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Flower Drum Song
“I loved this show so much! I laughed hysterically and cried during moments that surprised me with feelings of recognition. This new Flower Drum Song , with its references to the new and the old, has become a kind of history of being Asian in America. It is absolutely authentic to how Chinese America has grown up.” –Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club
“A tremendous breakthrough in storytelling about the Asian-American experience. The humor, energy, and artistic excellence of the show make it worthwhile for people of all backgrounds.” –Patrick Purdon, The Tech
"A funny and clever radical revision of the 1958 Broadway hit."— Time magazine
“To create something new, we must first love what is old.” So says a character in David Henry Hwang’s updated book to the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joseph Fields. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late fifties, Flower Drum Song is a funny and moving story which explores what it means to be an American and touches the history of every person whose forbears once arrived as a stranger to these shores. The new, fully revised version includes David Henry Hwang’s Tony Award-nominated text, an introduction by Hwang and an afterword by Karen Wada, carefully documenting the long and vital history of this landmark musical.
David Henry Hwang is the author of the Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly , Yellow Face (OBIE Award, 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Golden Child (1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), Family Devotions (Drama Desk nomination), and the books for musicals Aida ( co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 Broadway revival), and Tarzan , among other works. David Henry Hwang graduated from Stanford University, attended the Yale School of Drama, and holds honorary degrees from Columbia College in Chicago and The American Conservatory Theatre. He lives in New York City with his wife, actress Kathryn Layng, and their children, Noah David and Eva Veanne.
“A tremendous breakthrough in storytelling about the Asian-American experience. The humor, energy, and artistic excellence of the show make it worthwhile for people of all backgrounds.” –Patrick Purdon, The Tech
"A funny and clever radical revision of the 1958 Broadway hit."— Time magazine
“To create something new, we must first love what is old.” So says a character in David Henry Hwang’s updated book to the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joseph Fields. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late fifties, Flower Drum Song is a funny and moving story which explores what it means to be an American and touches the history of every person whose forbears once arrived as a stranger to these shores. The new, fully revised version includes David Henry Hwang’s Tony Award-nominated text, an introduction by Hwang and an afterword by Karen Wada, carefully documenting the long and vital history of this landmark musical.
David Henry Hwang is the author of the Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly , Yellow Face (OBIE Award, 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Golden Child (1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), Family Devotions (Drama Desk nomination), and the books for musicals Aida ( co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 Broadway revival), and Tarzan , among other works. David Henry Hwang graduated from Stanford University, attended the Yale School of Drama, and holds honorary degrees from Columbia College in Chicago and The American Conservatory Theatre. He lives in New York City with his wife, actress Kathryn Layng, and their children, Noah David and Eva Veanne.
120 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2003
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About the author
David Henry Hwang
59 books135 followersDavid Henry Hwang (Chinese: 黃哲倫; pinyin: Huáng Zhélún; born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright who has risen to prominence as the preeminent Asian American dramatist in the U.S.
He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University. His first play was produced at the Okada House dormitory at Stanford and he briefly studied playwriting with Sam Shepard and María Irene Fornés.
He is the author of M. Butterfly (1988 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards, Pulitzer finalist), Golden Child (1998 Tony nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The Dance and the Railroad (Drama Desk nomination), Family Devotions (Drama Desk Nomination), Sound and Beauty, and Bondage. His newest play, Yellow Face, which premiered at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum and New York's Public Theatre, won a 2008 OBIE Award and was a Finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. He wrote the scripts for the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida (co-author), Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (2002 revival, 2003 Tony nomination), and Disney's Tarzan. His opera libretti include three works for composer Philip Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera), and The Sound of a Voice; as well as Bright Sheng's The Silver River, Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards) and Unsuk Chin's Alice In Wonderland (Opernwelt's 2007 "World Premiere of the Year"). Hwang penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate, and Possession (co-writer), and also co-wrote the song "Solo" with Prince. A native of Los Angeles, Hwang serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild. He attended Stanford University and Yale Drama School, and was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
He was born in Los Angeles, California and was educated at the Yale School of Drama and Stanford University. His first play was produced at the Okada House dormitory at Stanford and he briefly studied playwriting with Sam Shepard and María Irene Fornés.
He is the author of M. Butterfly (1988 Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Awards, Pulitzer finalist), Golden Child (1998 Tony nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The Dance and the Railroad (Drama Desk nomination), Family Devotions (Drama Desk Nomination), Sound and Beauty, and Bondage. His newest play, Yellow Face, which premiered at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum and New York's Public Theatre, won a 2008 OBIE Award and was a Finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. He wrote the scripts for the Broadway musicals Elton John & Tim Rice's Aida (co-author), Rodgers & Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song (2002 revival, 2003 Tony nomination), and Disney's Tarzan. His opera libretti include three works for composer Philip Glass, 1000 Airplanes on the Roof, The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera), and The Sound of a Voice; as well as Bright Sheng's The Silver River, Osvaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards) and Unsuk Chin's Alice In Wonderland (Opernwelt's 2007 "World Premiere of the Year"). Hwang penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate, and Possession (co-writer), and also co-wrote the song "Solo" with Prince. A native of Los Angeles, Hwang serves on the Council of the Dramatists Guild. He attended Stanford University and Yale Drama School, and was appointed by President Clinton to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 8, 2018
Perhaps this is not Hwang's finest play, though it reflects his career-long interest in Eastern/Western cultural conflict and talent for punchy dialogue. Having never read the book nor seen any of the original Rodgers and Hammerstein productions, I cannot comment on the ways the playwright has "modernized" the plot and characters and attempted to downplay the degrading stereotypes that come through in the music. (The Rodgers and Hammerstein estates granted Hwang permission to alter the script, but not the songs.) Even so, I enjoyed the piece as a standalone work that insists upon treating its Chinese/Chinese American characters as full, if not terribly memorable, human beings.
March 14, 2023
this was some bullshit i’m sorry
May 7, 2017
I went into this totally blind, having only heard some of the score before, and I came out loving that magical, underappreciated score and with an appreciation for David Henry Hwang's book that is classic musical theatre in every way with a sweet as pie ending. I read in conjunction with the really lovely revival cast recording and the whole thing was a treat.
November 1, 2022
This new version of Flower Drum Song begins in Mao's China, in 1960, where a young woman named Mei-Li celebrates the joys of daily life: "A hundred million miracles are happening every day / And those who say they don't agree / Are those who do not hear or see." Mao's soldiers arrest her father and he dies in jail. Mei-Li, carrying only her father's cherished flower drum, escapes to America. When she and her fellow refugees catch sight of San Francisco and its welcoming Chinatown arch, they sing another chorus of their song. Oscar Hammerstein II's heartfelt meditation on the true miracles of everyday existence is transformed into an anthem of liberty and hope. I think he would approve.
In fact, I think Hammerstein would have liked what David Henry Hwang has done with Flower Drum Song, the musical comedy he wrote in 1958 with Richard Rodgers, from a novel by C.Y. Lee. No one would call Flower Drum Song Rodgers & Hammerstein's best effort. But the show contains some lovely songs--the aforementioned "A Hundred Million Miracles," along with "I Enjoy Being a Girl," "Sunday," "Don't Marry Me," "Love Look Away," "You Are Beautiful," and "I Am Going to Like It Here." And the themes that Hwang has brought to the fore in his long but effective new book--about preserving one's culture, about the nature of the Chinese immigrant experience, about the freedom to follow your heart, about respecting your parents and your children--these are entirely true to the spirit, if not the letter, of the best works created by Rodgers & Hammerstein.
The story of Flower Drum Song now focuses firmly on Mei-Li, who arrives, after that Prologue I told you about, in the home of her father's best friend, Master Wang. Wang owns a theater on Grant Avenue where he produces Chinese opera six nights a week and where his Americanized son, Ta, stages "nightclub night" once a week. Mei-Li is immediately taken with Ta; but Ta has eyes only for glamorous Linda Low, the singer/stripper who stars in his show.
The arrival of Madame Liang, Linda's new agent, changes everything: She re-names the theater the Club Chop Suey and turns it into a chic cabaret catering to the American tourists in San Francisco's Chinatown. Wang is at first appalled by this transformation, but his own itch for stardom soon changes his mind. He crashes the show on opening night, performing a rowdy comic number called "Gliding Through My Memoree," and it's not long before he becomes the star of the Chop Suey in the caricatured persona of Uncle Sammy Fong.
Now it's Ta's turn to be appalled. He begins to return to his Chinese roots, studying the Opera traditions that he once spurned and learning to appreciate them and the traditional woman--Mei-Li--that fate has brought to him.
Hwang has skillfully integrated the Rodgers & Hammerstein songs into his new book. "Sunday" becomes a tentative love song for Ta and Mei-Li (a la "People Will Say We're in Love" in Oklahoma!). The comic number "Don't Marry Me" is now a blissful romantic duet for Wang and Madame Liang.
In addition to accommodating the tuneful score, Hwang's book contains some nice touches of its own. I love that Linda Low and Madame Liang are such independent, self-reliant women. And I love that Hwang doesn't judge--and doesn't ask us to judge--the actions of either Ta or his father. The second act opens with a comic number ("Chop Suey") that straddles a fine line between parody and something like minstrelsy: is Wang-as-Sammy Fong "selling out" or is he following his heart? Hwang leaves that up to us, but reminds us that the man who must live with the choice is an intelligent, worldly, thinking man who has not made this decision lightly. Hwang respects all of his characters; they're a nice lot to spend time with.
In fact, I think Hammerstein would have liked what David Henry Hwang has done with Flower Drum Song, the musical comedy he wrote in 1958 with Richard Rodgers, from a novel by C.Y. Lee. No one would call Flower Drum Song Rodgers & Hammerstein's best effort. But the show contains some lovely songs--the aforementioned "A Hundred Million Miracles," along with "I Enjoy Being a Girl," "Sunday," "Don't Marry Me," "Love Look Away," "You Are Beautiful," and "I Am Going to Like It Here." And the themes that Hwang has brought to the fore in his long but effective new book--about preserving one's culture, about the nature of the Chinese immigrant experience, about the freedom to follow your heart, about respecting your parents and your children--these are entirely true to the spirit, if not the letter, of the best works created by Rodgers & Hammerstein.
The story of Flower Drum Song now focuses firmly on Mei-Li, who arrives, after that Prologue I told you about, in the home of her father's best friend, Master Wang. Wang owns a theater on Grant Avenue where he produces Chinese opera six nights a week and where his Americanized son, Ta, stages "nightclub night" once a week. Mei-Li is immediately taken with Ta; but Ta has eyes only for glamorous Linda Low, the singer/stripper who stars in his show.
The arrival of Madame Liang, Linda's new agent, changes everything: She re-names the theater the Club Chop Suey and turns it into a chic cabaret catering to the American tourists in San Francisco's Chinatown. Wang is at first appalled by this transformation, but his own itch for stardom soon changes his mind. He crashes the show on opening night, performing a rowdy comic number called "Gliding Through My Memoree," and it's not long before he becomes the star of the Chop Suey in the caricatured persona of Uncle Sammy Fong.
Now it's Ta's turn to be appalled. He begins to return to his Chinese roots, studying the Opera traditions that he once spurned and learning to appreciate them and the traditional woman--Mei-Li--that fate has brought to him.
Hwang has skillfully integrated the Rodgers & Hammerstein songs into his new book. "Sunday" becomes a tentative love song for Ta and Mei-Li (a la "People Will Say We're in Love" in Oklahoma!). The comic number "Don't Marry Me" is now a blissful romantic duet for Wang and Madame Liang.
In addition to accommodating the tuneful score, Hwang's book contains some nice touches of its own. I love that Linda Low and Madame Liang are such independent, self-reliant women. And I love that Hwang doesn't judge--and doesn't ask us to judge--the actions of either Ta or his father. The second act opens with a comic number ("Chop Suey") that straddles a fine line between parody and something like minstrelsy: is Wang-as-Sammy Fong "selling out" or is he following his heart? Hwang leaves that up to us, but reminds us that the man who must live with the choice is an intelligent, worldly, thinking man who has not made this decision lightly. Hwang respects all of his characters; they're a nice lot to spend time with.
July 31, 2022
How arrogant must you be to decide that you should rewrite the book of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical? I guess you will have to talk to David Henry Hwang to find out.
I performed in a production of Flower Drum Song many years ago, and recently watched the movie of it. This show with its beautiful music and script by C.Y. Lee was just wonderful. I cannot understand why anyone would have put money behind a production with a different script.
There are plenty of Broadway musicals with bad scripts, but Flower Drum Song was good. My advice, Mr. Hwang, is to write your own musical from scratch.
I performed in a production of Flower Drum Song many years ago, and recently watched the movie of it. This show with its beautiful music and script by C.Y. Lee was just wonderful. I cannot understand why anyone would have put money behind a production with a different script.
There are plenty of Broadway musicals with bad scripts, but Flower Drum Song was good. My advice, Mr. Hwang, is to write your own musical from scratch.
November 6, 2020
Perfectly acceptable vehicle to make the show performable. I might feel more excited about it if I saw a production, but it doesn't have a really interesting driving problem at the center of it like so many other of David Henry Hwang's plays.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews