Hip Hip Hurrah, the Beijing Broads are Back!

Have you been long enough in Beijing that you know, or at least have heard of, the Beijing Broads? I have. I could try to describe them in any number of ways, and yet I find myself going back to Cyndi Lauper’s words "girls just wanna have fun!"

Boy, did they have fun, and so did their audience through years of premium comedy shows. Improvisation, games, sketches; they did it all and they did it wonderfully.

Every now and then, one of the girls would leave to start a new chapter in life, and a new Broad would take her place onstage. There was merriment and laughter, and so the days passed.

…That is, until 2020 came along and everything came to an impasse. We all missed the Beijing Broads dearly in the local comedy arena, so it’s about time they returned with a now fully sold out show.

Pause & Play will take place at none other than Gatsby's tonight (Apr 24) as the herald of an almost entirely new cast promising lots of talent and laughter. Get to hear all about the Broads’ rentrée in this interview with general coordinator Summer Zhang.

Hey, Summer! Tell me, what happened in those 239 days?
Well, when the pandemic hit, quite a few of our long-time members, myself included, were stranded abroad. Those who could not return eventually decided to embark on new, wonderful journeys. It was just Xuebi and myself left here, and you know, we could have called it quits. We both are busy and I was already involved with other comedy groups.

And so you found a new team!
You betcha! We started turning to our friends for recruitment and eventually met with 15 amazing ladies. I am just so happy that I could be together with Xuebi in this transition to a new cast full of wonderful, diverse women. The Beijing Broads’ ultimate mission is to keep women at the center of the stage. We have fun and do our bit for other women to advance in life.

Tell us something about these fine women, please!
It’ll be hard to condense their bios, but I’ll try! Xuebi has ample experience as a playback actress and feels her theatre experience brings her closer to real life. Ginette is a Dutch transplant who relocated to China and has a crazy good podcast documenting her experience so far. Sai is from Canada and a total stunner who’s going to kill it onstage. Lindsay hails from New Orleans and, in her own words, knows how to laissez les bon temps rouler!

Sara is a theater enthusiast and drama teacher who will be bringing her passion to the show, much like the awesome Katryn. Edge is a rising star stand-up comedian for Comedy Club China and senior women rights advocate. Elizabeth comes from Ghana and her love of all things theatre has run deep for a decade. Miffy is a lighting engineer with a penchant for performance; Ariel says acting is her game. Mia is a piano player who’s jumping onto drama for the first time, Jenni is a passionate lifelong theatre aficionado…and I’m Summer, a veteran of 11 years in improv and stand-up.

I can hardly wait for your show. Give us a tease!
Well, for starters, let me tell you that we’ve done our fair share of rehearsing for this grand return. We had 9 rehearsals! This show is going to be mixing classic improve and another stream of improvisation known as playback theatre. Mia and Miffy will be bringing their special talents to the stage, and we hope this will be a fun experience for our entire audience to mingle and connect with us and each other.

In the past, you used to donate show proceeds to charity. Will that still be the case now?
Absolutely. All proceeds will continue to support Educating Girls of Rural China (EGRC), an NGO helping girls from rural regions of Western China to receive high school and university education. When women help women, we help the world! Add me on WeChat to stay tuned on our future shows: 15210396819

The Beijing Broad's Pause & Play takes place tonight, Sunday, Apr 24 from 8pm-9.30pm at Gatsby's. The show is sold out, but you can scan the QR code above and stay tuned for the Beijing Broad's next event.

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Images courtesy of the Beijing Broads