Manhattan Theatre Club has canceled its Off-Broadway spring season amid the coronavirus pandemic and prolonged bans on mass gatherings.
Scheduled to begin performances in May at New York City Center (which canceled the rest of its season March 28), Qui Nguyen’s Poor Yella Rednecks and Emily Feldman’s The Best We Could (a family tragedy) will not go on as planned, though MTC is looking to reschedule both plays for a future season.
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The Best We Could, a world premiere, finds a daughter’s road trip with her father becoming a theatrical journey across more than just state lines. Poor Yella Rednecks, the final installment in playwright Nguyen's trilogy, is the story of a young family’s attempt to put down roots in Arkansas, a place as different from Vietnam as it gets. The production would have reunited Nguyen with director May Adrales (Vietgone); the announced cast included Tim Chiou (Chicago PD), Samantha Quan (Elementary), Maureen Sebastian (Revolution), Paco Tolson (Vietgone), and Eugene Young (Revenge Song).
No word yet on how the pandemic may affect MTC's scheduled Broadway offering, a revival of How I Learned to Drive.