Beijing Opera in Shanghai
‘Cause I know someone who knows someone who knows someone who works at the Yi Fu Theatre (天蟾逸夫舞台) on Fuzhou road (I’m so connected). And who’s going to say no to a comped ticket?
It was actually the first time I’d seen Beijing Opera live, and I’ve found that simply being there in person can make any performance more immediate and enjoyable. And while I certainly didn’t hate the three hour, three opera revue, I didn’t wildly enjoy it either. Beijing Opera is definitely an acquired taste, and while there were subtitles (in Chinese), my Ming dynasty reading comprehension was found to be lacking. Most of the time I had only the vaguest idea of what was going on (not good when the latter two performances where mostly the singers standing on stage belting out their woes — and it’s hard to sympathise with characters when you don’t know what they’re on about), and while I’m used to being in this position when I go to see European opera, Beijing Opera doesn’t have the atonement of actually sounding good. At least to my ear. Though I never did figure out why the audience was applauding at certain sections, which would seem to indicate I’m not yet a connoisseur of the form.
Maybe next time.
As far as sound goes, Huangmei Opera PKs Beijing Opera. The music sounds pretty and the vocals are actually good. You could probably find streaming clips from “女驸马,” which is one of several Chinese stories I’ve heard involving cross-dressing.
Thanks for the rec, hobielover, but something tells me I’m going to be sticking with mandopop ;) Also, everything in Asia involves crossdressing (or perhaps I’ve been reading too much manga and looking at too many publicity photos of Secondhand Rose).
Secondhand Rose’s vocalist will do that to you. This is more like “The Butterfly Lovers,” except instead of a man developing a deep friendship with the main character while going to school, a princess ends up falling of love and getting engaged to the scholar, who is actually a woman going to school under her husband’s name. There seems to have been a TV series about it, back in 2001.