"Rosalind Chao (The Joy Luck Club) and Tony Award winner BD Wong (M. Butterfly) will lead one cast, with Oscar nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Sand and Fog) and Tony, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Tony Shalhoub (The Band's Visit, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) leading the other. Chao and Wong will perform from May 17 through June 15, while Aghdashloo and Shalhoub will perform from June 10 through June 29. For four performances, from June 11 to June 13, both casts will perform back-to-back as an exclusive double-feature event."
Sounds like a very interesting concept, one I suspect locals will be better able to take advantage of! Am really curious about that one duo-weekend.
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
TaffyDavenport said: "The days with both casts are a Tuesday through Thursday."
Thanks for correction, I just assumed
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
I saw the first preview, and I thought it was interesting but a bit uneven. It felt like it took a bit of time to get off the ground and most of it is played as direct narration to the audience (from a first person POV). I think what was interesting in the beginning was more of the concept of the play and how it could apply to so many different cultures. My parents being Chinese immigrants, I could immediately fill in the blanks with events that they experienced, but it was also kind of fascinating to see how they could apply to so many different groups of people from different parts of the world.
Most of this play is devoted to the difference in cultural values between those that immigrated here and those that were born here, along with how to reconcile those differences within your own family. Since it was applicable in my own life I didn't feel like the play was really showing anything I wasn't aware of already, but those that weren't raised between two cultures might find it more eye-opening (I was actually more fascinated with the cultural parallels from different regions of the world, so I'd love to see it again later just to see how different it feels). Even so, a few of the moments did hit close to home and I felt myself tearing up a few times throughout the show. There were a few specific moments I wish they expanded on, but overall the story itself was fairly sweet and a little melancholy (I suppose another example of "gentle theater")
The performances were quite good (especially from Rosalind Chao, who I wasn't familiar with before), though both actors seemed to stumble over a few of the lines (but they did so in a way that it almost could've been an intentional part of the performance, so it still felt pretty seamless). The stage is fairly bare and the show ran pretty close to 90 minutes.