Tzi Ma
The success of the Los Angeles run sparked sufficient investment to move the show to Broadway. Half the cast was dismissed after the Los Angeles run for unstated reasons. Mary Rodgers later commented that Randall Duk Kim replaced Tzi Ma as Wang because she had admired Kim's performance as the Kralahome in the 1996 revival of "The King and I", but Kim was unavailable for the Los Angeles run. Hwang considerably altered and trimmed his long script during Broadway rehearsals and previews; "The Next Time It Happens" was removed from the show. During the runup to the Broadway opening, the show received mostly positive publicity.