Yangtze Rep Theatre Presents 'Forbidden City West'

 The Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America production presented by Theater For The New City of "Forbidden City West", Off Broadway at Theater For A New City, 155 First Avenue (bet. 9th & 10th Sts), NYC.  It is directed by Joanna Chan.  Previews begin June 14 for the limited engagement.  The opening is Wednesday, June 18, at 7:30 pm.  The new musical has a score by Gregory Frederick with book and lyrics by Joanna Chan.  The choreographer is David ChienHui SHEN and the musical director is Justin Birdsong. The set design is by Martin Andrew Orlowicz; with costumes by HouJian Xu; and lighting by Kathleen Dobbins.

"Forbidden City West" is an original musical on 100 years of Chinese-American Experience through the life and times of legendary entertainer Jadin Wong. In 1940, she was featured in Life Magazine as the exotic star of the night club, The Forbidden City, in San Francisco. And into her 90's, she still headed her own talent agency for Asian performing artists in upper Manhattan. Married to the Broadway producer, Eddie Dowling, in the 1960s, Wong was dubbed 'the most photographed Chinese girl in the U.S.', her black and white photos with such Hollywood luminaries as Welles, Crosby, Powell, Hope, etc. graced numerous pages. Wong helped to create and popularize the 'dragon lady' image of the Chinese female in a long, tight gown, slits thigh high, and chopsticks in her hair--an image that became a fixation in the public imagination in the West.  Wong's colorful life includes: jumping off a small military plane over the Black Forest, being found and brought to safety a few hours later, then going on stage to entertain two thousand American G.I.s in Austria; running away from home at age 14 to take dancing lessons; creating the 'dragon lady' image with the aid of her English dance teacher; and trying to restart her career as a stand-up comic. The fiesty young woman proved to be a peerless survivor, outlasting three husbands and braving the male-orientated Chinese community that condemned and ignored her, continuing to dispense advice today to scores of young Asian actors who are gradually gaining visibility.  The musical is intercut with the dramantic changes in China as well as some of the refelctions and dreams of living here in the US.

Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America (www.yangtze-rep-theatre.org) was co-founded by Joanna Chan, Artistic Director, in 1992, to produce works for and by Asian artists. It has presented 76 events and has become New York's most significant entry points for dramatic works from Chinese-speaking countries. They are a place of collaboration for artists from various parts of Asia. Yangtze have been responsible for the NYC debuts of many notable artists, including Gao XingJian, the 2000 Nobel laureate in literature. While the company is more prolific in producing dramatic works, it also presents dance series and other presentations.

Performances of "Forbidden City West" through July 2nd are: Wednesday – Sunday at 7:30 pm. There are special performances Sunday 6/15 at 3:00 pm and Tuesday 7/1 at 7:30 pm. There is no Sunday 6/15 7:30 pm performance. Tickets are only $20 general admission and $15 seniors / students for the weekday (Wednesday & Thursday) performances.  They are $30 general admission; $20 seniors / students for the weekend (Friday, Saturday & Sunday).  There will be a special 20% discount for all tickets purchased by Saturday, May 31st.  There are discounts for groups of 10 or more. Tickets can be purchased at www.theaterforthenewcity.net; reserved at office@yangtze-rep-theatre.com or by calling 718-263-8829.

To post a comment, you must register and login.