NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#2
Posted: 4/28/26 at 8:27am
I always resent a brand new book applied to existing Golden Age musicals. And Hwang's new Flower Drum Song is the worst representation of that. Not that the original is fantastic. It is obviously racially insensitive; Hammerstein took a fairly dramatic, realistic novel and turned it into a musical comedy. But Hwang didn't even use the novel's structure or plot, he created a new one out of whole cloth that isn't very good. I much prefer the original, cultural insensitivity and all!
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#3
Posted: 4/28/26 at 9:40am
I mean, Hammerstein clearly wasn't a racist, even though his outlook is dated. There was no intent to offend or treat Asians callously; he probably looked at the show's viewpoint as progressive. I think it's clearly a museum piece, which I would not say of Rogers and Hammerstein's work, overall. But if there isn't much an audience today who can appreciate it for what it was, I think there's even less of an audience for what it's trying to be.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#4
Posted: 4/28/26 at 6:58pm
In many ways, Flower Drum Song would be easier to deal with if it were just overtly and actively racist. The gems of the score would be stripped for revues and concerts and the show as a whole would be consigned to the dustbin of history. But it's not overtly and actively racist at all- it's clearly an empathetic and well-intended but dated and misguided piece (and has been considered so for decades). I understand why Hwang and others want to make Flower Drum Song work. It's got a great score and it's the rare musical to focus on Chinese-Americans exclusively and provide excellent opportunities for Asian performers and creatives. It's got too much going for it to just toss it, but it also simply can't really be performed as-is today. I do wonder if somebody other than Hwang should take a look at it. He seems too fixated on stuffing it with more weighted history than it can handle.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#5
Posted: 4/28/26 at 8:36pm
Kad said: "It's got too much going for it to just toss it, but it also simply can't really be performed as-is today."
Why not? I (somewhat) disagree. Although a new book could be an easy solution, it's my opinion that some shows should be revived exactly as they were conceived - warts and all.
I feel that it's more than OK to be reminded of the imperfections of the past. That's how we can measure growth, and understand that we have grown. I'm OK with seeing reminders that the past has not always been "right".
As well as examples of racism and stereotype, I think it's equally important to recognize examples of "well-intended but dated and misguided". Maybe a new book isn't the solution, so much as intelligent and thoughtfully-written program notes.
I guess (for me) a new book could cross a line into "white-washing" of the old, or advocating that plastic surgery should be considered a reasonable necessity.
What are the thoughts about the show from the viewpoints of the AAPI community? Offensive to a point of "no thanks"?
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#6
Posted: 4/28/26 at 8:53pm
I feel that unlike movies, tv, novels, even visual art- artistic works that are fixed and immutable- theatre and other performing arts are inherently living by virtue of the fact that they exist to be interpreted by currently living people. You'd be asking a company of modern Asian artists to be staging something that they could reasonably believe to be deeply demeaning toward their culture and heritage, in front of an audience that may or may not understand the context in which the piece was created. Performing arts are harder to contextualize than other art forms in that way; visual arts are displayed next to plaques or as part of curated exhibitions that put them in context, problematic films or novels can have prefaces that have to be acknowledged in some way before getting to the work. Program notes are great but are far more easily passed over by audiences.
The closest thing theater has would be a curated festival or something like Encores where the context is part of the mission, but that effectively does make the work a museum piece as joevitus says and limits its ability to be performed.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#7
Posted: 4/28/26 at 9:14pm
Kad said: "You'd be asking a company of modern Asian artists to be staging something that they could reasonably believe to be deeply demeaning toward their culture and heritage, in front of an audience that may or may not understand the context in which the piece was created. "
I completely appreciate your thoughts about that. Is this a show with a theme that's mostly about cultural assimilation rather than culture itself? Does that make a difference?
I'm also aware that I'm a white guy, talking about a show written about a completely different ethnic group, as originally interpreted by another white guy. Inherently unbalanced.
Another "bother" I have are the points raised by Owen22 re: "Hammerstein took a fairly dramatic, realistic novel and turned it into a musical comedy. But Hwang didn't even use the novel's structure or plot, he created a new one out of whole cloth [...]"
I'm not educated enough to talk about the original novel. I haven't read it. But, I have a sense of "two wrongs don't make a right" in that (apperently) Hwang's new book seems to follow in Hammerstein's error of not honoring the source material. I'd love to have Hwang's input on that issue re: why he chose that route.
Going back to my original thought: I think it's possible (and maybe even acceptable) to be able to appreciate flaws as flaws, without feeling a necessity to fix them.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#8
Posted: 4/29/26 at 2:45am
With Flower Drum Song, Hammerstein's goal overall seemed to be to show that Chinese-Americans largely "are just like every American" and deal with the same desires and issues. (I guess this is clear in I Enjoy Being a Girl, which is hard to perform unless you play it as satire--and even the original did do this a *bit*--but really was about "look, she's just like every other American "girl".) And I think it's important to point out that the movie version actually adds back in some jokes and other moments that, I think, do make the work seem more racially stereotyped than the play was. And I think some of Hwang's book is really misguided (and the tone is all over the place--it sounds like he's trying to fix this element?) But I also think when some of us say "why don't they just perform the original book?" it ignores the fact that virtually no one was licensing the show anymore, so it made complete sense for R&H (I think it was Ted Chapin's suggestion) to do a brand new version.
(It is worth pointing out that unlike in The King and I, Hammerstein especially was very keen on casting the show entirely with Asian actors, which proved difficult and of course they ended up with one white lead--who replaced another white actor--and one black lead, Larry Blyden and Juanita Hall. Of course less than twenty years later, Hal Prince had a hard time casting all Asians in Pacific Overtures, but his issue was with the union, who didn't care if the cast was Asian or not, but did want them all to be American.)
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#9
Posted: 4/29/26 at 8:18am
EricMontreal22 said: "With Flower Drum Song, Hammerstein's goal overall seemed to be to show that Chinese-Americans largely "are just like every American" and deal with the same desires and issues. "
I agree - and maybe (?) a somewhat noble intention coming a decade after what the US did to Japanese Americans re: the internment camps.
EricMontreal22 said: "(I guess this is clear in I Enjoy Being a Girl, which is hard to perform unless you play it as satire--and even the original did do this a *bit*--but really was about "look, she's just like every other American "girl".)"
I don't feel there's a need to perform "I Enjoy Being A Girl" as satire. I'd like to know more about your thoughts on why you feel that way, if you choose.
I think maybe "Chop Suey" illustrates your point a little bit more directly.
EricMontreal22 continued: "I think some of Hwang's book is really misguided (and the tone is all over the place--it sounds like he's trying to fix this element?)"
I wonder: At what point is this show no longer "Flower Drum Song"? ...like when plastic surgery goes so far that a person is no longer recognizable as their formerly unaltered self?
EricMontreal22 added: "But I also think when some of us say "why don't they just perform the original book?" it ignores the fact that virtually no one was licensing the show anymore, so it made complete sense for R&H (I think it was Ted Chapin's suggestion) to do a brand new version."
I don't agree with that logic. I mean, I understand that the show is not being licensed comparatively with the other shows in the R&H library, but I feel like a new book that is completely unrelated to the original (beyond the title only) hyper-emphasizes the intent as being just an ignoble money-grab.
It also demonstrates that profit should take precedence over any of the plusses previously mentioned in regards to appreciation for ethnic/cultural inclusiveness in American theater.
It is not impossible to improve the show's book based on the original source material. It's just easier (and lazier) to disrespectfully scrap it entirely in favor of potentially making more money.
EricMontreal22 concluded: "(It is worth pointing out that unlike in The King and I, Hammerstein especially was very keen on casting the show entirely with Asian actors, which proved difficult and of course they ended up with one white lead--who replaced another white actor--and one black lead, Larry Blyden and Juanita Hall. Of course less than twenty years later, Hal Prince had a hard time casting all Asians in Pacific Overtures, but his issue was with the union, who didn't care if the cast was Asian or not, but did want them all to be American.)"
Casting may be the area where compromise might be most palatable. Is it better to provide opportunity to as many as are qualified? Has the talent landscape changed since Pacific Overtures? (I do understand the union's prerequisite that actors be American.)
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#10
Posted: 4/29/26 at 8:56am
Just for fun - "I Enjoy Being A Girl" performed as satire:
Updated On: 4/29/26 at 08:56 AM
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#11
Posted: 4/29/26 at 11:27am
Add me to the list of people who don't have a strong appetite for a revised version of "Flower Drum Song." I will say that I really like the cast recording of the revival though. However, what I really want is a complete recording of the original score like we've recently gotten for "Oklahoma!", "Carousel," and "My Fair Lady."
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#12
Posted: 4/29/26 at 1:50pm
EricMontreal22 said: "With Flower Drum Song, Hammerstein's goal overall seemed to be to show that Chinese-Americans largely "are just like every American" and deal with the same desires and issues. (I guess this is clear in I Enjoy Being a Girl, which is hard to perform unless you play it as satire--and even the original did do this a *bit*--but really was about "look, she's just like every other American "girl".) And I think it's important to point out that the movie version actually adds back in some jokes and other moments that, I think, do make the work seem more racially stereotyped than the play was. And I think some of Hwang's book is really misguided (and the tone is all over the place--it sounds like he's trying to fix this element?) But I also think when some of us say "why don't they just perform the original book?" it ignores the fact that virtually no one was licensing the show anymore, so it made complete sense for R&H (I think it was Ted Chapin's suggestion) to do a brand new version.
(It is worth pointing out that unlike in The King and I, Hammerstein especially was very keen on casting the show entirely with Asian actors, which proved difficult and of course they ended up with one white lead--who replaced another white actor--and one black lead, Larry Blyden and Juanita Hall. Of course less than twenty years later, Hal Prince had a hard time casting all Asians in Pacific Overtures, but his issue was with the union, who didn't care if the cast was Asian or not, but did want them all to be American.)"
I think you make the best argument I've heard for revising the book--that the show simply isn't being licensed and so the organization did something to make it more appealing. I honestly don't know if that's an effort worth taking though. Unlike Kad, I think the score is rather weak. "Love, Look Away" is a stone cold classic, and "I Enjoy Being A Girl" is silly fun, but most of the score is pretty mundane. I also just don't think re-writing the book solves the issue of commercial interest. I don't think audiences are particularly attracted to this piece in any way, even just on the basis of a collection of songs.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#13
Posted: 4/29/26 at 1:56pm
Kad said: "I feel that unlike movies, tv, novels, even visual art- artistic works that are fixed and immutable- theatre and other performing arts are inherently living by virtue of the fact that they exist to be interpreted by currently living people. You'd be asking a company of modern Asian artists to be staging something that they could reasonably believe to be deeply demeaning toward their culture and heritage, in front of an audience that may or may not understand the context in which the piece was created. Performing arts are harder to contextualize than other art forms in that way; visual arts are displayed next to plaques or as part of curated exhibitions that put them in context, problematic films or novels can have prefaces that have to be acknowledged in some way before getting to the work. Program notes are great but are far more easily passed over by audiences.
The closest thing theater has would be a curated festival or something like Encores where the context is part of the mission, but that effectively does make the work a museum piece as joevitus says and limits its ability to be performed."
Although Asian American performers/creatives may long for a work that gives them more opportunity to shine, I don't really think there's much of an audience for this piece. I disagree with you about the quality of the score, but more importantly, only one song ever resonated with the general public ("I Enjoy Being a Girl"--which is wonderfully silly fun; "Love, Look Away" is a great song, but almost no one apart from Broadway musical obsessives knows it exists). I can't see the show being a success in any form--with a book adhering more faithfully to the original novel, one completely unrelated or utilizing the original. The score isn't one that's going to create many fans in this day and age. Simply put: it's over.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#14
Posted: 4/29/26 at 4:45pm
EvanstonDad said: "Add me to the list of people who don't have a strong appetite for a revised version of "Flower Drum Song." I will say that I really like the cast recording of the revival though. However, what I really want is a complete recording of the original score like we've recently gotten for "Oklahoma!", "Carousel," and "My Fair Lady.""
Yes please! I've only heard the "dream ballet" music for FDS one time and would love it to be recorded (the movie has a completely different "dream ballet.") Of course, unlike Oklahoma and Carousel anyway (less true of My Fair Lady) the OBCR of Flower Drum Song is pretty terrific, sounds great, and contains a large chunk of the music (honestly, it may be the 1950s cast album that I have played the most since getting it as a teen.)
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#15
Posted: 4/29/26 at 5:02pm
EricMontreal22 said: "EvanstonDad said: "Add me to the list of people who don't have a strong appetite for a revised version of "Flower Drum Song." I will say that I really like the cast recording of the revival though. However, what I really want is a complete recording of the original score like we've recently gotten for "Oklahoma!", "Carousel," and "My Fair Lady.""
Yes please! I've only heard the "dream ballet" music for FDS one time and would love it to be recorded (the movie has a completely different "dream ballet.") Of course, unlike Oklahoma and Carousel anyway (less true of My Fair Lady) the OBCR of Flower Drum Song is pretty terrific, sounds great, and contains a large chunk of the music (honestly, it may be the 1950s cast album that I have played the most since getting it as a teen.)"
I love that you love this score, but do you honestly think there's a large enough audience that would feel the same if introduced to it, to make it a success today's theater world?
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#16
Posted: 4/29/26 at 5:39pm
Well I was just going to reply to John Adams' longer reply to my earlier post, where I will kinda get to that ;) Although, wasn't Love Look Away a radio hit for... someone? Certainly my mom grew up not knowing the show, cast album, or movie (in Edmonton, Alberta) but the song had made a big impression on her from the radio and I remember when I was a teen she was happy when I found out what it was from, but of course that would have probably been the early 1960s (the website secondhandsongs, lists a fair number of recordings:)
I do stand by my statement that I get why Ted Chapin and all (I think Mary Rodgers was keen on the idea) decided for a new book. They were always looking for new ways to present (some might say exploit) the R&H legacy, and this also meant in the 1990 finally allowing for productions that tried to dig deeper into the classics (which led to the Hytner Carousel, the Nunn Oklahoma, the Renshaw King and I.) As well as allowing various revised Allegro's (Chapin said when I spoke to him that there were of course no assumptions it would ever find mainstream success but he also felt it was important to get a complete recording out there.) And out of the lesser R&H shows that weren't being done, FDS seemed the one that they could revitalize the best. So, despite not exactly loving the new book, I think it makes sense to try it when you have a show that simply hasn;'t even been licensed in years (and of course they did--or maybe still do--allow you the option of what to license.)
I do think it's a good score overall though. I think one thing about FDS is it was R&H trying to do a musical more in the manner of what was happening on Broadway in the 1950s (something they also tried with Me and Juliet and Pipe Dream to varying degrees--and not much success.) Despite West Side Story and My Fair Lady, that was when there were a lot of smaller hits (and some big hits) with musical comedies in a contemporary urban setting (Wonderful Town, Pajama Game, Damn Yankees, Bells are Ringing, etc.) But, what people now go to for R&Hammerstein, and maybe always have done, have been the more epic stories and a style that owes something more to operetta (even South Pacific in a way, the only one of their big hits to have a basically contemporary setting.)
John Adams said: " EricMontreal22 said: "With Flower Drum Song, Hammerstein's goal overall seemed to be to show that Chinese-Americans largely "are just like every American" and deal with the same desires and issues. "
I agree - and maybe (?) a somewhat noble intention coming a decade after what the US did to Japanese Americans re: the internment camps. "
Oh, I think for the time it was a noble intention, actually. I guess from a modern perspective many might not think it was, but in the 1950s?
Satire might have been the wrong word for how I said I Enjoy Being a Girl should be performed, but it's definitely performed with a wink (not all that far removed from How Lovely to be a Woman from Birdie--another song that gets some flack from modern audiences who seem to think it's written completely straightforward.)
" It is not impossible to improve the show's book based on the original source material. It's just easier (and lazier) to disrespectfully scrap it entirely in favor of potentially making more money. "
I mean this obviously was one of the goals--to get people to license a property that was simply no longer being licensed. But, for all the book's faults, Hwang has made it clear that he did do his book with a lot of genuine affection for the original show. As for if a show with a new book is still even the same show I... don't know. I guess it's all relative (but certainly I don't think the recent attempts at a new Pal Joey seem like the same show--although in that case it also used MANY songs not from the original production.)
" Casting may be the area where compromise might be most palatable. Is it better to provide opportunity to as many as are qualified? Has the talent landscape changed since Pacific Overtures? (I do understand the union's prerequisite that actors be American.) "
Oh, surely it has. I've never heard of any major Pacific Overtures production (not that there are many, but there have been enough) have had trouble with casting. Or, for that matter, revivals of King and I.
https://secondhandsongs.com/work/114557/versions
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#17
Posted: 4/29/26 at 6:48pm
As someone who saw this new production at East West Players, I feel obliged to comment.
I hadn't seen any previous iterations of Flower Drum Song, and found the show to be... fine. It's a solid enough score, but the show is overly long and there's not much plot to be had. The representation is commendable and I'm glad it's being produced, but I can't help but feel as though these types of efforts should be being put towards championing better and more interesting new works that have the same level of representation.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#18
Posted: 4/29/26 at 9:24pm
So, I watched the movie version on Amazon this afternoon and enjoyed it. As FightTheDragon wrote, I did feel its lengthiness. I was very ready for it to be wrapped up about 20 minutes before the wedding began.
Probably more than plot or score, I have a sense of nostalgia for the movie's cast. I was most familiar with them from TV: Jack Soo on Hawaii Five-0 and Barney Miller, Benson Fong from the Charlie Chan movies every Sunday on WGN's "Family Classics" w/Frazier Thomas, and Miyoshi Umeki as Mrs. Livingston on The Courtship of Eddie's Father.
I didn't connect Patrick Adiarte as being on M*A*S*H until after I'd seen him in FDS. His dancing made a much bigger impression on me.
Thanks, all for the great discussion! I feel like I learned something, and it's always a pleasure to to engage in threads like this one. 
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#19
Posted: 4/30/26 at 6:26pm
It's definitely overproduced, but it was a Ross Hunter production so... (The only other two musicals from him that I can think of are Thoroughly Modern Millie, a film I have a lot of affections for, and... Lost Horizon. At any rate, both overproduced of course.) And I do think it somehow emphasizes stereotypes that aren't in the original stage book. (There was that book that came out 15 or so years back about Flower Drum Song, Flower Drum Songs: The Story of Two Musicals by David Lewis that discussed both versions and the author's attitude was the film itself has hurt the original musical as people because of this... However, if I remember, that book also was filled with factual errors and not particularly well written, so I don't know how much stock we can take in his opinions.) I do remember a podcast episode with a performer who was in the Hwang FDS where he talked about how much the movie meant to him growing up--finally a big movie musical, the kind he loved, but with people like "him" and especially the young boys dancing since he was the only Asian (and guy) in his dance classes--with choreography by Fred Astaire choreographer Hermes Pan, no less.
John Adams, I'm sure you've seen it, but the extended Ed Sullivan performance from FDS is charming (and shows some of Carol Haney's stage choreography.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkYQaNHl2K8
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#20
Posted: 5/1/26 at 7:28am
EricMontreal22 said: "John Adams, I'm sure you've seen it, but the extended Ed Sullivan performance from FDS is charming (and shows some of Carol Haney's stage choreography.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkYQaNHl2K8"
Thanks for that link! You're right, I had seen it, but it's been a looong time and I'm so happy to revisit any of the Ed Sullivan Broadway performances.
I really love Pat Suzuki's brassy vocals on "I Enjoy Being A Girl". I wonder if both her's and Arabella Hong's vocals (Helen's "Love Look Away" was dubbed by Marilyn Horne in the movie) surprised some late 50s-era audience members who wouldn't think that such Western musical theater/operaticly styled vocals could emanate from Asian actors.
As for the movie being overproduced, I can't lie... I have no idea what that adjective means in a professionally applied context. I mean, I've read the definition, but in my case, I don't think I cold use it accurately, or be able to confidently defend why I'd used it.
I DO know that I found the studio-built sets meant to portray San Francisco exteriors look extremely artificial, and in one situation - comical. In the "Don't Marry Me" scene, Soo and Umeki are hitching a ride on the back of a horse-drawn dairy wagon. They step off as the wagon turns to go into an arched alleyway. As soon as their weight is removed from the wagon, its rear wheels stop rotating and the cart get dragged by the horse into the alley. DOH! 
I gotta say this, too:
Although I have great respect for the thoughts and opinions of both you and joevitus, I've been thinking about your categorizations of the song, "I Enjoy Being A Girl" and I feel a need to say that I both disagree, and find them to be a bit (unintentionally?) misogynistic.
I believe Nancy's motive for singing the song is completely earnest in expressing both her pride and the personal power she claims in unabashedly being "strictly a female female" (the counterpoint to being "a man's man").
Outside of expressing the joy it brings her to be in control of utilizing her femininity to her advantage, the only aspiration she (repeatedly) states is to one day marry a man - not a provider, or even an emotional support - but a guy who appreciates ('enjoys') who she is as a woman who knows exactly who she is.
I think that's extremely powerful, especially for its time.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#21
Posted: 5/1/26 at 2:52pm
John Adams said: "EricMontreal22 said: "John Adams, I'm sure you've seen it, but the extended Ed Sullivan performance from FDS is charming (and shows some of Carol Haney's stage choreography.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkYQaNHl2K8"
Thanks for that link! You're right, I had seen it, but it's been alooongtime and I'm so happy to revisit any of the Ed Sullivan Broadway performances.
I really love Pat Suzuki's brassy vocals on "I Enjoy Being A Girl". I wonder if both her's andArabella Hong's vocals (Helen's "Love Look Away" was dubbed by Marilyn Horne in the movie) surprised some late 50s-era audience members who wouldn't think that such Western musical theater/operaticly styled vocals could emanate from Asian actors.
As for the movie being overproduced, I can't lie... I have no idea what that adjective means in a professionally applied context. I mean, I've read the definition, but in my case, I don't think I cold use it accurately, or be able to confidently defend why I'd used it.
I DO know that I found the studio-built sets meant to portray San Francisco exteriors lookextremelyartificial, and in one situation - comical. In the "Don't Marry Me" scene, Soo and Umeki are hitching a ride on the back of a horse-drawn dairy wagon. They step off as the wagon turns to go into an arched alleyway. As soon as their weight is removed from the wagon, its rear wheels stop rotating and the cart get dragged by the horse into the alley. DOH!
I gotta say this, too:
Although I havegreatrespect for the thoughts and opinions of both you andjoevitus, I've been thinking about your categorizations of the song, "I Enjoy Being A Girl" and I feel a need to say that I both disagree, and find them to be a bit (unintentionally?) misogynistic.
I believe Nancy's motive for singing the song is completely earnest in expressing both her pride and the personal power she claims in unabashedly being "strictly a female female" (the counterpoint to being "a man's man").
Outside of expressing the joy it brings her to be in control of utilizing her femininity to her advantage, the only aspiration she (repeatedly) states is to one day marry a man-not a provider, or even an emotional support - but a guy who appreciates ('enjoys') who she is as a woman who knows exactly who she is.
I think that's extremely powerful, especially for its time."
I can respect that position. I just don't share it. I guess it depends a lot on how one defines even unconscious misogyny. In Hammerstein's time, an awful lot of people of both sexes believed that there were innate masculine and feminine characteristics and that a person of either sex who most embodied the characteristics of their sex was doing the right thing. To be a manly man or, in Hammerstein's lyrics, "a female female" was something a large number of people aspised to. It was seen as fulfilling one's nature.
And, frankly, the goal of a lot of women of that era was simply to get married (and presumably have children). And they in fact dressed, wore makeup and did their hair in whatever way they thought was most likely to attract a man. We can talk about how society forms people and how much of that was innate vs. ingrained. But my mom and most of my aunts shared similar sentiments. I heard it from them frequently.
I never played the song for my parents, but they were both members of the Silent Generation, and I assure you, they would have nodded their heads approvingly. I think if pressed, they would of course agree the song was just silly and people are deeper than that, and life is more serious and complicated than that, but they would have been amused and not at all hostile to its sentiments.
The world is a very different place now, we look at gender roles differently now, and women's priorites are different now. But I don't think the song being somewhat outdated makes it misogynistic.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#22
Posted: 5/1/26 at 3:14pm
Happy to say we had a mostly great time last night at the East West production of FDS. This was a show with really big swings for this intimate company-- big sets, big costumes, big cast, big band, and a voracious everything-and-the-kitchen-sink script, and I'm cheered to say by the end of the night, the company somehow made this crazy quilt come to full life.
Act I starts now with a gorgeously staged "A Hundred Million Miracles" taking our lead Mei Li from her start in China, through the Cultural Revolution, and step by step across the ocean to her arrival in San Francisco in the late-1960's. Magnificent start and very true to the spirit of R&H.
The rest of the very VERY long first act seems to take the central idea of Sondheim's "A Bowler Hat" and expand it into play form. We watch the very tradition-bound father, Wang, bit by bit exchange his core beliefs for the tinsel dream of Assimilation and the tackiness of a sequin-covered hyper-American Uncle Sam. Act II opens with his complete sellout in the number "Chop Suey", and you know what? It actually works, and it resonates in a stronger way than the old Generation Gap theme that dominated the original R&H script. (They've even tossed out the song "The Other Generation" in this script.) In the back and forth about assimilation, Madame Liang is now reconceived as a Westernized agent/manager, crassly making the wonders of Chinatown attractive to a Caucasian audience in "Grant Avenue". It's a rough fit, particularly when we need Madame Liang to stay charming enough to be a worthy romantic partner for Wang later on.
Worst of all tonally is the character of Harvard, the obnoxiously swishy costume designer at the club (stereotype much?), who's consistently directed to make the audience laugh at him and his affectations, which they faithfully did in rolling guffaws to our own embarrassment, pushing gay representation back at least 2 generations. REALLY?? I'm surprised to see David Henry Hwang write scenes this way, and doubly surprised to see East West Players present them when their whole history has been to revel in honest portrayals of diversity in all its colors. The fact that they give Harvard his own pandering coda to the cast bows in full drag only confused us even more-- "We've gone about as fer as we can go" from the progressive spirit of classic R&H.
Despite all these reservations, Act II turns out to hold many miracles of its own, not least of which is to make the inevitable wedding finale absolutely moving and meaningful. For that we have to look to some amazing performers who elevate even the more mundane or cringy material into high art. Grace Yoo's Mei Li is the gorgeous center to the show: nuanced and funny with a ravishing voice (wait till you hear her FURIOUS "Love Look Away")! Gedde Watanabe moved us to tears (he always does) in the minor part of Chin; he was in gorgeous voice for his Act II solo "My Best Love". Krista Marie Yu was a terrific stage presence as Linda Low (the club's very assimilated star dancer), with great dance moves if a shakier singing voice. Mark Oka did the impossible in making the nonsensical arc of Wang from traditionalist to tacky vaudevillian into something funny and dare I say it-- moving.
The sets were ambitious for this low-budget troop, but really filled the stage with scale and told the story with great style. The costumes were even better, encompassing haute couture or low comedy with equal skill-- brilliant work! Choreography was terrific across the board, especially in bringing the movement of Chinese Opera to this story. We loved the few times the full cast of 22 filled the stage with dance. And the band of 10 placed far upstage was pure magnificence!
Let's face it, FDS is a tough show to pull off, whichever script is used. East West Players is better equipped than most, and by and large they nailed the assignment with great love. The show plays through May 31, so don't miss your chance to see this rare treasure.
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#23
Posted: 5/1/26 at 5:49pm
Someone in a Tree2 said: "Happy to say we had a mostly great time last night at the East West production of FDS. This was a show withreally big swings for this intimate company--big sets, big costumes, big cast, big band, and a voraciouseverything-and-the-kitchen-sink script, and I'm cheered to say by the end of the night, the company somehow made this crazy quilt come to full life.
Act I starts now with a gorgeously staged "A Hundred Million Miracles" taking our lead Mei Li from her start in China, through the Cultural Revolution, and step by step across the ocean to her arrival in San Francisco in the late-1960's. Magnificent start and very true to the spirit of R&H.
The rest of the very VERYlong first act seems to take the centralidea of Sondheim's "A Bowler Hat" and expand it into play form. We watch thevery tradition-bound father, Wang,bit by bit exchange his core beliefs for the tinsel dream of Assimilation andthe tackiness of a sequin-covered hyper-American Uncle Sam. Act II opens with his complete sellout in the number "Chop Suey", and you know what? It actually works, and it resonates in a stronger way thanthe old Generation Gap theme that dominated the original R&H script. (They've even tossed out the song "The Other Generation" in this script.) In theback and forth about assimilation, Madame Liang is now reconceived as a Westernized agent/manager, crassly making the wonders of Chinatown attractive to a Caucasian audience in "Grant Avenue". It's a rough fit, particularly when we need Madame Liang to staycharming enough to be a worthy romantic partner for Wang later on.
Worst ofall tonally is the character of Harvard, the obnoxiously swishy costume designer at the club (stereotype much?), who's consistently directed to make the audiencelaugh at him and his affectations, which they faithfully did in rolling guffawsto our own embarrassment, pushing gay representationback at least 2 generations. REALLY?? I'm surprised to see David Henry Hwang write scenes this way, and doubly surprised to see East West Players present them when their whole history has been to revel in honest portrayals of diversity in all its colors. The fact that they give Harvard his own pandering coda to the cast bows in full drag only confused us even more-- "We've gone about as fer as we can go" from the progressive spirit of classic R&H.
Despite all these reservations, Act II turns out to hold many miracles of its own, notleast of which is to make the inevitable wedding finale absolutely moving and meaningful. For that we have to look to some amazing performers who elevate even the more mundane or cringy material into highart. Grace Yoo's Mei Li is the gorgeous center to the show: nuanced and funny with a ravishing voice (wait till you hear her FURIOUS "Love Look Away")! Gedde Watanabe moved us to tears (he always does) in the minor part of Chin; he was in gorgeous voice for his Act II solo "My Best Love". Krista Marie Yu was a terrific stage presence as Linda Low (the club's very assimilated star dancer), with great dance moves if a shakier singing voice. Mark Oka did the impossible inmaking the nonsensical arc of Wangfrom traditionalist to tacky vaudevillian into something funny and dare I say it-- moving.
The sets were ambitious for this low-budget troop, but really filled the stage with scale and told the story with great style. The costumes were even better, encompassinghaute couture or low comedy with equal skill-- brilliant work! Choreography was terrific across the board, especially in bringing the movement of Chinese Opera to this story. We loved the few times the full cast of 22 filled the stage with dance. And the band of 10 placed far upstage was pure magnificence!
Let's face it, FDS is a tough show to pull off, whichever script is used. East West Players is better equipped than most, and by and large they nailed the assignment with great love. The show plays through May 31, so don't miss your chance to see this rare treasure."
I love your enthusiasitc and detailed review, but, ugh, what sense does it make for characters living in the late 1960's to all be singing songs in the syle of 1950's musical comedy? It makes no sense. Even if the assumption is that they are trying to express themselves in an "American" way, this was already the style of a bygone era.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#24
Posted: 5/2/26 at 12:14pm
Someone in a Tree2 said: "Worst of all tonally is the character of Harvard, the obnoxiously swishy costume designer at the club (stereotype much?), who's consistently directed to make the audience laugh at him and his affectations, which they faithfully did in rolling guffaws to our own embarrassment, pushing gay representation back at least 2 generations. REALLY?? I'm surprised to see David Henry Hwang write scenes this way [...]"
If I have the facts correct, the character of Harvard was singularly created by Hwang for his 2001 revision. In other words, he does not appear in either C. Y. Lee's 1957 novel, and neither the original script of the Broadway musical, nor the movie's screenplay.
According to the NYT article linked in the original post for this thread, the character of Harvard was originally coded as gay, but not directly acknowledged so until Hwang "corrected" it in this latest revision:
"A character named Harvard, whom Hwang created for his version, was 'probably a gay character, although we were never specific about it,' he said. Harvard is definitely gay now. 'Part of that is acknowledging the degree to which San Francisco’s Chinatown played an important role in the development of what we now call L.G.B.T.Q.+ culture,' he said."
Talk about "adding insult to injury"... A completely invented character that was originally added to the script in a "veiled" fashion, only to be "outed" a quarter of a century later, by his inventor, for the purpose of... what, now? To serve solely as an object of humor and/or ridicule?
I don't get how that's "acknowledging the degree to which San Francisco’s Chinatown played an important role in the development of what we now call L.G.B.T.Q.+ culture".
Apparently, the revised book is overly long. The 'development of what we now call LGBTQ+ culture' is an unnecessary and unrelated aside to the original storyline's themes. Cut the character of Harvard. He was never meant to be there; not like this, anyway.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
NYT: ‘Flower Drum Song,’ Once Overhauled, Returns Changed Again#25
Posted: 5/2/26 at 12:22pm
joevitus said: "I can respect that position. I just don't share it. "
I could not, nor would not ask for anything more, or different.
I enjoyed reading your views! (...huh... Rhythmically that fits right into the melody Rodgers wrote...) 
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