Occupying Chinatown Summer Programming
Gender Roles Playing on Stage: Traditional Chinese Opera with Contemporary Asian Drag
Date:Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Time: 7:00-9:00pm, with performances at 7:45pm and 8:30pm
Fee: Advance tickets $15. Limited tickets available at door and by donation
Celebrate Pride in Chinatown! The Garden welcomes a magical one-night cross-cultural and community event highlighting artists of Chinese opera, drag, and alternative music. Audiences will be treated to a mashup of these gender-bending genres in a celebration of the rich history of Cantonese Opera as a folk-art form in Chinatown and other Chinese communities.
In classic Chinese Opera, all roles, including female ones, were originally performed by men; more recently, when the stage was opened to women, they often played both gender roles as well. For Paul Wong, Cantonese Opera was part of growing up in Chinatown, with his mother singing karaoke at home and music from shops and rooming houses spilling out into the streets.
This special evening will feature performances by Yuk Fung Cheung, Hoi Seng Ieong, Rose Butch, and Maiden China, with Shay Dior as emcee and music by DJ Ian Widgery (Shanghai Lounge Divas).
GENDER ROLES PLAYING ON STAGE is presented by Paul Wong Projects with community partner Vancouver Art and Leisure Society as part of the Alternative Pride Festival.
OCCUPYING CHINATOWN is a public art project commissioned by the City of Vancouver Public Art Program in partnership with the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. With support from The Audain Foundation.