#asian theatre

[king-of-men]

Is this avoidable? It seems difficult for the US to project any power into the interior of China, which is where the Chinese resistance was hanging on by its fingernails, across a Pacific which is very much disputed by the IJN and through ports which are not even disputed, they're just plain held by the Japanese. (Maybe you can get the navy to let you through if you tell them you're sending weapons to be used against the army? But you still need the ports!) How are the additional resources reaching the front? The supplies that got in through Burma were a shoestring for really rather good reasons.

One of the Allies' greatest strategic mistakes of WWII was not sending far more resources to fight Japan in Asia. Sure, the Americans defeated the Japanese anyway. The severe conditions on the ground in China led to millions of military and millions of army deaths during the war itself.

But, the war also led to the near-destruction of the Nationalist forces, while Mao's Communists managed to (a) bide their time without suffering as-severe casualties, to be reserved for the coming civil war, (b) gather military equipment designated for the fight against Japan, and (c) put out major propaganda about how they were actually succeeding where the Nationalists were not (complete lies).

Most likely as a result, the Communists won the Chinese Civil War. And that had absolutely catastrophic consequences for the next 50 years of history (Korean and Vietnam wars, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, Cambodian Genocide, existence of the DPRK) and continues to massively shape world history today, as one of the major supporters of authoritarian states today.

And, sure. A mainland Republic of China would not have been an automatic ally of the United States. And it wouldn't have been a great democratic force-for-good (just like Korea and Taiwan weren't until the 1980s). But without the major military threat of Communist China, I suspect things would have liberalized earlier in those countries. And more, a China taking part in the Asian Miracle would have had amazing results for worldwide poverty.

And yes, maybe we would have even contributed military forces during additional Communist coup attempts in China itself (although with major US bases there already, things might have gone differently). But there wouldn't have been the massive spread of Maoism that immiserated SE Asia without Mao. And for certain the DPRK wouldn't have received Chinese support during the Korean Civil War.

It's quite likely that the Allied decision to not support the Chinese more in World War II strongly contributed to the deaths of 60 million people during the cold war ("extraordinary" events) and who knows how many additional poverty deaths.

[toiletpotato]

The 2023 American Girl Doll of the Year is Kavi Sharma, a South Asian American theatre kid who loves Wicked SO SHE HAS A REPLICA ELPHABA COSTUME. I am absolutely ecstatic that kids get this.

edit: SHE ALSO HAS A GLINDA COSTUME

SHE ALSO HAS THIS!! BECAUSE SHE PERFORMS A TRADITIONAL DANCE ROUTINE WITH HER FRIENDS AT SCHOOL AND SHE LOVES BOLLYWOOD

[meirimerens]

pathologic fest day 19

"In the Darkness"

where nobody dwells but the earth herself

[marlocandeea]

Namanari, Hannya and Ja, three stages of spirit possession, usually because of grief or jealousy, as depicted in Noh theatre.

[zeus-japonicus]

Hello pirate friends! Those of you who know me through Rusty Quill's Trice Forgotten know that I love to write queer and trans Asian pirates destroying colonies with science and also homoerotic swordfighting.

If you like those things in combination with radical, genre-devouring new science-fiction musicals created as a "fuck you" to the white men who've made millions casting East and Southeast Asians as barbarians and lotus flowers, look no further than ASIAN PIRATE MUSICAL!

APM is created by a group of 6 trans/genderqueer/female artists from across diasporas including Malaysia, the Philippines, Jamaica, Japan, Thailand and New Zealand. We love musical theatre, but we want fun, epic adventure stories written by us, about us and casting us. For tone, think the queer humour of Our Flag Meets Death meets the political world-building of The Expanse, with an experimental, orchestral blend of traditional instruments, 21st century Asian pop and indierock.

Here's a bit of a call-to-arms for us as we need some help giving this project its sea-legs.

If you're in London, UK 21-22nd November 2024, we're having a 2-day CONCERT at the Pleasance Theatre. Tickets are £14 and we need to sell out to break even ( ;; yay theatre) Click here to buy tickets.

We want everyone to be able to access this show for free, online. To do that we're recording a studio cast album (think Hadestown's early demo albums, or the EPIC! musical). We've currently got a crowdfunder going, and any donation - however small - is much appreciated. We're at £1,265/£5,000 and that just covers basic costs. Click here to go to the crowdfunder.

If you don't have the ability to financially contribute at this time, we would super appreciate any kind of social media help -> sending people who might be interested our way, reblogs/retweets and shares on Instagram/Tiktok go an incredibly long way in the development of musicals. We're @ AsianPirateMus in most places.

If you want to learn more about Asian Pirate Musical, including more songs and our social media links, please head over to this linktree and follow us where you can!

If you made it this far, thank you! Here's our asian-pop inspired ballad in which we make a historical old man have homoerotic thoughts and feelings for his Emperor.

[a-bit-of-japanology]

Kiyomasa and Tiger - Twelve Months of Geographical Names

Toyohara Kunichika - c. 1890's

"Chimei Juni ka Getsu no Uchi" (Twelve Months of Geopraphical Names)

November

Kabuki actor Ichikawa Sadanji is in the role of Kato Kiyomasa battling against a tiger. The landscape in the ogi-fan shape inset was done by Kyosai.

[wlwcatalogue]

Female Queer Icons of Hong Kong // Yam Kim Fai (任劍輝) and Pak Suet Sin (白雪仙)

Photo 1: Promotional photo for 1955 contemporary movie The Model and the Car (玉女香車) (no video available) (Source: LCSD Museum Collection Search Portal)

Photo 4: Photo from Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe's 1958 trip

Photo 5: Photo from a 1962 newspaper feature on Yam, Pak, and others at their (?) summer villa in Central, Hong Kong

Photo 6: Christmas celebrations with Yam, Pak, and their protégés of the Chor Fung Ming Troupe

Far and away the most iconic duo in Cantonese opera, Yam Kim Fai (任劍輝) and Pak Suet Sin (白雪仙) – commonly referred to simply as Yam-Pak (任白) – were famed for their partnership both on and off the stage… Click below to learn more!

Edit on 28/07/2023: Updated to link to a photo of the entrance to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum’s Pop Culture 60+ exhibit, and to add information regarding Yam and Pak's marriage status.

Iconic? How?

Yam-Pak are the face of Cantonese opera; you can't talk about the latter without mentioning the former. It's to the point where a gigantic picture of them graces the entrance to the Hong Kong Heritage Museum’s permanent exhibition on Hong Kong pop culture’s evolution across the past 60 years (“Hong Kong Pop 60+”) - they are the first thing you see upon entering!

Best known as the originators - with Yam playing the male leads and Pak the female leads - of five masterpieces of Cantonese opera, namely:

1. Princess Cheung Ping (帝女花) 2. The Legend of the Purple Hairpin (紫釵記) 3. The Dream Tryst in the Peony Pavilion (牡丹亭驚夢) 4. The Reincarnation of Lady Plum Blossom (再世紅梅記) 5. Butterfly and Red Pear Blossom (蝶影紅梨記) (Note: Princess Cheung Ping, Purple Hairpin, and Butterfly and Red Pear Blossom were made into abridged movie versions, with the Sin Fung Ming troupe members reprising their roles from the theatre productions. Also, the "Fragrant Sacrifice" (香夭) duet from Princess Cheung Ping (movie clip) is one of - if not the most - famous songs in Cantonese opera.)

Yam and Pak were the leading pair and co-founders of the legendary Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe (仙鳳鳴劇團; 1956-1961), which is widely held to have pushed Cantonese opera forward as an artform due to Pak and scriptwriter Tong Tik Sang’s (唐滌生) emphasis on poetic libretti and adapting source material from Chinese literature and history. (Note: it has been common practice since the 1930's for Cantonese opera troupes to be founded by key actor(s).)

They were also very active in the Hong Kong film industry in the 1950's, being paired in over 40 movies together across roughly 8 years. One of those – the aforementioned Butterfly and Red Pear Blossom (蝶影紅梨記) – is the sole Cantonese opera movie on the Hong Kong Film Archive’s 100-Must See Hong Kong Movies list (IMDB list / archived version of the official PDF). It's a well-deserved inclusion - check out this beautifully-shot dance scene.

Even their post-retirement activities had a significant effect on the industry! In the early 1960’s, they held auditions for prospective students and provided - for free - systematic, hands-on training to those who passed; Yam and Pak even hired other veterans to teach skills they personally were not as familiar with. Prior to this, apprentices were expected to learn primarily from observing their masters, and to pay handsomely for the privilege. Yam-Pak’s methods proved exceedingly effective: the Chor Fung Ming Opera Troupe (雛鳳鳴劇團; 1963-1992) starring their apprentices reigned supreme in the 1970’s-1980’s. Following this success, Cantonese opera institutes - most notably the major 1900s-era guild, the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong (八和會館) - started to offer systematic coaching to young hopefuls in the 1980's.

Okay, so why are they queer icons specifically?

The lazy answer is that they're queer icons because nearly all of Yam's roles were male, so Gender is involved by default, and since most hit Cantonese operas of the time were romances, that means you get to see two female actors performing being in love onscreen (and also on stage, but there aren't any video recordings from back then). So far, so Takarazuka Revue.

Female actors playing male roles in Cantonese opera To give some context, each Cantonese opera performer specialises in one of four major role-types, and Yam was a sung (生) - i.e. an actor specialised in playing standard male roles. Female sung were fairly common in the 1910's-1930's due to women being banned from performing with men during that period, but when the ban lifted in the mid-1930's, many troupes shifted towards cis-casting. Yam was pretty much the only one whose popularity survived the transition. Just take a look at the huge number of Cantonese opera movies produced during the 1950’s-1960’s – you’ll be hard-pressed to find a female sung other than Yam, let alone one with top billing. Happily, thanks to Yam's immense popularity, her profilic film career (over 300 movies!), and the prominence of Sin Fung Ming works in the Cantonese opera canon, there has been a resurgence in female sung which endures to this day. Two noteworthy examples are Yam's protégé Sabrina Lee/ Loong Kim Sang (龍劍笙) - a star in her own right - and Joyce Koi/ Koi Ming Fai (蓋鳴暉), one of the biggest names still active in the industry. (Note: perhaps due to cinema being more "realistic" in nature, Yam's early movies often involved her playing female characters cross-dressing as men, including in some Cantonese opera movies. However, she received increasingly more male roles as her fame grew, and from the mid-1950's onwards she was playing male characters onscreen nearly exclusively-- even in non-Cantonese opera movies! See Photo 1 above.)

What sets Yam and Pak apart is that they were particularly known for their chemistry. Long before Sin Fung Ming's formation in 1956, the advertising copy for their first Cantonese opera movie together - Frolicking with a Pretty Maid in the Wineshop (酒樓戲鳳, 1952) - declared "Only this movie has Yam-Pak flirting on the silver screen" (source - 華僑日報 1952/05/23-26). And indeed, they were popular for their flirtatious duets: their Cantonese opera works invariably contained at least one, and such scenes made it into some of non-Cantonese opera (i.e. "contemporary") movies too. In fact, there are not one but two contemporary movies where Yam and Pak's characters are not paired up and yet still sing a duet together in such a way that their significant other(s) become convinced that the two are in romantically interested in each other - see 1952's Lovesick (為情顛倒) and 1956's The Happy Hall (滿堂吉慶) - a weirdly specific situation which doesn't crop up in the other, non-Yam-Pak movies I have seen.

Speaking of contemporary movies, let's talk about a certain plotline that keeps cropping up in works featuring the both of them and where Yam plays a woman! Six of the eleven movies which fit that criteria involve Yam's character cross-dressing as a man (a common characteristic across Yam's handful of female roles), and Pak's character falling for her. Nothing ever comes of it, of course, but, um. It was certainly a trend. Actually, even their very first movie together - 1951's Lucky Strike (福至心靈) - falls into this category.

Such storylines, and the emphasis on their chemistry, are particularly interesting given that both Yam and Pak remained ostensibly unmarried throughout. This was unusual for female performers of their stature, who tended to wed in their twenties, often to fellow-actors or wealthy men (e.g. Hung Sin Nui/紅線女, Fong Yim Fun/芳艷芬, and Tang Pik Wan/鄧碧雲)... In contrast, by the time Yam-Pak retired from the stage in 1961, they were both over 30 years old and without husbands.

Also, did I mention they were popularly believed to be living together? There doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence either way... although it's a little strange that separate newspaper pictorials depicting "Yam at home" and "Pak at home" seem to be of the same location... however what is conclusive is that they did spent a lot of time together offstage. Pak has talked about how when they had no guests over, Yam would watch TV by herself while Pak was in the living room (source - p93), and protégé Mandy Fung/ Mui Suet Sze (梅雪詩) has said that Pak would sometimes cook for Yam at home (source - 03:53~). They would also celebrate birthdays, New Year's, and Christmas together (see Photo 6 for an example of the latter).

Shortly after Yam's passing in 1989, Pak set up the Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin Charitable Foundation (任白慈善基金) to support the arts and provide welfare for the elderly. In 1996, Pak made a large donation to Hong Kong University, resulting in one of the buildings being renamed Yam Pak Building (任白樓) in thanks (source).

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to DM me or send an ask if you have any questions, or are just interested in learning more.

If you made it here, have this bonus piece of trivia - Yam and Pak were also well-acquainted with Hong Kong's preeminent queer icon, Leslie Cheung (張國榮), who was a massive fan of theirs. Sadly there don't seem to be any pictures of them before Yam's passing, but here's one of Pak (centre) having afternoon tea with Cheung (left) and his long-term romantic partner Daffy Tong (唐鶴德) (right) at the Cova cafe in the Pacific Place shopping mall.

[the-cricket-chirps]

Shunkosai Hokushu

Actor Arashi Kitsusaburô I (Rikan) in the dressing room mirror, with wigs and makeup for various roles

1821

[do-you-know-this-play]

[crazycatsiren]

Ali Ewoldt, the first Asian-American actress to star as Christine Daaé in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

[celluloidrainbow]

毛皮のマリー | LA MARIE-VISON (1983) dir. Kenichiro Suzuki The perversely fascinating tale of Marie, a prostitute who lives in elegant squalor with her dedicated servant. Every day, for eighteen years, Marie releases an exotic butterfly into the open fields of the living room. Every day for eighteen years a beautiful boy, imprisoned in her den, catches and kills it. A play by Shūji Terayama. (link in title)

[demisexual-in-distress]

MUSICAL THEATRE PPL

ESPECIALLY MY FELLOW ASIAN ONES

GO SHOW THIS MUSICAL SOME FUCKING LOVE

DESC:

OUT is a coming-of-age drama-comedy that weaves together stories of three queer Asian kids in their mid-20s. When OLIVER accidentally tells his parents that he’s found a girlfriend, he turns, as one does, to the internet. With the help of his best friend, KASEY, and a new dating app “+1”, he hires MAY to be his pretend date. The three soon find their lives becoming intertwined in more ways than they’d expected, and begin to question not only who they are, but what they owe to their families.

Book by Kalos Chu

Music by Ian Chan

Lyrics by JuHye Mun

I think it deserves so much more attention than it's gotten!!

[love1kimono]

Geisha and Actress Kawada Yoshiko

After becoming a geisha, Kawada-san joined the theater group of geisha Sada Yacco. She later became an actress in silent and sound films. Read more here:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiko_Kawada

This image is from a postcard printed on Kodak Azo paper, dating between 1910 to 1930.

[blbearslove]

something something about gender envy involving ethnicity because asian men are always seen as feminine and weak GAAAAAH something something like that

[a-bit-of-japanology]

Opening Day at the Minami-za Theater

Fujishima Takeji - 1955

The Kaomise (The first day of the season which starts in December) in front of the Minami-za Theatre in Shijo, Kyoto.

Minami-za is one of the leading kabuki theatres in Japan.

[saintsir4n]

— there are some things I want to say, many of which are regarding race!

The fact that Francesca Amewudah-Rivers is receiving hate the fact she’s playing Juliet is not surprising, since people do not need reasons to hate black women. She’s a dark-skinned pretty woman but of course, because she has prominent black features she’s seen as manly and shouldn’t be playing alongside someone like Tom Holland. I’m not one to put down people but Tom Holland is not God’s gift, and neither is he publicly defending his co-star, a matter that I won’t get into as the focus is Francesca. The role of Juliet is one that was originally played by a man, and since then has been played by people of different ethnicities, some being black women. The fact people are using her appearance or the fact she’s deemed as “not conventionally attractive” is disgusting as if that’s an excuse. I’m glad that over 800 black actors signed a letter in solidarity because of the racial abuse as well as the production company who issued their own statement.

POCs especially darker-skinned women are constantly the target of racial abuse even over things that don’t exist and yes I am talking about fan-casts, especially tangled. I haven’t watched the film but I know the source material isn’t from Brothers Grimm but a Persian poem written in the 10th century by Ferdowsi, 8 centuries before it was turned into a “German folklore.” It’s hilarious how micro-aggressions and racism come out when people think white characters aren’t at the centre of it all. People crying about how their younger selves Would hate to see a stunning South Asian actress in the place of a blonde hair, blue-eyed ADAPTION of an original when brown and black girls had little to no representation at all. “Why can’t we stick to the originals?” Please look up what the original is before you start with your insults specifically those who are crying on TikTok or trolling on Avantika Vandanapu’s Instagram.

And lastly, stop bringing Tiana into it. She’s based on a real person just like Pocahontas, their race is important to their stories, black and indigenous, it’s tiring and also just foolish to post edits of “if they can have an Asian Rapunzel why can’t we have a white Tiana” when it’s clear that missed the plot of the princess and the frog, blind to/ ignoring its micro-aggressions (that are written in solely for a black character) and are just showing their bias all in defence of a film that doesn’t even exist.

And before anyone starts on “Why don’t you just invent your own characters?” Many have tried and the movie itself wasn’t watched, had little to no promotion or has been whitewashed but of course that gets little backlash.

And don’t get me started on wish…

So just to conclude, stop attacking us!