I recently saw a new musical at Chicago’s famed Lookingglass Theater, Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon, about two young Asian Americans who run off together, searching for trouble, challenging the narrative that they need to be responsible and studious. The music was great, as were the performances. The cast—led by Aurora Adachi-Winter as Lucy and Matthew C. Yee, who also wrote the show, as Charlie, was undeniably special.
But about every 15 minutes, the script would suddenly veer into moralizing about policing, or stereotypes, or revenge porn. For example, the “security officer” who becomes a central part of the story proudly proclaims that their town has supplanted traditional police with “self-policing” and does so in a manner which suggests the line ought to receive supportive applause. It did. Each time one of these “correct” lines was uttered, what ought to have been a fun night at the theater, watching a legitimately creative new take on an old story, became stale and uncomfortable. One wanted to shout, Who is making you do this? Blink once if you need help. Just weeks later, Lookingglass announced that it was pausing all production until late spring 2024, and laying off about half of its staff. Similar stories can be found across the industry.
