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CENTRESTAGE: Opera star Huang Weikun performing an excerpt from Zhao Zilung.
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THE superstars of Cantonese opera are coming to town.
Fans can expect to see the Cantonese opera world's equivalent of Beyonce and Ricky Martin, Shakira and Robbie Williams paired together on stage.
They will be performing at Cantonese Opera Delights, a 10-day series of opera shows being staged by the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre Foundation as part of the ongoing Singapore Arts Festival.
The 55-member Guangzhou-based Hongdou Cantonese opera troupe will be one of the star attractions. The troupe comprises famed wen wu sheng (scholar-warrior lead) Ou Kaiming and female artiste Zeng Hui. Both are recipients of China's highest performing accolade, the Plum Blossom Award.
Six other opera stars will be joining them on stage. Fans will get to watch familiar names in the opera circuit, including Loong Kun Tin and Nam Foong from Hong Kong, Huang Weikun from Shenzhen and Yao Ziqiang from Zhuhai.
They will be performing full-length pieces like Tang Gong Qi Miao (Dream Of The Tang Palace, which depicts the tragic life story of imperial concubine Yang Gui Fei (played by Zeng Hui).
There are also special Sunday performances showcasing the entire star-studded cast in five short excerpts from different opera classics, including Mang Han Diao Qi (Wild Man And His Unreasonable Wife) and Lei Ming Jing Gu (Battle Drums).
This year's line-up, costing almost $200,000, is one of the most expensive productions in the foundation's 30-plus years of putting up opera shows. The foundation is a non-profit charity organisation that aims to promote Chinese performing arts.
It's an increasingly difficult job.
A spokesman for the foundation said: 'As audiences began to shrink over the years, we have been feeling a greater need to raise the standards of performance and to preserve the tradition.'
This production will feature a reunion of old friends - Loong, a warrior-scholar lead who has performed in the Hong Kong opera circuit for 27 years will be paired with female lead Nam. Both met in 1979 and have performed together often.
Other artistes will be cast in unusual pairings. Guangxi-born Ou will be paired with Hong Kong-born Nam for the first time.
Also in the line-up is Hong Kong female impersonator Zhao Zhen Yu, 50, who is just emerging in the opera scene. He will be singing and dancing on two nights.
Female impersonators who sang in falsetto voices and cross-dressed were common on the opera stage in the 1920s and 1930s, before women took on stage roles. But by the 1950s, female impersonators became less common and Zhao's performance here will be a rare treat.
All profits from the show will be used to fund community projects. Mandarin surtitles will be provided.
Dawn Lim
Cantonese Opera Delights is on at the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre from Friday to June 17 at 7.30pm. Tickets from $15 to $50 are available from the theatre's box office (tel: 6222-3972). For additional details, visit www.kapt.com.sg
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