David Henry Hwang is revising FLOWER DRUM SONG again for East West Players

East West Players is performing the revised version in LA in May-June. As per the website: "It a time when conversations about identity and cultural preservation are more important than ever, Hwang’s reworking of the book for the Spring 2026 production allows Asian Americans to reclaim this cherished story in a meaningful way, illuminating the complexities and richness of the community’s continuous evolution."

http://eastwestplayers.org/flower

I wish he would restore CY Lee's original story line about the three women in Ta's life, especially the Helen Chao story. The rewrite he did trivialized the generational story of immigrants and their second generation American born children and how difficult it is to maintain traditions and culture. 

For a show that's truly infused with historical cultural references of the Chinese American experience, could they not have gathered a full cast of Chinese-Americans? I'm a bit surprised that this theater company is still doing the "Asian-America as a monolith" casting practices in 2026, especially if the show has culture-specific references.

EvanstonDad said: "I'd love a complete recording of Flower Drum Song similar to what they've done recently with Oklahoma!, Carousel, and My Fair Lady."

I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened yet.

As a chinese-american, i thought the exact same thing (herike) - that they could've hired more chinese-americans, specically those of cantonese extraction. No doublt these were fantastic singers especially the two main singers. how wonderful they were with voices that projected. but then again, i think maybe chinese-americans were too busy with school work to sing and dance in high school and now in real life.