Lou Mee Wah as Wang Xi Feng, I think this was the first time she did the dan role, but I prefer her sheng role.
Posters displayed at the Venue ... The centre and right posters are Lou Mee Wah, the one on the left is Leong Sau Fong. She played another lead role in the opera.
This is a special 'Fruit Tree' created by Lou's fans/students. The fruits on the branches are real ones that can be eaten. How nice if we can grow a tree like that, with different fruits, right?
Bleak year for Cantonese opera (CO) ?
I was having small talk with a man who is knowledgeable about CO and the CO scene in Singapore. He said this year there will be few foreign troupes coming here because people are reluctant to bring in foreign troupes. Not only they don't make profit, but they have to put in money themselves and the theatre may only be half-full. And of course another reason is the gloomy economy. Harsh reality.
According to him, the KAPT Foundation, which usually brings in a foreign troupe every year, will not do so this year. But it will hold a three-day charity-related show with a dozen or so well-known artistes from HK and China. Probably in June or July.
He said the KAPTF was hoping the wide range of stars would attract the fans. He said one of the reasons why attendance is not encouraging is that some fans only see their favourite artistes perform and they don't watch others.
I told him about my observations in HK and that CO audience in HK are also elderly people. He said one reason is that top HK CO artistes are quite old themselves and are not likely to attract young people.
He said HK fans who initially did not prefer China troupes are beginning to accept China troupes like the Zhanjiang CO Troupe and the Guangdong CO Youth Troupe which have been performing in HK quite regularly. These two troupes have younger talents and their performance is more towards HK style and so suit the tastes of fans there.
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