Manhattan Theatre Club's New York premiere of Qui Nguyen's Poor Yella Rednecks officially opened Off-Broadway at New York City Center - Stage I November 1, and the reviews are in. Find out what critics are saying below. Performances continue through November 26.
The work is the follow-up to Nguyen's Vietgone, which played an Off-Broadway run via Manhattan Theatre Club in 2016. May Adrales is directing after staging Vietgone, with much of MTC's Vietgone cast returning, including Jon Hoche, Ben Levin, Samantha Quan, and Paco Tolson. They're joined by Jon Norman Schneider (The Coast Starlight) and Maureen Sebastian (The Best We Could: A Family Tragedy).
CitiTourNYC (Brian Scott Lipton)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Sara Holdren)*
New York Stage Review (Roma Torre)
New York Theater (Jonathan Mandell)
New York Theatre Guide (Amelia Merrill)
The New York Times (Naveen Kumar)*
TheaterMania (Zachary Stewart)
*This review requires creating a free account or a paid subscription.
Playbill will continue to update this list as reviews come in.
Told from the mother’s perspective, Poor Yella Rednecks 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 work was co-commissioned by South Coast Repertory and MTC. The California company gave the work its premiere in 2019, and MTC was scheduled to present it in 2020. The latter run was canceled due to the pandemic shutdown.
The production features scenic design by Tim Mackabee, costume design by Valérie Thérèse Bart, lighting design by Lap Chi Chu, original music and sound design by Shane Rettig, projection design by Jaren Mezzocchi, puppet design by David Valentine, and arrangements by Kenny Seymour. Alyssa K. Howard is production stage manager.
Visit ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
Jon Norman Schneider and Ben Levin in Poor Yella Rednecks
Samantha Quan, Jon Hoche, Maureen Sebastian, Ben Levin, and Jon Norman Schneider in Poor Yella Rednecks
Maureen Sebastian and Ben Levin in Poor Yella Rednecks
Maureen Sebastian and Paco Tolson in Poor Yella Rednecks
Paco Tolson, Jon Hoche, Samantha Quan, Ben Levin, and Jon Norman Schneider in Poor Yella Rednecks
Maureen Sebastian and Ben Levin in Poor Yella Rednecks
Paco Tolson in Poor Yella Rednecks
Samantha Quan and Maureen Sebastian in Poor Yella Rednecks
Ben Levin and Maureen Sebastian in Poor Yella Rednecks
Ben Levinand Maureen Sebastian in Poor Yella Rednecks
Jon Norman Schneider and Maureen Sebastian in Poor Yella Rednecks
