Urgent, sharp-witted and fast-paced, The Great Leap is an unforgettable night of theater. As two men from different cultures reunite and find themselves at a crossroads – one man struggling to keep his career alive and an old friend flourishing in a career he never wanted – a young Chinese-American gets lost in the Tiananmen Square Protest and finds himself at the accidental center of international attention. All three men must face their past and struggle to find their own personal victories in this compelling drama directed by Tony Award winner BD Wong.
The Great Leap
Reviews
Pasadena Playhouse collaborates with East West Players to deliver a visual feast with some deeply emotional surprises in The Great Leap, written by Lauren Yee and directed by BD Wong.
What a powerful play this is! I was blown away by it. And still am, a few days later.
Be Won's direction is flawless and the four actors are brilliant in their roles. This is a very different and worthwhile production that gives us insight into another wise different culture. - Highly Recommended
Great straight-faced acting from Grant Chang, who’s good at playing the straight man in a comedy. Chang steals the show and is surprisingly its beating heart.
...Likewise above and beyond superb are the writing, designs and direction in this joint presentation by Pasadena Playhouse and East West Players of playwright Lauren Yee’s memorable story, given a richly visual, deeply felt production. Even those who don’t care for basketball or international affairs will care about these characters.
Lauren Yee, who gave the world King of the Yees and Cambodian Rock Band and who has received more honors and prizes than she has fingers and toes, certainly has another winner in this Great Leap — a production that could not have matched this success even as recently as 20 years ago.
For the Pasadena Playhouse, however, The Great Leap is not just another winner. It confirms that everything that’s been going right since Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman took charge of the place some three plus years ago was not by accident, but the fruit of intelligent choices and smart and careful strategy.
Much credit certainly goes to director Wong and to East West Players and its Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai as well as Mr. Feldman, but above all, to the act of collaboration. Theatre is the most collaborative of the arts and this production is another example of when and why collaborations so often make sense. The beneficiaries are everybody, audiences and creators alike.
It is possible that this ambitious story Yee is trying to tell, one that spans generations and continents and decades, is simply too complicated for such a small cast. Ultimately, the script and the production seem at odds, with neither able to properly service the other, resulting in a well-intentioned attempt that cannot quite score.
The Great Leap’s final image packs a potent emotional punch and lingers in the memory long after the house lights come up. It’s a shame the rest of the production isn’t as strong as the script, or that moment.
I’d already fallen madly in love with Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap when the lights came up for intermission. Still, it’s what happens when its three male protagonists find their fates irrevocably intertwined in Beijing that makes this Pasadena Playhouse/East West Players collaboration one of the year’s most memorable.
There are surprises that beautifully dovetail into a carefully crafted tale and an inevitable path toward Tiananmen Square, which adds yet another layer of tension to the already tense proceedings. Despite only four cast members, and only one of them a player, the basketball game generates real emotion and suspense as do the men’s personal decisions and likely consequences.
The four performances are among the most moving I’ve encountered. The commanding but nuanced stage work of Eckhouse, whom I had known only as the affable dad from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” came as a wonderful surprise. And Chang broke my heart.
Pasadena Playhouse collaborates with East West Players to deliver a visual feast with some deeply emotional surprises in The Great Leap, written by Lauren Yee and directed by BD Wong.
What a powerful play this is! I was blown away by it. And still am, a few days later.
Be Won's direction is flawless and the four actors are brilliant in their roles. This is a very different and worthwhile production that gives us insight into another wise different culture. - Highly Recommended
Great straight-faced acting from Grant Chang, who’s good at playing the straight man in a comedy. Chang steals the show and is surprisingly its beating heart.
...Likewise above and beyond superb are the writing, designs and direction in this joint presentation by Pasadena Playhouse and East West Players of playwright Lauren Yee’s memorable story, given a richly visual, deeply felt production. Even those who don’t care for basketball or international affairs will care about these characters.
Lauren Yee, who gave the world King of the Yees and Cambodian Rock Band and who has received more honors and prizes than she has fingers and toes, certainly has another winner in this Great Leap — a production that could not have matched this success even as recently as 20 years ago.
For the Pasadena Playhouse, however, The Great Leap is not just another winner. It confirms that everything that’s been going right since Producing Artistic Director Danny Feldman took charge of the place some three plus years ago was not by accident, but the fruit of intelligent choices and smart and careful strategy.
Much credit certainly goes to director Wong and to East West Players and its Producing Artistic Director Snehal Desai as well as Mr. Feldman, but above all, to the act of collaboration. Theatre is the most collaborative of the arts and this production is another example of when and why collaborations so often make sense. The beneficiaries are everybody, audiences and creators alike.
It is possible that this ambitious story Yee is trying to tell, one that spans generations and continents and decades, is simply too complicated for such a small cast. Ultimately, the script and the production seem at odds, with neither able to properly service the other, resulting in a well-intentioned attempt that cannot quite score.
The Great Leap’s final image packs a potent emotional punch and lingers in the memory long after the house lights come up. It’s a shame the rest of the production isn’t as strong as the script, or that moment.
I’d already fallen madly in love with Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap when the lights came up for intermission. Still, it’s what happens when its three male protagonists find their fates irrevocably intertwined in Beijing that makes this Pasadena Playhouse/East West Players collaboration one of the year’s most memorable.
There are surprises that beautifully dovetail into a carefully crafted tale and an inevitable path toward Tiananmen Square, which adds yet another layer of tension to the already tense proceedings. Despite only four cast members, and only one of them a player, the basketball game generates real emotion and suspense as do the men’s personal decisions and likely consequences.
The four performances are among the most moving I’ve encountered. The commanding but nuanced stage work of Eckhouse, whom I had known only as the affable dad from “Beverly Hills, 90210,” came as a wonderful surprise. And Chang broke my heart.