Signature Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the DC premiere of Soft Power, a musical fantasia with music by Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo, Fun Home) and book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Yellow Face). This newly revised production is directed by Signature’s Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard (Signature’s The Bridges of Madison County, Pacific Overtures), with choreography by Billy Bustamante (Lincoln Center’s Suites by Sondheim, Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Gold Mountain), music supervision by Chris Fenwick (Kimberly Akimbo, The Public’s Soft Power), and music direction by Angie Benson (Signature’s HAIR, Pacific Overtures). Performances run August 6 – September 15, 2024 in Signature’s MAX Theatre. Tickets start at $40 and are available at SigTheatre.org.
“I’m thrilled and honored to collaborate with two of our greatest theater artists – and my personal artistic heroes – David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori on their brilliant musical Soft Power,” said Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard. “I saw the show at The Public Theater in 2018 and admired its bold theatricality, hilarious satire, and profound heart. Our newly-revised version is a fast-paced one-act, performed by an all AAPI-cast, led by a predominantly-AAPI creative team, focused on the fundamental questions: ‘Do we still believe in American democracy? Does the American Dream really include everyone? And how does one find a true sense of belonging?’ As a Chinese-American artist myself, these questions resonate powerfully and personally. And as we all approach this next election, which both echoes 2016 and brings fresh fears, we need a story like this one, to reinvigorate our hope and belief in democracy, more than ever. I can’t wait for audiences to experience this fever-dream-musical-of-
Soft Power is a visionary musical fantasia by Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori. After the 2016 election, when a Chinese American playwright is attacked by an unknown assailant, he hallucinates a Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theater producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love. Hilarious and biting, this political satire dares to ask: Does American Democracy still work? And is it worth believing in? An exhilarating ride through political absurdity with a faceoff between Chinese and American exceptionalism, Soft Power makes an electric debut in the nation’s capital.
“The King and I is a musical I’ve always loved,” said David Henry Hwang. “But when I saw the most recent Broadway revival in 2015, I found myself troubled by its premise: a white woman helps the King of Siam to civilize his country and bring it into the family of nations. Yet, because this Rodgers & Hammerstein musical is so beautifully-written, I was still in tears by the end. I set out to try and simulate this complexity by creating a ‘reverse King and I’ where a Chinese national comes to rescue America. Originally, I thought this ‘yellow savior’ would help President Hillary Clinton solve the problem of gun violence. We had a reading of this version in 2016 — the day of the election. The next morning, I called director Leigh Silverman to say, ‘I think this is going to be bad for the country … but it could be good for our musical.’ I also found myself writing about another true incident: a few years prior, I had been stabbed in the neck by an unknown assailant. So Soft Power is a show that has been shaped by real-life events. I am grateful to Signature Theatre for giving Jeanine Tesori and me this opportunity to continue working on our musical, now shaped by the realities we face in 2024.”
“I think there are a lot of us right now — on both sides of the aisle — that are struggling to find out who we are as a United States,” said Jeanine Tesori. “Soft Power was affected by events in our country and an attack on David himself. Many of us felt attacked and ill-prepared for the 2016 election. We believed we were safe and then in one violent act—it felt violent—everything came apart. And David’s questioning of a beautiful, well-intentioned piece of work like The King and I was incredibly interesting to me, because it made me wonder about the delivery system of a musical: to look past the way they hit our ears, to how they hit our hearts and minds. Musicals have great soft power. They can transform our beliefs.”
The production stars Steven Eng (Classic Stage Company’s Pacific Overtures, Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Gold Mountain) as DHH, Daniel May (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, Broadway’s Flower Drum Song) as Xue Xing, and Grace Yoo (Broadway’s Hadestown, Hollywood Bowl’s Into the Woods) as Hillary Clinton. The cast of Soft Power is rounded out by Eymard Cabling (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, National Tour of Miss Saigon) as Randy Ray & others, Andrew Cristi (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, Broadway’s A Christmas Story) as Chief Justice & others, Jonny Lee Jr. (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Gold Mountain) as Bobby Bob & others, Quynh-My Luu (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, A Little Night Music) as Waiter & others, Christopher Mueller (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, She Loves Me) as VEEP & others, Ashley D. Nguyen (Signature’s King of the Yees, Olney Theatre Center’s Dance Nation) as Jīng & others, Chani Wereley (Signature’s Sweeney Todd, Ford’s Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors) as Betsy Ross & others, Nicholas Yenson (Signature’s King of the Yees, Pacific Overtures) as Holden Caulfield & others, and Sumié Yotsukura (Keegan Theatre’s Merrily We Roll Along, Olney Theatre Center’s Fiddler on the Roof) as Flight Attendant & others. Olivia Clavel-Davis (Skyline Theatre Company’s Little Women), Brian Dauglash (Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s A Chorus Line), Emily Song Tyler (Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Gold Mountain), and Joey Urgino (Flint Repertory Theatre’s Spring Awakening) are swings.
The creative team for Soft Power includes Scenic Design by Chika Shimizu (Signature’s Pacific Overtures, Irish Rep’s Belfast Girls), Costume Design by Helen Q. Huang (Signature’s King of the Yees, Pacific Overtures), Lighting Design by Oliver Wason (Signature Theatre’s Pacific Overtures, Heartbeat Opera’s Fidelio), Sound Design by Eric Norris (Signature’s Where the Mountain Meets the Sea, HAIR), and Wig Design by Anne Nesmith (Signature’s HAIR, Private Jones). Danny Troob is the Orchestrator, Russ Anixter is the Copyist, and Alexander Greenberg is the Music Assistant and Keyboard Programmer. Ka-Ling Cheung is the Dialect Coach and Casey Kaleba is the Fight Choreographer. Casting is by Jorge Acevedo. New York Casting is by Geoff Josselson, CSA. Kerry Epstein is the Production Stage Manager, Joey Blakely and Taryn Friend are the Assistant Stage Managers, Aria Velz is the Associate Director, Vicky Anh Pham is the Playwright’s Assistant, Olivia Clavel-Davis is the Assistant Choreographer, Ashlynne Ludwig is the Associate Costume Designer, Bailey Hammett is the Assistant Costume Designer, Dominic DeSalvio is the Assistant Lighting Designer, Di Carey is the Assistant Sound Designer, and Danna Rosedahl is the Assistant Wig Designer.
Twitter & Instagram: @SigTheatre
Hashtag: #SigSoftPower
Soft Power is sponsored by The Ted & Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund and The Revada Foundation.
EVENT LISTING
DC Premiere
Soft Power
August 6 — September 15, 2024
MAX Theatre
A visionary musical fantasia by Tony Award winners David Henry Hwang (Yellow Face, M. Butterfly) and Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home, Kimberly Akimbo).
After the 2016 election, when a Chinese American playwright is attacked by an unknown assailant, he hallucinates a Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theater producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love. Hilarious and biting, this political satire dares to ask: Does American Democracy still work? And is it worth believing in?
An exhilarating ride through political absurdity with a faceoff between Chinese and American exceptionalism, Soft Power makes an electric debut in the nation’s capital.
Book & Lyrics by David Henry Hwang
Music & Additional Lyrics by Jeanine Tesori
Music Direction by Angie Benson
Music Supervision by Chris Fenwick
Choreographed by Billy Bustamante
Directed by Ethan Heard
August 6 – September 15, 2024
Closed captions will be available for every show via the GalaPro app.
Pride Night: August 23, 2024
Post-show Discussions: August 28 and September 10, 2024
AAPI Affinity Night: August 20, 2024
ASL Interpreted: September 6, 2024
Masks Required: August 18 (2PM) and September 10, 2024
Tickets and information at SigTheatre.org or 703 820 9771
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