Jun Fan – The Bruce Lee Musical opens with Lee on the top deck of the ship as it sails into Seattle’s harbour. Speaking in English, dancing with the wealthy Americans and Europeans, Bruce is claiming his future – a future far removed from the rest of the Chinese immigrants who were content below deck, gambling, drinking, and shouting at each other in Cantonese.

From the start, we see that Lee is different. He carries a mission – a mission to succeed in America by any possible means.

After landing on American soil, Bruce uses his talent and passion to open a martial arts school and starts teaching all races. This leads to the infamous fight with Wong Jack Man in 1964, a controversial private match in Chinatown of Oakland, California.

The fight stemmed from the request for Bruce to stop teaching non-Chinese by all Kung Fu Masters in Chinatown. When Bruce refused to comply, Wong challenged him to a fight. If Bruce lost, he would have to shut down his school, but if he won, then Bruce would be free to teach anyone.

This scene in the musical introduces Bruce’s concept of Jeet Kune Do. In real life, this controversial match with Wong Jack Man influenced Bruce’s philosophy about martial arts. Bruce thought that the fight lasted too long, and that he had fallen short of his potential using his Wing Chun techniques. He thought traditional martial arts techniques were too rigid and formalistic to be practical for chaotic street fighting. Bruce chose to develop a new system focused on “practicality, flexibility, speed and efficiency.”

Throughout the show, there are highlights of Bruce’s life, including his meeting with the legendary film producer Raymond Chow. It also features scenes from Bruce’s movies and behind the scenes when he is working on ideas and creating spectacular choreography.

Though the musical takes some theatrical license, the writing honours the outstanding work that one extraordinary young man accomplished in such a short lifetime.

“We hope this project excites you and look forward to seeing you in the audience.”