe.” – Ron Irwin, Burbank Entertainment Industry Examiner
THE TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTONY * FOUR LARKS THEATRE * FEBRUARY 2015
“A superb ensemble featuring standout solos by Kalean Ung.... make The Temptation a sensual, intellectual and vastly entertaining feast.” -Bill Raden, LA WEEKLY
“The wonder of watching actors transform a world with their bodies and the creative minimal use of beautiful props; the joy of watching an actor morph into a dancer and then a singer and then blur the lines completely before your very eyes. It's a level of sophistication and artistry we don't see enough of in LA theater.”
- Anthony Byrnes, Opening the Curtain on LA theater for KCRW
TWELFTH NIGHT * INDEPENDENT SHAKESPEARE CO.* SUMMER 2014
“Ung’s smart, centered Viola has the deportment to not only convince everyone that she’s a high-level servant boy, but to keep her character’s energy her own while those around her become increasingly more frenzied. This calm at the center of the comic storm facilitates joyful mayhem without it becoming unruly chaos."
-Shakespeare in LA
“Kalean Ung’s shipwrecked Viola grabs our attention at once — and holds our loyalty throughout — with her bell-like speech and precise, light intensity. She ably fulfills her costume’s subtle echo of the master modern clown, Charlie Chaplin.” -The Theatre Ghost
ALCESTIS * THEATRE @ BOSTON COURT * JULY 2013
“Kalean Ung and Jeremy Shranko, as the tormented couple, make sure that the play’s abstractions never seem dry or impersonal.” -Don Shirley, Los Angeles STAGE TIMES
“Kalean Ung’s practical, loving Alcestis, balancing realities against the romantic ideal, gives a lightness to the play’s beginning which sets the tone for what will follow.” -Frances Baum Nicholson, The Stage Struck Review
“Standout sequences include Alcestis’ (Kalean Ung) yielding to Death (Russell Edge).” -David C. Nichols, LA TIMES
“Throughout it all, a precision ensemble expertly navigates the drama -- Ung and Shranko's breakfast-nook coda is a tour de force of nonverbal eloquence -- along with Keystone's dance movements, which include cool quotations of Lucinda Childs and Pina Bausch.” -Bill Raden, LA WEEKLY Blogs
“The ensemble is rounded out with brilliant performances by Kalean Ung as the sacrificial Alcestis.”
-Tiffany Moon, Life in LA
“Ung's series of backward falls into Edge's arms as Alcestis' life ebbs, while Shranko's Admetus struggles on hands and knees to reach her is one of many haunting images that linger. Edge waltzing with Ung to "Seems Like Old Times," flanked by ensemble members paired off in kind. The women, active partners at first, then lifeless and sagging in the arms of the men who nevertheless continue the dance with chilling grace.”
-Lynne Heffley, Glendale News Press
“And Cambodian-Sicilian thespian Kalean Ung as the self sacrificing title character is quite fetching...”
-Ed Rampell, LA Progressive
“It was filled with gorgeous scenes: Alcestis (Kalean Ung) digging via soliloquy into the reasoning by which she could kiss the world — and her two children — goodbye, for her husband's sake.”
-Steven Leigh Morris, LA WEEKLY
PROMETHEUS BOUND * GETTY VILLA/ CNP CALARTS * SEPTEMBER 2013
“In terms of the chorus, Kalean Ung, fresh from playing the title role in The Theatre @ Boston Court’s production of Alcestis, returns to Greek theater with zest and flair. She seemed to intensely incarnate her role with expressive beauty, dancing and climbing up that wheel along with the rest of her mountaineers.”
-Ed Rampell, Hollywood Progressive
“The effective mix of actors is glorious.... the splendid 12-woman chorus of CalArts grads and such stalwarts of the local scene as Adam Haas Hunter, Tony Sancho and Kalean Ung.” -Myron Meisel, The Hollywood Reporter
“Above all there are the twelve supremely talented, graceful, athletic, and indefatigable women of the Greek Chorus: Sarah Beaty, Kaitlin Cornuelle, Genevieve Gearhart, Jenny Greer, Heather Hewko, Paula Rebelo, Megan Therese Rippey, Jessica Rosilyn, Chuja Seo, Kalean Ung, Amanda Washko, and Tatiana Williams.... these twelve performers deserve a medal for strength and endurance if nothing else.” -Steven Stanley, StageSceneLA
“As a unified group, the chorus of twelve women gives an excellent performance. They breathe, sigh, sing, speak, beseech, implore, lament, make spooky sounds and run as one; sometimes their choreographed movement (per Mira Kingsley) ebbs and flows like the murmuration of a flock of birds.” -Pauline Adamek, ArtsBeatLA
“As Prometheus speaks of hearing a sound in the distance, you hear a fluttering, eerie call approaching from what feels like all sides. It's like a bird song, or a wave of female voices rolling in like a tide. No sound effect, you discover it's origin is a chorus of 12 women, the sea nymphs, speaking -- or is it singing -- in unison. They will make you believe that the mythical sirens really existed.” -Anthony Byrnes, KCRW
JOMAMA JONES: RADIATE! * PILLSBURY HOUSE THEATRE * JUNE 2012
“Jomama’s hot band: Ted Cruz (keyboards), Benjamin Kelly (bass), John Raymond (trumpet), Matt Edlund (drums) and Mr. Halvorson (guitar). And of course the lithe and lovely back-up singers, Bianca McClure and Kalean Ung.” -John Olive, HowWasTheShow.com
“Halvorson and his band (Ted Cruz, Benjamin Kelly, John Raymond and Matt Edlund) show familiarity and chemistry; backup singers Bianca McClure and Kalean Ung have presence such that they would sparkle even if their body-hugging dresses didn't.” -Dominic P. Papatola, The Pioneer Press
CAMINO REAL * THEATRE @ BOSTON COURT * FEBRUARY 2011
“...the prostitute Esmerelda, the stunning Kalean Ung is a powerful mixture of innocence and temptation.... Sustaining the spark of hope that Williams all but buried in his relentless vision of how the world crushes and perverts human dreams might be impossible; the moments when this production finds it, as in a fragile love scene between Kilroy and Esmerelda, are rare but radiant.” -Margaret Gray, Los Angeles TIMES
“Kalean Ung as Esmerelda deserves special mention for her incredible performance of an indentured sex-slave, conveying alluring sexuality, calculated eroticism and convincing timidity in this multi-layered role.”
-Pauline Adamek, LA ARTS BEAT
“A luminescent Ung as Esmeralda.” - Steven Stanley, Stage Scene LA
“Kilroy’s scene with Esmeralda (Kalean Ung), after she had regained her virginity (a daily occurrence) was quite poignant.”-Robert Machray, STAGEHAPPENINGS
“Goodrich balances innocence and cynicism when he encounters gypsy Esmeralda (lovely Kalean Ung), whose virginity is restored nightly to her johns' delight. Theirs is the most fully realized "block," genuine heat generated by a Rio-tinged Carnavale choreographed by Ameenah Kaplan to Kwan Fai Lam's pulsating score.”
-Bob Verini, Variety
“Kalean Ung is outstanding as the Gypsy’s daughter, Esmeralda, particularly memorable in a long scene with Goodrich where love tries to overpower commerce." -Terry Morgan, LAist
“And the scene between Kilroy and Esmeralda, when he attempts to lift her veil (does anybody need to be told what that is a metaphor for?), is a gem, because Matthew Goodrich and Kalean Ung play it simply, without adornment.”-Harvey Perr, Stage and Cinema
“Kalean Ung balances innocence and a kind of detached sexuality as the gypsy's continually restored daughter.”
-San Gabriel Valley Tribune
MORTAL THOUGHTS OF LADY MACBETH * FAIS DO-DO *AUGUST 2010
“The three witch prophesies were delivered by speaking and singing sopranos Carmina Escobar, Alexandra Loutsion, and Kalean Ung, draped in ghostly white gauze as they emerged from canisters. The four sopranos together produced a decidedly plummy coloration.” - Rodney Punt, Huffington Post