Today we have the opportunity to interview Ms. Tang Mei-Yun, famed award-winning opera artist,as well as teacher, director and producer of Ge-zai opera. Being the daughter of well-known opera artist Ms. Tang Yan Qiu and “prince of opera” Mr. Jiang Wu Tung, Ms. Tang Mei-Yun grew up with Ge-zai opera as it was passed in her family lineage for generations. Having been performing on stage since the age of 15, she preserves this great artistic legacy and develops and enriches it,meanwhile introducing the art form via television, film and other media.
Tang, Mei-Yun (f): This opera originated in the coastal regions of Fujian, but it was in Formosa (Taiwan)where people have truly spread it and enriched it.So in the early days,these operas were performed in theaters.Each opera might be performed for a weekor up to ten days.(An opera series.)Right, right. They were opera series. They were performed in Taipei and central and southern Formosa (Taiwan). Later they broadcasted Formosan opera on the radio,and they made these operasinto movies. Like the old days,these operasare performed on a stage, but the difference is that in terms of selecting the script-x and production,it's different from the past,meaning it's more advanced than in the past.
HOST: Ge-zai opera musicis mostly adapted from popular folk songs. Its dramas usually blend in teachings of loyalty,filial piety,benevolence and other virtues into the everyday life stories of ordinary people. The artistic goal of the Ge-zai-xi opera is to touch people’s heart: If the audience cries and laughs together with the performer and experiences the world and events within the drama as if it were real,then the performance is successful.