陈楚蕙潮剧艺术演唱会 2008 (第三晚演出)
Tan Chor Hwee Teochew Opera and Concert – Day 3
Sunday, 27 Apr 2008

Time flies. Tonight is the last performance of 陈楚蕙潮剧艺术演唱会 2008. I had my dinner at Pearl’s Centre and reached Kreta Ayer Theatre at about 6.50 pm. I saw many old folks streaming down the street and I realized that the afternoon performance could have just ended.

This time round, the door leading to the backstage was locked. I supposed the actors/actresses were having their dinner and they needed some rest. The door was finally opened at about 7.40 pm. I went to look around and heard that 陈楚蕙 was not in. I wondered how could it be as she would be the first to sing. Then, I went to look for 蔡碧霞. She was preparing for her performance later. I also got to know 陈国来. He was painting his face red as he would playing the role as 关公later. I asked her the aunties were saying that 陈楚蕙 was not in and she pointed at one corner where 陈楚蕙 was doing her make. Ha ha, 调虎离山记. I told 蔡碧霞 that I had no opportunity to take photos of her and 陈国来 for my blog. She told me to come during the interval and I told I was not sure if there could one as there was no interval on Day 1.



One lady besides asked me in Mandarin, ‘你会看潮州戏啊?’ I told her I have been watching Teochew Opera since I was young. While watching, she also agreed that the lady MC was terrible. Those ladies seated in front of me also aired their dissatisfaction during one part of the show.



Like the other 2 performances, 陈楚蕙 sang a few songs at the beginning of the show. 告神 by林玉 was supposed to be one of the 折子戏 but she sang in civilian. Wow, 十八相送 by 陈楚蕙 and沈惠贞 leh. I have not watched this 折子戏 before and I like this segment from the movie 梁三伯与祝英台. I have watched this performance many times. I fell in love with 黄梅调 when I watched 梁三伯与祝英台 by凌波, the Cantonese drama serial 梁三伯与祝英台by 刘松仁, 越剧梁三伯与祝英台 by 茅威涛 and the Teochew opera movie 梁三伯与祝英台 by 庄雪娟 and 石玲. I thoroughly enjoyed this segment very much.



陈国来 and 蔡碧霞 put up a 折子戏 called 关公与貂蝉. A very impressive performance by the Singapore team.



Then, the organizer added a折子戏 - 洛水仙姬 by 陈楚蕙 and 余丽莉. The next 折子戏 was 太子杀妻 by 陈楚蕙 and 沈惠贞. Both of them played this role in 楚宫恨 when they performed in Malaysia last year. While 陈楚蕙 was changing her costume for the performance, the 2 MCs went cold feet and did not know what to do. Then, 牛马丁 offered to share the storyline of 太子杀妻. He was so blur that he did not know what he was reading. He read the script for 落水仙姬. A few of us shouted ‘wrong’, ‘wrong script’ but he still did not get the hint. He was simply misleading and confusing some of the audience. Luckily, 陈楚蕙 was ready and the 折子戏 commenced. After that, 陈楚蕙 conducted the grand draw. Only those who watched all the 4 performances were eligible for the draw. A lady was lucky enough to win away the big prize which is a tour to 汕头and 香港 to be led by 陈楚蕙 departing on 20 Nov 2008.



The last 折子戏was 盘夫 by 陈楚蕙 and 林玉. It ended at 11 pm and the crowd was beginning to leave. Then, the MC announced 陈楚蕙 would be singing another song to thank the audience. It was followed by a final appearance of all other actresses and actors. I maneuvered my way to the front stage to take photos. Later, I went up the stage to take photos. The first few shots went to 蔡碧霞 and 陈国来. I also took one photo with them. Then, I saw Qilin and he helped me to take photos with 沈惠贞and 林玉. Finally, I managed to take a photo with my favourite idol, 陈楚蕙, in opera costume.



A very rewarding night.

陈楚蕙潮剧艺术演唱会 2008 (第二场演出)
Tan Chor Hwee Teochew Opera and Concert – Day 2
Saturday, 26 Apr 2008

This evening, my wife and I came to Kreta Ayer Theatre to support our favourite idol 陈楚蕙. We were surprised that the door leading to the backstage was opened. We quickly made our way to the backstage and took some pictures with 陈楚蕙 in 旗袍. Then, we saw 沈惠贞, 林玉, 余丽莉 and 张应炎 painting their faces. We said hello to our friend from the Chinese Opera Institute (戏曲学院), 蔡碧霞. We saw 陈国来 too. 沈惠贞 was very nice. She had a few words with us. As the crowd became bigger, we set off to the audience seats.

Again, 陈楚蕙 sang a few songs but she did not sing any Cantonese song tonight. She then invited余丽莉 to sing 毛子佩 with her. I was a little disappointed because I thought that was a折子戏. Then, 陈国来 and 蔡碧霞 sang 告亲夫.

Tonight, the MCs announced that the audience could take photos from where were seated. Alamak, should have brought two cameras leh. Qilin told me he heard someone expressed their unhappiness to the organizer. So, sometimes it pays to complain right.

The first 折子戏 was 潇湘秋雨 by 林玉and 张应炎. 蔡碧霞undertook an additional role as MC and she recited a brief of the story line before the performance began. The 折子戏is one of the best parts of the show 潇湘秋雨 in which 崔妙兰 met her father 崔广祥 at 潇湘. This is the only折子戏 by 张应炎 and he is already 75 years old. I also watched him performed in Malaysia year. Not sure if am bias but I strongly feel that only方巧玉 has the ability to sing and perform the role as 崔妙兰 in view of her special voice quality and her polished acting skills.

The next 折子戏 is our favourite show. It is none other than 别窑 from the show 红鬃烈马. 陈楚蕙 played the role as 薛平贵 and 沈惠贞 played the role as 王宝钏. This attracted the loudest applause and many of us were thrilled with the very high standard of performance. According to the programme, this is last performance but it was still early. So we had the opportunity to watch two more 折子戏.



The first one was 白蛇传. It was about Madam White Snake and her sister, the Green Snake. Thee next 折子戏 was a big surprise. It was 盘夫by陈楚蕙 and 林玉. This is best segment adapted from the show 严兰贞敲破玉花瓶. I recalled 陈楚蕙 and 林玉 performed this折子戏 before but I never get a chance to watch it. I like this opera movie very much. I always listen to the CD recorded by陈楚蕙 and 曾珊凤. This segment is about 曾荣 revealing the truth of his identity to his wife 严兰真. It is really百听不厌.



The show ended at about 11.10 pm. My wife and I wanted to go to the back stage but we saw some actresses had dressed down. Then, we saw陈国来. I asked my wife to take a photo for me.

陈楚蕙潮剧艺术演唱会 2008 (第一场演出)Tan Chor Hwee Teochew Opera and Concert – Day 1
Friday, 25 Apr 2008

Tan Chor Hwee (陈楚蕙) put up a 3-day performance in Singapore from 25 to 27 Apr 2008. It has been a year ago since I last saw her performed in Malaysia. This time round, she only performed for 3 days with a total of 4 performances. I managed to squeeze time to watch 3 performances.

Unlike all previous performances, Chor Hwee adopted a concert style followed by performance of selected opera segments (折子戏) from her movies and some of the popular shows put up by China Teochew Opera Troupes. On Day 1 of her performance on 25 Apr 2008, I arrived as early as 7 pm but was wondering why the door to the backstage was locked. This was unusual as in the past, whenever there was a performance by Chor Hwee, the door to the back stage was always opened. I saw many mature aunties sighing and cursing. So, boh pian loh, cannot go in mah.

The performance started promptly at 8 pm. I nearly fell off my seat when the MCs appeared. The male MC, Niu Ma Ding (牛马丁) was doing a fair job because he could speak Teochew and amuse the audience but I bet he was not very familiar with Teochew opera. It was unbelievable to notice that his counter part, the female MC, could not even speak the Teochew dialect. She said fragmented words in Teochew, supplemented by Hokkien and Mandarin and it was obvious that she knew nuts about Teochew opera. I admired her courage to host such a performance. I personally heard many audiences cursing at her. I also contributed by unhappiness by joining the crowd. Really, buay tahan.

Chor Hwee kicked off the performance like what one would normally see in any performance by superstar in concert. She sang two songs from her latest album and a Cantonese song, 碧海狂僧. She also had a quick chit chat with the audience. She also picked some lucky tickets for the lucky draw.

The first opera segment (折子戏) was 救夫 by 沈惠贞. This is a segment from the opera performance 三娶相国女. In my opinion, I think 沈惠贞performed better when she played the same role in Malaysia last year.

The second opera segment was 梦魂 by 陈楚蕙 and 陈国来. This is first time I see 陈楚蕙 performing this segment. She played the role of 郭佳 in this segment adapted from赵少卿. This is also the first time 陈楚蕙 put on 长水袖 and I could see she was trying to overcome the length of the long sleeve. I also watched林燕云 of 广东潮剧院一团 performed this role before. In my opinion, her performance was superb. I have heard of 陈国来 from my internet friends from China but have never had any opportunity to watch his performance before. As a 老生, his voice is very solid. He played the role as 赵少卿very well. Heard he is young man. I am amazed that he could act so well.

扫窗会 was the third opera segment that night. 陈楚蕙 played the role as 高文举and 林玉 acted as 王金真. This segment lasted almost 40 minutes and I enjoyed the performance very much. I still prefer the black and white movie扫窗会 by 陈楚蕙 and 方巧玉.

Finally, the last opera segment for the night was 洛水仙姬 by 陈楚蕙 and 余丽莉. This is a segment of the well know opera piece 洛神. The original movie in colour was performed by 陈楚蕙 and 方巧玉.

I walked quickly to the front stage when the performance ended. I managed to take a few shots of my favourite idol. I left Kreta Ayer Theatre at 11 pm.