Dragon Spring apparently holds the key to longevity. If you prefer some details: In the first act, Grandmaster Lone Peak (David Patrick Kelly, a Broadway veteran) and his scrappy daughter Little Lotus (Jasmine Chiu) are betrayed by Lone’s right-hand man Lee (Dickson Mbi), who wants to take over the Dragon Spring, which Lone and his ancestors have protected for generations, through a secret sect called the guardians of the House of Dragons, with branches all over the world, including Flushing, Queens, where the play takes place. All you really need to know: It’s a fight between good and evil, over two generations, and (spoiler alert) good triumphs. It’s best to think of the show as dance theater, and forget about the story, which doesn’t make much sense even if you can actually follow what’s going on. In that spirit, allow me to acknowledge that, yes, “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise” is too long, too confusing, in places tedious, in other places overwrought and even creepy its silvery and spandex costumes look like a mix of 1950s sci-fi movie and 1970s disco its songs are paltry and its underscoring persistently annoying – New Age ambient pounding that cries out “We don’t trust that you’ll find what’s going on dramatic.” HOWEVER, amid the awfulness there are a scattering of impressive moments - of visual splendor, awesome stagecraft, and exciting dance and martial arts choreography… enough of them to make me glad that I can say I saw this first theatrical spectacle in The Shed’s inaugural season.īackground: PeiJu Chien-Pott (Little Lotus), left: Ji Tuo (Little Dragon), right: Jasmine Chiu (Little Phoenix). I quote Poots in my article for TDF Stages about “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise,” which Poots is calling a kung fu musical. Theater lovers should expect “a spirit of adventure and invention” from the shows at The Shed, according to Alex Poots, the artistic director of this new $500 million arts center on West 30 thStreet.
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