Music of all genres can provide hope and inspiration, cheer us up when we are down or encapsulate our despair when we are feeling low and just want to wallow for a while.
Songs are the hallmarks by which we measure life’s passages. Tunes from Broadway musicals serve this role well, which is why five artists with backgrounds in musical theater and opera, who found themselves safely ensconced in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic, decided to do something to cheer people up.
The result is Bright Lights for Dark Nights (曙光再現 音樂劇之旅), billed as “an international musical extravaganza,” which opened at a performance space in Taipei’s Nangang Bottle Cap Factory last night for a four-show run, featuring songs from musicals of the past 50 years.
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
The two-act production starts with songs from darker musicals to symbolize the angst that so many people felt last year, with songs from well-known productions such as The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked and Hamilton to those from shows that might not be as well known to local audiences, such as Spring Awakening, Hadestown and Bonnie and Clyde.
Act 2 focuses on the light at the end of the tunnel and the bright lights of Broadway with songs such as Don’t Rain on my Parade, Bring Him Home, Move On and Songs for a New World.
Australian Paul Whiteley, an actor/singer/musician turned event promoter, is one of the producers of the program as well as a performer. His resume includes Australian productions as well as international tours of shows such as The Phantom of the Opera.
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
Bonnie Lin (林姿吟) is a bel canto soprano with a background in opera and musicals as a performer and choreographer, as well as a television show host.
Mandarin Wu (吳曉清) is a professional singer and dancer and has taught musical theater, dance and choreography at universities in New York
Carol Chang (張芳瑜), a graduate of the Chinese Culture University’s drama department, has performed in several Taiwanese musical productions as well as being cast in the Canadian tour of The Wrong Car.
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
Chase W. Nelson is a postdoctoral researcher at Academia Sinica as well as a scientist with the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, but he also has a background as a musician, singer and actor, and is a former member of Trustus Theatre in Columbia, South Carolina.
Backing up the singers is the six-piece Jacob Drumemory Band.
■ Bright Lights for Dark Nights, tonight through Sunday at 7:30pm
Photo: Screengrab from Facebook
■ Nangang Bottle Cap Factory, Building M (瓶蓋工廠台北製造所 M棟 ), 13, Nangang Rd Sec 2, Nangang District, Taipei City (台北市南港區南港路二段13號)
■ Tickets are NT$800 to NT$1,200, available through the udn ticketing network online (you need to join the network first by downloading the app from the App Store or Google play store). Tickets purchased online can be picked up through the ticket collection services at the “7-ELEVEN ibon,” “Family Fami-Port” and “Life-ET” kiosks
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