Created by Nam Nguyen
Directed by 郝邦宇 Steven Hao
Music Composed by Wilfred Moeschter
Music Direction by Jonah Nung
Choreography by Margot Greve
Set & Costume Design by Irene Ly
Lighting Design by Mathilda Kane
Sound Design by Daniel Lei
Projection Design by Nicole Eun-Ju Bell
Properties by Sabrina Mei Ling Pye
Stage Managed & Production Managed by Murphy Diggon
Produced by Kevin Yue
Vietnamese Surtitles by Ky Anh Alex Nguyen
Copy Services provided by Kory Bailey and Diana Kotzin
Cast: Chris Vergara, Randy Chang, Mya Wong, Kryslyne-Mai Ancheta, Honey Pham, Victoria Yip, Donny Phan, Jameson Mosher, Izzy Bergman
Music: Jonah Nung, Maren Helyar, Jasmine Chu, Gillian Derer, Amiel Ang
Produced by Send Noods Productions
Presented by The Kingston Theatre Alliance as part of the 2023 Kick & Push Festival.
Nam, a procrastination-prone Vietnamese Canadian university student, sets out with the vague ambition to write a musical about his diaspora as embodied by food, particularly the world-famous noodle soup pho. What follows is pure meta musical, genre-bending through thousands of years of history, featuring rapping ancient kings, communist spies, dancing sharks and refugees, and awkward first dates in suburbia. However, Nam eventually finds himself caught between his different characters as each argues what pho (the food and the show) truly represents, and he struggles to find an answer that will satisfy everyone—in the end, isn’t this just a bunch of silly soup songs?
Nguyen’s clever, tuneful and self-referential musical history of the Vietnamese diaspora is … a fresh new musical that pulses with life, anarchic energy and invention…. And the cast of mostly Asian actors is also across-the-board brilliant…
A Perfect Bowl of Pho”.. is a delectable hit. Combining smart songs, a knockout cast, and a surprisingly poignant book, Nan Nguyen’s highly meta-theatrical soup show is an absolute treasure.
Kingston Grand Theatre, Rosen Auditorium
218 Princess St.
Kingston ON K7L1B2
Canada
