Chinglish First Preview

Saw the first preview tonight and think it was a nice effort, but needs some serious editing. It ran 2hr 20min with an intermission and could deal with a good half hour cut. I think they need to pull a Motherf!cker With a Hat and condense into one act.

The good news is parts are pretty funny, with one of the scenes at the top of act two particularly hysterical. The humor is kind of one note, but would stay funny enough for a 90 minute intermissionless play.

The lead actress is great and has many of the laughs in act one. The supporting cast does their best, even when their roles seem somewhat tangential to the plot. The lead actor is unfortunately a bit weak. I think if the producers wanted this to run they should have cast a star in this role.

SPOILER******
Who knew this was going to be the sequel to Enron?! Kind of an Enron: Where are they now? edition.
End SPOILER******

Guess I was kind of "eh" about it all, but can't deny I got a good laugh or two from it.

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I think it will probably open, but can't imagine it running more than a few weeks. I was up in the balcony tonight which was deserted, and it looked like the mezz and orchestra were pretty empty too.

I should add that the set is cool. It sits on two turntables that morph into different locales before your eyes.

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How much of the play is subtitled?

Maybe half the play, but it is done in a very playful way. It is about translating the Chinese language, so a typical scene has the American, his translator, a couple Chinese characters and their translator. You see what the Chinese characters are actually saying and then get to hear how the translators misinterpret the words.

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I saw both Other Desert Cities and Venus in Fur 0ff-Broadway and they are both better plays, plus you're getting the performances of Nina Arianda and Stockard Channing.

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Matt, if I recall correctly, the critical reaction in Chicago was exceedingly positive, right? That could be a reason why it looked lucrative to Broadway producers. I haven't seen it, but it seems like they're selling it as a topical play. That said, I was surprised they decided to go commercial Broadway over the non-for-profit route. Hwang has a history with The Public; I thought for a while they might undertake it, and was somewhat surprised when they didn't.

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Thanks for point that out, MB. I somewhat remember that now that you've said it.

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I'm just thankful that there are people out there still taking chances on obscure pieces for us to experience and hopefully enjoy. I think the jukebox, Disney, movie-franchise shows have far exceeded their quota on Broadway.

I was planning to pick up a ticket for this today. It is high on my list.

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Madonna, is there other buzz you are referring to other than the posts here?

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How funny was it stone blue? The Chicago press, premise and quoted lines all seemed to me like to point to a hilarious and very successful- and much needed! - Broadway comedy. Not so the opening posts on this thread.

Back on topic (and sorry for going off of it before...)

Is there any chance they'd remove the subtitles during previews? Do you think they overall are a turn-off? I really don't mind them but I've only seen them in foreign films and a lot of operas. I'm sure a lot of people, especially older ones, might have issues with them.

I loved Yellow Face as a huge Miss Saigon fan.

@henrik, The audience was laughing non-stop during the first act, and I thought it was well deserved; if you think any of those Chinglish signs (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/05/03/world/asia/20100503_CHINGLISH.html) are funny you'll enjoy at least the first level of humor here. There are additional levels of kind of cultural jokes that might be funnier with experience, like the very Asian mode of bragging by self-deprecation, and the politics of the Party bureaucracy. But it is a beautifully integrated production well worth seeing by anyone.

@Panerofan, No chance of losing the titles, they aren't for throwaway lines from non-central characters and unlike song, dialogue is specific and point-to-point and not themed. 4 actors speak only Chinese onstage, the female lead speaks mostly Chinese and only rudimentary English, and the translator/consultant does extended dialogue in Chinese as well. You cannot understand the play or even each scene without reading the titles- even understanding Mandarin won't save you, as the lines are inaudible when the audience laughs at the titles before the dialogue is actually heard (whole 'nother issue...).

Because so much of the humor is based around mis-translating, they can't use the conceit of "foreign character speaking English so we can understand, but the other characters hear him in his native language" a la War Horse. There's also a short, hysterical scene on how you could say something totally unintended if you use the wrong inflection, which only works in the Chinese.