Yueju Crossover - Again!

Well browsing the web randomly and came across this picture which made my eyes almost dropped out of their sockets.

Yes, it's a Yueju crossover act again. Nothing new already, I supposed, but then again, having Zhao Zhigang as Lin Daiyu and Qian Huili as Zi Juan just seems very weird!

Red Mansion Blow Wind Blow

Lately I saw this clip on Tudou.com featuring old-time Yueju partners Qian Huili and Wang Zhiping singing arias from "Dreams of the Red Mansion". However, they did not reprise their respective roles as Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu. For example, Wang Zhiping sang the role of Jia Baoyu and Jia Zheng, while Qian Huili sang the role of Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. How do you think they would fare? Watch on to find out!

The Fashionable Miss Tao

No, I don't know any lady whose surname is Tao. This title is but the main gist of a song from modern Yueju "Early Spring in February" featuring Xu Biaoxin, Zhang Weizhong and Zhang Yongmei. I quite like this song, titled "I Like You, Fashionable Miss Tao" because I think it is really cute and funny, especially the way Xu Biaoxin used English in his song (though it's only one word - "Miss", which was repeated over and over again as he sang about his infatuation with Miss Tao). Enjoy!

Surprising Jin Jing 2

Jin Jing is one of the very few Yueju actress I know who is able to sing 5 different styles effectively. Here are some clips of her in action:

Jin Jing in Bi-style xiaosheng (fourth in sequence).


Jin Jing in Lv-style huadan


Jin Jing in Jin-style qingyi

Surprising Jin Jing

For those who frequently watch Yueju will definitely know this actress called Jin Jing. She is a Qi-styled huadan, and Qi-style singing features relatively narrow vocal range and less decorative touches. In fact, sometimes it is even thought that those who could not sing high notes will end up learning Qi-style. However, Jin Jing proved it wrong by being able to cross-sing other styles and even the relatively more demanding Xiju arias. Here are two clips of her, the first featuring her singing in Yuan-style that is even more authentic-sounding than any of Yuan Xuefen's (originator of Yuan-style singing) direct disciples, and the second features her singing Xiju opposite Huang Huijing.



For those who are clueless as to how Qi-style singing sounds like, here is Jin Jing in Qi-style singing:

Reflections of the Red Mansion

Zhao Zhigang, one of the very few famous male Yueju performers in China, performed in a monologue, somewhat avant-garde like Yueju piece titled "Reflections of the Red Mansion" in 2006, and this show is what I'd like to share about in this post.


Unlike all other shows he had previously performed, Zhao Zhigang acted as himself, instead of any other characters in "Romance of the Red Mansion". So what's the link between himself and this classic opera? Well, the leading character of the "Romance of the Red Mansion", Jia Baoyu, grew up being one of the few men among womenfolk, and Zhao Zhigang himself is one of the very few male Yueju performers in the scene. This to him is a very big problem, and sometimes he even feels awkward. Hence, instead of trying to create a different perspective to the classic tale, this performance tells about the unknown pressure he had all these years as a male actor, and how he isn't very happy with the fact that almost all roles on stage are taken up by female actors.

I can understand his agony; compare him with other Yueju actresses in the market and one can easily see why he's feeling this way. Maybe some people will argue that his singing is too "effeminate" for their liking. Well, he may be sounded too "soft", but I believe it isn't his fault, since when an actor's mentor or peers are generally members of the opposite sex, one tends to pick up traits of them and incorporate in their own performance. Just like when I took vocal training with my troupe members in the past, I was also the only male student, and my coach (a female) commented that I was at a learning disadvantage because male and female anatomy is different and I had no one to take reference too. She also commented that it would have been better if I joined a class with more male students, or was taught by a male vocal coach. On another hand, if Zhao Zhigang is penalised for sounding too "effeminate", why is it that Xiao Ya, a female Yin-style actress (same mentor as Zhao Zhigang) remains highly popular and appears in almost every year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala? I think she sounded creepily feminine too, but it seems audience in general can accept that better.

Talent aside, female Yueju actresses generally are far more popular than Yueju actors, to a point that they're marginalised, and in some instances they are cast aside simply because audience prefer to see female actors taking on male roles. And it doesn't help by the fact that the concept of male and female actors to have equal performing opportunities have been implemented for quite a while now. Till then, like when performing "Romance of the Red Mansion", Zhao Zhigang is always the only real biological man on stage even though there were other male characters too. Therefore, who is to be blamed: is it the opera's fault, his own fault for choosing Yueju as his career, or the fault of gender-biased audience? I believe this is something all Chinese opera practitioners and fans to really ponder about.

Chinese Opera 3-in-1: The Jade Flying Phoenix

I found this on 56.com recently, about a theatrical performance in China which has got actors from Yueju, Xiju and Kunqu performing together. It wasn't a very new show already, as this video I found was uploaded early last year. This show, titled "The Jade Flying Phoenix", tells the story of Fan Li and Xi Shi after the fall of the kingdom of Wu. In this show, there're 3 pairs of Fan Li and Xi Shi; Zhao Zhigang and Zhao Haiying formed the Yueju pair, Zhou Dongliang and Li Shuxian the Xiju pair and Zhang Jun and Lei Ling the Kunqu pair. I'm curious as to how the producers integrate the elegance of Kunqu, the gentleness of Yueju and the meliodious nature of Xiju into one cohesive theatrical piece, but since no video recording of it is available either on the net or in VCD/ DVD format , I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed for now!

Yueju Drama Serial "The Butterfly Lovers"

I finally found Hua Weiqiang's "The Butterfly Lovers" on the net. For those who do not know who on earth is this Hua Weiqiang, he is a famous Yueju actor from Zhejiang. Like some of his fellow mates from Zhejiang Yueju Company, he has very few works that has been made into drama serials or VCDs, and on top of that, he is a male actor, making him all the more rarer (Yueju opera has been dominated by female actresses in many troupes for decades already). I personally find Hua Weiqiang's voice quite nice, but it's a pity that he does not have a face to match. I'm not too sure if other people feel the same way as me, but you can listen to it for yourself.

In this version of "The Butterfly Lovers", Hua Weiqiang did not really act, but lend his voice to the actor taking on the role of Liang Shanbo. Although I had been looking high and low for this show, I know well that this show may not be good as I've heard very bad comments on it. Some netizens have complained that the whole show has been ruined by bad acting by actors who are not even trained in Chinese opera. After watching a bit of it, I find that it really isn't that good. However, my main focus is actually on Hua Weiqiang's singing, so other aspects are not that important for me.

Jay Chow Goes Yueju

Don't be mistaken by the heading; Jay Chow is NOT singing Yueju. However, recently (actually it has been almost half a year already), a netizen by the name of "Wei Ye Na" had did a cover of Jay Chow's "Ju Hua Tai", but instead of making a parody out of the lyrics, he actually sang it in the style of Yueju music, complete with a rather authentic Zhejiang accent. Take a look at the video clip before and you'll see what I mean.



I personally quite like this version, a rather nice fusion of "classy pop" with traditional Yueju. The person doing the cover has got a rather nice vocal tone too, and I wonder if he was even at least an amateur Yueju performer himself. Of course, being someone who had quite watched Yueju quite extensively, I found his singing a little less authentic; he was singing in Yin-style almost throughout the whole song (excluding the chorus part of course), but at one particular section, he suddenly broke into the Xu-style, an act no Yueju actor would do unless for special dramatic reasons according to the context of the script.

"Rojak" Broken Bridge

For those who are from my opera troupe would know that we're currently rehearsing a new excerpt titled "Broken Bridge" from "Madam White Snake". In the spirit of rehearsal, I've decided to showcase a version of this "Broken Bridge", but somewhat a rojak version. Why would I call it rojak is because this performance is a combination of Yueju, Chuanju (Sichuan opera) and Yuju (chief opera genre of Henan). The role of Madam White Snake was performed by Fang Yafen in Yueju style, Xiao Qing (green snake) performed by Xiao Xiangyu in Chuanju stye and Xu Xian by Tao Changjin in Chuanju style. One interesting part is that although the singing and acting was very much authentic, the dialogues between the 3 actors are rather funny, because the 3 characters are all speaking in different dialects and they don't seem to understand one another!

Yueju's "Romance of the Red Masion"

"Romance of the Red Masion" is by far the most popular show in Yueju opera, popularised by great Yueju actors Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan in the 60s. This show had somewhat became the representative of the Xu-styled xiaosheng and Wan-styled huadan singing. But not many people would have heard of another variation of this show, performed in Yin-style (xiaosheng) and Yuan-style (huadan).

This alternative rendition was performed by the late Yin Guifang in 1962, and her leading-female counterpart was Li Jinfeng. I am not certain if Li Jinfeng was a Yuan-styled huadan though, but subsequent re-runs of the show in Yin'a troupe (Fujian Fanghua Yueju Opera Troupe) were all performed in this style, with Wang Jun'an and Li Min being the troupe's best representatives of it. Shanghai Yueju Opera Company had did a similar rendition in 1999 starring Zhao Zhigang and Fang Yafen, as a move to revamp this timeless classic.

Here are various clips of this new rendition, alongside the ones from the "classic" version, and it's not hard to see the difference in feel and style. It is to be noted that the version shown here are from the 2001 Hong Kong performance, which was accompanied by Chinese orchestra, while the original scores used in the 1999 Shanghai version was supposedly meant to be played with westen orchestra.

Scene from Improvised Yueju "Romance of the Carp Fairy" 2

This is the first scene from improvised Yueju "Romance of the Carp Fairy" staged early this year.



Quite a number of new insertions and changes had been made to the original directing, including the "underwater scene" prequel as well the short flute playing scene of Zhang Zhen (played by Zheng Guofeng). I like these 2 new insertions, as it has strengthen the plot to make this fish-man love more believable. The "underwater scene" had got a cold icy feeling, a reflection on the carp fairy's inner world, and the flute playing scene depicts Zhang Zhen's loneliness after being isolated and left all alone by his materialistic future in-laws at the Jade Pond Studyplace. The inner world of both characters coincide, and that formed the basis of their love; they truely understand the solitude faced by each other, and therefore it made sense as to how come both characters are willing to perish for one another towards the end of the show.

I'm quite pleased with this new directing sense, though these video recordings really gave me a big headache with all the shakiness. How I wish Shanghai Yue Opera Company can bring this show to Singapore to perform, hopefully at the Esplanade!

Scene from Improvised Yueju "Romance of the Carp Fairy"

Below is a scene from the improvised version of Yueju opera "Romance of the Carp Fairy" by Wang Zhiping staged early this year. This scene here tells 2 Justice Bao (one of which is a fake one disguised by a turtle spirit) holding a trial to tell apart two Jin Mudans (one of which is a fake too, impersonated by the carp fairy). The role of the real Jin Mudan and the fake Jin Mudan (carp fairy) are not easy to act, not because they have difficult stunts, but both actors must have very good chemistry and able to act like the same person. Afterall, they must give the audience the feeling that they're the splitting image of one another, either in terms of outlook and body gestures, except in some instances whereby the fake Jin Mudan has got to act slightly different to give audience the hint that she's in fact an imitation. In this case, I think Wang Zhiping and her co-actor (can't tell who she was though) had succeeded. Even their looks were quite similar too.

Alternative "Butterfly Lovers" - Yueju Stars, Yueju-styled music but in not Yueju

This is what I had found on the net with regards to the "Butterfly Lovers", performed by Wang Zhiping and Zhao Zhigang. This is quite an unsual pairing, because this show in Yueju is usually performed by Fan-styled xiaosheng with Fu-styled or Yuan-styled huadan, and at times by Xu-styled xiaosheng with Wang-styled huadan; but having the role of Liang Shanbo being sang by an Yin-styled xiaosheng is not what I've ever heard of. Well, actually it made no difference, after watching this clip, since the actors themselves are not singing Yueju, but in Mandarin along with the Yueju-styled "Butterfly Lovers" violin concerto music.

How do you find it? To me, I may like Wang Zhiping, but then again this performance is not something I can really stomach. They sounded simply too odd in this clip!

Here is another clip, by Wang Zhiping again, but this time Huang Hui as Liang Shanbo. Still on the theme of using music from "Butterfloy Lovers" violin concerto, it sounded much better, since they're singing in their native Zhejiang dialect. However, there's completely no sense of any style of singing for the actors already. That is, Wang Zhiping totally don't sound Wang-styled, and Huang Hui no longer sounded like Lu-styled.

Shanghai Yue Opera Company to Stage Revised Edition of "Romance of the Carp Fairy"

Recently, Wang Zhiping and Zheng Guofeng had appeared in "Ming Jia Ming Duan Ren Ni Dian" TV programme in Shanghai talking about their latest show, "Romance of the Carp Fairy". This is yet again another remake of popular Yueju classics, alongside "Romance of the Red Mansion", "Butterfly Lovers" and "The Pearl Pagoda".

Wang Zhiping and Zheng Guofeng took the the lead roles of the Carp Fairy and scholar Zhang Zhen respectively. The story tells of a carp fairy who fell in love in poor scholar Zhang Zhen. She decided to impersonate the latter's fiancee Jin Mudan in order to get close to him, only to create havoc when 2 "Mudan" appeared at the same time in the Jins' residence. Jin Chong, father of Jin Mudan, hired Heavenly Priest Zhang to subdue the carp fairy, and under the help of Goddess of Mercy, the carp fairy escaped death, but was faced with a major decision: to either give up her love for the mortal scholar and seek to become an immortal, or to pluck out all the scales from her body to become a mortal being with Zhang Zhen. The carp fairy chose the second choice, and after enduring the pains of plucking out her scales, she was finally reunited with her loved one.

"Romance of the Carp Fairy" will be staged at Shanghai Yifu Stage on 26 - 28 February this month, ticket prices are between 60RMB to 300RMB available at http://www.tickets.com.cn.

Promotional flyer for "Romance of the Carp Fairy"

Yueju Crossover - Parody Version part 3

This is the last of the 3 Yueju crossover sketch, titled "The Arrogant Princess". The role of Li Junrui (Princess) was crossdressed by Peter, while Tao Hai acted as the Empress. Luu-style huadan actress Chen Shi took on the role of the Emperor while Huaiju (a major opera genre from Jiangsu province) Qingyi actress acted as Princess Consort Guo Ai.

Yueju Crossover - Parody Version part 2

This is the second Yueju sketch for the same series, which was recorded together with the rest for the New Year's celebration (I supposed it's for this year's). This second sketch is "The Pearl Pagoda". The leading roles of Fang Qing and Chen Cui'e were taken on by Jin Jing and Jin Hong respectively. Jin Jing is a popular Qi-style actress who is famous for her potrayal of pitiful female characters like Zhu Yingtai, Du Shiniang and Bai Suzhen (Madam White Snake). Jin Hong, if you can still recall in my previous posts, is a laosheng actress famous for her solemn-faced or sly characters on stage. In this performance, Jin Jing crossed over to act a xiaosheng while Jin Hong took on a huadan role. The roles of Chen Peide and Fang Duohua (Chen Cui'e's parents) were acted by Peter and Tao Hai.

In between various segments of the sketch, video clips of excerpts from various versions of "The Pearl Pagoda" (including Yueju version, Xiju version and Huajixi version) were also featured. One thing to note is that in one of the clips, "Prince of Yueju" Zhao Zhigang also did a crossover. Not in the sense that he acted as a huadan, but he actually sang Xiju, and I felt that his performance was not bad.

Yueju Crossover - Parody Version part 1

Remember my previous posts about a Yueju crossover performance by various Yueju celebrities? That performance is meant to showcase the other unseen sides of popular Yueju stars which one rarely got to see in regular performances. This time round, I'm going to show you another series of Yueju crossover performance, but this is unlike the previous one. This series of Yueju crossover performance is in a form of comedy sketch, which is part of a variety show in one of Shanghai's TV stations featuring Chinese opera music videos and interviews with Chinese opera celebrities.

Thie first sketch I'm going to present is "Romance of the Western Chamber". Taking on the role of Cui Yingying was Xu Biaoxin, one of the up-and-rising male Lu-style xiaosheng in the Yueju scene, and Zhang Jurui was acted by female Zhang-style laosheng Wu Qun. The roles of Hong-niang and Old Madam Cui were impersonated by Tao Hai and Peter respectively, who are popular TV hosts in Shanghai and are passionate about Yueju as well.

Elaborate "Dream of the Red Mansion"

Yesterday was an exciting night for me, as I finally managed to catch the elaborate version of "Dream of the Red Mansion" at the Esplanade after 6 long years of waiting.

The performance was performed by Shanghai Yue Opera Company, starring China's first-grade actresses Qian Huili and Shan Yangping as Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu respectively. When I first watched their VCD production of this same show in 2000, I was amazed by the elaborate stage set, big number of ensemble roles in various scenes as well as the rich sound produced by their grand musical team, which includes western orchestra instruments as well. However, the show they put up yesterday night wasn't really as good as the VCD version. First of all, the stage at Esplanade was actually not as big as the stage they performed in Shanghai, and hence the stage set had been slightly simplified. For example, in the original version, they actually had a full-sized bridge with many peach blossom trees on the stage for the garden scenes. In yesterday's version, the bridge was reduced to just a section, and the number of trees was greatly reduced too. The number of ensemble roles had been reduced too, but I supposed it would be too much of a cost if the opera company is to bring in as many actors as what they had back then, and hence they decided to do the cut.

Having said that, ther were still some rather nice parts. For example, in the scene where Daiyu was burying the wiltered peach blossoms, the flowers actually fell off from the tree branches by themselves (the tree props were actually electricity powered), adding more realism to the show. Also, in the scene where Daiyu burnt all her poems during her dying moments, the furnace glowed red when the poems where thrown in, with smoke coming out. I could hear some members of the audience wowing at this sight. In the original China production, they even had soot flying out of the furnace at the end of the burning, but too bad in this production, there isn't any.

In terms of acting and singing, there wasn't nothing much to really complain, other than Fang Yafen and Chen Ying, who couldn't reach some high notes in their songs last night. I guess they are down with flu due to the weather, or else it is almost impossible for them to show such sub-standard performance. As for the music, I feel it had improved quite a great deal since their 1999 production. For example, in the scene where Daiyu was buring her poems again, the music back then was too rush, and it didn't quite bring out the grievances of Lin Daiyu well in that scene. The tempo and feel of the music was better controlled this time round, and in some scenes, additional timpani rolls were inserted suitably to create higher climax.

A magnificant show, I should say, despite some lacking areas. However, I was a bit disappointed as well, as my favourite actress Wang Zhiping was not in the cast. Anyway, I now wonder if there is any chance Shanghai Yue opera company will bring in Wang Zhiping and Zheng Guofeng's version, or Fang Yafen and Zhao Zhigang's version in future...

Yueju Crossover part 4

Below are 2 clips of Qian Huili and Fang Yafen singing arias from "Romance of the Red Mansion" and "Lu You and Tang Huixian" respectively. Qian Huili was trained in Xiaosheng roles singing in Xu-style, whereas Fang Yafen was trained in Huadan roles singing in Yuan-style. The expressive Xu-style of singing is best known for frequent leaps into high notes, hence requires the singer to have a wide vocal range. The Yuan-style of singing was created by Yuan Xuefen, and it was her who paved ways to the creation of other singing styles by other Yue opera masters.




Qian Huili and Fang Yafen are famous Yue opera actresses from Shanghai Yue Opera Company. Their near perfect image on stage made them idols to many Yue opera lovers. However, in this next clip, they sacrificed their wholesome image to play the clownish roles of Third Aunt and Master Shi respectively. Zhang Hailing, a versatile actress from the same opera company who was able to switch between Laosheng and Laodan roles easily, took on a Huadan role in this clip singing Lyu-style instead.



My verdict:
This is the most enjoyable clip in this series, as Fang Yafen and Qian Huili's portayal of Third Aunt and Master Shi were really beyond my expectation. They were so comical that I just can't stop laughing. However, that doesn't make them any less serious. In fact, it was their seriousness in their role that make their renditions a success. Zhang Hailing, on the other hand, did not stand out as much as her role was more of a "serious" one. Her acting and singing were good, but her chubby size made her look a bit comical.

My ratings:
Qian Huili's singing

Qian Huili's acting

Qian Huili's entertainment value

Overall rating for Qian Huili


Fang Yafen's singing

Fang Yafen's acting

Fang Yafen's entertainment value

Overall rating for Fang Yafen


Zhang Hailing's singing

Zhang Hailing's acting

Zhang Hailing's entertainment value

Overall rating for Zhang Hailing