CHINATOWN: Acclaimed playwright David Henry Hwang's new version of 'Flower Drum Song' comes to life at the Lucie Stern.

When her father is murdered for daring to oppose Maoist doctrine, Mei-Li has no choice but to flee her native China for an uncertain life in San Francisco. After managing to enter the country without papers, she finds that Chinatown is fraught with intergenerational tension. The Palo Alto Players stage playwright David Henry Hwang’s updated version of the original Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In his reimagining, Hwang replaces the shallow stereotypes of the original production, painting Chinatown as gritty and unforgiving for new immigrants like Mei-Li and giving the female characters more agency. Runs through May 12.

Flower Drum Song
Fri, 8pm, $22+
Lucie Stern Theater, Palo Alto