Photo Source: Eric Y. Exit
"It turned out to be a lot more Chinese than I thought," says Johnny Wu, who plays Bing and Judge Xu Geming. Wu spent the first eight years of his life in Shanghai and speaks Mandarin fluently, as do most of the cast.
"It's good to know that all those years of going to Chinese school was not completely lost," says Christine Lin, who plays Zhao, adding that her parents are thrilled she's using her Chinese.
In fact, the only cast member not fluent in the language is Gary Wilmes. Wilmes' character, Daniel Cavanaugh, goes to China to try to secure a contract for his family's business and encounters barriers to communication beyond words. "Chinglish" had its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in June and starts previews at the Longacre Theatre on Oct. 11.
As an actor, performing in two languages can be a challenge.
"With Chinese you really have to embody a language," says Stephen Pucci, who plays British expat Peter Timms. "You have to kind of adopt a Chinese persona, a Chinese body."
Pucci is a perfect fit for this production: He has a B.A. in modern Chinese studies and has lived and studied in China.
"I didn't really think the world of Chinese and acting would really ever come together for me," he explains. "There are not many parts for a white guy speaking Chinese."
Even native Chinese speakers don't always have the opportunity. Hong Kong–born Jennifer Lim has only had small opportunities to showcase her Chinese as an actor.
"I've only ever had to [speak Chinese] for small things for film and TV when I play the illegal immigrant or the nail salon girl," says Lim, who has been with the production as Xu Yan since the first reading in 2009. "But for this, it's incredible."
Angela Lin, who appears as Miss Qian and Prosecutor Li, says she feels honored to be part of a bilingual cast.
"It's so wonderful to be in a cast where we all speak Mandarin, and we can all hang out with each other and bring out our mother tongue," she says. "It feels like home."
