There’s talk of a prophesy involving two twins, whom we first see as dolls with glowing plastic globe heads (one pink and one blue) and later as 18-year-old separated-at-birth twins (Jasmine Chiu and Ji Tuo) destined to either battle each other to the death or unite to restore balance to the universe. The problem starts with the wisp of a story (by “Kung Fu Panda” writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger), about two battling kung fu factions in that renowned center of the martial arts, Flushing, Queens. Rylander) and “The Matrix”-meets-Studio 54 costumes (by Montana Levi Blanco) and aerial effects that are cool enough but seem like a regional-theater version of Cirque du Soleil.ĭirector Chen Shi-Zheng has conceived this nearly two-hour production as a spectacle, but the show moves turgidly between set-pieces without ever gathering any visual or narrative momentum. There are seizure-inducing lighting effects (by Tobias G. There’s a $650,000 stage (designed by Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams) whose center recedes to become a shallow pool of water for no good reason whatsoever. But will this be enough? Dragon Springs Road with its illuminating and vivid details about an engrossing period of history- the Chinese Republic in its infancy, is an involving, sympathetic novel, which exemplifies the best of historical fiction.A lot of expense and effort have gone into “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise,” the plus-size kung fu musical that opened Thursday at the very plus-size 120-foot-tall McCourt venue at The Shed in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards. 'Who can resist a child in jeopardy novel especially one set against the rich background of Shanghai at the turn of the century? A young Eurasian outcast, Jialing must survive by her wits and the uncertain kindness of strangers. I recommend it unreservedly.” - Jennifer Robson bestselling author of Goodnight from London With her lyrical, heartfelt portrait of a vanished world, and her creation of a heroine whose struggles and victories tore at my heart, Janie Chang has created an enchanting and unforgettable book. “Dragon Springs Road is simply one of the best novels I have read in a long time. A touch of magic realism makes this one special, as the isolated Jialing’s only constant friend is a mischievous fox spirit who makes her home at Dragon Springs Road.' - Kate Quinn, bestselling author of The Alice Network Jialing is a desperately appealing heroine, struggling for an education, a job, a husband, anything that will give her a future, and continually having doors slammed in her face.

'A fierce, elegant coming-of-age story starring an orphaned Eurasian girl struggling to find her place in the world among the tumultuous shifting tides of the early Chinese republic. Shilpi Somaya Gowda, bestselling author of Secret Daughter

“Janie Chang has a keen eye for detail and infuses them throughout this magical story, with its masterfully rendered setting of the early Chinese republic, characters who bring to life the constrictions of those girls, and a mystical benevolent spirit. But then she is drawn into a murder at the periphery of political intrigue, a relationship that jeopardizes her friendship with Anjuin and a forbidden affair that brings danger to the man she loves. But Jialing’s life as the Yangs’ bondservant changes unexpectedly when she befriends a young English girl who then mysteriously vanishes.Īlways hopeful of reuniting with her long-lost mother, Jialing grows into womanhood during the tumultuous early years of the Chinese republic, guided by Fox and by her own strength of spirit, away from the shadows of her past.

Jialing's allies are Anjuin, the eldest Yang daughter, and Fox, an animal spirit who has lived in the haunted courtyard for centuries. Without her mother’s protection, she can survive only if the estate’s new owners, the Yang family, agree to take her in. Jialing is zazhong-Eurasian-and faces a lifetime of contempt from both Chinese and Europeans. N 1908, Jialing is only seven years old when she finds herself abandoned in the courtyard of a once-lavish estate near Shanghai. That night I dreamed that I had wandered out to Dragon Springs Road all on my own, when a dreadful knowledge seized me that my mother had gone away never to return A remarkable read, brimming with magic and the grit of realism.Chang asserts herself as an exciting, relatable voice that requires us to re-examine our relationships to place, identity, and ancestry.

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