0:00 - Gene Kelly’s involvement with auditions and rehearsals, explaining cultural significance of flower drum song, was supposed to perform folk dance while singing, but Miyoshi Umeki had two left feet, Gene Kelly tried to direct her on what to do, role was cast in desperation, flower drum song was a folk dance style from Anhui (where C. Y. Lee was from), Lee sat in the audience and was delighted to see his book made into a musical, Umeki’s drumming performance limited by her lack of coordination
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7:29 - Gene Kelly had cast Chi as Dr. Li, but Chi and Umeki did not resemble each other to be father and daughter and Chi was a dancer and Umeki was not, Kelly recast Chi as a double understudy for Master Wang and Dr. Li so that Chi’s dance skills would not pull the spotlight from Umeki, Japanese actor took over the role as Umeki’s father, Chi was elevated back to Dr. Li on the tour after Umeki was no longer in the show
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11:45 - Audition with Gene Kelly, working with Carole Haney, first impressions of “Flower Drum Song,” high hopes dissipated, when they started the script was not finished, writer Hammerstein was in the hospital, meanwhile Kelly, Joseph Fields and C. Y. Lee could not do anything new, had a one-month trial run in Boston, Kelly gave up, the pilots were gone and all they could do was follow along, the whole thing was put together piecemeal, Pat Suzuki was great, terrible writers
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20:27 - Mixed reviews in New York, different ethnic backgrounds of cast, whether Gene Kelly was demoted or gave up, made the show into a burlesque of bad jokes, Jack Soo’s performance alongside Umeki, did not know why Blyden replaced Larry Stokes, Kelly directed in beginning rehearsals, Joseph Fields took over as time went on, more on Kelly giving up, his hope for what the show could have been, but Hammerstein was just in his hospital bed, committee in charge just used material discarded from old shows
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28:17 - Whether the story followed the novel, the comedy traded in Asian stereotypes, whether characters were people you would find in real life, the Chinese in the cast shared a disappointment in the show but were glad to be working, audience reception in New York, felt that most of the script wasn’t Hammerstein and that he would have made something better of it, what Hammerstein was like, the committee timing audience laughs with a stopwatch during Boston trial run to decide which jokes stayed
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34:36 - His assessment of the dancing in “Flower Drum Song,” what Rodgers was like, did not know if there was truth in the rumor that Rodgers was a womanizer, audience reception in New York vs. Boston, Hammarstrom remembers the show as more enchanting in San Francisco
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39:56 - Changes after New York, whether David Lober made changes, cast fired in Dallas, Juanita Hall opposed supporting actors strike and got cast members to withdraw, Chi and his friend Heidi refused, became known as troublemakers to stage manager Teddy Hammerstein, could not do anything to Chi, but Chi started carrying a pistol, worried about Heidi’s safety in Dallas, Lober and Heidi got fired in Dallas, Chi and Heidi brought case to Actors’ Equity and won, confirms Lober’s story
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49:39 - Was on tour for a year and a half, even towards end the show was doing good business, morale of cast on tour more troubled because of Teddy’s mismanagement, clarifies that it was easy to get guns in Dallas, addressing drama critic who stated that the show was better in San Francisco than New York, Umeki leaving the show was an improvement, Umeki was mean, thinks she is now on Skid Row, have many cast reunions, Pat Suzuki also a tragic story, comparing Elaine Dunn’s performance to Suzuki’s
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59:16 - Thoughts on the movie, those who were on the movie couldn’t go on the road, comparing the movie to the show, songs he liked and disliked in the show, the song most influenced by Chinese culture was taken out
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64:40 - Thoughts on the revival, thinks it is slander because David Henry Hwang is rabidly anticommunist, did not want to go to see it, the father was made into a political refugee, does not reflect book, original story is not political, thoughts on “The King and I,” whether he thinks the original should be revived
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