Flower Drum Song
David Henry Hwang has rewritten the story but the lyrics and music of Rodgers and Hammerstein remain—and are as lovely as ever. In this version Mei-Li (Lea Salonga) escapes from Communist China, arrives in San Francisco Chinatown in 1960 and finds herself involved with the Wang family. The father (Randall Duk Kim) is trying to keep his Chinese Opera Company alive in the Golden Pearl Theater while his son (Jose Llana) is attempting to modernize the theater into a nite club, the Club Chop Suey. Mei-Li is immediately smitten with the son who unfortunately is too preoccupied with the nite club chorine (Sandra Allen)) to appreciate the naive refugee. The ensuing complications of the love story and the clash between traditional Chinese customs and contemporary Americanization embellish the remainder of the show. Lea Salonga is as charming as ever and in excellent voice particularly in “Love, Look, Away,” while Sandra Allen pumps life into “I Enjoy Being a Girl.”

The father and son are well handled by Randall Duk Kim and Jose Llana and Jodi Long adds a dash of spice as an ambitious agent. Robin Wagner is responsible for the excellent settings and the witty costumes spring from Gregg Barnes. All in all it’s a light hearted, enjoyable evening in the theater.

Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie is a thoroughly enchanting show. From the moment thoroughly adorable Sutton Foster (Millie) arrives in New York from a small Kansas town she beguiles and entertains us. As a modern miss of 1922 she is determined to marry her boss for financial security and begone with romantic nonsense. Her effusive suitor Jimmy Smith (Gavin Creel) will have none of this and pursues her throughout the city. To add to her woes her boss, Marc Kudisch, has fallen for her best friend Dorothy (Angela Christian) who in turn?but then go see for yourself. To add excitement to this muddle we have a landlady, Mrs. Meers (Harriet Harris), at the hotel they are all ensconced in pretending to be Chinese and surreptitiously engaging in the white slave trade by shipping off her orphaned tenants to Hong Kong. And then there are the two Chinese laundry boys—Ken Leung and Francis Jue—who are waiting for their mother to arrive from China courtesy of Mrs. Meers. Sheryl Lee Ralph also has a part to play in these uproarious proceedings. The stylish sets by David Gallo, the snazzy costumes of Martin Pakledinaz and the snappy 1920s choreography of Rob Ashford all add to a most happy musical evening.

Oklahoma
When Oklahoma was first produced in 1943 America was in the middle of World War ll and was most responsive to a sunny musical celebrating the birth of another state of the nation and the enduring quality of the USA. Today we are in the midst of a war against terrorism and there is a less innocent view of the certitude of moral judgments. To this end there is slightly less sunny cheerfulnes in the version currently on stage at the Gershwin Theater but oh what a beautiful production it is. With Susan Stroman updating the choreography, Trevor Nunn directing and Anthony Ward designing, the entire cast plays a definitive role in making for a heavenly evening. Josefina Gabrielle is a tomboyish Laurey, Patrick Wilson a cocky Curly who vies with the surly Jud of Shuler Hensley for the privilege of introducing Laurey to adulthood. The Aunt Eller of Andrea Martin focuses the struggle while the rest of the cast including Justin Bohon, Jessica Boevers and Assif Mandvi carry the evening to its glorious heights. Congratulations to Cameron Mackintosh for this entertaining evening.