A fortnight ago at the street opera at Sims Drive, a group of women were waiting for the opera to start. They looked like the type that watch cantonese opera regularly. They were looking at a flier about a coming show by a HK sheng partnering a SG dan.
"You know this dan? Singapore one."
"Don't know"
"Don't know"
"Don't know"
"Don't know"
This was not first time I heard this. It quite baffles me. Many local Cantonese opera fans don't seem to know local artistes except for their friend performers and a few top names. These people don't watch shows by local artistes? Or they just can't remember?
In this case the dan has been quite active, at least in recent years with a few 'big' shows at Kreta Ayer People's Theatre.
In this respect I am much better. I know the well-known ones as well as many of the less-known ones. Generally I remember artistes who have been performing regularly and new artistes who have performed well. Now I also know some local Xiang Opera artistes, Liyuanxi artistes and Nanyin performers.
1 comment:
I think most audiences just remember the top actors. Or maybe they remember the shengs more than the dans...
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