We went to a circus 看“馬戲”去了

Sunday night...what to do? Hmmm...how about going to the opera? What about a circus? Wait...what about an Opera Circus?? From Australia, no less. We had no idea what to expect but the idea was simply too intriguing. We had to find out.

This show was one of 16 different shows the city of XinBei 新北市 (a.k.a. "New Taipei City") has put together to promote art and culture. XinBei and Taipei cities together shape a doughnut where Xinbei is the ring and Taipei is the hole. The Metro Rapid Transit light rail system provides easy access to both cities. With one transfer and a short walk, we could easily get to our destination.

As we were walking to the show from the Xinzhuang MRT station
捷運新莊站, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant called Panini. Our waiter was a nice young man with a wonderful presence. He patiently explained the menu in his best English and graciously served us throughout the meal. Since tipping is not customary in Taiwan, we let him know how much we appreciated his attentive service.

We arrived at the outdoor venue a few blocks away with more than half an hour to spare. The place was already pretty packed! Luckily, we were able to locate two empty red plastic seats almost immediately. Ping even had a good view of the stage, thanks to the little bitty girl occupying the seat in front of her. We were also lucky to get the 70% chance of "no rain," since the forecast was for a 30% chance of precipitation.

So what exactly is an "Opera Circus?" It turned out to be exactly what it says: opera and circus. Here is a good description of the program: Pot-Pourri's Opera Circus. They include plenty of humor, some of which was lost in translation. A good number of people in the audience understood at least some English, judging by the amount of laughter that immediately followed some of the verbal jokes. (Mark's favorite line of the night was from the guest pianist who introduced herself saying: "I've been playing piano since I was four years old. <Pause> And...I'm really tired!") An interpreter did her best to keep up.

One story that everyone got was when the diminutive tenor proclaimed: "When I was small...Okay, smaller than I am NOW...everyone I knew wanted to be either a break dancer or Michael Jackson. I wanted to be the Phantom of the Opera. So, basically, that meant I didn't have any mates. But I had a dream! Ever since I was ten years old, I've had this dream to play the part of the Phantom of the Opera...in Xinbei, Taiwan! So, depending on your answer to my next question, you could make a ten year old boy's dream come true! DO YOU WANT ME TO PLAY THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA???" The answer was enthusiastic. He took that for a "yes," and proceeded to do the Phantom of the Opera complete with a few Michael Jackson white glove "Billy Jean" moves and a bit of  moon-walking, and then finished it off by doing The Worm and spinning on his head. The crowd went wild. I've never seen a tenor do that before.

The outdoor sound wasn't optimum, the singers weren't the best in the world, and the acrobats had their challenges. Still, the air was cool and breezy, the audience was enthusiastic, the performers were earnest and jolly, and we sure had a terrific night out!

Please click the video below to view a short clip of the opening scene.