Mix the excitement of societal turbulence with a love story, good music and a sense of nostalgia, and you have the combination for a hit musical.
At least that is what the Taipei Philharmonic Theater hopes to achieve with their new show, which comes to the stage later this month.
The Golden Decade of Campus Folk Songs is a two-hour set that transports the audience back to times of unrest in Taiwanese society between 1976 and 1986, depicting the lives and love stories of five college students, said Hsieh Shu-ching (謝淑靖), director of the musical.
Photo: CNA
This year’s production features nine folk songs from the period that Hsieh wanted to use to narrate the history of politics and economics in Taiwan.
“The campus folk songs are like Halley’s Comet,” Hsieh said.
“The period for this genre of music was short, but its impact was incredibly poignant,” she said.
The director hopes her musical will transport the audience back to a bygone era, when many of them would have attended college or been politically active.
“It’s more than being retro. It’s about inheritance,” Hsieh said. “I hope it [the show] will not only help people remember the good times, but also inspire a younger generation.”
Hsieh said the musical would be a great opportunity for foreigners to learn more about Taiwanese culture and history.
There will be a performances of the work on Saturday in Greater Taichung and on April 29 and April 30 in Taipei. There will be four domestic performances in all and then the show will tour 10 cities in China later this year.
The troupe is using a proven formula for their production.
Their offering last year, A Love Story About Shanghai and Taipei, featured a tale of love that was torn apart when the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost the Chinese Civil War and evacuated to Taiwan. Popular 1940s songs added color to the tragedy.
Taipei Philharmonic Foundation chief secretary Du Ming-yuen (杜明遠) told reporters that the theater company has performed in Taiwan every year since 2004 and began tapping into the Chinese market in 2008.
He said the cross-strait nature of A Love Story About Shanghai and Taipei was a big hit among Chinese audiences and the company hopes it can repeat that success once again.
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