Satellites

• By ROBIN MILLER
• arts writer
• Published: Feb 1, 2009 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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“Hey Michael, hold my baby.”

The voice belongs to Jessica Wu, calling from the opposite side of what will be a Brooklyn brownstone.

It’s a work in progress, empty walls that will soon be home to Miles and Nina. And their baby.

And Wu plays Nina in this story called Satellites, an American of Korean descent who grew up in an all-white neighborhood. Wu will later say that she connects with Nina, because she, too, grew up in a similar situation.

But she’ll also say she hasn’t yet experienced Nina’s status of motherhood. Which is probably why the baby is extra baggage at the moment — baggage that Michael Tick will have to take on while Wu runs backstage.

So, “Hey Michael, hold my baby.”

“Will do,” Tick said, reaching for the infant.

Well, the doll that serves as the infant.

“Oh, this one is ugly,” he said, glancing into the doll’s face. “You should see the doll we’ll be using for the show. It’s much prettier.”
“Look,” a crew member yelled out. “He holds it like a professional.”

Tick looks up, smiles and tucks the doll beneath his arm.

“This is how I used to carry my daughter,” he said, never missing a beat.

But when taking all into consideration, the doll beneath Tick’s arm — the baby — is the character that will be affected most when the final line is uttered in Satellites.

Tick is directing this Swine Palace production of playwright Diana Son’s 2006 play that explores race, culture and the struggle to balance work and life. The play opens Thursday, Feb. 5, at the Reilly Theatre on the LSU campus and continues to Feb. 22.