While infusing warmth into break-the-fourth-wall moments — we’re treated as the audience at the play-within-the play — the cast aces the show’s comedy, including slapstick and wisecracks about showbiz… Jacob Yeh is particularly hilarious as a swaggering gangster named Shrimp Boy…
Jacob Yeh’s persuasive performance as Haruki becomes particularly poignant as he expresses both his own growing fondness for Grace and his emotional reserve since he lost his wife ten years ago…
Jacob Yeh as Haruki, the flummoxed architect, brings a solidity that enfolds Grace (yes, there is some sweet origami) and proves to be what she needs to move forward.
There was a strong dynamic between the always superb Zach Brewster-Geisz, as Adam Trask, and the phenomenal Jacob Yeh, who played his right-hand man and cook, Lee… In their intensely angry scenes, Yeh and Sygar conducted a virtual acting clinic.
Hoffmann and Yeh also explore race through Lee, whether he’s carefully codeswitching to fly under people’s radars or standing up to a thoughtless nurse who wants to get in between him and his family. Moments when Lee leans more stereotypical are played by Yeh with a perfect degree of self-aware humor, keeping Steinbeck and Galati’s character multidimensional.
All the actors are funny, and obviously having fun, but it’s Yeh who rounds out the cast by playing a series of supporting characters, and makes a case for himself as the best comic actor in Washington.
And Yeh’s caricatures of white guys are a hoot—among them a crybaby blond-wigged airman who longs for Tong, a bearded Hells Angels biker brute who runs the uneasy raiders off the road, and a long-haired airhead hippie who can’t stop apologizing for the Vietnam War.
Jacob Yeh, who plays the character of the Playwright and a handful of other hilarious characters is incredibly chameleon-esque in the way he transforms so fluidly.
Brightest Young Things
The entire company has undeniable chemistry. Eileen Rivera, Joe Ngo, and Jacob Yeh shine in comedic vignettes and hard hitting moments, and our leading man Marc De LaCruz is a force.
THE CHINESE LADY, AMERICAN STAGE (ST. PETERSBURG, FL)
Review: Lloyd Suh’s Unforgettable THE CHINESE LADY at American Stage
I stress anyone that is reading this sentence to venture to American Stage to see THE CHINESE LADY, to learn a forgotten soul and an entire neglected history…
It’s a two-person show, and the gripping, searing performances at the heart of this are unforgettable, to put it mildly…
Equally as strong is Jacob Yeh as Atung… His monologue about halfway through the show, about a dream of his, is one of the show’s highlights. It’s gorgeously written and a home run when delivered by Yeh.
Yeh is also outstanding in his interpretation of President Andrew Jackson…
Playing God, Jacob Yeh is a revelation. With so much riding on his shoulders, this showman is blessed with a limitless range. He moves from stinging satire to officious TED Talk to gay repartee and, just as your sides start to split, descends into reverent, soul-stirring sermonizing about love and sacrifice. Barefoot and with twinkling eyes, Yeh projects a down-to-earth freshness — mostly in the way your mom uses the word fresh.
Doubling in supporting roles (Kirkwood’s expansive character list is as well-wrought as her play) are Julie-Ann Elliott, Kenneth Lee, Jordan Barbour, Diana Oh, Jacob Yeh, Kelsey Wang, and Jade Wu. The distinctions they each draw between their several roles are continuously impressive. Particularly remarkable in this regard is Jacob Yeh (whose portrayals range from young lover to sadistic guard).
Supporting performances of note come from Jacob Yeh— playing team pitcher Takeshi Kawabata— and Devyn Tinker, who plays as Davey Battle, the man on the other team. Both Yeh and Tinker are featured sparingly but in the moments when their characters are present there is a resounding echo of unspoken truths radiating out from within them. This is particularly true of Yeh as his character speaks no English and he spends most of the play in silence, or cursing in another language. The brilliance of his performance is the little bursts of comic moments caused by the language barrier juxtaposed against his final monologue, which is truly striking.
However, what would a production of Anime Momotaro be without a strong lead actor in the title role? Yeh has charisma in spades and is certainly up to the job. His youthful presence, strong chemistry with his counterparts, and personable charm ultimately make the play work quite well. He’s one to watch to be sure.
In the title role, Jacob Yeh leads the performers as the heroic and charming Momotaro. From his first moments, smiling and posing during the Momotaro-San theme song, Yeh’s smile and stage presence fits perfectly with his character’s journey.
P.NOKIO: A Hip-Hop Musical, Imagination Stage, 2012
The Relationship of Archibald and Amity As Lived Inside An Elevator, Source Theatre Festival, 2009
Jacob Yeh and Heather Haney deliver excellent performances as Archibald and Amity, respectively. They have an great chemistry even when their characters are strangers and just getting to know one another.
Yeh’s Juliet is soft, gentle and thoughtful, as some men (including, perhaps, the young man he plays) are soft, gentle and thoughtful. In playing her this way, Yeh may have actually given us more insight into the character and the play, than we got from the technically dazzling performance given by the young man who played her in the Shakespeare Theatre’s all-male Romeo and Juliet last September.
