Fridae

Theatergoers and musical lovers rejoice for Ang Lee's internationally acclaimed movie The Wedding Banquet is now a sexy musical. Premiering at Novel Hall in Taipei and the Esplanade in Singapore as part of its Asian Tour before its US premiere in Seattle and Hawaii, The Wedding Banquet- The Musical promises to be an exhilarating experience that re-define the idea of love and family as one that crosses linguistic, racial, and sexual boundaries.

For the uninitiated, The Wedding Banquet centers around the life of gay Taiwanese-American Wai-Tung, and his Caucasian partner, Simon. Like most eager parents, Wai-Tung's are pressuring him to marry a woman. To get them of his back, Wai-Tung agrees to Simon's suggestion to a marriage of convenience to green card hungry Wei-Wei. When Wai-Tung's parents arrive excitedly from Taiwan to attend his wedding, a series of hysterical and bittersweet complications develop.

A project more than four years in the making, the musical is produced by Second Generation (USA), whose original productions have been lauded by audiences in prestigious venues around the world. The musical showcases an international cast of top Broadway veterans and talents such as multi-hyphenated Sony Taiwan artist, Welly Yang who produced and co-wrote the musical and is also playing the lead. Welly, or Wellington as it appears on his birth certificate, Yang was born to Taiwanese parents in the US and graduated with honours from the very unmusical department of political science and international relations at New York's Columbia University.

At 20, he founded the Second Generation theatre company in 1997 and a year later, he made his Broadway debut in Miss Saigon as Thuy, the evil North Vietnamese Army officer where he performed eight times a week with Tyley Ross who played Chris, his mortal enemy. In the The Wedding Banquet, Ross who earned critical acclaim when he made his debut playing the title role in Canada's premiere of The Who's Tommy as well as other well loved musicals like Miss Saigon and Forever Plaid, plays Wai-Tung's boyfriend.

Other accomplished leads include actress Ma-Anne Dionisio (as Wei-Wei) who had received a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Miss Saigon and was last seen in Singapore as Eponine in Les Miserables.

---

The idea of turning the movie into a musical first came to Second Generation's founder cum Artistic Director, Welly Yang in 1998. At the suggestion from a gay Caucasian in a long-term partnership with an Asian man, Welly considered the viability of such an endeavor and was drawn by the story of conflict between cultures and generations, family and love, with a healthy dose of sex, high drama and humor thrown in.

After acquiring the rights to adapt the movie, Welly Yang called upon his trusted collaborators, composer Woody Park in L.A. and lyricist Brian Yorkley in Seattle to get things started. This creative trio had worked wonders in Making Tracks (Second Generation's first original offering) before and were eager to work together again in The Wedding Banquet - The Musical. While Brian Yorkley wrote the lyrics and script of the story, Woody Park fashioned the tunes with Welly Yang injecting his energy and intellect along the way. Numerous painstaking reviews, revisions and reading workshops later, a musical brimming with witty lyrics, soaring melodies is finally born.

To bring the musical to stage, Welly Yang brought in veteran theatre director John Tillinger who was nominated for three Tonys and has won two Outer Circle and a Drama Desk award. Other quality theatre professionals roped in for the musical includes award-winning designer James Noone for dazzling sets and Sergio Trujillo for exceptional choreography.

Extolled by well-known playwright and artistic advisor David Hwang to be a musical "full of heart, humor and truth about what it means to be Asian in a Western environment", The Wedding Banquet- The Musical "looks like a big winner", a treat not to be missed.

'The Wedding Banquet' will premier at Taipei's Novel Hall on Friday, Aug 8 at 7.30pm and will play until Aug 14 before moving to Tainan for two performances on Aug 16 and 17 and in Singapore from Aug 21 to 31. For show times, ticket info and purchase, please click on the "Ticketing info" link below.