I have not seen any local troupe perform this opera before. I saw this performed by a foreign troupe only once and also at KAPT – in 2005 by a HK troupe led by Wun Fei Yin and Wei Jun Ying.
The opera was quite long. It started at about 7.50pm after a souvenir-giving ceremony by the guest-of-honour, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed, senior minister of state for foreign affairs. There was no interval. It ended at about 11.35pm. But a few changing of scenes took quite some time and people took these opportunities to go to the toilets or to stretch their legs. Four of the scenes were very long.
The leading sheng and dan were Chan Fook Hong and Wong Mei Ling. I have watched them perform many times before including full-length operas like The Patriotic Princess and Dream of the Red Chamber.
On the whole the show was enjoyable and performance was good. We could see that the troupe (ECHO Cantonese opera troupe from Eunos CC) has put in a lot of effort and resources. I think most of the young performers playing minor roles are new and probably it was the first time they stepped onto a Chinese opera stage after a few lessons. Thanks to Mei Ling and her troupe for presenting this show.
The costumes were lavish, especially those worn by the two lead artistes. There were two dance items. The dance at The Grand Wedding was impressive and the lead dancer was skillful as well as graceful.
It is not an easy opera to perform. There are copious dialogue and songs to memorize. The theme songs are also very long. There were several times when the main cast including the leads forgot their lines, omitted or repeated them. In two conspicuous instances, there was silence for three or four seconds as either the artiste forgot his line or forgot that it was his turn.
Two minor points - there were too many artistes, around 30, on stage in the last scene where some officials and songstresses send off their emperor and empress. It made the stage look congested. I think about 16 to 20 will do. Second, the subtitles were too small. I doubt those sitting in the upper half of the theatre could make them out clearly.
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