I read via Hyphen that a revival of Flower Drum Song is coming to the American Musical Theatre of San Jose.
I haven’t seen the film, so I’ve missed out on the cringe-worthy Asian cultural cliches. But watching this all-Asian American cast dance in the clip below…kinda makes me happy, especially considering that this was the early 1960s. Even seeing Nancy Kwan — forever cemented in cinematic history as Suzie Wong — lip-synch a song about a strictly superficial element of womanhood isn’t bugging me too much. I mean, at least she’s lip-synching in English. It makes Hwang’s revival all the more significant because it eliminates the hack while still acknowledging the talent of its actors, singers, and dancers. (via Hyphen)
Suki Suki shares Hyphen’s sentiment that Asians lip-synching in a barely-hanging-on towel and prancing around dressed as Chinese Take-Out boxes doesn’t have the same demonizing connotations as they used to. In fact, that’s her idea of a successful weekend.
