Thoughts on China

Update: From here, the pictures are only showing up sometimes for this post. I don’t know what’s going on with Picasa, where they are stored, since other posts’ pictures are showing up OK. In any case, here are a couple links if you’re interested after reading this:

Pictures (though small) of the play in action (particularly look at the flood scene, it’s hard to believe it’s indoors)

Picture of the theater (more pictures at the bottom of the page)

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Two days ago, on Thursday, I went to see an amusement park and a dance performance at Happy Valley in southeast Beijing. One of my friends’ sister is one of the managers of the dance performances, which is how I even heard about it. All I can say is that the show was incredible! When my friend told me about it, I thought that it would be a good show, but I was not prepared for the utterly fantastic show that I saw. I have seen a few Broadway shows and they pale in comparison! I kept wondering how much the set must have cost, because I could not imagine that the set changes and a couple of the sets in particular would even be possible. As I found out later from this article (please click on the link and read about it) the large theater itself was built specially to host this play/dance and cost $28,600,000 to build!

The story of the Golden Mask Dynasty unfolds in 8 acts (dances), which are described on two screens (one in Chinese and the other in English) before each of the acts and there are no spoken parts, which means that you won’t wonder what is going on.

The play itself was about a legendary dynasty in China’s history that was created after a war between two states. The queen of the victorious state was very magnanimous and reigned as a benevolent empress. The king of the vanquished state was moved by how well the queen treated his people and the two become lovers and have a great celebration (fete), but a flood takes the queen’s life. The reverence and feelings of the people toward her sustains her spirit and she remains with the people as a spirit.

The stage is huge and includes a main stage, which I estimate is about 50-75 yards wide, along with two side stages which wrap around the front section of seating, each of which is about 50 yards wide (but fairly narrow). The action literally wraps around the audience.

The most fantastic parts

The flood scene

The flood scene blew me away! It really looks like a massive flood pouring over rocks as a gushing waterfall with people struggling to avoid being drowned (the picture doesn’t do justice to the scale of this amazing effect). In addition to the front stage, the side stages also have water pouring out of them that fills the theater with the feeling you get when you are near a waterfall. I can’t imagine the pumps it must take to create this effect which lasts for a full 5-1o minutes, let alone having it be only one of the sets that is seamlessly moved into place without a break in the action. If you’ve ever been to Universal Studios in Orlando and saw the Earthquake ride where there is a flood, this one is much more impressive!

The peacock dance

In another scene, live peacocks are part of the headgear of the dancers (16 in all). I don’t know how they get the peacocks to be so relaxed with all the motion and sound, but it is really amazing!

The set changes, lighting, costumes, dancing and acrobatics

The sets are changed and come from the sides, the back and rise from the floor in an elaborate, complex, yet seamless manner. Everything is timed perfectly and to do everything without a mistake seems like a miracle. The lighting is also extremely well done and adds to the drama and excitement. The costumes are also amazing, combining the lavishness of Las Vegas stage costumes and the refinement of opera costumes with the style of China. The dances are very well choreographed both artistically and to tell the story. Acrobatics are also incorporated into the show. In one segment, for instance, three trampolines are used and the three acrobats/dancers use holes in a back stage wall to bounce from and into, sometimes as it is moving up or down.

This is one of those times when words cannot describe the show, but I highly recommend this performance to anyone who might visit Beijing while it is still showing.