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| Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? | |
| Posted by: Jnf663 11:09 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| re: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? | |
| Posted by: Pir8Jenny 09:17 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? - Jnf663 11:09 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| I'll be seeing it Wednesday and reviewing for Regional. | |
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| re: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? | |
| Posted by: amethystSM 03:40 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? - Jnf663 11:09 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| Absolutely loved it, saw the first preview. And, it's a show for grownups! Came to NYC the next day and have, in the last week, from this year's B'way musicals i saw FROZEN, SPONGEBOB, and MARGARITAVILLE. Couldn't get a cheap-enough-for-me ticket to MEAN GIRLS. SOFT POWER is brilliant. |
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| saw the first preview May 3 | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 02:02 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? - Jnf663 11:09 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| I've been sick (and family, too, ,including toddler granddaughter diagnosed with very aggressive form of juvenile arthritis), so i've seen about three plays in the last six months, but this was one. The first part of my comments include material from the Playbill interview with Hwang, so I don't think they count as spoilers. They are billing it as "a play with a musical," and that's what you get. It's unlike any show I've ever seen or researched, and that's a lot. You get a 20 minute contemporary comedy about a famous Chinese-American playwright named David Henry Hwang, who is talking with a Chinese TV producer in 2016. I won't say anything further except that the Clinton campaign and THE KING AND i are imvolved. The events of that set-up become mythologized 50 years later into a beloved Chinese musical-- and we are watching the 50th anniversary production of it--100 years after the actual events. My take was if you threw ARCADIA, OF THEE I SING, and THE KING AND I in a blender, you might get SOFT POWER. ("Soft power" means extending intellectual and cultural influence, which China is seeking to do.) This is NOT a Chinese take on THE KING AND I, though DHW has stated the show--and his conflicted views about it (hated the inaccuracies, the original yellowface casting, the "civilized West teaches barbaric East" while loving it a a moving piece of theatre)--were the impetus for SP. The satire is sharp, the cast is terrific, especially leads Conrad Ricamora as Xue Xing (the TV producer and main character of the "musical) and Alyse Alan Louis as girlfriend Zoe and Hilary. Man, she has comic chops to spare. And yes, she taps. Also sings while eating ice cream and pizza. Francis Jue (a noted Hwang veteran) as the DHH character is also solid, especially in the set-up material, which is largely modeled on Hwang's own difficulty trying to work with Chinese tv. For me, the star was Tesori's score. Talk about an impossible task: a score that simulates Chinese appropriation of the American musical form (with nods to other styles of American musical forms, including country, rap, and rock), all while maintaining the integrity of the future plotline (after all, the future Chinese playwights don't know what they're getting wrong) and keeping it funny. And she knows her musical history--the obvious key influence is THE KING AND I--but it truly sounds like a slightly skewed version of a Golden Age musical. Center Theatre Group gave SP a twenty-two piece orchestra that sounds sublime. And I also love that every Tesori score is unlike any other. This is a work in progress, so there was no song list. Highlights were Hilary's huge entrance and "Democracy Can Break Your Heart." A good number of the jokes go on too long, especially the references to all the guns in the US (there's even a gun number). And some were very local: I don't think a NY audience would laugh as hard as we did at the "Hollywood International Airport" references. It needs tightening. And I kept hearing George S. Kaufman in my head, muttering "Satire is what closes on Saturday night." But we did laugh in the right places, were touched at the end in the exact way Hwang wanted (musicals are great "delivery systems"), and we marveled at the ambition, originality, and guts involved. This was a joint venture with CTG, LA's East West Player, San Francisco's Curran, and the Public. I have no idea if this will ever get to Broadway--it's definitely a weird show. But if you like audacity, go see it. Laura |
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| Sounds like "Mr. Burns" | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 06:02 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: saw the first preview May 3 - showtunetrivia 02:02 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| Has anyone seen both? How similar are they? | |
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| re: Sounds like "Mr. Burns" | |
| Posted by: showtunetrivia 06:38 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Sounds like "Mr. Burns" - Singapore/Fling 06:02 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| There are some similarities, especially given the way both plays portray the mythologized musical version of the future as revealing social commentary. But MR. BURNS involves artists' attempts to remember a particular cultural work and its evolution as a cultural work itself over years, while SP presents us with a "real" scenario that is then "recreated" with all the errors that come from secondhand memories at a distance combined with a distinct political-cultural mindset, and recast in an appropriated artistc genre not native to that culture. Like I said, this show is sui generis. Some of what Hwang is doing is riffing on THE KING AND I--think of Rodgers and Hammerstein working on a piece set in the previous century and using the writings of an alien in a different culture as their source. But this show has multiple layers. SPOILER BELOW After a dramatic first act finale, the second act opens with a scene in one: it is a tv broadcast of the 50th anniversary of "Soft Power" the musical, and a jovial interviewer is chatting with the son and daughter of the musical's creators, the granddaughter of the TV producer whose pivotal trip to America was the inspiration for the show, and an American professor who keeps getting squashed every time he dares point out inaccuracies or contradictions. As a theatre historian, this scene had me in total hysterics, though I wonder if it will remain in the show. In some ways, it too broadly points out what the real creative team's intentions, as well as not exactly fitting into the framework that allows us to jump from 2016 to the early 22nd century. But I split my sides anyway. Laura |
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| re: Sounds like "Mr. Burns" | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 08:58 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Sounds like "Mr. Burns" - showtunetrivia 06:38 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| Interesting, thanks! | |
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| re: saw the first preview May 3 | |
| Posted by: MikeR 02:29 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: saw the first preview May 3 - showtunetrivia 02:02 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| Seeing this at the Curran next month. It sounds so weird and out there, which is one of the more compelling reasons to go see it. Looking forward to it, whether i end up loving or loathing it (or somewhere in between). | |
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| re: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? | |
| Posted by: FinalPerformance 11:18 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? - Jnf663 11:09 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| I hear Hillary Clinton tap dances and the audience is very positive about this production. | |
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| Please see my seating question - never been to Ahmanson - a few threads below! Thanks! Nm | |
| Posted by: tHBG 12:40 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Has anyone seen SOFT POWER in Los Angeles yet? Thoughts? - FinalPerformance 11:18 am EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| Nm | |
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| re: Please see my seating question - never been to Ahmanson - a few threads below! Thanks! Nm | |
| Posted by: FinalPerformance 12:47 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Please see my seating question - never been to Ahmanson - a few threads below! Thanks! Nm - tHBG 12:40 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| I responded below earlier. | |
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| So sorry and thanks again though I'm unclear if you've sat there before! | |
| Posted by: tHBG 01:09 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Please see my seating question - never been to Ahmanson - a few threads below! Thanks! Nm - FinalPerformance 12:47 pm EDT 05/13/18 | |
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| I read too quickly on my phone. Thanks. | |
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