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Taipei personalities
A prominent Taiwanese troupe stages the colorful "Butterfly Dream" in a rare chance to see traditional Chinese opera up close without spending a fortune.
By ROBIN EISGRAU
Offoffoff.com
Chinese opera is a feast for the senses, and the Taipei Theater, located in
the McGraw-Hill Building at 1221 Avenue of the Americas (between 48th and
49th Sts), offers a chance to witness its splendor at affordable ticket
prices. The music encountered at a Chinese opera performance is an intricate
web of delicacy and intensity communicated through exotic wind, string and
percussion instruments. Unlike, say a production at the Metropolitan Opera,
a production seen at at the Taipei Theater has a smaller-scale intimacy
which makes for perhaps an even more emotionally involving theatrical
experience: the performers are never too far away, the richly detailed
costumes and the actors' gestures can easily be seen no matter where you may be
seated.
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| BUTTERFLY DREAM |
Performed by Lien's Taiwanese Opera Troupe, led by Huang Shiang-Lien.
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This week the theater will be
staging "Butterfly Dream," performed by Lien's Taiwanese Opera Troupe, a
company that has been very successful in producing traditional opera for
television. "Butterfly Dream" is an opera dealing with themes of hidden
indetity, love and high drama. Originally performed in the Yuan Dynasty,
"Butterfly Dream" tells the story of 16-year-old Lady Chu Ying Tai and her
tale of ambition and spirituality. This staging of "Butterfly Dream" features
modern touches in the blocking of the performers, the lighting and the
music.
Butterfly Dream is staged by Lien's Taiwanese Opera Troupe, which was
started by the actress Huang Shiang-Lien and her brother, the producer
Huang Fu-Ko. The troupe was started to promote and enhance the quality of
Taiwanese opera. Shiang-Lien comes from a family that was famous for
Taiwanese opera. Much of her childhood was spent watching and learning from
her parents' and grandparents' theater performances. Even though her parents
initially objected her wanting a career in the opera and warned her that it
was a hard life, she passionately set out to fulfill her dream and at 16
made a living as a performer and supported her brothers through school.
Shiang-Lien is well known for her television appearances in operas such as
"The Story of The Big Nation of the Tang Dynasty," "The Scaled Head of Emperor
Hung Wu" and "Lo Tung Swept the North."
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MAY 15, 2000
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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