Mike Lew's TIGER STYLE! Begins Friday, October 14 at The Huntington Theatre Company

The Huntington Theatre Company will present the new comedy Tiger Style! by Mike Lew and directed by Tony Award nominee, Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Hand to God on Broadway). Performances begin Friday, October 14 and continue through November 13, 2016 at the South End / Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.

"Tiger Style! will hit the sweet spot - it is both side-splittingly funny and intellectually rich," says Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. "I became a major fan of the play after our Breaking Ground reading in 2014 and knew we had to produce it. Mike Lew has written a sharp and original comedy about generational differences, cultural heritage, and race in America today, and I can't wait to bring Boston audiences along for the ride."

Tiger Style! features squabbling siblings Albert and Jennifer Chen, who reached the pinnacle of academic achievement and graduated from Harvard. But as adults, they're epic failures: he's just been passed up for a promotion and she's been dumped by her loser boyfriend. So, naturally, they confront their parents and launch an Asian Freedom Tour!

The show also explores what happens when educational achievements and hard work don't lead to personal or professional success. Travelling from California to China, this hilarious new play examines the immigrant experience, racial stereotypes, parenting, and success with wit and sharp humor. Atlantic Journal Constitution calls Tiger Style! a "Wild comic ride!" and a "Smart urban comedy!"

"I've been dying to work at the Huntington for years now," says playwright Mike Lew. "I keep falling in love with the plays that originate there, and it's with the Huntington's spirit of bold new work in mind that I'm delighted to share Tiger Style! This is a deeply personal play about my Chinese American upbringing that wrestles with 'Asian tiger parenting,' Ivy League burnout, and the line between the cultural baggage we carry within us versus the cultural preconceptions heaped upon us. I can't wait to share it with Boston!"

Lew and director Moritz von Stuelpnagel are long-time collaborators - von Stuelpnagel is a Boston University alumnus and the two met over a decade ago as interns at Playwright Horizons in New York City. "Mike deals with complex social issues like racial bias and the immigrant experience in a way that's couched in madcap misadventure," says von Stuelpnagel. "It's boisterous fun that's smart. And no one is spared from his satiric wit."

The cast includes Ruibo Qian (Tiger Style! at ALLIANCE THEATRE and Water by the Spoonful at The Old Globe) as Jennifer, an over-achieving, rigid doctor and a Harvard graduate. Her brother Albert, a smart and hardworking software programmer with a Harvard education, is played byJon Norman Schneider (Tiger Style! at ALLIANCE THEATRE and Tokyo Fish Story at The Old Globe). Their parents are played by Francis Jue(Tiger Style! at ALLIANCE THEATRE and Pacific Overtures on Broadway) and Emily Kuroda (Tiger Style! at ALLIANCE THEATRE and Mrs. Kim in "Gilmore Girls"). Albert's lackadaisical co-worker "Russ the Bus" is played by Bryan T. Donovan (appropriate at SpeakEasy Stage Company).

The show will run October 14 - November 13, 2016, select evenings: Tues. - Thurs. at 7:30pm; Fri. - Sat. at 8pm; select Sun. at 7. Matinees are select Wed., Sat., and Sun. at 2pm. Days and times vary see full schedule for more details.

Single tickets starting at $25 and FlexPasses are on sale:: online at huntingtontheatre.org, by phone at 617 266 0800; or in person at the BU Theatre Box Office, 264 Huntington Ave. and the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Box Office, 527 Tremont St. in Boston's South End.

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