East Meets West In Broadway Play Chinglish

Tony winner David Henry Hwang and his team had a meet and greet the other day to launch the Broadway run of his play Chinglish, a culture-clash comedy about an American businessman who goes to China looking for some lucrative deal making only to find that communication isn't any easier than attempts at worldwide domination.

Said Hwang, "America and China are very interested in each other, but they really don't know that much about each other.

"In this play, everyone is trying to communicate and getting over various barriers."

The result was a hit in Chicago -- where one patron even enthused that she learned Chinese from watching the show -- and it starts Broadway previews on October 11.

What will Hwang work on next?

"I'm working on a play about American occupation in the Philippines," he told me. "I have a lot of family history with that."

"American occupation in the Philippines? So I presume that one won't be a comedy," I quipped.

"You never know!" he said, laughing. "I did one about an American businessman in China!"