Flower Drum Song

“I loved this show so much! I laughed hysterically and cried during moments that surprised me with feelings of recognition. This new Flower Drum Song, with its references to the new and the old, has become a kind of history of being Asian in America. It is absolutely authentic to how Chinese America has grown up.” –Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

“A tremendous breakthrough in storytelling about the Asian-American experience. The humor, energy, and artistic excellence of the show make it worthwhile for people of all backgrounds.” –Patrick Purdon, The Tech

"A funny and clever radical revision of the 1958 Broadway hit."—Time magazine

“To create something new, we must first love what is old.” So says a character in David Henry Hwang’s updated book to the 1958 Broadway musical Flower Drum Song by Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II and Joseph Fields. Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the late fifties, Flower Drum Song is a funny and moving story which explores what it means to be an American and touches the history of every person whose forbears once arrived as a stranger to these shores. The new, fully revised version includes David Henry Hwang’s Tony Award-nominated text, an introduction by Hwang and an afterword by Karen Wada, carefully documenting the long and vital history of this landmark musical.

David Henry Hwang is the author of the Tony Award-winning M. Butterfly, Yellow Face (OBIE Award, 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Golden Child (1997 OBIE Award), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), Family Devotions (Drama Desk nomination), and the books for musicals Aida ( co-author), Flower Drum Song (2002 Broadway revival), and Tarzan, among other works. David Henry Hwang graduated from Stanford University, attended the Yale School of Drama, and holds honorary degrees from Columbia College in Chicago and The American Conservatory Theatre. He lives in New York City with his wife, actress Kathryn Layng, and their children, Noah David and Eva Veanne.