Outdoor performances aren't anything new in Taiwan, but Green Ray Theater's latest venture, which is to be presented in the plaza of the National Theater on the night of the mid-Autumn festival, is something of a first. It is the only time that a complete production of a stage musical has been performed on an outdoor stage.
The performance is going to be somewhat experimental on the technical front, although the show, Necktie and High Heels -- which premiered back in 1994 has been staged numerous times around the island and even in the US since then -- is about as mainstream as a musical can get.
While members of the audience will be getting a dose of the well-loved songs, in many cases sung by original cast
members, for the first time it will be in the less structured environment of an outdoor arena.
Moreover, as no admission will be charged, the cast and crew are all slightly nervous about performing before an audience that is not firmly and respectfully seated in an auditorium.
Another potential problem is the use of large format video screens to bring the show to an even greater audience.
"We must find a balance between stage presentation and movie presentation," said Luo Pei-an (羅北安), the director of the show. "If the gestures are too subtle, the stage audience won't me able to see them, and if they are too exaggerated, it will look silly on the screen."
The challenges of the outdoors will also exercise the minds of the organizers, the CKS Cultural Center.
"In the past, we have always favored musical works, because there are fewer technical issues," said a spokesperson for CKS Cultural Center. "This is the first time we have worked with something with so much dramatic content."
For most Taiwan theatergoers, the story of Necktie and High Heels doesn't need any introduction, and even for those who have not yet caught this show sometime during the last 10 years, suffice to say that it is about the lives and loves of a bunch of Taipei office workers. With a string of sell-out performances behind it, this should prove a good way of getting into evening spirit of mid-autumn.
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