A NEW BEAT ON
AN OLD DRUM

A vibrant revival powered by
talent, spectacle, and cultural pride

Crazy Talented Asian Americans!

“To create something new, we must first love what is old.”
– Mei-Ling from Flower Drum Song

I fell in love with East West Players and JACCC’s co-production revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song, with a book by David Henry Hwang. On its own, Flower Drum Song is a Broadway classic. For those unfamiliar, it debuted on December 1, 1958, at the St. James Theatre, starring Miyoshi Umeki, Pat Suzuki, Larry Blyden, Juanita Hall, and Ed Kenney. The show ran for 600 performances. Hwang’s rewrite returned the musical to Broadway in 2002, with a revival starring Lea Salonga, Sandra Allen, and Jose Llana.

Now, the latest revival opens on the Aratani Theatre stage with Scott Keiji Takeda as Ta, Grace Yoo as Mei-Li, Krista Marie Yu as Linda Low, Emily Kuroda as Madam Liang, Marc Oka as Wang, Gedde Watanabe as Chin, and Kenton Chen as Harvard. Directed by East West’s Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal, this production spares no expense on costumes, set, or marketing.

There’s something for everyone. If you love Asian-American talent, this cast can rival any. Who knew Emily Kuroda, Mrs. Kim from Gilmore Girls, could sing? Kuroda was truly surprising with her talent. Fans with the original LP can relive the score at the intimate Aratani Theatre, ideal for this show. Unlike vast venues like the Pantages or Segerstrom Center, where decent seats cost a fortune and the cast looks tiny, here every seat is close to the performance.

Hats off to Lily Tung Crystal for bringing show-business glamour back to East West Players with this revival. Her acumen in understanding what will bring the audience, from casting choices to ad purchases in Little Tokyo Station and iconic show design, is evident. This is a new East West, hungry for new audiences and engagement with theatre lovers. Perhaps Crystal is following Mei-Li’s advice; she is creating something new with love for something old. And I am truly here for it.

But, Willie, what went on on stage, you ask? Okay, okay, hold your horses.

Our lovebird pair, Scott Keiji Takeda and Grace Yoo, expressed genuine affection for one another on stage. This pair is not only perfectly comfortable busting out Peking Opera choreography at a moment’s notice, but they also have well-developed voices and good, clear diction. Krista Marie Yu as Linda Low is truly a showstopper. Not only does she embody the personality of a diva, but her genuine, kind-hearted nature truly shone through her stage presence. I had “Don’t Marry Me” stuck in my head after the show, mainly due to Marc Oka and Emily Kuroda’s delivery. I don’t remember laughing so much. As the elders of the cast, Kuroda and Oka certainly brought the kind of glamour and expression that can only come from years of performing on stage.

I would be remiss not to mention Gedde Watanabe, who absolutely killed it in “My Best Love.” Watanabe, who just delivered an award-worthy performance of “Someone in the Tree” in EWP’s Pacific Overtures in 2024, continues to teach the audience about the depth of musical theatre through his delivery. The combination of quick wit, absurd humor, and sentimentality makes Watanabe a treasure of our time.

Kenton Chen excels as Harvard—no notes on his sass. The ensemble impresses with crisp choreography and remarkable Asian-American talent, not just for their kung fu skills but for their overall performance quality.

The design team that Tung has assembled is a little uneven. Chen-Wei Liao’s scenic design is rich in color tones. The on-stage band reveal is certainly effective. However, the execution has dampened the overall experience. From the snag on the upstage cyc cloth to Mandarin Chinese translation errors to poor Chinese penmanship, the scenic design distracts from the experience. I also did not love Jiyoun Chang’s lighting design. There are too many moments when the ensemble dancers were dancing in the dark. Also, stage left clearly has a coverage problem. Chang’s color palette choices were mostly on point and well-researched in line with Peking aesthetics. The biggest winner on the team is Ruoxuan Li, whose costume design is simply jaw-droppingly gorgeous. From the Peking Opera headdress variations on Linda Low to the Chop Suey showgirls, you can tell Li had both a generous budget and a ton of fun working on the project. Bravo, Li!

Brian Hsieh’s sound design is perfectly serviceable in the Aratani Theatre. The space is not particularly friendly to concerts, in my experience, but the voices were clearly delivered and heard. My major issue concerns the orchestra’s size and instrumental choices. It is clear that the budget savings came directly from the orchestra. A majority of the time, the band sounds thin. The band could really use one or two more strings to fill out the sound. Also, using a banjo to replace the pipa’s sound is a wild choice. I am certain that Marc Macalintal did his best with the available budget, but the orchestra needed more resources to achieve the sound Hammerstein intended. It would also have been better if the orchestra had genuine Chinese musicians instead of just a few doublers in the midst.

Overall, the show is a success. I am giving this show a wholehearted recommendation. I want to leave this review with the words of David Henry Hwang.

“When I was a kid, I generally had this policy of avoiding plays or movies or TV shows with Asians because they always made me feel kind of icky, but Flower Drum Song was an exception in the sense that you had an actual love story between an Asian man and an Asian woman, which you still don’t see much of today… this is just my own theory—Hammerstein with Carmen Jones… it was part of their principles or their agenda to be able to present this other minority group as being Americans like everybody else.”

So come on out and celebrate this American piece of artwork, because East West Players are helping us once again find that vision of American pluralism.

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photos by Mike Palma

Flower Drum Song
East West Players & JACCC presents
Aratani Theatre at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center
244 S. San Pedro St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Thurs at 7:30; Fri & Sat at 8; Sat at 2; Sun at 1
ends on May 31, 2026
for tickets ($59–$99), call 213.625.7000 or visit EWP

for more shows, visit Theatre in LA

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