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NYC's Times Square shines with Peking Opera

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-17 17:42

NEW YORK -- Home to bright lights, big screens and flocks of people, the modern and glistening New York's Times Square shined even more Monday night with traditional Peking Opera being shown for the first time on eight of its huge screens.

The Peking Opera "Red Cliff" is broadcast on giant screens at Times Square in New York, March 16, 2009. The National Center for the Performing Arts of China decided to broadcast the opera on eight outdoor screens in Times Square as a way to celebrate the theater's one year anniversary. [Xinhua]

"I was puzzled at the first sight and sound when people in strange costumes appeared on so many LEDs at the same time, but I was later stunned by the spectacular scene and the exotic elements that Peking Opera displayed," said Magaret Bauer, a German tourist in her 60s, while watching the  big screens in Times Square broadcasting Red Cliff, an epic historical opera, starring China's top classical musicians.

"I was not only impressed by the sound and costumes of the opera,  but also the way that China is sharing its fabulous cultural traditions with the rest of the world," she added.

To celebrate its anniversary, the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) of China decided to broadcast in New York's Times Square Red Cliff, a Peking opera directed by Zhang Jigang, director of the spectacular opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics,  so as to make more people around the world know more about the long standing and well-established Chinese culture and civilization.

The famous historic battle of Red Cliff is a lopsided triumph of the weak, but intelligent, minority over the mighty, but arrogant, majority during the Three Kingdoms period. Artists are now providing a fresh take on the historic story.

The traditional setting of the opera is just one table and two chairs. This time, the simple setting was replaced with a giant ship, which collapsed during the show's climax.

Despite considerable sequences examining the central characters, "Red Cliff" is also a flamboyant production, with dazzling lighting, sophisticated props, elaborate costumes and a stage design ready to rival the "Red Cliff" movie on the big screen.

One hundred and eighty costumes are worn during the three-hour show (on stage).

"The story gets across easily as it (LED) is a very visual medium, although I don't understand the language," said tourist Shant Ricka from Montana of the United States, adding that "different peoples of different cultures should exchange their different traditions so as to make this world even more colorful."

"China has shown us a good example, " he said.

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