A REVIEW: 'Soft Power' Plays It Hard and Fast

Courtesy of Craig Schwartz

Conrad Ricamora, center, and cast in Soft Power

By Darlene Donloe

Either I went to a play and a musical broke out, or I went to a musical and a play broke out.  Then again, maybe I went to a political rally and a love story broke out. Or, possibly, I was watching a love story and a political rally broke out. Or, I went to a play about racism and a socio-political civics lesson broke out. Or, perhaps, it was all of the above.

The production is Soft Power, an original musical by Tony Award-winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, which recently made its world premiere at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles.

Soft Power is a social and cerebral influence, but it is also a bold mish mash – a satirical hodge-podge of vibrant insanity that somehow rights itself when presenting pragmatism in the most madcap of scenarios. It’s kind of a throwback to the Golden Age of the Broadway musical.

Conrad Ricamora (How To Get Away With Murder) plays a Chinese executive named Xue Xing, who flies to America to do business. He meets and hires DHH, (Francis Jue) a Chinese American television writer. DHH’s mission is to create an American television series set in Shanghai.

Xue wants the writer to present only the best of Shanghai. He rebukes anything negative.  He even has a problem with the writer referring to the term, “good air quality” because someone might think Shanghai has “bad air quality.”

HHD and Xue go to a 2016 fund-raiser where Xue meets Hillary Clinton and is immediately enthralled.  Xue, who has fallen hard for Mrs. Clinton, decides to help bring America back from the brink of war.

Although the show is loosely about the 2016 election, the name of the current president is never uttered. NEVER!  So it won’t be uttered here either!

As evidenced by this review’s opening paragraph - there is a lot happening in this show.  A lot!  It tries to address many of the world’s troubles in two acts. That’s a lot to cram into two acts. But what it does manage to accomplish is brilliant!

One could never imagine seeing a Hillary Clinton riding onto the stage on a Big Mac while singing, “I’m With Her.”  Next, we see her character in a Wonder Woman costume twerking on a giant hamburger under McDonald’s neon golden arches.  Then there is Clinton hysterically trying to learn Mandarin. And, let's not forget the White House made of beer cans in a political fantasy where East meets West.

After the election, Clinton pigs out on ice cream and pizza.   We then see Clinton and Xue taking a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge while they sing, Happy Enough, which signals a merging theme between China and the U.S.

Hwang (Yellow Face, Chinglish), a big fan of The King and I, wanted to do something to pay homage to the show. He pays homage to the production in several ways, including incorporating that classic waltz that happened, in the movie version, between Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.

There’s so much to talk about regarding this production – that it would take way too many words.

The play, fabulously directed, is all over the place, but so are the subjects and issues that are addressed.

Soft Power is a great night of theater.

Soft Power, directed by Leigh Silverman, stars Billy Bustamante, Kara Guy, Jon Hoche, Kendyl Ito, Francis Jue, Austin Ku, Raymond J. Lee, Alyse Alan Louis, Jaygee Macapugay, Daniel May, Paul HeeSang Miller, Kristen Faith Oei, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Geena Quintos, Conrad Ricamora, Trevor Salter and Emily Stillings.

Soft Power is presented by Center Theatre Group in association with East West Players and the Curran, with book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang, music and additional lyrics by Jeanine Tesori, set design by David Zinn, costume design by Anita Yavich, lighting design by Mark Barton, sound design by Kai Harada, music directed by David O and choreography by Sam Pinkleton.

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likable), O (oh, yeah) and e (excellent), Soft Power gets an O (oh, yeah).

***

Soft Power, Ahmanson Theater, Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre The Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012, Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m., through June 10. No Monday performances.  Exceptions: Added 2 p.m. performances on Thursday, June 7.  No 6:30 p.m. performance on Sunday, June 10; $30 – $130 (Ticket prices are subject to change.) Tickets are available online at CenterTheatreGroup.org, by calling Audience Services at (213) 972-4400 or in person at the Center Theatre Group Box Office. Groups: (213) 972-7231. Deaf community: Information and charge, visit CenterTheatreGroup.org/ACCESS.