BOCA RATON, Florida — Romance of the Western Chamber is a 2 1/2- hour musical based on a play that first appeared in China as Xi Xiang Ji in the 13th century. It is a lovely love story of a poor 23-year-old man and rich 19-year-old woman who fell in love at first sight. The original play ran for about 20 hours. It was the most famous love story in Chinese literature and was made into a movie and several Beijing operas. It was adapted and turned into a musical by the late Dr. Howard Rubenstein, a San Diego physician and playwright who wrote ten very interesting plays. Rubenstein revised the play into modern English, reduced its time, and had Max Lee write music for it.
There were two performances of the play, both to great acclaim. The world premiere was at the Dongpo Theatre in Hangzhou, China, the equivalent of Carnegie Hall, in Dr. Rubenstein’s English with Mandarin supertitles above the stage. In 2017, the American premiere occurred at Tadai Theater, off Broadway. A third performance was scheduled for July 23-26, 2020 in San Diego but was canceled because of the Covid 19 shutdown. The musical is expected to resume after the plague is over.
The following is a brief description of the musical. I left out interesting details such as the wonderful, heart-warming, sometimes humorous aid that Ying-Ying’s maid gave the couple, what happened to the rich fiancé, and a description of the beautiful poetic songs Rubenstein and Lee inserted in the tale. They add much to the story, and it is well worthwhile to purchase the book and enjoy the entirety of what they produced.
This book contains the script, song lyrics, and stage directions. It is a love story with the lovers needing to overcome enormous difficulties. The male hero Chan is an intelligent young man, a poet, who left his home to travel to the capital, to gain an education so that he could acquire a decent profession. Chan is lonely and wants to find a wife. His father was the minister of internal affairs, but he died young and penniless.
The female heroine, the beautiful Ying-Ying, is also very intelligent, also a poet, whose now deceased rich father, a high government official, the prime minister, engaged her to a rich man who was also a high government official. This fiancé came from a distinguished family, but Ying-Ying did not want to marry him. One day, simply by chance, on Chan’s trip to the capital, they saw each other at a Buddhist monastery, and fell in love.
Chan and Ying-Ying lived in a culture where a daughter had to marry the man chosen for her by her father or by her mother if her father was deceased. Although Ying-Ying loved Chan, she could not marry Chan since her father betrothed her to another man who did not want to give up his right to her because of her beauty and intellect. The two lovers could not even meet together. What could they do?
Ying-Ying lived with her newly widowed mother in the eastern pavilion of the monastery. The monastery superior gave Chang a room in the western chamber which overlooked the garden where Ying-Ying frequently walked. The two wrote poems to each other and would send them to each other through Ying-Ying’s maid.
Several events occur. The monastery is attacked by a gang led by a cruel leader who wants to kidnap Ying-Ying. Ying-Ying’s mother promises that whoever saves the monastery and Ying-Ying from the bandit can have Ying-Ying in marriage. Chang gets help for the monastery from his best friend, a general and his troops. Ying-Ying’s mother then renounces her promise because Ying-Ying was betrothed to another. When she discovers that the two lovers have been sleeping together, she tells them that if Chang goes to the capital, studies for six months, and achieves a high government position, she will allow their marriage. But the rich fiancé has not given up his right to Ying-Ying. He spreads a false rumor about Chang. But Chang’s friend the general comes to his aid again, as does a messenger from the emperor.
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Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin is a retired brigadier general in the U.S. Army chaplain corps and the author of more than 50 books.