Flower Drum Song was first produced on Broadway in 1958, and was groundbreaking for its time, as it featured an almost all-Asian cast. It also didn't hurt that Gene Kelly directed that original production. But over time, the show was lost amongst other Rodgers and Hammerstein shows like The Sound of Music, which opened just over a year after it.
The show was reworked by playwright David Henry Hwang for a 2002 Broadway revival, but it has to be assumed that VACT were unable to secure those rights, as they have been saddled with the original script and score.
Flower Drum Song takes place in San Francisco in the late 1950s. Sammy Fong, who owns a nightclub, has been ordered to marry a 'mail order bride' from China, Mei Li. Sammy tries to pawn her off on one of his friends, Wang Ta, who is in love with Sammy's love interest, Linda Low.
As in most of the musicals of the age, everything works out nicely for everyone, and Sammy ends up with Linda, while Wang Ta and Mei Li also hook up.
Here is where we need to be clear.VACT does a mediocre job with a show that has no business being produced. The show is filled with schlock, forgettable songs, stereotypical characters, racist "jokes", and a storyline so thin it could shatter at any moment. Most of the performances are characatures played badly, often to the point of eye-rolling. After two-and-a-half hours, it starts to grate on the nerves.
There are some aspects of the show that stood out – the performance of Linda Leung Sum was a pleasant surprise, not only due to her lovely voice, but her comedic timing as Madam Liang. Jimmy Yi as slick nightclub owner Sammy Fong has some good moments, and Rosie Simon was sweet as Mei Li.
The band, led by musical director Chris King, is strong and fills the Waterfront Theatre nicely. While the band overpowers the singers, the sound design is to blame as on Saturday night, it didn't appear that any of the onstage microphones were working, or were at such a low volume that they were essentially rendered useless.
The direction by Rick Tae is uninspired and rather boring at times, but thankfully he keeps the action moving well enough not to let it drag. The choreography by Raphael Wong is repetitive and simple, and that isn't necessarily a good thing.
With a show like Flower Drum Song, it needs a lot of glitz and glamour to make us forget all the problems it has as a show, and unfortunately, this production doesn't have any, which leads to a long night out at the theatre.
Flower Drum Song by Rodgers and Hammerstein runs at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island, Vancouver until June 14, 2009. * 1/2 (out of five)
Mike Mackenzie - Mike Mackenzie is an actor, writer, director and theatre producer. Recently, he performed in Man Of La Mancha at the Heritage Theatre in ...
