Co-conceived by Kung Fu Panda's Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, the musical features songs by Sia remixed by Bobby Krlic, who is known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, and Venezuelan artist and producer Arca. The production has drawn talented people from around the world. "It is a saga that combines spirituality, animism, and human emotion to explore generational shifts of culture and ideas," he said. The musical, conceived and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, tells the story of a secret sect, in the Flushing area of the city's borough of Queens, which possesses the magical power to extend human life, and the twin brother and sister caught in the struggle to control it.Īlex Poots, artistic director and CEO of The Shed, said the musical is a modern fable of transformation as two teenagers look for courage and strength to overcome the forces of greed and power.Ĭhen said the musical transforms iconic Chinese images, movement and philosophy into a contemporary American setting.
That being said, Jasmine Chiu and PeiJu Chien-Pott have imbued their characters with the necessary verve and gravitas, respectively, and David Patrick Kelly brings a compelling joviality to the proceedings.A groundbreaking kung fu musical named "Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise" will make its world premiere in two weeks at The Shed, a newly-opened center for artistic invention in New York City. While I was impressed that Dragon’s actors - led by acclaimed Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng - were able to deliver continuous fight choreography for most of the show’s one hour and 50 minute runtime, I was just as disappointed that they never really got to act. In Dragon Spring, characters undergo serious, life-changing transformations without possessing clear-cut motivations to do so. Known for the engaging, amusing, heartfelt screenplay for Kung Fu Panda, Aibel and Berger have apparently been hard-pressed to write anything more than a skeleton of a story here. It’s more likely, though, that she just composed her pieces separately from Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who penned the script. It’s as if she composed them in a vacuum.ĭickson Mbi with members of the chorus (guardians of the House of Dragon) in a scene from “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rising” at The Shed (Photo credit: Stephanie Berger, courtesy of The Shed) (The choreography of Act II’s dance sequence is far superior.) Sia’s new songs do nothing to further the story, and thus serve as filler until the next kung fu sequence rolls along. Act I kicks off with a far-too-cryptic exposition followed by a far-too-long chaotic dance sequence that features bloated, unintelligible choreography. In fact, the pacing of the entire show is off-balance. Sia’s new songs written for this show, while beautiful, just bring everything to a halt.
The show’s use of already-existing Sia songs, when mixed with its visual splendor and kinetic staging, are all that it needs to soar.
DRAGON SPRING PHOENIX RISE SEATS HOW TO
The martial arts-trained actors have worked hard on learning how to sing, and it shows, but this show could have done without the “musical” aspect. I will mention that Dragon Spring is not so much a “kung fu musical” as it is a kung fu showcase with three new Sia songs mixed in. Meanwhile, Little Lotus, the House of Dragon’s prodigal daughter, so to speak, grows up and gives birth to twins, who must decide if they will protect the House’s secrets - from each other.ĭavid Patrick Kelly and PeiJu Chien-Pott and members of the chorus (guardians of the House of Dragon) in a scene from “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rising” at The Shed (Photo credit: Stephanie Berger, courtesy of The Shed) There’s a secretive bad guy with secrets, too, who hates them. What little plot there is follows the House of Dragon, a secretive sect with secret powers and a secret treasure. There are moments when the show’s production elements come together so spectacularly that they almost lift the rest of the show with them. The visual bombast and fight choreography of Dragon Spring, a world premiere Shed commission, are thrilling enough to recommend the show as an expensive diversion, at the very least. The heroes and villains possessed no distinguishing character traits, other than differing accents, and they voiced no discernible reasons to be fighting. At the showing of Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise at The Shed that I attended, audiences clapped and hooted for heroes and villains alike, despite being given no logical reason to do so. Sometimes you don’t need a long, complex story - or even an engaging one - to hook an audience.
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