Dragon spring phoenix rise seats how to#

The brainchild of Chen Shi-Zheng, who was also behind the 2013 interdisciplinary schlock fest Monkey: Journey to the West, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise is the second theatrical offering from the Shed, the new multimillion-dollar performance venue in Hudson Yards, and it's a perfect complement to its neighborhood: a soulless cash grab. With its gorgeous space and generous budget, the Shed should be delivering knockouts, not knuckleheaded nonsense like this. The leads can’t sing, the fights are lackluster, and the highly touted aerial sequences are done in slo-mo, so the only danger is that you’ll fall asleep. That being said, Jasmine Chiu and PeiJu Chien-Pott have imbued their characters with the necessary verve and gravitas, respectively, and David Patrick Kelly brings a compelling joviality to the proceedings.This would-be “kung fu musical” is a ludicrously awful dud assembled by a coterie of international artists who seem to have collaborated via Google Translate. While I was impressed that Dragon’s actors - led by acclaimed Chinese director Chen Shi-Zheng - were able to deliver continuous fight choreography for most of the show’s one hour and 50 minute runtime, I was just as disappointed that they never really got to act. In Dragon Spring, characters undergo serious, life-changing transformations without possessing clear-cut motivations to do so. Known for the engaging, amusing, heartfelt screenplay for Kung Fu Panda, Aibel and Berger have apparently been hard-pressed to write anything more than a skeleton of a story here. Dragons Spring Restaurant is located on Pleasant Hill Rd next to the ARCO gas station. It’s more likely, though, that she just composed her pieces separately from Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who penned the script. It’s as if she composed them in a vacuum.ĭickson Mbi with members of the chorus (guardians of the House of Dragon) in a scene from “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rising” at The Shed (Photo credit: Stephanie Berger, courtesy of The Shed) (The choreography of Act II’s dance sequence is far superior.) Sia’s new songs do nothing to further the story, and thus serve as filler until the next kung fu sequence rolls along.

Author: New York Theater Jonathan Mandell is a 3rd generation NYC journalist, who sees shows, reads plays, writes reviews and sometimes talks with people. Act I kicks off with a far-too-cryptic exposition followed by a far-too-long chaotic dance sequence that features bloated, unintelligible choreography. Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise Author: New York Theater Published Date: JLeave a Comment on Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise. In fact, the pacing of the entire show is off-balance. Sia’s new songs written for this show, while beautiful, just bring everything to a halt. The show’s use of already-existing Sia songs, when mixed with its visual splendor and kinetic staging, are all that it needs to soar. Expansive, just like the Park Avenue Armory, but with the added technology and contraptions that will elevate any creative mind into something magically undiscovered and inspiring.

Dragon spring phoenix rise seats how to#

The martial arts-trained actors have worked hard on learning how to sing, and it shows, but this show could have done without the “musical” aspect. I will mention that Dragon Spring is not so much a “kung fu musical” as it is a kung fu showcase with three new Sia songs mixed in. Meanwhile, Little Lotus, the House of Dragon’s prodigal daughter, so to speak, grows up and gives birth to twins, who must decide if they will protect the House’s secrets - from each other.ĭavid Patrick Kelly and PeiJu Chien-Pott and members of the chorus (guardians of the House of Dragon) in a scene from “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rising” at The Shed (Photo credit: Stephanie Berger, courtesy of The Shed)

There’s a secretive bad guy with secrets, too, who hates them. What little plot there is follows the House of Dragon, a secretive sect with secret powers and a secret treasure. There are moments when the show’s production elements come together so spectacularly that they almost lift the rest of the show with them. The visual bombast and fight choreography of Dragon Spring, a world premiere Shed commission, are thrilling enough to recommend the show as an expensive diversion, at the very least. Select the best seats and have a great time. The heroes and villains possessed no distinguishing character traits, other than differing accents, and they voiced no discernible reasons to be fighting. Find cheap Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise theatre tickets and view upcoming shows live and grab a good deal. At the showing of Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise at The Shed that I attended, audiences clapped and hooted for heroes and villains alike, despite being given no logical reason to do so. Sometimes you don’t need a long, complex story - or even an engaging one - to hook an audience. By Dodie Kazanjian DecemOn a sweltering afternoon in mid-July, I’m on West Thirtieth Street in Manhattan, looking for the entrance to The Shed.