Flower Drum Song comes to town

By Dan Hilborn
Published April 1, 2006


Tara Chen is more than excited about having her first principal role on the Shadbolt Centre stage this month when the Applause! Musical Theatre Company presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song.

The show, which originally opened on Broadway in 1958, looks at the struggles and conflicts in San Francisco's Chinatown through the eyes of a thriving Chinese-American community.

Chen, a fifth generation Canadian who grew up in Burnaby, said she has vague memories of her mother talking about similar struggles, when young people and parents had a clash of value over the preservation of their traditional ways.

"There's this one scene when one of the 'American boys' is saying all these funny 1950s phrases at the dinner table, and his father and aunt have no idea what he's talking about," Chen said. "It kind of reminds me of conversations around the dinner table when I was young.

"These aren't things that necessarily happened to me, but my mother talked about stuff like that when I was growing up. I think she probably had more of that kind of struggle," Chen said.

Flower Drum Song is the story of a successful Chinese-American bar owner who refuses to marry his new Chinese mail-order bride in the hope of marrying a more 'modern' singer at his bar. Chen plays the third love interest, the seamstress Helen, whose unrequited love leads her down a path of despondency and despair.

"My character is the one who is really in love with him, and she doesn't have a hope," said Chen, who once attended Cariboo Hill secondary and who now works as a speech pathologist on the North Shore.

Like many kids, her introduction to the arts came at a young age. She took her first ballet lesson at the age of five, and performed with her school band and cheerleading squad.

Chen moved away from the fine arts when she went to university. But after getting married and having a daughter, Chen started looking for something that would help keep her busy and in good physical shape.

Four years ago, she enrolled in dance classes and soon surprised herself when she landed a small role in the Theatre Under the Stars production of The King and I.

"I figured something was missing. I was taking a lot of classes and enjoying it, but thought maybe I'm missing the experience on stage. Maybe I need to perform a bit more," she said. "That's when The King and I came up. It was sort of a fluke. They happened to be looking for 'strong Asian dancers with a ballet background' and I thought, this could be my chance."

After working with TUTS, Chen soon discovered the Applause! Musical Theatre Company, which was in the process of moving to the Shadbolt Centre from its original home in Vancouver's Roundhouse community theatre.

This is Chen's fourth show with Applause!, having previously performed in On The Town, Strike Up The Band and Louisiana Purchase. She particularly likes the company's unique approach. All Applause musicals are performed 'on book,' which means the performers only have one week of rehearsals, but they perform with binders in their hands.

"It gets your adrenaline going. It can be very stressful, but I enjoy it quite a bit. The only drawback is we only perform each show four times, so at the end of the last show you ask yourself 'Is that it?'"

Chen is also pleased to work with Applause! founder Scott Ashton Swan, who will announce the company's 2007 lineup at a post-show reception on Wednesday night.

Flower Drum Song runs April 4 to 8 in the studio theatre of the Shadbolt Centre. The Thursday performance will also feature at 20-minute, pre-show chat about the history of the show and its creators, as well as a post-show talkback with the all-Asian cast.

For tickets, contact the Shadbolt Centre box office at 604-205- 3000.