←Recommendations of BE LIKE WATER

  • Cherielyn Ferguson: BE LIKE WATER by Lucy Wang
    “

    This is a great play for young actors. It offers well-defined teen-aged characters who want something concrete--to re-imagine the longstanding and stereotypical portrayals of people of color in The Nutcracker. They go after it and get it. With the help of Bruce Lee, which is one of my favorite elements in Be Like Water. Produce this play during the holiday season and you'll have a grateful audience on your hands.

    This is a great play for young actors. It offers well-defined teen-aged characters who want something concrete--to re-imagine the longstanding and stereotypical portrayals of people of color in The Nutcracker. They go after it and get it. With the help of Bruce Lee, which is one of my favorite elements in Be Like Water. Produce this play during the holiday season and you'll have a grateful audience on your hands.

    ”
  • Michele Clarke: BE LIKE WATER by Lucy Wang
    “

    What a fantastic TYA piece. Especially for theaters looking for alternatives to the Annie-Sound of Music-Disney rut. "Who made up these rules? Do traditions ever evolve? And who gets to decide?" BE LIKE WATER is a deft and thought-provoking look at the blind reverence we give traditions and institutions - and specifically a certain financial juggernaut with origins in 1816, 1891 and 1954.

    What a fantastic TYA piece. Especially for theaters looking for alternatives to the Annie-Sound of Music-Disney rut. "Who made up these rules? Do traditions ever evolve? And who gets to decide?" BE LIKE WATER is a deft and thought-provoking look at the blind reverence we give traditions and institutions - and specifically a certain financial juggernaut with origins in 1816, 1891 and 1954.

    ”
  • Morey Norkin: BE LIKE WATER by Lucy Wang
    “

    Performance art doesn’t always age well, and such is the case with some dance routines from the Nutcracker Suite that highlight ethnic stereotypes. Lucy Wang introduces us to a group of feisty students who want to make some changes that better reflect their cultural and personal values. Great lessons are learned all around in this upbeat, feel good work. No surprise this has received so many accolades.

    Performance art doesn’t always age well, and such is the case with some dance routines from the Nutcracker Suite that highlight ethnic stereotypes. Lucy Wang introduces us to a group of feisty students who want to make some changes that better reflect their cultural and personal values. Great lessons are learned all around in this upbeat, feel good work. No surprise this has received so many accolades.

    ”
  • Claudia Haas: BE LIKE WATER by Lucy Wang
    “

    How many times can I recommend this? As a lifelong fan of Balanchine’s Nutcracker, I remember being uncomfortable during “Tea” and “ Coffee.” Balanchine changed the names of the dances but kept the stereotypical costumes and dance steps. Lucy Wang deftly brings us a Nutcracker for our century. Be Like Water contains all the wit and smart dialogue we are used to getting from the playwright. She infuses all her characters with a strong sense of who they are. Bruce Lee, flowers, and food give us the unexpected. So appropriate for this reimagined ballet to be a Reimagine finalist.

    How many times can I recommend this? As a lifelong fan of Balanchine’s Nutcracker, I remember being uncomfortable during “Tea” and “ Coffee.” Balanchine changed the names of the dances but kept the stereotypical costumes and dance steps. Lucy Wang deftly brings us a Nutcracker for our century. Be Like Water contains all the wit and smart dialogue we are used to getting from the playwright. She infuses all her characters with a strong sense of who they are. Bruce Lee, flowers, and food give us the unexpected. So appropriate for this reimagined ballet to be a Reimagine finalist.

    ”
  • Nora Louise Syran: BE LIKE WATER by Lucy Wang
    “

    Unwilling to dance her assigned role to the outdated 1950s choreography of the Nutcracker which Alex, our Chinese-American heroine, and her friends find demeaning, the students start a mini revolution. I loved the intervention of Bruce Lee and Wang's love of food ;)

    Unwilling to dance her assigned role to the outdated 1950s choreography of the Nutcracker which Alex, our Chinese-American heroine, and her friends find demeaning, the students start a mini revolution. I loved the intervention of Bruce Lee and Wang's love of food ;)

    ”