'The Chinese Lady' at Chance Theater Explores Immigration, Division and American Dreams
- Richard Chang
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 8 minutes ago
Michelle Krusiec returns to Orange County after appearances in ‘Chinglish’ at SCR and ‘Made in Tawian’ at Shakespeare OC in Garden Grove.
Michelle Krusiec didn’t want to play somebody fresh off the boat, but “The Chinese Lady” changed her mind.
The veteran Taiwanese American actress, who has played dozens of roles onscreen and onstage for more than three decades, is the title character, Afong Moy, in “The Chinese Lady.” Based on a true story, the play by Lloyd Suh will run at Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills, May 24-June 8, with previews beginning May 16.
“At first, I didn’t really take it in,” Krusiec said from her Echo Park home via Zoom recently. “Then I read the play, from start to finish. I realized how profound this play is, and I think the first time around I missed it. But now that I’m older, looking back, it gutted me, because the authenticity of the journey of the play mirrored mine in so many different ways.”
Krusiec, 50, has been a regular presence onscreen and onstage since the early 2000s. Her breakthrough came in 2004-5, when she played the lead and resident surgeon Wilhelmina “Wil” Pang in the Asian American romantic comedy, “Saving Face.” The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2004, followed by a U.S. premiere in January 2005 at the Sundance Film Festival. It co-stars Joan Chen as Wil’s mother and Lynn Chen as her love interest, and broke ground for being a studio-released Asian American romantic comedy (roughly 14 years before “Crazy Rich Asians”), and a love story between two Asian American women.
Krusiec subsequently starred in “Far North” (2007) with Michelle Yeoh, and has appeared in the TV series “Dirty Sexy Money,” “The Secret Life of the American Teenager,” “General Hospital” and “Hawaii Five-O.” She played legendary screen siren Anna May Wong in the Ryan Murphy Netflix series “Hollywood,” and had the role of Xi Yian in David Henry Hwang’s internationally touring play, “Chinglish.”
In “The Chinese Lady,” Krusiec portrays Moy, the first documented Chinese woman to set foot in America, presented to the American public by a trading company as both an object of fascination and a symbol of the distant and “mysterious” East. Moy winds up later in a poor house, then works for Barnum & Bailey as a circus act. This production of “The Chinese Lady” provides a timely exploration of the complexities of identity, representation and the immigrant experience.
“I think this play is speaking to how the evolution of a community comes to America with a sense of longing and hope for the best possible outcome,” Krusiec said. “She’s brought here as a representative of a different country who’s being used to sell goods for that country. And because she’s a human being, she brings with her all of the ideals and values of what being a human from that culture is to a new culture, in the hope that she can be the ambassador, the bridge, the gateway between two cultures.”
PHOTO 1: Veteran actress Michelle Krusiec plays the title role in "The Chinese Lady." She has also appeared in "Chinglish" at SCR and her one-woman show, "Made in Taiwan," at Shakespeare OC in Garden Grove. PHOTO 2: Headshot for Albert Park, who plays Atung in "The Chinese Lady." He has also performed in "Man of God" at the Geffen Playhouse. Photos courtesy of Chance Theater
What happens to her, Krusiec said, is indicative of what can happen to people of color in the U.S.: “They become appropriated, they themselves are turned into laborers, they’re robbed of their identity, they’re robbed of their values that they come here with, and they’re turned into commodities …. She represents the most tragic outcome possible. Because of that, we are in this day, fighting for a lot of that visibility. We’re politically at a place right now where there’s so much of us versus them that’s happening.
“This play is showing us – here’s our history, once again. We keep forgetting our history. When we forget our history, we forget where we’ve come from, and we wonder why we’ve arrived at this place of political conflict and strife, and us versus them mentality.”
The play was written by Lloyd Suh, an accomplished playwright and Guggenheim Fellow who was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2023 for his play “The Far Country.”
“The Chinese Lady” also stars Albert Park, who plays Atung, Moy's translator and attendant. Park has previously played roles in “Man of God” at the Geffen Playhouse, “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” at South Coast Repertory, “Flower Drum Song” at La Jolla Playhouse and “Vietgone” at East West Players. Amanda Kang and Kaixiang Zhang are serving as understudies to Krusiec and Park, respectively.
This production of “The Chinese Lady” is directed by Shinshin Yoder Tsai, who is also producing associate and casting director at Chance Theater.
“It’s a beautiful and hilarious, poetic show about somebody that’s so important to our history, that I think people don’t know about,” Tsai said. “It’s timely because we’re in a rough place with China, but we're also in a rough place of not being able to understand each other in society. More and more, there’s more violent discourse than there is sociable and calm conversation.
“It’s timeless because though this story is called ‘The Chinese Lady,’ it’s a very American story. Everybody has the experience with being perceived as something else, and wanting to clear the air and elucidate who you actually are to people.”
“The Chinese Lady” made its world premiere in July 2018 at the St. Germain Stage in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Since then, it has been presented by many other theaters from coast to coast, notably the Public Theater in New York City.
In its March 2022 review, The New York Times described the play as “moving and sharply funny,” “piercing and intimate,” with a “clever, riveting script.”
Many actors have played Afong Moy, including Keiko Agena of “The Gilmore Girls” fame at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in 2024.
Krusiec has worked hard to make the role her own, including borrowing techniques she learned from doing her one-woman show, “Made in Taiwan.” That play made an appearance at Shakespeare Orange County in Garden Grove in September 2014.
“Michelle has the herculean task of carrying this show (‘The Chinese Lady’) – she’s onstage almost the entire time and has an incredible amount of text to deliver, including long monologues that require emotional precision and incredible stamina,” Tsai said. “But she handles it with such grace and agility. She’s a master of making discoveries in the moment …. It’s honestly thrilling to watch.”
As a way to engage the audience, post-show discussions with cast and crew are scheduled after every performance. There are also special, themed events on the docket, including Community Spotlight (2 p.m. May 31), Pride Night (7 p.m. May 31) and Wine Night (7 p.m. May 30). Visit The Chance's website for details.
‘The Chinese Lady’
When: May 16-June 8; performances are 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, and 3 p.m. Sundays; previews are May 16-23 (8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays)
Where: Chance Theater, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills
Tickets: $10-$48
Contact: (888) 455-4212 or chancetheater.com
