Media Release: Beijing Opera in Vancouver

Tue Apr 27 02:40:36 EDT 2004

Butterfly DreamNEWS RELEASE
April 23, 2004  
Contact: Sherry Elasoff, Manager, Marketing & Publicity
Tel: 604-247-4978   Fax: 604-247-4995
Email: marketing at gatewaytheatre.com

For tickets call: 604.270.1812 or see www.gatewaytheatre.com

Pangaea Arts and The Gateway Theatre present The Butterfly Dream. 

O Sheng as Chuang Tzu. Photo: Michael Ford

For Immediate Release: 

West meets East in The Butterfly Dream
The Gateway Theatre in association with producer Pangaea Arts is proud to introduce their interpretation of the classic Chinese tale of The Butterfly Dream, May 6 – 15, 2004. A rare opportunity to experience the art form of Beijing Opera performed in English and Mandarin with English surtitles.
(Preview: Thursday, May 6. Opening Night: Friday, May 7)

Run is 90 percent sold out! Book soon!

In Brief:
Chuang Tzu, the famous Taoist scholar and philosopher, decides to put his wife’s proclamation of eternal fidelity to the test by faking his own death and tempting her while disguised as a young prince. 

On his way home after a 10-year retreat, Chuang Tzu encounters a widow fanning her husband’s grave. Her dead husband had asked that she wait until the dirt dried on his grave before she re-married.  Chuang Tzu uses magic to help dry the grave, and wonders if his coquettish wife T’ien Shih would be in as much of a hurry to re-marry. When he reaches home he asks the question; she professes her eternal fidelity. Chuang Tzu puts his wife to the test by faking his own death and disguising himself as a virile young prince. Will T’ien Shih keep her vow?

The Butterfly Dream is adapted and directed by: Yuan-Tzeng Hsia. Scenic Design: Phillip Tidd. Lighting Design: Bill Davey. Performers: Yuan-Tzeng Hsia, Lee Hsiao-Ying Hsia, O Sheng, Heidi Specht, Lora Sun, and Kitty Li. Stage Manager: Yvonne Yip. Assistant Stage Manager Alexia Chen. Music by Zhang Fuqi, and Yuan-Tzeng Hsia recorded by the National Beijing Opera Theatre of China. Translator: Huihui Shen. 

About Beijing Opera
Beijing Opera has been a nationally celebrated theatrical form in China for almost 2 centuries. Its Chinese name, Jingxi or Jingju literally means ‘the drama of the Capital City’.  The plots of most Beijing Operas are based on well-known Chinese stories with familiar characters, unfolding without the tension or suspense expected in Western-style theatre. Sets are minimalist, often with only a table and chair used to represent a large number of structures or locales. The performance is judged on the way actors interpret these familiar characters, how they carry themselves on stage, and on their virtuosity in song, speech, dance-acting and combat skills. The goal is aesthetic perfection.

Biographies 
Yuan-Tzeng (Michael) Hsia  –  Director, Performer
Trained as a professional actor at the Ta-peng Peking Opera Vocational School of Taiwan, specializing in the Chou role type, Mr. Hsia performed with many leading opera companies in Taipei for 35 years. In Vancouver, Mr. Hsia has taught opera at Chinese Language Schools, Kwantlan University College in Richmond, and workshops at UBC. Mr. Hsia won a Jessie Richardson Award for his make-up in the production Cultural Metaphors in which he also starred as the Monkey King. He directed and performed in the Pangaea Arts production Into the Heart of Beijing Opera which toured schools throughout BC. 

Lee Hsiao-Ying Hsia  –  Performer
Hsiao-Ying Lee trained at the Taiwan Peking Opera Training School in Taiwan and specializes in female martial roles (Dan role type). She has performed professionally for over 20 years with the Taiwan Peking Opera Company, the Jung Kuang Peking Opera Company, and the Chi-lin Hall Peking Opera Company in Taiwan and has toured extensively in Japan and Korea. She has performed in the Pangaea Arts productions Into the Heart of Beijing Opera and Einstein’s Dreams. 

O Sheng  –  Performer
Mr. O immigrated to Canada in 1996 from the Fu Jian Province in Mainland China. He received his training from the Fu Jian Art School and specializes in old man roles (Lao Sheng). He has worked as a professional Beijing Opera actor for over 15 years, and in 1990 was awarded the Golden Prize in the Contest for Best Young Actor in Fu Jian Province. Mr. O is active in local Beijing Operas. He has been the major actor in the annual performance of the Seniors' Research Group of Chinese Opera and Music for four years. Mr. O also performed in the Pangaea Arts production Into the Heart of Beijing Opera in 2001, 2002, and 2004. 

Heidi Specht  –  Performer, Producer
Heidi is the Founder and Artistic Director of Pangaea Arts and is an actress, director, choreographer, producer and teacher. Heidi’s love of Asian theatre has taken her to Japan many times and to the U.S.A to study Japanese traditional Noh and Kyogen theatre. Heidi played the role of Pigsy (Zhu bajie) in the Pangaea Arts production Into the Heart of Beijing Opera, which has been touring to BC schools for the past three years. Last spring, Heidi directed the Japanese production of Funny Faced Ogre at the Gateway Theatre. Heidi is the founder and co-artistic director of The Trollsons, a family of masked Scandinavian Trolls. She will be performing at the 2004 Vancouver International Children’s Festival and returning to Singapore to perform at the 2004 Singapore International Arts Festival.

Kitty Li  –  Performer 
Kitty has been studying both Chinese dance and ballet since she was in grade two. She was born in Hong Kong and came to live in Richmond when she was 8 years old. In 2003 / 2004 Kitty won first place at the Pacific West Dance Competition. Kitty studies dance at the Ping Academy of Dance, and is currently a Fine Arts student at Kwantlen University College. 

Lora Sun  –  Performer
Lora has been dancing for over ten years, studying both Chinese dance and ballet. She was the winner of the 2003 Canadian National Dance Competition (age 16) and was the 2003 Oriental Teen Cover Girl. In 2004 she won an ultimate gold in the American Dance Power Competition and was awarded Female Dancer of the Year. She also received the highest overall award for costume. Lora came to Canada three years ago from Beijing. She is currently a grade eleven student at McRoberts Secondary School in Richmond.

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