| Kung Fu--Good Show! | |
| Posted by: | Zelgo 11:04 am EDT 03/13/14 |
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| KUNG FU at the Signature is a much better play than some on ATC give it credit for being. The story of Bruce Lee's early career is presented in a free-flowing way. Great production, especially the lighting and choreography. Cole Horibe does as commendable job playing Bruce, although the character doesn't evolve that much emotionally. He is a brilliant dancer and kung fu-er (he was a contestant in So You Think You can Dance). He is certainly a dominant stage presence. The rest of the cast is excellent too. The time flies by. | |
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| Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Jonesy 12:52 am EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | Kung Fu--Good Show! - Zelgo 11:04 am EDT 03/13/14 |
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| I know Bruce Lee had an accent, but Cole Horibe uses an almost offensive caricature of a Chinese accent it sort of evokes Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was really uncomfortable. He eased off it near the end of the play, but it really left a bad taste in my mouth. | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 12:03 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Jonesy 12:52 am EDT 03/14/14 |
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| You only need to check out YouTube to discover that Bruce Lee indeed had a very thick accent. I would say, and I believe the general opinion is, the fact that Lee did have such a heavy accent was very much a pert of his persona and had an impact on the types of roles he played in American projects (and the amount of dialogue included in those roles) -- for one example, THE GREEN HORNET. I didn't find anything remotely offensive in the accent Cole Horibe uses in KUNG FU. If anything, I find your opinion offensive in itself, since it seems you don't understand why such a heavy accent was used. P.S. As thick as Horibe's accent for the character is, I had no problem understanding what he said. I don't think I missed a single word of dialogue. | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Jonesy 01:27 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Michael_Portantiere 12:03 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| Um... I have no problem with the fact that he had an accent in the show... but the fact that his accent was so bad it reminded me of a time when white actors would use that same accent in an offensive manner. Francis Jue (the father) also used a Chinese accent, but I had no problem with it. If people here can complain about bad English accents, I think I am entitled to complain about bad Asian accents. | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 02:09 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Jonesy 01:27 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| Thanks for clarifying. Then I just disagree with you that Horibe used a "bad" Asian accent. | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Jonesy 03:24 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Michael_Portantiere 02:09 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| Well, I highly doubt David Henry Hwang would have allowed it, so I'm thinking he probably just drifted towards caricature as the show went on. Hopefully the dialect coach came back to correct him. I certainly don't think Cole Horibe is doing this on purpose. It was just a bit unsettling. Just as some people can detect slight variances in English accents and are irritated when it's done wrong, I guess my ear is trained towards Asian accents... but then there isn't any historical baggage attached to bad English accents. | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Michael_Portantiere 04:14 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Jonesy 03:24 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| "Well, I highly doubt David Henry Hwang would have allowed it, so I'm thinking he probably just drifted towards caricature as the show went on." That's possible, but of course, whether the accent you heard was "caricature" is a matter of opinion. As I said, some YouTube clips reveal that Lee had a very thick accent, so if Horibe did in fact go a little too far with his accent, I think that can be forgiven. Maybe a big part of the issue is that I felt Horibe virtually shouted almost all of his lines -- something I heard someone else in the audience comment on, as well. ("Did Bruce Lee go through his life declaiming everything?") I attributed this to the fact that Horibe was trying to project despite a lack of training as an actor, and I think his shouting may well have contributed to your feeling that his accent itself is "bad" or caricatured. | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | Jonesy 04:34 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Michael_Portantiere 04:14 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| Yes, I heard that too about the shouting. That's probably part of it... | |
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| re: Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? | |
| Posted by: | NeoAdamite 09:44 am EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | Was anyone else bothered by Cole Horibe's accent? - Jonesy 12:52 am EDT 03/14/14 |
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| I know Bruce Lee had an accent, but Cole Horibe uses an almost offensive caricature of a Chinese accent it sort of evokes Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I was really uncomfortable. He eased off it near the end of the play, but it really left a bad taste in my mouth. For what it's worth, Hwang has written that having Lee speak with an accent was a specific choice (and one that Hwang has avoided before this). That doesn't mean the actor has maintained the same exact accent through the run, of course. | |
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| re: Kung Fu--Good Show! | |
| Posted by: | Ballerina56 03:53 pm EDT 03/13/14 |
| In reply to: | Kung Fu--Good Show! - Zelgo 11:04 am EDT 03/13/14 |
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| I couldn't disagree with you more. I thought the script was threadbare, the cavern of a set underutilized, poor direction throughout, and a cast giving community theatre level performances. I found several sections downright embarrassing. I'd also like to know the name of the musical farce that Francis Jue was performing in. WHAT was he doing up there? This is the same playwright, David Henry Hwang, that wrote M Butterfly, correct? Poorly structured with a melange of scenes that go nowhere and nothing to enhance the trite story, I'm surprised they allowed this to open in NY. One can't fault dashing lead performer Cole Horibe, who according to his bio has no stage experience , as he gives it his dancers best. There's no question he's a magnetic performer, but only when the show stops to incorporate some martial arts/dance sequences that seem to have come from a dance concert at the Joyce Theatre. I couldn't wait for it to end. | |
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| ''M.,'' ''M.,'' good! | |
| Posted by: | WaymanWong 02:51 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: Kung Fu--Good Show! - Ballerina56 03:53 pm EDT 03/13/14 |
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| Yep, it's by David Henry Hwang, the same playwright who wrote ''M. Butterfly.'' Not only was it allowed to open, that's the same play that won the triple crown of Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk and Tony Award for Best Play in 1988. And it's the same play that ran for 777 performances on Broadway, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and turned into a 1993 movie. | |
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| re: ''M.,'' ''M.,'' good! | |
| Posted by: | mendacity 04:12 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | ''M.,'' ''M.,'' good! - WaymanWong 02:51 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| Pretty sure Ballerina56 meant "Kung Fu" shouldn't have been allowed to open, Wayman, not "M. Butterfly." (A little confusing in all the hyperbole.) ;) | |
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| re: ''M.,'' ''M.,'' good! | |
| Posted by: | WaymanWong 04:31 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
| In reply to: | re: ''M.,'' ''M.,'' good! - mendacity 04:12 pm EDT 03/14/14 |
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| Then ''poorly structured'' should've been set off in a separate paragraph, instead of coming right after ''M. Butterfly.'' ;) | |
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| re: Kung Fu--Good Show! | |
| Posted by: | Guillaume 02:37 pm EDT 03/13/14 |
| In reply to: | Kung Fu--Good Show! - Zelgo 11:04 am EDT 03/13/14 |
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| I think a lot of people who saw this say the same as your reaction: not very convincing play ("the character doesn't evolve") with better staging ("great lighting and choreography"). | |
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| re: Kung Fu--Good Show! Possible spoilers in post | |
| Posted by: | lowwriter 11:18 am EDT 03/13/14 |
| In reply to: | Kung Fu--Good Show! - Zelgo 11:04 am EDT 03/13/14 |
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| The time flies by, yes. It is entertaining, yes. Cole Horibe is perfect for the part. But the telling is rather clunky as opposed to the staging. At first the father-son relationship was interesting, then it became rather obvious. By the third or fourth scene with the father and son, I learned nothing new. I did enjoy the staging and the choreography. But at the end, just as we see Bruce Lee finding some recognition and success, the play stops. I felt cheated somehow, though I realize that the author made the decision to write a play about Bruce Lee before he became known for his last projects. | |
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