Thirteen years after the award-winning production of Border Town,
Hong Kong Dance Company and Actor’s Family reunite for this original musical
Our racing hearts thrill to the songs and dance
Our unbreakable will defies our fate in these troubled times
The journey for the creation of A Tale of the Southern Sky started in 2014. The 2017 attempt with a Read-through performance was well-received with 98% attendance. This year, co-presented by Actors' Family and Hong Kong Dance Company, A Tale of the Southern Sky will be staged at Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre from June 27 to July 5, 2020.
The story started in late 1890s, when Hong Kong emerges as an important trading port amidst trading ships that sails from north to south. Chan Yat Shui, a young lad from Chiu Chow, travels to Hong Kong all alone with the vision of becoming a successful man in this land of fortune. Through hard work and dedication, he climbs from a lowly collie at the docks to the proud owner of a rice trading company Yue Tai Long. In 1920, supply of rice was in crisis. The common people suffer from the shortage of rice, while the greedy rice traders, led by Yu Siu Hung, make huge profits. Chan struggles between the pursuit for self-serving profits and justice for all. With the help of the female pirate Tsui Lo Hoi, he extends his helping hands and saves many lives. By 1941, when the city stands at the brink of surrender, Chan could feel his heart beating with the pulse of Hong Kong.
This original musical is an amalgamation of our talents in the drama industry and the dance industry. We are honoured to invite four masters to cooperate on the creation of this musical: Playwright & Lyricist Cheung Fei Fan; Composer, Arranger & Music Director Lau Wing Tao; Co-director & Choreographer Yang Yuntao and Co-director Chu Pak Him. The main cast includes Xie Yin, Chen Rong and special starring for the performance Angus Chan. This unique Cantonese Musical will bring to our audience a refreshing form of performance. It’s a musical that belongs to Hong Kong!
Performance Information |
|
Performance date and price zone |
27.6 - 5.7.2020 |
Ticketing |
A Tale of the Southern Sky – |
Enquiries |
3103 1805 / www.hkdance.com |
Cheung Fei Fan
Playwright & Lyricist
Playwright for drama, TV series and movies, Columnist and Lyricist. Cheung Fei Fan immigrated to Hong Kong from Guangzhou at the age of four. He is the grandson of a renowned Guangzhou comic artist Liao Bingxiong. Cheung graduated from the Department of Cinema and Television at the Hong Kong Baptist University. He currently serves as Script Advisor at Theatre Space, Creative Director at Chasing Culture, and a member of the Advisory Team at RTHK. He has written scripts for numerous performances by various local theatre groups: Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Theatre Space, The Nonsensemakers, and Actors’ Family. His scripts have been played internationally in Taiwan, Shanghai, Beijing, Canada, Singapore and Malaysia.
Highlights of his works includes:
- Scripts and Lyrics for musicals: Go Lion! Goal! and Our Time Our Hong Kong;
- Scripts for drama: The Great Pretender, Yokohama Mary, Travel with Mom, Long Live Chairman, The Storm Show, The Passage Beyond, The Ravages of Time — Heroes in Troubled Times and Happy Funeral;
- Scripts for Films and TV Series: Movie Operation Mekong (First Draft); TV Series ICAC Investigators 2019, RTHK A Dream Comes True 2014, DIY2K, Elite Brigade IV, ICAC Investigators 2014 – Tomorrow, ICAC Investigators 2011 – Black & White, ICAC Investigators 2011 – Private Appointment, Below the Lion’s Rock, A Wall-less World and The Moment.
He has received various awards for his creative works: Award for Young Artist (Drama) of Hong Kong Art Development Awards (2010), Best Script Award at the 24th Hong Kong Drama Awards for Checkmate (2015), Silver Prize for 12th China Best Public Relations Case Competition for Our Time Our Hong Kong (2016). He was also nominated for The Hong Kong Theatre Libre Best Script Award in 2014 for The Crumbled.
Lau Wing Tao
Composer, Arranger & Music Director
Graduated with Honours from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in Sound Design and Music Recording. In 1999, he was appointed as an assistant at Peter Kam Studio. His works A Black Comedy – Under Construction was performed at International Exhibition of Scenography and Theatre Architecture Prague Quadrennial. His 2006 creation Eleven Ribs was also performed at Edinburgh Art Festival. His creation War & Peace won Silver Prize at the 2003 Marching Band Competition of the Hong Kong Marching Band Association. He was awarded Best Sound Design, 9th Hong Kong Drama Awards for Marisol, and has been nominated for Best Sound Design for his works in DA, P.E. Period, Oscar et la dame Rose, 12 Angry Men and The Message, and Best Sound Design for his works in Sunday in the Park with George, Snow Queen and The Good Person of Szechawn.
He has composed, arranged and directed numerous music pieces for dramas, including: Sunday in the Park with George (Theatre Space), Nunsense (Theatre Space), Fruits of Passion (Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre), 遙望(Shandong Acrobatic Troupe), I,Ching (Los Angeles Original Musical), 星海留痕(Works of Raymond To), Our Time Our Hong Kong (Hong Kong Repertory Theatre) and Lion Go! Goal! (Hong Kong Jockey Club “United We Play” Cultural Inclusion Musical Project). For Movies, his works include A Chinese Odyssey Part 3 and Little Q. He also composes and arranges for advertisements, TV and Radio.
Yang Yuntao
Co-director & Choreographer
Winner of two Hong Kong Dance Awards in 2003 and 2006 for his outstanding dance performance, and awarded Best Artist (Dance) at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2009, Yang Yuntao is an accomplished dancer and choreographer. He joined the Hong Kong Dance Company (HKDC) in 2002 as Principal Dancer. He was the company’s Assistant Artistic Director from 2007 and has been its Artistic Director since November 2013.
Yang has choreographed for various dance companies. His award-winning choreography credits for HKDC include: Spring Ritual · Eulogy, winner of Outstanding Achievement in Production at the 2013 Hong Kong Dance Awards and presented in Beijing and Taipei in 2013; The Legend of Mulan, winner of Outstanding Production and Outstanding Ensemble Performance in the 2014 Hong Kong Dance Awards and presented in New York and Sydney in 2015 and in London in 2017; Storm Clouds, winner of three awards in the 2015 Hong Kong Dance Awards; and L’Amour Immortel, winner of three awards in the 2016 Hong Kong Dance Awards and presented in Beijing and Guangzhou in 2017. His other works for HKDC include The Butterfly Lovers (presented in Seoul in 2016), Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Voices and Dances of the Distant Land, Blanc in Reveries of the Red Chamber, Chinese Hero: A Lone Exile, In the Beginning in Vipassana, Lady White of West Lake and Waiting Heart.
Chu Pak Him
Co-director
Actors' Family Creative Leader. Graduated with Masters from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, majoring in Drama and Directing in 2019. Chu Pak Him is active in the drama and music scenes in Hong Kong. He is a member of independent band Juicyning, and has participated in the production of various concerts, including作樂革命, The War/RAW, and出征. In 2009, his creation Cloud became the first local song that could come in top on the Commercial Radio Hong Kong Billboard for songs in foreign languages. He has worked with Actors' Family on numerous musicals, including: K城, The Love Story of Sam & Sally, The Good Person of Szechawn, Half, The Legend of the White Snake, Snow Queen, The Passage Beyond, The Lesson I Learnt in Bangkok, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Lo's Here.
Chu was an Artist Associate at Hong Kong Sinfonietta and a full-time Actor at Chung Ying Theatre
Company. He was awarded Best Actor (Comedy) at the 23rd Hong Kong Drama Awards for his role in The Big Big Day. He has worked with many theatre and performing groups, including: Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, Kearen Pang Production, WeDrama, City Contemporary Dance Company, Prospects Theatre, W Theatre and Theatre Space. He is also a columnist in Art Magazine Delta Zhi, and a presenter for various RTHK TV programmes, including Sunday Encore and Artspiration.
His recent performances include An Accidental Rainbow (Radix Troupe); Movie Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight; and TV Series Midnight Cousin and Limited Education (ViuTV). He has also recently directed What's Next and Lo's Here (Actors' Family); Three on Free (Tree's Creation) and Death in Hong Kong (Fiesta Space).
Angus Chan
Main Cast (Special Starring)
Graduated with Honours from Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, majoring in Acting.
Angus has extensive performance experiences in a wide range of musicals and drama. Highlights of his performances: Matteo Ricci (Intercultural Dialogue); A Tale of the Southern Sky Read-through, 1941 Girl and The Love Story of Sam & Sally (Actors' Family); EQUUS and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Dionysus Contemporary Theatre); Witness for the Prosecutor (Emperor Entertainment Group); Wit (WeDrama); Our Journal of Springtime (Boom Theatre); Seven, The Beautiful Hearts, Wonderland, The Chalk Circle in China and Love to Forget (Class 7A Drama Group); Monkey Man (The Radiant Theatre); The History Boys, The Championship Season and Czechmate (Theatre Space); The Pitman Painters (Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies); Past.Past, Knock Her Down, Edo Legendaries, Vite Viola and I Love Football (Chivalry Creative Theatre); Black Swan (Hong Kong Arts Festival); Macbeth and Titus Andronicus (Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio); Oshin and The Daddy Long Legs (The Theatre Wonderland); The Ravages of Time — Heroes in Troubled Times (Actors' Square); I am what I am (a&g Productions, as Playwright, Director and Actor); Dying Young (The Spring-Time Group); and Age of Aquarius (Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre). At HKAPA, he has participated in numerous performances, including Princess Changping and Hamlet.
Angus was nominated for Best Actor (Tragedy/Drama) at the 16th Hong Kong Drama Awards and for Best Supporting Actor (Tragedy/Drama) at the 26th Hong Kong Drama Awards for his performances in Hamlet and Wit. He was the Scholar for the 2nd Dionysus Contemporary Theatre Master Class Scholarship.
Xie Yin
Main Cast
Xie joined the Hong Kong Dance Company in 2002 as principal dancer. Since 2005, Xie has worked as a choreographer. She is a two-time Hong Kong Dance Award winner for her co-choreography works in 2006 and 2008. In 2012, her work Dawn received the Bronze Award at the Bauhinia Cup International Invitational Competition. In 2008, Xie was invited by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts to create And the Thunder Sings and in 2012, Lotus for the Hong Kong Ballet.
Xie also served as Associate Choreographer in grand dance dramas The Legend of Mulan, Storm Clouds, L'Amour Immortel, Chinese Hero: A Lone Exile and Lady White of West Lake. Her new work is Four Seasons in Tale of Three Cities. Between 2012 and 2014, Xie was also a guest lecturer at the Chinese Dance department of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is currently Dance Master at the Hong Kong Dance Company.
Chen Rong
Main Cast
Chen graduated from the affiliated school of the Beijing Dance Academy before entering the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on a full scholarship. He joined the Hong Kong Dance Company in 2002. Three years later, he received an Asian Cultural Council scholarship sponsored by Citibank, which enabled him to take classes at the Alvin Ailey School in New York. Among his major works are Suppressed Romance (Hong Kong performance and Guangdong tour), Angel Falls, The Legend of Mulan, Qingming Riverside and Snow Fox; he was the lead dancer in Two Swallows—Ode to Wu Guanzhong, the singer in Plateau Bluebells, solo dancer in Feng Shui, a member of the pas de trois “Cradle on the Ox’s Back” in Glamour of Chinese Ethnic Dance, the Fool in Red Poppies and the role of Yan Chixia in L'Amour Immortel. He has also choreographed for 8/F Platform’s Dancing Emotions and Fly.
Chen received a Hong Kong Dance Award in 2008 for his portrayal of Hu Le in Angel Falls and Dongfang Bubai in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. He is currently senior dancer at the Hong Kong Dance Company.
Hong Kong Dance Company
“Dancing across East and West, Moving to the Tempo of Hong Kong”
Mission Statement
We are nurtured in the cultural tradition of China, combining with the creativity of contemporary art, to impress the world with Chinese dance of Hong Kong character.
Established in 1981, the Hong Kong Dance Company (HKDC) was incorporated in 2001 as a charitable and non-profit-making institution, and is financially supported by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As one of the nine flagship performing arts companies in Hong Kong, its mission is to promote Chinese dance with contemporary artistic visions and Hong Kong character. Since its inception, HKDC has staged over 100 productions, many of which were highly popular with critical acclaim. Recent productions include The Legend of Mulan, Red Poppies, Spring Ritual·Eulogy, The Butterfly Lovers, Storm Clouds, L’Amour Immortel, Dream of the Past: Ancient Chinese Court Dances, Reveries of the Red Chamber, Chinese Hero: A Lone Exile, Vipassana, Lady White of West Lake, Tale of Three Cities, Waiting Heart, Liu Sanjie and Ode to the Silk Road.
As a cultural ambassador of Hong Kong, HKDC constantly brings the city’s unique artistic style to the world by touring to different cities across the globe, engaging local audiences and encouraging cultural exchange. In recent years, it has brought its award-winning productions to the Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the Sony Centre in Toronto, the Concourse Theatre in Sydney and the Southbank Centre in London, among others.
Actors’ Family
Actors’ Family is established in 1991 by graduates of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. As Hong Kong’s leading musical theatre company, it is committed to produce quality original Cantonese musicals, fostering local theatre development and enriching cultural lives in the city. Actors’ Family strives to produce musicals that broaden horizons and investigate daily lives with the aim to engage audiences and promote theatre arts. In recent years, the Company has introduced musical writing schemes in hope of building a sustainable platform to support new works from creation, preview to public staging.
Over the years, Actors’ Family has created and adapted various musical productions, many of which received nominations and awards at the Hong Kong Drama Awards, with enthusiastic support from mass media and the audience. Reaching beyond Hong Kong, the Company has been touring productions in the Greater Bay Area, facilitating genuine cultural exchange and promoting Hong Kong original musicals.
Media Enquiries:
Hong Kong Dance Company
Candy Cheung – Company & Programme Manager
Tel: (852) 3103 1878 Email: [email protected]
Mabel Tsang – Senior Officer (Marketing & Programme)
Tel: (852) 3103 1889 Email: [email protected]
Actors’ Family
Mandy Yiu – Executive Director
Tel: (852) 9050 1941 Email: [email protected]
Joyce Lee – Programme & Marketing Manager
Tel: (852) 6483 0492 Email: [email protected]
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