# Chu Chem

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***Chu Chem*** is a [musical](/source/Musical_theatre) with a book by Ted Allen, lyrics by Jim Haines and Jack Wohl, and music by [Mitch Leigh](/source/Mitch_Leigh).

## Background

Allen's inspiration was a trip to [Kaifeng](/source/Kaifeng) Fu (*prefecture*), [China](/source/China), the site of a major [Jewish](/source/Jew) [migration](/source/Human_migration) in the 10th century (see [Kaifeng Jews](/source/Kaifeng_Jews)). Around this subject matter he devised a play-within-a-play with an intricate plot involving a group of [Occidental](/source/Western_world) actors who join a troupe of Chinese performers to present the title character's story. Chu Chem is a [scholar](/source/Scholar) who, with his wife Rose and daughter Lotte, journeys to Kaifeng Fu to learn about his ancestors and find a husband for the young woman. Prince Eagle suggests she become one of his [concubines](/source/Concubinage), a proposal she finds distasteful. Eventually he abdicates his throne for the woman he loves, and Chu Chem discovers the Jews became so [assimilated](/source/Cultural_assimilation) into their new homeland that no traces of them are to be found.

## Productions

The production's designs attempted to imitate traditional Chinese theatre, ironically with [sumo](/source/Sumo) wrestlers (one the son of [Man Mountain Dean](/source/Man_Mountain_Dean)) grappling onstage during intermission to entertain the audience. Director [Albert Marre](/source/Albert_Marre) cast [Yiddish theatre](/source/Yiddish_theatre) stars [Menasha Skulnik](/source/Menasha_Skulnik) and [Molly Picon](/source/Molly_Picon) as Chu Chem and Rose, [Marcia Rodd](/source/Marcia_Rodd) as Lotte, and [James Shigeta](/source/James_Shigeta) as Prince Eagle. Other cast members included [Yuki Shimoda](/source/Yuki_Shimoda), [Robert Ito](/source/Robert_Ito), [Reiko Sato](/source/Reiko_Sato), [Alvin Ing](/source/Alvin_Ing), [Haruki Fujimoto](/source/Haruki_Fujimoto), as well as [choreographer](/source/Choreographer) [Jack Cole](/source/Jack_Cole_(choreographer)) who took on the role of Mongol Lord Hoo Hah.

During rehearsals Picon, upset that her role had been reduced, walked out, but eventually returned. The November 1966 tryout at the New Locust Theatre in [Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) was plagued by constant revisions to the script and score, and an unhappy Picon quit permanently. At one point on opening night, her successor Henrietta Jacobson turned to the audience and announced, "There was a song here, but you'll be better off without it." The reviews were brutal, with one critic describing it "like [blintzes](/source/Blintz) and [soy sauce](/source/Soy_sauce)" and suggesting "a better title might be *The King and Oy*." Co-producers Leigh and [Cheryl Crawford](/source/Cheryl_Crawford) immediately cancelled the scheduled [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) opening at the [George Abbott Theatre](/source/George_Abbott_Theatre).

Unwilling to leave well enough alone, Allen and Leigh decided to revive the show 22 years later at the Jewish Repertory Theatre in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan). The greatly revamped version eliminated the play-within-a-play concept and the role of Rose, placed greater emphasis on the romance between Lotte and the prince, and revised the score. Encouraged by a favorable review [\[1\]](http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=940DE6D71630F930A15751C1A96E948260) from the third-string *[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)* critic, the creative team decided to move it uptown.

The Broadway production, directed and choreographed by [Albert Marre](/source/Albert_Marre), opened on March 17, 1989 at the [Ritz Theatre](/source/Walter_Kerr_Theatre) where, hampered by a no-name cast (Emily Zacharias as Lotte, Mark Zeller as Chu Chem, and Thom Sesma as the prince) and poor-to-dreadful reviews, it ran for only 68 performances, continuing for two months at heavy losses in the hope it would garner some [Tony Award](/source/Tony_Award) nominations in a season beset by bad musicals (*[Carrie](/source/Carrie_-_The_Musical)*, *[Legs Diamond](/source/Legs_Diamond_(musical))*). When it was shut out, the production closed, a two-time flop in musical theatre history.

## Song list

**Act I**

- Orient Yourself
- What Happened, What?
- Welcome
- You'll Have to Change
- Love Is
- I'll Talk to Her
- Shame on You
- It Must Be Good for Me
- I'll Talk to Her (Reprise)
- You'll Have to Change (Reprise)
- The River
- We Dwell in Our Hearts
- Goodbye Love, Goodbye

**Act II**

- Re-Orient Yourself
- What Happened, What? (Reprise)
- I Once Believed
- It's Possible
- Our Kind of War
- Boom!

## References

- *Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops* by [Ken Mandelbaum](/source/Ken_Mandelbaum), published by [St. Martin's Press](/source/St._Martin's_Press) (1991), pages 38–40 (ISBN 0-312-06428-4)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chu Chem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Chem) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Chem?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.