Without a trace of reservation, I can say that "Making Tracks" was one of the most impassioned, breathtakingly original, and thoroughly entertaining evenings I've ever spent in a theater--a work that, in speaking our history, *makes* history as well...

"Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" used the vocabulary of dance and song to tell the sweeping story of black America, across the Middle Passage, beyond slavery, through Jim Crow and the northward migration, through Black Hollywood and hiphop's rhythmic revolution. But the images and scenes that that production presents have been told before, if never in as explosive and enraptured fashion.

"Making Tracks" uses the same vocabulary to tell a different tale, one that is largely unspoken and ignored--*our* story as Asian Americans. From the back-breaking labor of the laying of the Westbound rails, to the desperate loneliness of Angel Island's would-be American sons; from the shattered hope of the "picture brides" who came to this nation to meet their stranger husbands for the very first time, to the exuberant, marquee dreams of the performers of San Francisco's Forbidden City nightclub; from the unconstitutional treachery of the Japanese American internment, to the uncommon valor of the soldiers of the 442nd...it weaves all of our many yesterdays, into our collective tomorrow.

It is funny, and wistful, and uplifting, and above all, it lingers on the heart, the mind, and the tip of one's tongue.

I've always said to myself that the ultimate test of musical theater is whether it rings in your head long after you've dragged your butt from your seat. Well, I walked out humming its soaring theme, the song "Making Tracks," and wishing to myself that there was a soundtrack album available...

But, if I can go out on a limb, I don't think there was a single person who walked out of the sold-out performance who didn't feel much the same way I did: Exhilarated. Joyful. And somehow, caught up in the sense that we were at the beginning of something enormous and transcendent--a pride in ourselves and our history, a hope for our future. *This is what it means to be an Asian American,* it seemed to say. *This is what we share, and why we believe.*

The last time I posted one of these mass-mailed unsolicited reviews, it was for the Disney film "Mulan," which was for me the cardinal Asian American cultural phenomenon of 1998.

It's only January, yet I have no hesitation in stating that "Making Tracks" is my pick for Asian American culture-event of 1999. If you're lucky enough to be in the New York vicinity, see it now, while you can--the show runs through February 14, and information on how to get tickets (which are bargain priced at $20, $10 for students and large groups) can be found at 2G's website, at http://www.2g.org/.

If you're not in New York, forgive my rant--but I don't think "Making Tracks" is going to disappear after this run by any means, so have patience. For one thing, we're trying to help 2G get this show on the road--maybe to a campus near you. (Student organizations interested in hosting the tour, which will get underway in the fall of this year, e-mail me for details.) And for another, *someone* with a lot of money and a little theater-producing experience is going to discover this thing and put it in a larger venue for a less temporary run--mark my words.

Hell, if I had the money, it would be me.

Kudos to Welly, composer Woody Pak, choreographer Shawn Ku, director Lenny Leibowitz, lyricist C. Matt Eddy, and the entire cast for creating something that has touched me deeply, and rocked my world.

Yours,

Jeff