Singing of 'Soft Power' and 'Democracy'
Last Edit: WaymanWong 02:59 am EST 11/07/24
Posted by: WaymanWong 02:44 am EST 11/07/24
In reply to: I enjoyed it a lot more - dramedy 06:33 pm EST 11/06/24

I really enjoyed ''Soft Power,'' starring Conrad Ricamora, and saw it 3 times at the Curran in San Francisco in 2018. I wish I could've seen the recent, revised one-act version at the Signature, where an Asian actress (Grace Yoo) plays Hillary Clinton, as opposed to a Caucasian one (Alyse Alan Louis) in S.F. and N.Y.

I'm not sure if replacing Hillary with Kamala Harris would work. Originally, Hwang wrote ''Soft Power'' as kind of an inverted version of ''The King and I.'' Anna was a Caucasian woman who aims to educate the King and the Thai people about Western values. In ''Soft Power,'' Xue Xing, a Chinese producer, aims to educate Hillary and Americans about Eastern values. I wish Hillary had seen it; she comes off really well, especially singing the blues about ''Democracy.''

Sadly, in the wake of Tuesday's election, ''Soft Power's'' closing number about believing in ''Democracy,'' despite despair and disappointment, is still timely.
Link 'Soft Power' at the Signature: 'Democracy' (2024)
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