Butterfly Lovers
Let me start off by saying that I'm no fan of romantic movies, romantic ballads, romance novels and any of its ilk. So if that confession somehow cuts my chances of snagging any of my readers who may be smitten with me, so be it (come on, a guy can dream and it's my blog). As you can guess, my review of Dama Orchestra's Butterfly Lovers: The Musical might be a bit biased due to my lack of appreciation for such storylines. However, it is a classic and it features the talented local soprano, Tan soo Suan, so I had to get tickets. She caught my eye ever since I saw her in September Tales: A Tribute to Theresa Teng sometime last September (in case you don't know, Theresa died in September). As usual, this Dama performance was held at the KL Performing Arts Centre, Sentul Park. The place is fantastic. A great place to take photos (I forgot to bring my camera, so I had to resort to my cellphone). A haven in the city. Thanks to YTL.
OK, on to the review. For the benefit of those who do not know this tragic love story of forbidden love, it's about Zhu Yingtai, the daughter of a wealthy landlord and Liang Shanbo, a poor scholar. Sounds like a Bollywood script, right? Anyway, Yingtai is very extroverted and wants to go school, but her father obviously is not happy with the idea (FYI, her father's costume is a cross between Chinese period clothing and a Roman toga). Anyway, she dupes her father into allowing her to go to school dressed like a man (ala Mulan, and as usual the people are too stupid to notice, a recurring theme in many period dramas). So, on the way to school, she meets up with Shanbo, and they both become quick friends. Fast-forward 3 years, Yingtai falls in love with the idiot (as the narrator, Edwin Sumun likes to call him because he doesn't realize her true identity). Yingtai's mother fakes an illness and manages to get Yingtai to go home only to find out that it was a ploy to get her married to Ma Wencai (Edwin Sumun), the Mandarin's playboy son. So, blah, blah, blah, Yingtai drops hints at Shanbo and after a lot of beating round the bush, Shanbo comes to realize the truth. By the time he comes to ask for her hand in marriage, it's already too late as Yingtai's already promised to Wencai and obviously a penniless scholar is not exactly "The Bachelor". He goes away dejected, coughs blood into a hankerchief (another favourite of Chinese period dramas) before kicking the bucket. On her wedding day, Yingtai discovers that her love is 6-feet-under. Determined to send her father to an early grave, she demands that her bridal entourage includes mourning lanterns and joss money throwers. She also asks for a stopover at Shanbo's grave before heading to the groom's place. At the grave. she's overcome with grief. At this point, Tan Soo Suan sings with much feeling, with tears and crying in between singing. Very convincing. A storms blows out of nowhere and she jumps into the grave. After the storm settles, two giant animatronic butterflies fly out.... The End.
The story is simple and is perfectly complemented by the music and score. The costumes are interesting, with platform shoes and giant tasseled curtain tie-ups. The students' headgear resemble mortar boards and let us not forget Yingtai's dad's toga. The sets are simplistic, with cartoonish colours and minimal details. I felt that they could have done better here, but maybe bajet tidak mengizinkan. The stage is a modular construction, with several different platforms on castors. The students act as backup singers, extras and stagehands who move the pieces around during different acts. Very well done. Reminds me of Cirque du SOleil's Quidam where the extras who set up the stage and carry the props are an act of their own. The actor who played Shanbo's servant, Four-Nine was also very convincing, playing the clueless country bumpkin man-servant to perfection. He sported a Chun-Li hairdo for the part. Fantastic. It ends on the 8th of October. Go watch it.
An excerpt:
Girls who are extroverted are an embarrasment to the family...
PS: It's in Mandarin with English subtitles. The dog was in the prop workshop. So cute!
OK, on to the review. For the benefit of those who do not know this tragic love story of forbidden love, it's about Zhu Yingtai, the daughter of a wealthy landlord and Liang Shanbo, a poor scholar. Sounds like a Bollywood script, right? Anyway, Yingtai is very extroverted and wants to go school, but her father obviously is not happy with the idea (FYI, her father's costume is a cross between Chinese period clothing and a Roman toga). Anyway, she dupes her father into allowing her to go to school dressed like a man (ala Mulan, and as usual the people are too stupid to notice, a recurring theme in many period dramas). So, on the way to school, she meets up with Shanbo, and they both become quick friends. Fast-forward 3 years, Yingtai falls in love with the idiot (as the narrator, Edwin Sumun likes to call him because he doesn't realize her true identity). Yingtai's mother fakes an illness and manages to get Yingtai to go home only to find out that it was a ploy to get her married to Ma Wencai (Edwin Sumun), the Mandarin's playboy son. So, blah, blah, blah, Yingtai drops hints at Shanbo and after a lot of beating round the bush, Shanbo comes to realize the truth. By the time he comes to ask for her hand in marriage, it's already too late as Yingtai's already promised to Wencai and obviously a penniless scholar is not exactly "The Bachelor". He goes away dejected, coughs blood into a hankerchief (another favourite of Chinese period dramas) before kicking the bucket. On her wedding day, Yingtai discovers that her love is 6-feet-under. Determined to send her father to an early grave, she demands that her bridal entourage includes mourning lanterns and joss money throwers. She also asks for a stopover at Shanbo's grave before heading to the groom's place. At the grave. she's overcome with grief. At this point, Tan Soo Suan sings with much feeling, with tears and crying in between singing. Very convincing. A storms blows out of nowhere and she jumps into the grave. After the storm settles, two giant animatronic butterflies fly out.... The End.
The story is simple and is perfectly complemented by the music and score. The costumes are interesting, with platform shoes and giant tasseled curtain tie-ups. The students' headgear resemble mortar boards and let us not forget Yingtai's dad's toga. The sets are simplistic, with cartoonish colours and minimal details. I felt that they could have done better here, but maybe bajet tidak mengizinkan. The stage is a modular construction, with several different platforms on castors. The students act as backup singers, extras and stagehands who move the pieces around during different acts. Very well done. Reminds me of Cirque du SOleil's Quidam where the extras who set up the stage and carry the props are an act of their own. The actor who played Shanbo's servant, Four-Nine was also very convincing, playing the clueless country bumpkin man-servant to perfection. He sported a Chun-Li hairdo for the part. Fantastic. It ends on the 8th of October. Go watch it.
An excerpt:
Girls who are extroverted are an embarrasment to the family...
PS: It's in Mandarin with English subtitles. The dog was in the prop workshop. So cute!
Comments
However, things like this never get me up from my fat ass to actually be bothered to go. Talk about so uncultured!
Here I was thinking most guys don't like watching these types of shows. :)
Maybe if they allowed smoking in the hall?
@Bunny:
Once in a while. I'm not exactly a big fan.