Chinese Opera 10.JPG
Chinese Opera 12.JPG
Chinese Opera 13.JPG
I'd never seen Chinese opera, and I had no idea what to expect but my wife, Gwynne, and I highly anticipated going. First, the stage & seating were familiar to Westerners, the biggest difference being that tea & noodles were served during the performance. Second, there is singing but it's the high-pitched warbling & minor-chord unharmonized music you see depicted in the movies as an Asian stereotype. Thirdly, what we saw was more a Variety Show than a story. And it was bizarre: shadow puppets, stick puppets, a man with a flame lamp on his head, strange acoustical instruments & outrageous costumes. Gwynne & I had dressed up beforehand like a couple of the performers but I noticed the guy I was copying was old.Chinese Opera 11.JPG