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
Exceptions to the rule are sometimes revealing. For a brief few years, there was an emerging ideological split between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that appeared to be pushing the DPP in a direction that would be considered more liberal, and the KMT more conservative. In the previous column, “The KMT-DPP’s bureaucrat-led developmental state” (Dec. 11, page 12), we examined how Taiwan’s democratic system developed, and how both the two main parties largely accepted a similar consensus on how Taiwan should be run domestically and did not split along the left-right lines more familiar in
This month the government ordered a one-year block of Xiaohongshu (小紅書) or Rednote, a Chinese social media platform with more than 3 million users in Taiwan. The government pointed to widespread fraud activity on the platform, along with cybersecurity failures. Officials said that they had reached out to the company and asked it to change. However, they received no response. The pro-China parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), immediately swung into action, denouncing the ban as an attack on free speech. This “free speech” claim was then echoed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
As I finally slid into the warm embrace of the hot, clifftop pool, it was a serene moment of reflection. The sound of the river reflected off the cave walls, the white of our camping lights reflected off the dark, shimmering surface of the water, and I reflected on how fortunate I was to be here. After all, the beautiful walk through narrow canyons that had brought us here had been inaccessible for five years — and will be again soon. The day had started at the Huisun Forest Area (惠蓀林場), at the end of Nantou County Route 80, north and east
Specialty sandwiches loaded with the contents of an entire charcuterie board, overflowing with sauces, creams and all manner of creative add-ons, is perhaps one of the biggest global food trends of this year. From London to New York, lines form down the block for mortadella, burrata, pistachio and more stuffed between slices of fresh sourdough, rye or focaccia. To try the trend in Taipei, Munchies Mafia is for sure the spot — could this be the best sandwich in town? Carlos from Spain and Sergio from Mexico opened this spot just seven months ago. The two met working in the
RSS