Poor Yella Rednecks NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (106)
See it if You care about storiws told by Asian-Americans. And if you like Spiderman and 80s nostalgia
Don't see it if You want a musical
See it if You are willing to explore something different and break the stereotypes. Very entertaining and deeply resonating with human connections.
Don't see it if You are looking for a typical Broadway with big ensemble or you are easily offended by swear words...
See it if a show with a lot of different elements that work well together. Cast overflowing with charisma. Outstanding looking staging. Fun.
Don't see it if you are put off by bad language. Profanity may be overused in order to feel contemporary. Read more
See it if You enjoy Asian American immigrant stories with humorous and modern, inventive writing devices. Great set. Funny, thoughtful puppet scenes.
Don't see it if You don’t enjoy plays, or can’t appreciate a creatively written play about Asian Americans immigrants in the south.
See it if you're interested in a story about Vietnamese immigrants experience and how they assimilate. Story told with charm and humor.
Don't see it if you hate rap. Read more
See it if Rollercoaster immigrant family dramedy. Sexy parents in a rocky relationship. Kid played as a life-size puppet. Grandma knows kung-fu.
Don't see it if You are not up for the author's corny, off-beat sense of humor. I found the Hamilton-style rap songs to be clever and funny. LOTS of cursing
See it if If you want to be entertained by a Hamilton like version of Vietnamese in Arkansas
Don't see it if You didn't like Hamilton or rap.
See it if You like to see great acting, clever staging and a compelling story.
Don't see it if You don't appreciate shows about Asian culture.
Critic Reviews (15)
CRITIC’S PICK: “For all of its surprises, including action sequences I won’t spoil here, the play falters only when it tips into obviously earnest territory. Nguyen doesn’t need a surrogate to detail his intent; the story soars on its own.”
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4/5 Stars- "A merry mashup of hip-hop, pop culture, cursing and kung fu, buoyed by winning performances and plenty of heart...It’s the familiar making-it-in-America plot as reimagined by a first-generation kid raised on a steady diet of U.S. music, movies, and especially comics and animation...He gets to create his own heroic universe, where Asian-Americans get a full share of powers and glory."
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“For a titular, heart-of-the-show, bring-us-to-our-feet chorus, that quatrain doesn’t hold its weight. The rhymes could use more discipline, and the content feels like an empowering wash. Nguyen has spent the play showing us that none of these people is perfect, because they’re whole people — struggling, failing, loving, trying again.”
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“It is as if the dialogue and the songs were written for different productions, with characters frequently contradicting their earlier thoughts in repetitive, derivative raps...While Sebastian and Levin give their hearts to their characters, each song chips away at this work.”
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“The small theatrical miracle of ‘Poor Yella Rednecks’ is its ability to embrace the mythic style...while highlighting the real and persistent struggles immigrants to this country have faced and continue to face in 2023. It’s a strange and intoxicating mix that makes this play a rare and satisfying watch.”
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“ ‘Poor Yella Rednecks’ is lively and affecting, and Maureen Sebastian knocks Tong, the put-upon wife and mother struggling to adjust to alien territory, out of the park. But it does make one serious misstep.”
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“The Manhattan Theatre Club production is directed with a very deft hand by May Adrales who expertly juggles the comedy and pathos without missing a single beat. And that’s quite an accomplishment considering all the wacky directions it takes to navigate this wild ride of a show.”
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Although playwright Qui Nguyen declared early in his earlier play Vietgone that “all characters appearing in this work are fictitious,” in his sequel Poor Yella Rednecks now at Manhattan Theatre, co-commissioned with South Coast Repertory, the playwright played by Jon Norman Schneider begins by interviewing his 70-year-old mother Tong Nguyen about how his parents built a life in America as Vietnamese refugees. Directed by May Adrales who also directed the earlier play in the same exuberant fashion, the resulting flashbacks are raucous, raunchy and poignant. In what was originally announced as a quintet of plays, Poor Yella Rednecks is now described as the middle play of a trilogy.
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