广东潮剧院三团 Guangdong Teochew Opera Troupe 3
梦圆锦香亭

满座满座满座

Sunday, 17 Sep 2006. Tonight is the final performance by 广东潮剧院三团 in Singapore. In the morning, I went to Chong Pang area to develop some photos so that I could give them to my opera fans before they leave. When I reached that shop, I was surprised with the high tech machines installed for developing of photographs. I passed them the CDR and followed some simple steps, based on guidance since it was my first time doing it, to get the 219 photos developed. I collected the photos within 30 minutes though the standard processing time is one hour.

I left home at about 5.30 pm and I went to People Park's Complex to eat Yong Tau Fu at 高记酿豆腐 for my dinner. I missed that stall quite a lot. Three years ago, I patronized that at least once a week when my office was located in Central Mall. After eating, I stopped by Polar cake shop to buy some pineapple tarts. I told my wife I should buy a little present for 勇强 and 碧霞. So some local food would be good.

I reached the backstage at about 6.45 pm. The first person I met was 楚武. I passed him an envelope containing some photos. Then I saw 佳婉. I also gave her some photos. After that, I met 勇强. I passed him the pineapple tarts and some photos. I also asked him to autograph on 2 of the photos. We did not have much time chit chat as the backstage was very packed. I saw some aunties carrying packets of presents, some were busy sorting out photos while others were busying distributing red packets or 'ang pow'. I heard one auntie said each red packet contained $24. Wow! These people are really strong supporters of Teochew Opera.

I saw a signboard showing 'Full House' prominently displayed at the ticketing counter. At 7.45 pm, there was a short announcement by the MC. I got to know that one man spent $15,000 to sponsor the show for Sunday night. No wonder, those who bought a ticket to watch 节义夫妻 on 16 Sep 06 were given a free ticket for the Sunday performance. Not bad at all. I paid $20 for watching 节义夫妻 and was given a free ticket costing $40. I did not quite like the seat assigned to me. It was on the first row, right block, 5th seat from the end. It was not a good angle for taking photos. Some people were not happy with the seat allocation as several seats were issued double tickets. As a rule of thumb, first come first served basis. I told myself how lucky I was. If I were to mingle a little longer with my opera fans, I might end up sitting on PVC chairs. Then, one Member of Parliament appeared on stage. He delivered a short speech in Teochew and also introduced 知名丑角方展荣 and 中国潮剧著名青衣花旦姚璇秋. The MC also said the first day of the performance by 广东潮剧院三团 was also a full house as 义安公司 booked all the tickets. See a related article extracted from 潮剧大观园. “新加坡牛车水人民剧场人山人海，热闹非凡。喜逢新加坡潮阳会馆80大寿，广东潮剧院三团排演的新戏《节义夫妻》在这里鸣锣开演，祝贺本次庆典活动。当晚剧场门口摆满祝贺，演出成功的花篮，场内挤满观众，自始至终笑声阵阵，掌声雷鸣.”That evening, 碧霞 played the key female lead role, 天然. 勇强 continued to play the role of 高力士.

Below are some other photos taken.

At the end of the show, a group photo was taken.