In October, 1963, 200,000 movie fans crammed what was then Taipei's Sungshan International Airport to welcome movie star Ling Bo (凌波), lead actress in the film The Love Eterne (梁山伯與祝英台). The frenzy even had the Hong Kong press shaking their heads in disbelief, calling Taiwanese fans "crazy." According to contemporary news reports, a dozen people ended up with broken ribs when they fell from a high platform they had climbed to get a better view of the star. Female fans had their dresses torn as they fought through the crowd in the airport lobby. Two taxis were crashed by the crowd. At a press conference closed to the public, a young fan managed to get in and was found under the table kissing the actresses' feet.
This frenzy over Ling still lives in the memory of many middleaged Taiwanese. It also made huangmei musicals an important genre in Chinese-language cinema.
Forty years after the film came to Taiwan, Ling Bo, and the other cast members of the blockbuster film are back in Taiwan to perform the musical live, even though the average age of the main cast members is now 60. Titled Liang Shan-po and Chu Ying-tai, the names of the protagonists in this Romeo and Juliet tragedy, the revival stage show will have a total of eight performances. Opening in Taipei this evening, the show will tour Taichung and Kaohsiung, before returning to Taipei for two additional performances that have been schedule to meet popular demand.
Few performers have stood the test of time so well, for Ling's star quality is not the least dimmed after 40 years, 20 of those in retirement.
"This live performance is primarily for my loyal fans," the 63-year-old Ling told Taipei Times during rehearsal. She said she normally rejects all on-stage performances these days, but even now her gestures, steps and singing are as proficient as ever. Her handsome, androgynous face is still much as it was when she played the young scholar Liang Shan-po 40 years ago. It was this face that captured the hearts of so many female fans, and which can also be seen in her female roles as the brave woman or warrior in 1970s Shaw Brothers films, establishing this style of screen persona long before the appearance of Michelle Yeoh or Zhang Ziyi.
The film The Love Eterne was so popular in Taiwan that it was replayed numerous times and many people can sing the arias from memory. For members of one Ling Bo fan club, the membership requirement was to have seen the film more than 50 times; even with this, the club had a membership of over 200 people.
"The fans were just so passionate. Whenever I'd sing, they would toss jade bracelets and gold necklaces onto the stage for me. I remember meeting with an old lady who said she'd seen the film 180 times, and she gave me a scarf in which a bunch of jewelry was wrapped, said Ling.
Although now in her 60s and suffering from breast cancer, it was for her fans that Lin decided to accept the tough schedule of Taiwan performances.
"I'm happy to see that the love for huangmei musicals is being passed down to a younger generation," she said.
The story of Liang Shan-po and Chu Ying-tai goes back 200 years and has been called the Chinese Romeo and Juliet. A twist to the story is the fact that Chu Ying-tai is dressed as a boy when the two first meet, and they become best friends, carrying on a flirtation that hints at Chu's sex. When Chu is revealed as a women, her friend Liang immediately falls in love with her. Their love is hindered by Chu's father, who has set his eyes on a rich husband for his daughter. The pair sacrifice themselves on the altar of love and in death are united as butterflies. This has given this famous story another popular English title: The Butterfly Lovers.
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