Flower Drum Song BROADWAY REVIEWS

  • NY TIMES

  • Opening Night:
    October 17, 2002
    Closing:
    March 16, 2003

    Theater: August Wilson Theatre / 245 West 52nd Street, New York, NY,

    Synopsis: 

    David Henry Hwang has re-written the book for the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, Flower Drum Song. Lea Salonga stars in this new production, directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom.

    In this newly revised version, Mei-Li (Salonga), the daughter of a Chinese opera master, travels to San Francisco as the dying wish of her father. In Chinatown, she meets Master Wang, a colleague of her father's, and Wang's American-born son, Ta, at their struggling opera house, which over his father's objections, Ta transforms into a swinging nightclub, Club Chop Suey. As Mei-Li's own identity is in transition, she witnesses the delicate balancing act in her new community between the older generation's struggle to hold on to traditional beliefs and the younger generation's desire to assimilate. She also finds herself falling in love.

    BUY TICKETS BUY GROUP TICKETS

  • NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF Flower Drum Song

    New Coat of Paint for Old Pagoda

    Ben Brantley

    October 18, 2002: IF any girl needed a makeover in the competitive, fast-changing world of big-time musicals, it was Mei-Li, the winsome little heroine of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ''Flower Drum Song.'' As embodied by Miyoshi Umeki in the original Broadway and film versions of the show some 40 years ago, this newly arrived Chinese immigrant was so quaintly modest, it was scary, with her downcast eyes and submissive stoop. What's more, she kept saying embarrassing things like ''My back is wet'' (read: ''I'm a wetback'') in a thick accent.

    Please note: To view this review you may need to log in to a free New York Times account.

    READ THE REVIEW

BEST REVIEWED SHOWS

    JerseyBoys    Phantom    Motown    Wicked
DOWNLOAD THE APP