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SHOWBIZ> Theater & Arts
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Top 10 shows in 2008
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-31 07:53
The Beijing Olympics attracted not only elite athletes but also the very best acts of almost every genre. In its first year of full operation, the National Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Eggshell, put on a rich palette of stage shows, with a total of almost 1,000 performances. On the other end of the spectrum, small theater flourished and dozens of sharp, witty and insightful revivals and new productions were staged. And Shakespeare continued to be popular. Most singers who made their mark were from the world of classical music and it was a meager year for pop and rock, especially before the end of the big sporting events. And all the extravaganzas cannot conceal the little secret that performing arts are still a subsidized affair. Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony Directed by Zhang Yimou It was the most watched show on earth, it was the most lavish too and surprisingly, behind all the glitz and pageantry, there had great significance. The rich tapestry of Chinese civilization was embodied in a constantly evolving and abstractly fascinating scroll painting, which was the central focus of the one-hour program that preceded the entrance of the athletes and the lighting of the torch. Among the aspects of Chinese culture extolled, the "Four Great Inventions" of ancient China constituted one of the highlights. As 3,000 disciples of Confucius chanted: "All are brothers within the four seas", blocks, which simulated movable print type, created waves and billows, and revealed the Chinese character for harmony or peace in various stages of its evolution. The visual effect of rising appeared throughout. To expand on the notion of harmony was a vaguely Taoist visualization of the peaceful coexistence between mankind and nature. The theme song You and Me was delivered atop a 24-m globe, around which 58 stuntmen walked perpendicularly to the part of the Earth they happened to be, creating an illusion of weightlessness. The performance celebrated Chinese civilization and the importance of harmony. As a production, it was probably the biggest in Chinese history, with 15,000 people in the cast and 13 months of rehearsal time and reportedly a 4-billion-strong worldwide audience. Runner-up: Beijing Paralympics Opening Ceremony Though much lower in profile, the Paralympics show had its own charm. It had a more global perspective, with an emphasis on the entire universe and was more dreamy and romantic, with heart-warming moments. A mother watched her blind son playing a Four Seasons piece and a young amputee from the Sichuan earthquake realized her dream of becoming a ballerina and dancing in front of a national audience. In a sense, it aimed low but scaled high. Palace of Eternal Youth
Produced by the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe The complete version of this rarely performed classic ran at Beijing's Poly Theater on four consecutive nights from late April through early May, making it comparable to Wagner's Ring cycle, but more of a stylistic and thematic parallel with Monteverdi's Coronation of the Poppea. A decade ago, the same troupe was prevented from attending a full-length staging of The Peony Pavilion, a better-known Kunqu classic, at New York's Lincoln Center. Palace of Eternal Youth tells of the love story between Tang Dynasty emperor Li Longji and his concubine Yang Yuhuan, which is immortalized in many poetic and operatic dramatizations. The current production features a talented cast with exquisite singing and stylized yet expressive performances. The staging incorporates a dozen Venetian blind-like panels that add to the abstract look, thus enriching the original effect of Chinese opera stylization. A few of the highlighted musicians are placed on both sides of the proscenium - a reminder of Kabuki - and the narrator at the beginning and end of each night coincides with the structure of Romeo and Juliet. The English translation of the lyrics, by the great Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, captures the beauty of the Ming Dynasty script. Runner-up: Red Cliff the Grand National Theater production This new Peking Opera production of the familiar story, which premiered on Dec 22, has a wider appeal than the opera crowd. Directed by Zhang Jigang of the Olympics Opening Ceremony fame, it has elaborate sets, ingenious special effects and incorporates Western musical instruments. The story, from the Three Kingdoms, recalls John Woo's movie version of the same title. The last big aria sounds a note of peace amidst war and chaos, which clicks with modern sensibilities. Mozart's Requiem Performed by the China Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Opera House chorus and conducted by Yu Long This concert on May 7 was by no means a simple music event; it was a diplomatic gesture. Performed at the Vatican in front of an audience including Pope Benedict XVI, it was an attempt to use art as a tool for bridging cultural and diplomatic chasms. As Bernard Francis Law, the archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the four major Catholic basilicas of Rome, said: "The concert could be a good beginning to open dialogue between China and the Vatican." Runner-up: Concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra in Beijing In September 1973, the Philadelphia Orchestra played Beijing's Cultural Palace of Nationalities during the lead-up to the two countries' warming-up of relations. The program was the Yellow River Concerto and Beethoven's Symphony No 6 (Pastoral). On June 2, the same concert was repeated at the same venue, by the same orchestra, to mark the 35th anniversary of that historic performance. The original concert was conducted by Eugene Ormandy, and the new one by Christoph Eschenbach. Rhinoceros in Love
Meng Jinghui's experimental play debuted in 1999 and caught the imagination of the young with its quirky and passionate love story and unique stage treatment. It has been sporadically revived over the years, with a total of 100 performances. The revival, at the new Citycomb Theater, aims for a really long run of 1,000 performances. But with or without the commercial success, the play has already become a hallmark of avant-garde theater in China. A rhinoceros caretaker, Ma Lu, falls madly in love with a sexy, mysterious girl, Ming Ming. When she rebuffs him, his desperation drives him to kill his rhinoceros and kidnap her. Runner-up: I 'Aide Memoire (The Memorandum) Early in the year, Hong Kong star Edison Chen was found to have kept a database of digital photos of his girlfriends, all nude and in provocative positions. Jean-Claude Carriere's play, as produced by Xu Ying and directed by Guo Shixing, has coincidental relevance. In The Memorandum, a black notebook is where a Parisian man dutifully writes down the profiles of all the women who happen to bump into his life - 134 in all. The intimacy of the set and the theater helps get across the multi-layers and complexity of the story:
 Kylie Minogue As part of her KylieX2008 Tour, the Australian pop star played Shanghai's Hongkou Soccer Stadium and Beijing's Workers' Stadium to standing ovations. Nicknamed the "Pea Princess" for her diminutive figure, Minogue packed a wallop and electrified local fans. |
