新加坡义顺华山宫
2010农历7月16
新新荣和潮剧
楚宫风云

Half of the Lunar 7th month is gone and I only managed to watch two performances over the last 2 weeks. I heard from die hard fans that 织云潮剧团 'Chek Hoon Teochew Opera Troupe' has close to 50 performances fron Lunar 6th to 8th month. That is quite remarkable considering the fact that currently the organisers of 庆中元 'Hungry Ghost Festival' event prefers 歌台 'GeTai' than anything else.

What was unbelievable when I heard 老赛桃源潮剧团 'Lao Sai Thor Guan Teochew Opera Troupe' only had a 2 plus 1 performance. That plus 1 is 潮音 'Teo Yin'. Isn't that pathetic? Heard Lao Sai Thor Guan Teochew Opera Troupe combines with 新怡梨兴潮剧团 'Sin Yee Lai Heng Teochew Opera Troupe' this round.

So, the only troupe left is 新新荣和潮剧 'Sin Sin Yong Hua Teochew Opera Troupe'. This is my fifth year watching this troupe in action. A few months ago when I watched them performed 恩仇记 'En Chew Kee' at 粤海清庙 'Guat Hai Cheng Miao', the lady boss 邱玉凤 'Khoo Gek Hong' told me they would be have a new set of stage deco. She also revealed that they are rehearsing for a new performance 楚宫风云 'Chor Ken Huang Hoon'. Then, in early August, I saw a Chinese programme featuring old scenes and culture in the 60's, I managed to catch a glimpse of the then Sin Yong Hua Heng Teochew Opera Troupe in action. Khoo Gek Hong was interviewed in that episode. I also saw the new stage deco and a few minutes of their perfomances.

Finally, I got to see the new stage deco and Chor Ken Huang Hoon on the 16th day of Lunar 7th month at 华山宫 'Hua Shan Temple', Yishun. 亚文 'Ah Boon', whom I got to know recently, acted as the emperor. I think he did quite a fantastic job.

I saw Chek Hoon Teochew Opera Troupe's former male lead, 珠华 'Choo Hua', watching the performance as an audience. I also saw 亚莲 'Ah Noi' of the then 金鹰潮剧团 'Kim Eng Teochew Opera Troupe' moving up and down the stage. I wondered why she has no role that evening.

Overall, I must say Sin Sin Yong Hua Teochew Opera Troupe has done a relative good job. The leading and supporting artistes could coordinate well and this is definitely a show worth watching. By the way, this performance comes in 2 parts.

2010 Hungry Ghost Festival - Teochew Street Opera
2010年庆中元 - 潮剧演出 （铁面巡按，一门三进士）

Time flies and it is Lunar 7th month again.

I checked my old blog and realised that 织云潮剧团 'Chek Hoon Teochew Opera Troupe' would be perfroming on the 11th and 12th day of Lunar 7th month. So I decided to check out the performance since 11th was a Friday.

It was raining in the afternoon of 11th day and it continued to drizzle till the evening. I drove there at about 8 plus and was not surprised to see 铁面巡按 Teo Seow Keng as the performance of that night. The interior decorations of the stage had been modified and some backdrop scenes had since been added. I took shelter throughout and met some some friends and local Teochew Opera artistes. Later, I moved nearer to stage to watch the last seccond part so that I could have a close view of the new artistes presumably from Thailand. Though there was slight drizzling, I stood there for about 30 minutes before I left.

It was a fine evening on Saturday, 12th day of Lunar 7th month. I reached Ang Mo Kio at about 7.45 pm but the show had already begun. I saw Mr Cheng and bid hello to him. He told me the show for that night was 一门三进士 'One Family Three Scholars'. He offered me a chair and I thanked him for his kindness.

I have watched 'One Family Three Scholars' many times. What is the secret formula that keeps me watching the performance numerous times? 'One Family Three Scholars' has a simple story that touches on filial piety and the sorrows one has to go through after separating from husband and children. The lyrics and music of many parts of the performance are so well written and composed. And, if the artistes can showcase their talents in terms of acting skills and quality of voice, it is definitely worthwhile to stand for 150 minutes to watch the full performance.

That night, I think the main artistes were good in keeping the audience engaged. That segment where Song Sock Ling met her son Chew Tzi Kheng was really touching. Tears simply dropped and their watery eyes made that scene came alive. I would not have noticed that if I did not move nearer to the stage. This time round, Chek Hoon Teochew Opera Troupe managed to field 4 maids for the Buoy Siew Lan's segment although two were like dummies who literally can't sing or act well.

Mr Cheng told me they have two new titles for this seasons, namely 杨文广（上下集）'Yeo Boon Kwang' and 三打王英 'Beat Wang Eng Thrice'. May be, I will make a special trip when they put up their 8-day performance at Potong Pasir Joint Temple at Blk 465 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 starting from the 8th day of the Lunar 8th month, 15 Sep 2010.

潮剧电影 ： 莲香戏鞋 - 荘雪娟,丁楚翹原唱
Teochew Opera Movie - Strange Visitor

An old movie 莲香戏鞋 (Strange Visitor) by 荘雪娟 and 丁楚翘 of 东山潮音剧艺社 created a stir recently.

Initially, I was not sure if the audience would accept a dubbed version of the movie so I just uploaded two short clips of 莲香戏鞋 covering the last segment 回仙山. To my surprise，the two clips had recorded no less than a 1000 hits over the last seven months. This is something which I would regard as unusual as many of my other clips did not even reach 500 hits after a year.

莲香戏鞋 carried a simple plot but armed with a power pack non-stop singing by 荘雪娟 and 丁楚翹 throughout 70% of the movie. May be, we can classify such movie productions as semi-musical shows as they really keep the audience engaged throughout the movie.

Fans of such Teochew Opera movies from UK and USA appealed to me to upload the complete movie. I took advantage of the recent long weekend to cut the movie into 9 parts covering some 80% to 90% of the original soundtrack. I received many comments for almost all the clips uploaded. I found uploading this movie very rewarding. I helped some fans with the oppotunity to listen to a movie soundtrack which they had heard decades ago after they had migrated overseas. To all the Teochew people 潮州人 (kakinang) living overseas, let's continue to keep this dying art alive.

潮剧电影宣传单
莲香戏鞋，井边会，共伞奇缘，狄青大闹万花楼，后母心

很高兴好友宋先生与我分享他的收藏：潮剧电影宣传单，潮剧剧目册子和新年特刊。

宋先生知道我常把演出拍下的短片以及收藏的潮剧画面和照片挂在博客上与众戏迷分享，他也毫不吝啬的把多年的收藏借给我，好让我和大家分享他‘宝物’。那时候刚好忙着看中国广东潮剧院二团的演出，只能把宣传单扫瞄后还给他，其余的也没什么时间去阅读。

在这几张宣传单看到我心爱的‘莲香戏鞋’，‘李三娘井边会’，‘陈三五娘’等。60-70年代的发片商的宣传方式还真不简单，他们肯花费推出有色或彩色的宣传单。

印象中这种现象维持到70年代末，因为家里还收藏着文艺片巨星甄珍与邓光荣的‘海鸥飞处’，‘明日天涯’，‘窄梯’等电影的宣传单。

Lao Sai Thor Guan Teochew Opera Troupe

老赛桃源潮剧团
A Rare Collection - Lunar New Year Magazine

新年特刊

Amazing! Song lent me an old collection. It is none other than a Lunar New Year magazine dedicated to the local Teochew opera troupe, Lao Sai Thor Guan (老赛桃源潮剧团) . Song This magazine must be at least 50 years old. The magazie is still in good shape except for the rear cover page which was missing.

The cover page features Xiu Lan, 秀兰. I understand from my mother that Xiu Lan was one of the well known actresses during that time. In that magazine, GekChoo （玉珠），Poh Choo（宝珠）, Pei Xin (碧心) and Xiu Kee (秀枝) were featured too.

I remembered reading Nan Guo Dian Ying (南国电影), a regular publication by Shaw Brothers. I found it unbelievable to see such a magazine produced by Lao Sai Thor Guan. This means that the Teochew opera troupes in the 1950s to 1970s had rich contacts and resources. They would not hessitate to print marketing materials and publications to reach out to the audience.

From the picture collections, one could tell that Teochew opera troupes in the past had already explored different plots to attract audience. In that era of manual work and low technology, one would applaud Lao Sai Thor Guan for putting up shows like 晋宫秘史, 古塔奇缘 and 女侠白懿红.