Growing Up With Teochew Opera - 8
New Local Teochew Opera Troupes In 1970s/1980s
七八十年代成立的职业潮剧班 - 潮起潮落

I recalled that Teochew street opera was at its peak in the late 1970s to early 1980s. If I were to use 潮起潮落 or 'The Rise and Fall of Teochew Opera Troupes in Singapore, that was the period of 潮起 or the golden age of Teochew opera troupes in Singapore.

In the late 1970s, new local Teochew street opera troupes like 中源和兴潮剧团 and 老玉梨春潮剧团 were formed. The actresses who played the male in each of the two troupes were from 织云潮剧团. I could tell because I watched their performance before. During that time, 织云潮剧团 had too many 小生 or male leads. Some of the common names are 月燕, 明琴, 莫尼, 钟喜坤, 珠华,淑真, 淑兰 etc. For a typical 4.5 hours perfomance, they took turn to perform. And at that time demand for Teochew opera was fantastic. I recalled there were plenty of opportunities to watch Teochew street opera. 中源和兴潮剧团 put up a very respectful maiden appearance, 刘璋下山 and 老玉梨春潮剧团 performed 绿牡丹.

In the early 80’s, another new opera troupe called 金鹰潮剧团 was formed. The main leads were from 新荣和兴潮剧团. They were 邓道兰 and 陈珍珠. They performed 斩十八翰林 and 屠夫状元 as part of their maiden appearance at Hong Lim Park where the opera festival was held. 织云潮剧团 also staged a 2 episodes performance called 仁义公主. I traveled from Toa Payoh to Hong Lim Park by bus just to watch the performances.

After the formation of 金鹰潮剧团, 新荣和兴潮剧团 was at the verge of folding up. Not only the key leads were gone, the shows they put up were very limited. If I recalled correctly, they invited one of the former lead actresses 陈巧娇 to perform a few months. That did not not create any significant impact as the shows like 女状元 and 渔女鸣冤 (I hope I remembered the titles correctly) did not excite the audience much.

In the early 80’s, another opera troupe 新一天彩潮剧团 got some financial backings and strengthen their pool of actors and actresses including inviting 细妹 who had quitted from 新荣和兴潮剧团 to come back on stage. They put up two performances, 借剑 and 秦原闯道. At that time, 细妹 had the habit of forgetting the lyrics and had to depend on the co-actors to help her with the singing. Some audience said they would not mind as Soy Muay had not been performing for many years. Later, she joined 金鹰潮剧团 as one of the many 小生. I saw her pefroemd in 柴房会 and 一门三进士 at Whompoa market and 刘明珠 in Ang Mo Kio.

陈楚蕙 and 张应炎 has also paired many times for the show 借剑. Besides the LP recording, 新天彩潮剧团 also performed this show in Thailand in the 1980's and staged the same performance in year 2004.

In the 90’s, there were two sub-standards opera troupes that were invited to perform mostly during the lunar 7th month hungry ghost festival. 正天香潮剧团 would perform 碧玉簪 (The Jade Hairpin) every now and then. That 小生 was actually the one who played the role as 花旦 in 新荣艺潮剧团 previously. She was called 庄玉花. My mum said she was trained as a child-artiste in the 60’s by 新荣和兴 and later became one of the 4 beauties. Another troupe, 老富贵春潮剧团 only emerged in the 90’s I had little patience to watch their performance. Many of the actors and actresses were either too matured or overweight.

I shifted to Yishun in 1988. I traveled to a few places to watch Teochew opera as there were fewer Teochew street opera performances in Yishun. I traveled to temples in Ang Mo Kio, the Tua Peh Kong temple at Balestier and Whompoa market quite often in 1994/5. That was the time 细妹performed male lead at 金鹰潮剧团. The two popular shows, 柴房会 and 一门三进士 attracted a lots of people. I must confess that the standards at that time were on par with 织云潮剧团. 细妹had also made significant improvements in her acting skills. I also watched 老赛桃源潮剧团 performed 柴房会 at 粤海清庙 at Raffels Place in 1996. 柴房会 is also a popular 折子戏 amongst China Troupes. See picture below.

I am not a typical fan who monitored the schedules of troupes’ performance closely. So long as I was informed of the location, I would proceed if I had the time and pocket allowance to travel. One such source came from my eldest sister who worked in a factory and she had many friends who stayed in Toa Payoh. I personally think 织云潮剧团 and 金鹰潮剧团 were the better troupes as they have good looking 小生 and 花旦, and 老生 with good voice like 张应炎, 老丑 as good as 陈文昌 of 新天彩潮剧团, a lot of supporting actors/actresses to play the role as soldiers and maids, etc.

新荣和兴潮剧团 at one time was on the verge of being closed down after the key lead actresses left for 金鹰潮剧团. Gone are the days where we could see 九妹, 细妹 and 细细 performing 辞郎州. Then, 陈巧鸾, the manager of the troupe came to inject new life into 新荣和兴潮剧团. She was a very talented actress but think people commented that she was a bit proud. She played the role as 杨令婆 in 杨令婆辩十本 very well. The original performance was put up by 洪妙, a male actor from China, who disguised himself as 杨令婆.

I also watched her performed in 赵少卿, 张春郎, 春草闯堂, 南北双英 etc. Unfortunately, the troupe had folded up in 2001 as she claimed that the income was not enough to defray the expenses. It performed the last show in Yishun after a solid 174 years of history in Teochew opera. The troupe performed 万古流芳 [An Everlasting Legacy] as their final performance in Yishun.

See some newspaper collections on the last performance staged by新荣和兴潮剧团.

Actually, prior to 2001, many Teochew troupes were folded quietly. May be they were not as popoluar as 新荣和兴潮剧团 and it did not capture the attention of the media. Some of the troupes were 中原和兴潮剧团, 老三正顺潮剧团, 老中正顺潮剧团, 驼江潮剧团, 新荣艺潮剧团, 老玉梨春潮剧团, 老正天香潮剧团, 老一枝香潮剧团 etc. I think 潮落 or the fall of Tecohew opera troupes took place in the late 1990s.