The 1963 film The Love Eterne (
Riding on the success of the 2003 revival and hoping to attract a younger generation of theatergoers, Da Da Arts is reuniting actors from the original film and stage version and pairing them with a few younger TV celebrities.
The star of both the film and theater version, Ling Bo, together with Hu Chin (
PHOTO COURTESY OF DA DA ARTS
To appeal to a younger audience local television and film personalities, Guo Zhi-chien (
Ling, now 66-years-old, is embedded in the memories of women who watched her grace the screen as the young scholar in The Love Eterne. Four decades later, her facial expressions, movements and singing are as skillful as ever, said Da Da Arts producer, Melisa Jiao (
"Lin Bo is forever to be the leading lady as Liang Shan-bo there is nobody else could substitute her role?. The live performance is difficult for these aged actors, who have to memorize all the lyrics not to mention all the choreography, and it is difficult to get everyone together to rehearse and to perform on stage. But if we could get the original cast, then why not?" Jiao added.
The butterfly lovers, or the Legend of Liang Shan-bo and Chu Ying-tai as it was previously titled in the 2003 production, is regarded as the Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. Chu Ying-tai, born into a wealthy family, disguises herself as a man so she can attend school, where she befriends the handsome Liang Shan-bo, the only son in a poor family.
When Chu's secret is finally reviled to Liang the two fall in love, but are too late; it has been arranged that Chu will marry the son of a powerful court official. The ill-fated lovers die of broken hearts only to be reincarnated and reunited as butterflies.
The film The Love Eterne was so popular in Taiwan that many people can still sing the arias from memory. The question nowadays, is whether or not the popularity of huangmei musicals will continue. According to Da Da Arts organizers its days are not numbered.
"More teenagers are enjoying the show. Some have seen the original film or musical version on TV and many are fans of Ling Bo," Jiao said referring to a press conference where fans of Ling were invited to attend.
As of press time, most tickets for the Taipei dates were sold out. For more information on the show and additional tour dates check the Web site at www.dadaarts.com.tw.
Performance notes:
What: The Butterfly Lovers (The Legend of Liang Shan-bo and Chu Ying-tai)
When: Tonight and Tomorrow at 7:30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2:30pm
Where: CKS Cultural Center National Theater (
Tickets: NT$1,000-NT$2,500 available online at CKS Cultural Center Box Office or online at www.artsticket.com.tw
Telephone: (02) 3393 9888
June 23 to June 29 After capturing the walled city of Hsinchu on June 22, 1895, the Japanese hoped to quickly push south and seize control of Taiwan’s entire west coast — but their advance was stalled for more than a month. Not only did local Hakka fighters continue to cause them headaches, resistance forces even attempted to retake the city three times. “We had planned to occupy Anping (Tainan) and Takao (Kaohsiung) as soon as possible, but ever since we took Hsinchu, nearby bandits proclaiming to be ‘righteous people’ (義民) have been destroying train tracks and electrical cables, and gathering in villages
This year will go down in the history books. Taiwan faces enormous turmoil and uncertainty in the coming months. Which political parties are in a good position to handle big changes? All of the main parties are beset with challenges. Taking stock, this column examined the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) (“Huang Kuo-chang’s choking the life out of the TPP,” May 28, page 12), the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (“Challenges amid choppy waters for the DPP,” June 14, page 12) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) (“KMT struggles to seize opportunities as ‘interesting times’ loom,” June 20, page 11). Times like these can
Dr. Y. Tony Yang, Associate Dean of Health Policy and Population Science at George Washington University, argued last week in a piece for the Taipei Times about former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) leading a student delegation to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that, “The real question is not whether Ma’s visit helps or hurts Taiwan — it is why Taiwan lacks a sophisticated, multi-track approach to one of the most complex geopolitical relationships in the world” (“Ma’s Visit, DPP’s Blind Spot,” June 18, page 8). Yang contends that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has a blind spot: “By treating any
Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict. Last week’s air drop was the latest in a controversial development — private contracting firms led by former US intelligence officers and military veterans delivering aid to some of the world’s deadliest conflict zones, in operations organized with governments that are combatants in the conflicts. The moves are roiling the global aid community, which warns of a more militarized, politicized and profit-seeking trend
RSS