RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE ... - University of Georgia

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Red Plum (see appendix I). A soft appearance and strong interior is regarded as most desirable in a traditional Chinese woman. Having women playing men is quite suitable in Chinese love stories… I have always loved women literature. Lee Ching Giu and Lau Wing’s poems that deal with fung fa suet yuet [wind, flower, snow and moon], have always been my preference in literature. 154 Figure 10. Mr. Paris Wong (center) with his voice students on both sides. Figure 11. Left to right: the author, Ms. Cheung Manshan (Executive manager of the Opera Information Center at the Chinese University of Hong Kong), and Mr. Paris Wong at the Kunju and Cantonese Opera Cultural Exchange Dinner organized by Mr. Wong and his opera group. 154 Telephone interview March 4, 2010. 73
Selecting virtues of a few male friends from the perspective of a female performer, and combining them to create the character she performs may be one privilege of a female who plays men. Male performers might not be as observant as women in playing same sex roles. I was surprised to find many of the 120 Cantonese synopses I participated in translating and editing in corporation with the Opera Information Center at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, used zong jyun culture as a theme. 155 An ideal man, in the heart of many Chinese women, is a gentle, understanding, and not so macho scholar. Wearing a long gown with padded shoulders, hats and platform shoes, a handsome young man appears in the body of a woman. Women playing man is ideal in singing duet with a fa dan. It is not only acceptable; it is a trend. In non-professional singing clubs, two women can have fun singing in an afternoon or after work. When there were no microphones, Chinese opera singers used high pitch to make the voice audible. Today, most performers use microphones. When the range becomes uncomfortable, a performer can raise a passage an octave higher (or lower) to a comfortable tessitura, at her discretion. With more movie production after WWII in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Cantonese opera was at its low time in the 1950s and 60s. After the 1970s, there seemed to be a re-birth of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. Since then opera in Hong Kong has been developing steadily. The relaxation of travelling policy in China in the 1980s facilitated more cultural exchanges between artists in Hong Kong and China. A typical Cantonese opera today has little kungfu. More emphasis is on singing. Wan plays dominate the stage. The orchestral sound is more balanced than before so as to accommodate the performance venues; 155 http://corp.mus.cuhk.edu.hk/corp/trans/content.html 74
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RED BOAT TROUPES AND CANTONESE OPER
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RED BOAT TROUPES and CANTONESE OPER
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Electronic Version Approved: Mauree
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to D
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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Ch
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transcriptions retain the old Yale
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y me, by people from the estuary, b
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properties from town to town in the
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perform at venues such as Caesar’
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After reading Lai Kin’s proceedin
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This report includes voices from va
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Chinese is a comprehensive referenc
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seven looks into issues of class an
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performers were selected from ladie
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places gathered in Peking to perfor
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home. But Dr. Sun Yat Sen, a leader
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Page 35 and 36: Chapter Three The Red Boat Society
Page 37 and 38: Foshan was an Earth Boat, which has
Page 39 and 40: Troupes] were all-female troupes th
Page 41 and 42: on a hill, or at the river-bank ear
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Page 47 and 48: Chapter Four The Plays According to
Page 49 and 50: The performance practice of ritual
Page 51 and 52: I have not seen ritual playlets per
Page 53 and 54: ecome a zong jyun, bon aan, or tam
Page 55 and 56: Chapter Five The Music Cantonese op
Page 57 and 58: Recitatives in a Cantonese opera in
Page 59 and 60: The bright sound was desirable espe
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Page 65 and 66: Many ji ceong 120 lie in the backst
Page 67 and 68: of the eyes upward and ties it tigh
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Page 73 and 74: Chapter Seven Hong Kong— Social I
Page 75 and 76: To attract spectators, Sit and Ma h
Page 77 and 78: women looking forward to troupes co
Page 79 and 80: After his teacher 13 th Son of Nam
Page 81 and 82: made up new industries in the 1960s
Page 83: Peking opera fa dan (leading female
Page 87 and 88: Chapter Eight China and Vancouver M
Page 89 and 90: violin, the koh hu, and he also tra
Page 91 and 92: Figure 13. Mr. C. Chan at the Qing
Page 93 and 94: The 94-year-old gentleman walked ad
Page 95 and 96: Ling: What is in your mind when you
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Page 99 and 100: A Chinese instrumental orchestra, s
Page 101 and 102: Ms. Chan was the lead singer in the
Page 103 and 104: Cantonese opera is not static; it i
Page 105 and 106: ___. “Chinese Street Opera Perfor
Page 107 and 108: ___. “Narrative Song: Southern Tr
Page 109 and 110: second jester Ga Lueng Yee, a serva
Page 111 and 112: 4. As the two young people are havi
Page 113 and 114: features, he turns to Ci Yung. Wai
Page 115: Appendix B: Interviewees 104
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