REVIEW: "Tiger Style" Offers Wry Wit

With rapid-fire dialogue, wit reminiscent of Sorkin, and enough pop culture references to make Amy Sherman-Palladino proud, the La Jolla Playhouse's current production Tiger Style! is a clever look at what happens when overachieving children finally reach adulthood. The tale spun is one of identity, ambition, and fear, but it's nevertheless a fun ride from start to finish.

Written by La Jolla native Mike Lew and directed by Jaime Castañeda, Tiger Style! follows siblings Jennifer (Jackie Chung) and Albert Chen (Raymond J Lee) in Irvine. Both were raised through classic tiger-style parenting: the Chen's were required to succeed as children by achieving top grades, accelerating in their extra curricular activities, and graduating from Ivy League establishments. Shining in everything they attempt as children, Jennifer and Albert find themselves highly unprepared as adults. The hyper-intense Jennifer is a successful doctor, but she fails to understand matters of the heart. The laid-back Albert, on the other hand, finds himself stuck at a dead-end job, unable to properly assert himself.

It's a plight relatable to many millennials from top-tier schools today: what happens next after you've done everything right? The answer, as it turns out, is chaos as the Chen siblings struggle to figure out who they are and how to live their lives. Mixed in with their existential crisis is their inability to reconcile their American upbringing with their Chinese heritage, leading them to embark on an "Asian Freedom Tour" that––naturally––doesn't go as planned.

Chung and Lee are accompanied on stage by MaryAnn Hu, Nate Miller, and David Shih, who all play a number of different characters. Hu, for example, stands out as both the exasperated therapist and the unsympathetic mother, while Shih is both a stern father and the intimidating Tzi Chuan. Nate Miller, on the other hand, offers humor as Albert's obnoxious coworker Russ the Bus and as Jennifer's bro-tastic failure of a boyfriend Reggie.

Tiger Style! offers a brilliant blend of jokes for the masses and high-brow humor (such as dry lines about the history of Taiwan). Mike Lew's script is clever and entertaining, though the second act does require a suspension of disbelief as the Chen's wacky antics grow more and more outlandish.

With hip hop musical transitions produced by DJ Shammy Dee live on stage and bright lighting from Anthony Jannuzzi, Tiger Style! is a sensory experience. The sets, designed by Lauren Helpern, are versatile and elegant, featuring immaculate decor of a clean and impersonal home that can double as a therapist's office or an airport terminal. The costumes, chosen by David Israel Reynoso, feature a modern, laid-back Irvine vibe.

Tiger Style! runs at the La Jolla Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre through October 2nd. With wry wit and quick-fire dialogue, Tiger Style! is a fun comedy for the overachiever in all of us!

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