The production stars Steven Eng, Daniel May, and Grace Yoo.
Signature Theatre announced the cast and creative team for the DC premiere of Soft Power, featuring music by Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo) and book and lyrics by David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly). This newly revised production is directed by Signature’s associate artistic director Ethan Heard, with choreography by Billy Bustamante, music supervision by Chris Fenwick, and music direction by Angie Benson. Performances run from August 6–September 15 in Signature’s MAX Theatre.
Soft Power is a musical fantasia that takes place after the 2016 election. When a Chinese American playwright is attacked by an unknown assailant, he hallucinates a Golden Age musical comedy about a Chinese theater producer and Hillary Clinton falling in love.
The production stars Steven Eng (Classic Stage Company’s Pacific Overtures) as DHH, Daniel May (Flower Drum Song) as Xue Xing, and Grace Yoo (Hadestown) as Hillary Clinton. The cast is rounded out by Eymard Cabling as Randy Ray & others, Andrew Cristi as Chief Justice & others, Jonny Lee Jr. as Bobby Bob & others, Quynh-My Luu as Waiter & others, Christopher Mueller as VEEP & others, Ashley D. Nguyen as Jīng & others, Chani Wereley as Betsy Ross & others, Nicholas Yenson as Holden Caulfield & others, and Sumié Yotsukura as Flight Attendant & others. Olivia Clavel-Davis, Brian Dauglash, Emily Song Tyler, and Joey Urgino are swings.
The creative team for Soft Power includes scenic design by Chika Shimizu, costume design by Helen Q. Huang, lighting design by Oliver Wason, sound design by Eric Norris, and wig design by Anne Nesmith. Danny Troob is the orchestrator, Russ Anixter is the copyist, Alexander Greenberg is the music assistant and keyboard programmer, Ka-Ling Cheung is the dialect coach, and Casey Kaleba is the fight choreographer.