How watching Whoopi Goldberg’s breakthrough comedy video Direct from Broadway helped Hong Kong choreographer appreciate the power of words
- When Yuri Ng Yue-lit, artistic director of the City Contemporary Dance Company watched Direct from Broadway, he became unusually emotional
- He was fascinated by Goldberg’s sense of movement and timing, and how she used her body to express different characters
In Direct from Broadway (1985), the documentary of the one-woman show that catapulted Whoopi Goldberg to fame, the actor and comedian brings to life a collection of wildly diverse characters, from a storytelling petty criminal to a teenage surfer to a physically disabled woman, in a series of five tragicomic monologues.
Yuri Ng Yue-lit, artistic director of the City Contemporary Dance Company, tells Richard Lord how it changed his life.
I think I bought it on VHS. It was because I was a fan of Whoopi Goldberg, after seeing her in (the 1986 comedy thriller) Jumpin’ Jack Flash.
I found her fascinating: her sense of movement and timing, and her ever-changing personality – she embodies the characters. Beyond her voice, she uses her body to express and embody.
I laughed so hard and then I cried so hard. I didn’t expect that. I was expecting comedy, but I cried so hard, and I couldn’t understand why at that point, so I kept watching. I didn’t know why it got to me. It was very emotional.
