Flower Drum Song...

[elphieisperky]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:02am

Do you guys remember it? I saw it about 2 years ago, I didn't really like it, except for Lea (Solonga). I met her at the stage door after the show, and she was extremely depressed, cause they had just told her the show was closing. Anyhoo, has anyone seen it, if so, did you like it?
-Elphie

[trpguyy]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:06am

I saw it and was just in awe of her the whole time. And that other girl. Boy was she something to look at . I enjoyed the production numbers, but don't really remember much of the rest of the show. Not one of Broadway's best...

[Mamie]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:16am

I thought this show was terrific. I couldn't believe that it didn't do better. Great fun and Sandra Allen (the other girl) was incredible. (Anybody know what she's doing now?)

Anyway - the show was wonderful and that ending brought me to tears. It still does when I listen to the CD.

[Steve2]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 9:55am

I saw it and I enjoyed it very much!

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:20am

A show that L.A. audiences appreciated much more than New York it seems. It was a huge hit at the Taper before moving to Broadway, a sell-out in its extended run here. I saw it twice and was overwhelmed by how excellent it was. I saw Lea Salonga the first time, and her perennial replacement Jennifer Paz the second time (liked Jennifer even better than Lea). The choreography was sensational (the opening number, Fan Tan Fannie...) and the new book really showcased Rodgers and Hammerstein's songs. Jose Llana--so sexy! Sandra Allen--wow! (She was doing shows at Universal Studios a few months back...hard for an Asian actress as good as she is to get starring roles I guess.) The book was revised a bit between L.A. and Broadway. An older male character with whom Mei-Li became involved was replaced by a younger man, in order to create more romantic conflict for Mei-Li, I suppose. Act 1 in L.A. ended with "The Next Time It Happens," from Pipe Dream (this song was also added to the Broadway score of State Fair). In New York, the first act ended with a reprise of A Hundred Million Miracles. I'm looking forward to seeing the final version of the new David Henry Hwang book when it plays in Fullerton (www.fclo.com) in April. Highly recommended.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:23am

It grew on me. I wasn't so sure what to think of the opening sequence with the updated aspects of the book. There were some beautiful moments in the staging. When Ta and Mei-Li rehearse the opera and actors behind them shadow the dance that had originally gotten Ta's parents to fall in love... gorgeous...

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 10:31am

I enjoyed it completely - as did all my friends who saw it. I was really quite surprised that it didn't ever find its audience.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 11:09am

funny you should bring this up. I did not get to see it, as it had closed when we were in NYC in 2002, but I got the soundtrack, and I love it.
I only have the movie to compare it to, and this production, based on the soundtrack seemed to make much more important the part of the ancestors than the movie did. Lea was fabulous....and the end where they all say where they are originally from, ie born was simply amazing.
I'm quite sad I didn't get to see it.

[Jon]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 11:16am

Speaking of Jennifer Paz, she has been permanently thrown out of Equity for doing that non-union tour of MISS SAIGON. She had asked for temporary withdrawal to do the tour on "financial hardship" grounds - there were so few roles for Asians, and she could not pass up the opportunity to do the tour. Well, when she did get an offer from an Equity show, she asked the Equity board if she could re-join the union... but only after she finished doing the tour which still had several weeks left. Equity refused to let her rejoin - since it seems she only wants to be Equity when she actually HAS an Equity job, and likes to be non-equity when she has a non-equity job.

[Broadway_freak]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 11:35am

For those of you who saw Flower Drum Song do you remember Ma-Anne Dionisio? I believe she was in the ensemble the understudy for Lea Salonga.I saw her in the Les Miserables tour about one year ago and thought she was great. I just wondered what you all thought of her. I saw her as Kim in Miss Saigon as well.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 12:44pm

I saw this show in previews and really wasn't that impressed. I mean there were some good performances, unfortunately I didn't appreciate Lea Salonga the way I do now, but the show kind of bored me. Maybe it improved a bit after previews...but it remains one of my least favorite shows that I have seen.

[magruder]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 12:59pm

Ma-Anne Dionisio in some ways, was actually better than Lea. Lea has that beautiful voice, to be sure, but I think she's too sophisticated a performer to convincingly play a naif at this point. Ma-Anne sang the score thrillingly, every bit as well as Lea, but more importantly, I believed her journey throughout the show, so the emotional stakes in Hwang's revised book worked better for me.

I think what hurt Flower Drum Song were the reviews that while maybe not off-the-mark, were unduly harsh and gave the show little chance of succeeding beyond its advance sale and niche marketing. Flower Drum Song is not the most beloved of Rodgers & Hammerstein "classics," but the 'revisal' had the critics rushing to defend the integrity of a show that they never liked much in the first place.

[Mamie]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 7:14pm

You couldn't be more right magruder. I remember thinking as I watched it that it was a shame it couldn't be judged entirely on it's own - and without any references to the original production.

I thought the original was charming for its time and I kind of resented the fact that it was being rewritten. That put me in a bit of a negative mind set when I saw the play but I was completely charmed by it. That's one I really wish they had filmed.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 7:21pm

I love the music and the movie to Flower Drum Song. I guess I'm a little biased because I myself am chinese. I was sad that it didn't do well on Broadway and that I didn't even get to see it.

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 7:35pm

FLOWER DRUM SONG is my second favorite R&H film musical. I also love the soundtrack CD. They need to release a widescreen DVD!!!!

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 7:41pm

I like it. I have the recording with Lea Salonga. Not amazing, but it's good.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 7:52pm

Very interesting about Jennifer Paz. I guess it illustrates what some people have posted here, that being Equity is not always a blessing for an actor, at least Jennifer must have felt so. I wonder how this will affect her career, as she is very talented, though has always been in the shadow of Lea Salonga.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:31pm

I thought that Flower Drum Song's 2002 revival was very good and was a masterful improvement over the original. I get that the show was originally written in the 50's but there were certain elements that were just too offensive. For instance, never mind that Mei-Li was an uber passive mail-order bride, but did she have to refer to herself as a "wetback"? And I just did not think that Miyoshi Umeki was a very good singer.

I think that the critical reception of the 2002 revival was unduly harsh, especially since most of the critics who panned the show admitted that they were biased. TIME said it best when the TIME's critic expressed bafflement over the fact that a "gauntlet of critics [were] suddenly protective of a musical they never much liked in the first place."

The 2002 revival was a show Asians, and indeed all immigrants, could be proud of, as it captured the essence of the difficulties the immigrant experience and of assimilating into American culture. Not that the show did not have its share of problems: the stereotyping of the newly created gay character Harvard could have been done away with. And certain re-assignments of the songs did not quite work, e.g., having Madame Liang and Wang sing "Don't Marry Me", taking away "Grant Avenue" as a solo from Linda Low and turning it into an ensemble number, and turning "Sunday" into a solo for Ta.

Some of the performances were outstanding, particularly from Sandra Allen and Jose Llana. Lea Salonga, who was cast primarily because hers was the Asian marquee name, was good, but she was better suited for and her vocals were put to better use in the role of Kim in Miss Saigon.

It was a shame that the 2002 revival did not enjoy a longer run.

[Dreamcatcher]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 8:38pm

I saw it in LA and I was very impressed. Lea had me in awe for the whole thing and I thuroughly enjoyed the score, lyrics and acting. It is too bad that it didn't get a longer run.

[Racetrack]

Posted: 3/1/05 at 11:28pm

I saw it with a different Mei Lei damn I forget the actress's name and Jose Llana. I really enjoyed it and was impressed with it. I thought everyone did a great job. I had the recording so I knew most of the songs and to be honest at first wasn't impressed with Llana at first, but after careful listening a second time through and then seeing him perform onstage made all the difference and I find I really enjoy him now. Overall I enjoyed it very much.

[wildcat]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 1:14am

Miyoshi Umeki sang like Callas compared to the original London cast in 1960. Without the charisma and talent of the New York performers the show just lay there. A terrible experience. And they released a cast album!!

[MadeofGold]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 1:30am

I took my parents to this and they were not impressed by the revival despite loving Lea Salonga. They adored the original movie and oddly preferred that (stereotypes and all) to the Broadway updated version. I had never seen the movie so I found the show to be lovely. *shrugs shoulders*

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 1:31am

I'm sorry, but Miyoshi Umeki is, IMO, the best Mei Li. Sure her singing voice isn't as beautiful as Salonga's, but it has a sort of quiet haunting quality about it. I find her version of "A Hundred Million Miracles" is the best version I've heard.

I also thought Miyoshi Umeki was more convincing as a new immigrant to America than Salonga was.

BTW, I'm Asian myself and I really enjoy the film version of Flower Drum Song. I know it has a lot of problems, but I couldn't help myself and did enjoy the film for what it was.

Updated On: 3/2/05 at 01:31 AM

[Mamie]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 8:37am

It's really a shame that Sandra Allen hasn't been cast in anything on B'way since that run. She's an incredibly talented performer. I was trying to think of a current role on B'way that could showcase her talent and wasn't able to come up with anything today. I think that Lois Lane in "Kiss Me Kate" would have been terrific. They were able to overlook historic racial casting for that show when they put Stokes in the lead, so why not Allen? (Makes me wish it were back for a while to try!)

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/2/05 at 9:43am

I'm sorry, but Miyoshi Umeki is, IMO, the best Mei Li. Sure her singing voice isn't as beautiful as Salonga's, but it has a sort of quiet haunting quality about it. I find her version of "A Hundred Million Miracles" is the best version I've heard.


I completely agree. Umeki is, utterly, captivating in the role. I love her in it. It's a definitive performance, in my opinion.