Theater
Sinbad, the Treasure of the Pirate King (辛巴達之太陽寶石 , by the Dafen Musical Theater (大風音樂劇場), a new musical production of the classic tale of adventure and heroism, premieres in Tainan City tomorrow, followed by four performances at Taipei's National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (台北國父紀念館) next weekend. Tickets for the Tainan performance are NT$300 to NT$1,100 and NT$300 to NT$1,300 in Taipei. Dafen is widely regarded as the Disney of the East and the show is ideal family entertainment. At the Tainan Municiple Cultural Center (台南市立文化中心), 332 Chunghua E Rd Sec 3, Tainan City (台南市中華東路三段332號). Tickets are available from ERA ticketing.
* Tomorrow at 7pm
Shamlet (莎姆雷特), a comic play by the Ping-Fong Acting Troupe (屏風表演班), returns to Taipei after a nationwide tour. Shamlet, an established piece in the Ping-Fong repertoire, was reprised earlier this year, with Hugh Lee (李國修) updating the show, in true Ping-Fong fashion, to reflect new, topical issues and attitudes. Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing. At Metropolitan Hall (城市舞台), 25 Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市八德路三段25號).
* Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at 7:30pm, tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm. Also same times next weekend.
The Hero Does Not Fear Cats (英雄不怕貓) by the Just Apple Children's Theater Troupe (蘋果劇團), a children's play based on the award-winning series of illustrated books by Hau Kuang-tsai (郝廣才). At the Chungli Arts Center (中壢藝術館音樂廳) located at 16 Chungmei St, Chungli City (中壢市中美路16號). Tickets are NT$200 to NT$500 and are available through ERA ticketing.
* Tomorrow at 2:30pm and 7:30pm
How We Know We Are Here by British dancer Cathy Seago, The Day the Ketchup Turned Blue by US puppeteer Dan Harlin, and Icarus by German Puppeteer Florian Feisel will be performed this week as part of the 2006 Guling Street Little Theater Festival's Human and Puppet Carnavio at the Guling Street Theater (牯嶺街小劇場) located at 2, Ln 5, Guling St, Taipei (台北市牯嶺街5巷2號). Tickets are between NT$150 to NT$350 and are available through NTCH ticketing and from the venue. More information about the show can be found at www.glt.org.tw/art/.
* Tonight at 7:30pm and 9:30pm (How We Know), tomorrow at half hour intervals from 6:30pm, to 8:30pm and Sunday at half hour intervals from 2:30pm to 4:30pm then from 7pm to 8:30pm (Ketchup) and July 19 to July 21 at 7:30pm (Icarus).
Classical Music
A Piano Duet Concert (雙鋼琴音樂會) will feature pianists Tsai Hsing-chuan (蔡幸娟) and Chang Hsuan (張璿) at the Chungli Arts Center tomorrow, at the National Recital Hall on July 18, and at the Academia Sinica on July 21. Both pianists will offer a variety of works including Busoni's Duettino Concertante, Brahms's Sonata, Op.34b, Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze, Piazolla's Le Grand Tango, and Gershwin's “I Got Rhythm” Variations.
* Tomorrow at the Chungli Arts Center (中壢藝術館音樂廳), 16, Chungmei Rd, Chungli City (中壢市中美路16號), July 18 (Tuesday) at the National Recital Hall, and July 21 (Friday) at the Academia Sinica Auditorium (中央研究院學術活動中心一樓大禮堂), 128 Yenjiuyuan Rd Sec 2, Nankang, Taipei (台北市南港區研究院路二段128號).
* Admission is free for tomorrow's and next Friday's concerts. Tickets cost from NT$300 to NT$800 for Tuesday's concert and are available through ERA ticketing.
* Tomorrow at 7:30pm, Tuesday at 7:30pm, and July 21 at 7:00pm
Violinist George Lee and Pianist Lance Coburn Joint Concert (李東亨2006琴絃跨洋聯合演奏會) at the National Concert Hall tomorrow. Lee graduated from the Juilliard School and is currently a full-time assistant professor of the Department of Music at Tunghai University. Coburn is the winner of the first prize of the Hephizibah Menuhin Scholarship and the first Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition in 1999. Lee and Coburn will play violin and piano works including Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Sarasate's Zigeunerweisen, Chausson's Poem, and Faure's Sonata in A Major, Op.13.
* At the National Recital Hall
* Tickets are from NT$300 to NT$800 and are available through ERA ticketing.
* Tomorrow 7:30pm
Shih Hsin University Chorus (SHUC) 41th Concert — The Music of April (世新大學合唱團第41屆年度公演 — 人間肆樂天) will be held at the Taipei Zhongshan Hall on the occasion of its 41st anniversary. The conductors will be Chu Yuan-lei (朱元雷) and Liu Ma-li (劉馬利). Chu is the chairman of the Neo-Choral Culture and Arts Foundation and founder and executive director of the Taiwan Choral Music Center. The concert will feature guitarist Chang Yun-han (張允翰), percussionist Chiang Yu-chuan (蔣玉娟), and young singer Chang Yao-chun (張曜群). The program will include Ramirez's Missa Criolla, a series of works by Copland, one of Bright's coral works for female voices called The Four Sacred Songs for the Night, jazz songs, exotic-flavored ballads, and rhapsodies done a cappella.
* At the Taipei Zhongshan Hall (台北市中山堂), 98 Yenping S Rd, Taipei (台北市延平南路98號)
* Tickets are from NT$250 to NT$350 and are available through NTCH ticketing
* Sunday 7:00pm
Taipei Chinsui Chorus Concert — In Praise of Today and the Past (金穗合唱團 — 頌讚今與昔) will be held at the National Concert Hall. The 40-member mixed choir, led by Honorary Director Victor Shen (沈新欽), will be joined by the Hsinchu Philharmonic Orchestra to present a program ranging from classical to contemporary choral works. Shen's new composition of Taiwanese hymns will be premiered in this concert. Wu Shou-ling (吳琇玲), assistant conductor of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, will be the guest conductor, together with Shen. The program will include Mozart's Missa Longa in C, K262, Poulenc's Gloria> from Messe en Sol Majeur, Beck's Osanna, Holst's Te Deum, and Gorecki's Totus Tuus.
* At the National Concert Hall, Taipei
* Tickets cost from NT$300 to NT$800 and are available through NTCH ticketing
* Wednesday at 7:30pm
A Night of Romance for the Piano Duo (雙鋼琴音樂會) will feature pianists Chen Chieh-ru (陳潔如) and Cheng Ching-min (鄭靜旻) at the National Recital Hall. The program will include Saint-Saens's Variations on a Theme by Beethoven, and Lutoslawski's Variations on a Theme by Paganini for Two Pianos, Ravel's The Waltz, Rachmaninoff's Suite No.2, Op.17 for two Pianos.
* At the National Recital Hall, Taipei
* Tickets are from NT$200 to NT$400 and are available through ERA ticketing.
* Thursday 7:30pm
Contemporary
Witch House (女巫店) presents Kimbo Hu (aka Hu Defu 胡德夫). The nation's best known Aboriginal singer has been playing the blues since the 1970s, giving a voice to Taiwan's disenfranchised and dispossessed. His first album In a Flash was released last year and the singer was nominated in six categories at this year's Golden Melody Awards (金曲獎). Taiwan's Bob Dylan walked away with the prize for best song of the year with Pacific Wind.
* Tonight at 9:30pm
* Entrance is NT$300
Little Dose (如上)
* Tomorrow at 9:30pm
* Entrance fee is NT$300
* 7, Ln. 56, Hsinsheng S Rd Sec 3, Taipei (台北市新生南路三段56巷7號)
Sappho presents Sappho House Band on Tuesday and Riddim Outlaws on Thursday.
* All performances begin at 10pm
* B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit www.sappho-102.com
Bliss presents BoPoMoFo
* Tomorrow at 10pm
* Cover is NT$200
* 148, Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei (北市信義路四段148號). Visit www.blisstaipei.com
Grooveyard, Taichung, features Taiwan Exposed on Thursday with open jam nights, new band showcases, live theater, poetry and literature, comedy and more. Fridays and Saturdays feature local, expatriate and international bands. Tonight DIDO plays Latin and Bosa Nova.
* Tonight at 10pm
* Entrance is NT$200
* 2F, 105 Hwamei W Rd, Taichung(台中市華美西街105號二樓)
Riverside presents J.E.G. Jazz Band (“這個”爵士樂團)tonight, Rosedin and Liu-Jia tomorrow, SMOL d Vista on Sunday, open jam on Monday, Fuzzy and Crimson Tuesday, Sons of Pablo and Coach on Wednesday and JS and Bibi & Band on Thursday.
* Weekday cover charge is NT$250 and NT$300 on Friday and Saturday
* Shows begin at 9:30pm
* Riverside Cafe (河岸留言), B1, 2, Lane 244, Roosevelt Rd Sec. 3 (台北市羅斯福路三段244巷2號B1). Call (02) 2368-7310 or visit www.riverside.com.tw
The Living Room (小客廳) presents RIOT, a band that plays high-energy originals with lots of attitude and Acoustic indie groove band What Mulan (花木蘭). The gig begins at 10pm tonight. There is a cover charge of $500. On Tuesday Feel Major (感覺為主樂團) a five-member boy band with a penchant for feel-good music will grace the stage from 8:30pm until 9:30pm. There is a cover charge of NT$350. On Wednesday Minstral, the brainchild of American singer/guitarist/composer Adam Gault takes to the stage. The band is comprised of English bassist Mike Hanson, drummer David Tonner and Afong, a Taiwanese guitar teacher. Minstral blends rock, pop, funk. The two-hour show begins at 8:30pm. There is a cover of NT$400.
* 3F, 8, Nanjing E Rd, Sec 5, Taipei (台北市南京東路五段8號3樓). Call (02) 8787 4154 or visit www.livingroomtaipei.com
Exhibitions
Phantasms — Exploring Life's Illusions Through Digital Image: Liu Cheng-hsiu Solo Exhibition (眾生魔相—從數位影像探勘人生幻象—劉正修個展). A trained oil painter, artist Liu turns to synthesized digital images to reflect on the repressed and solitary souls of modern human beings. Grouped under the themes of humanity, love and lust and the psychological probe into the boundary between life and death, the works are digital transformations and reconstructions of everyday objects such as bodies, insects, metal and animals.
* Taiwan International Visual Arts Center (台灣國際視覺藝術中心), 29, Ln 45, Liaoning St, Taipei (台北市遼寧街45巷29號). Open Tuesday to Friday from 11am to 7pm; Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Call (02) 2773 3347.
* Until July 19
Collection Only— A Joint Exhibition by Liu Wen-te, Chiu Chien-jen and Wang Liang-yin> (就是要典藏 — 劉文德、邱建仁、王亮尹國家典藏藝術家三人聯展), featuring paintings by the three award-winning young artists, each of whom has a distinctive visual style and aesthetic approach. Liu combines Western abstraction with Eastern contemporary ink paintings to create playful pieces of geometric patterns while Chiu's Narrative series shape the colors of black, gray and white into paper-cut silhouettes. Wang uses daring and colorful hues for his novel series of desserts and sweets.
* AKI Gallery (也趣藝廊), 4, Ln 140, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 7, Taipei (台北市中山北路七段140巷4號). Open Tuesday to Thursday from 1pm to 9pm; Friday to Sunday from 11am to 10:30pm. Call (02) 2872 5296.
* Until July 23
Windows — 2006 Summer Exhibition (窗—2006夏展). As photographer Pethany Chen believes that life is composed of windows, the exhibition reflects on the lifestyles and philosophy of modern people who are seen moving from one window to another and jumping from one role to another in their animated yet detached lives where everything take place on window reflections.
* Pethany Larsen Gallery (Pethany Larsen藝坊), 2F, 30, Ln 45, Liaoning St, Taipei (台北市遼寧街45巷30號2樓). Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 7pm. Call (02) 8772 5005.
* Until July 30
Chou Pei-yung 2006 Solo Exhibition: The Promised Land (應許之地 — 周沛榕2006個展), making personal reflections on Taiwan's cultural identity through paintings, Chou blends the aesthetic vocabularies from the East and the West to create an individual style, attempting to manifest Taiwan' unique visual and human experiences under the influence of manifold cultures, ideologies and ethnic groups.
* Pacific Cultural Foundation (太平洋文化基金會藝術中心), B1, 38, Chongching S Rd, Sec 3, Taipei (台北市重慶南路三段38號B1). Open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Call (02) 2337 7155.
* Until July 22
Contemplation — Sagar Telekar's Painting Exhibition (沉思冥想 — Sagar Talekar個人畫展) featuring a series of paintings by the young painter from India who immerses himself in the ancient cosmic view of the East and tries to communicate the philosophy in a visual form.
* Starts Studio (時空藝術會場), 28, Heping E Rd, Sec 2, Taipei (台北市和平東路二段28號). Open Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 6pm. Call (02) 8369 1266.
* Until July 30
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
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