Golden Lotus (musical)
| Golden Lotus | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Music | George Chiang |
| Lyrics | George Chiang |
| Book | George Chiang |
| Basis | Jin Ping Mei (The Golden Lotus) |
| Premiere | September 12, 2014: Y-Theatre, Hong Kong |
| Productions | 2014 Hong Kong |
| Awards | Hong Kong English Drama Award for Best Original Work |
Golden Lotus is a musical written and composed by George Chiang. The musical is based upon the most infamous Chinese novel of all time, Jin Ping Mei (The Golden Lotus). The musical tells the story of the forsaken beauty, Golden Lotus (Pan Jinlian), whose desire for true love leads her into a blood-soaked web of passion, deception and desperation with the valiant tiger slayer Wu Sung, the rich and powerful Xi Men and the humble peddler Wu Da. Set amidst the dying, war-torn years of Song Dynasty China, "Betwixt a cunning story of political satire, a doomed love story, and an epic tale of heroism", Golden Lotus undergoes a spell-binding journey as the world around them burns into ashes. The musical "features a multifarious soundtrack. Composed and arranged by George Chiang and George Gao, the music features a mix of saccharine pop rock songs, mixed with Chinese classical instruments, as well other fusions".
George Chiang began writing the musical in the beginning of March, 2001, in Toronto, Canada, after completing his reading and study of the novel. He completed the first draft of the libretto by September, 2001. During his writing of the libretto he used many melodies of his own to help guide him through the lyric writing. He tested out some of the melodies on close friends and relatives and the positive feedback encouraged him to compose the music as well. In early 2002, he teamed up with George Gao to create a four song demo CD which included early versions of "Wu Sung Slayed the Tiger", "Captain of the Guard" and "Fresh Buns for Sale". Chiang and Gao wanted to create a fusion of Chiang's contemporary pop melodies with Gao's strong background in classical and Chinese composition. Gao composed the music arrangements and the songs were recorded and mixed in his home recording studio.
The demo CD was submitted and subsequently selected to participate in the prestigious ASCAP Foundation/Disney Theatrical Productions Musical Theatre Workshop in New York City during March and April 2003, artistic directed by Stephen Schwartz. The three-week workshop included two live performances by a cast of sixteen performers which included Harriet Chung as Golden Lotus, Timothy Huang as Wu Sung, Jovanni Sy as Xi Men, Alan Ariano as Wu Da, Telly Leung as the Fruit Peddler and Scott Watanabe (who also served as the music director) as the District Intendant.
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