To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 11:26:52 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] CTW performance of Whitesnake


Alan,
We are using those very same shadow figures that you saw back in High  
School in our production this weekend.
  Our performance i will not be as long as Pauline's. It includes  
quite a bit of Kun opera as well as  OP puppets of my own design.

  We looked about Pauline's archives for any film foootage of her   
performances. Alas, it doesn't seem to exist. Nor does a script. But  
we found the musicals core.

Stephen
On Oct 7, 2009, at 2:16 AM, Alan Cook wrote:

> I only saw Pauline Benton perform Chinese shadows once, when I was  
> in high school. She did the "Legend of the White Snake" at the  
> Assistance League's auditorium in Hollywood on a week night during  
> the school year. A family friend invited me and my mom. The show  
> lasted to about 1 a.m I think. At any rate, by the time I got home,  
> it was very late. The next day a major English Class Exam was  
> scheduled for which I had not studied. Going to class I told the  
> teacher I did not expect to do well on the test becuse I had finally  
> gotten to see a Chinese Shadow Puppet Show. As it turned out, I  
> never got to see Pauline do a full show again, thougfh I saw her  
> many times in Hollywood/Los Angeles, Carmel and San Francisco.
>
> Needless to say, I got more education seeing her show than if I had  
> stayed home to study, and never regretted the decision.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen Kaplin
> Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2009 8:10 PM
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Subject: [Puptcrit] CTW performance of Whitesnake
>
> Hey pupt-critters,
>
>  Not to change the subject or anything. Just want to inform everybody
> about Chinese Theatre Works' upcoming show: "The Legend of White
> Snake." Hope to see some of you there!
>
>
>
> "The Legend of White Snake" is a unique blending of two very different
> theatrical versions of this traditional story. The Kun opera portions
> of the program feature some of the opera=EF=BF=BDs best-known  scenes, with
> the centuries old   arias, dance, pantomime and masterful martial
> arts, performed by our company of professional trained Chinese opera
> actors in exquisitely embroidered silk costumes and full stage makeup.
> The shadow portions feature antique leather shadow figures that were
> originally collected by Pauline Benton in the 1920=EF=BF=BDs and 1930=EF=BF=BDs as
> well as contemporary shadow effects by master puppet designer, Stephen
> Kaplin.
>
> White Snake is a unique character in Chinese literature and myth, at
> once a powerful, mythical creature (a snake spirit) gifted with
> magical healing powers, an enterprising businesswoman, a romantic
> lover, wife, mother, and a fierce, implacable warrior. Her exploits
> have been a staple in every genre of Chinese stage performance =EF=BF=BD
> including the Kun opera version that we have excerpted for this
> production =EF=BF=BD with countless variants in traditional and regional
> puppet and shadow theater styles. Together with her sister, Blue
> Snake, White Snake chooses to take on a human form in order to
> progress spiritually. Soon after coming to the beautiful West Lake,
> she meets and falls in love with Xu Xien, a kind hearted, though
> somewhat naive, young herbalist of modest means and no family and the
> two soon marry. However, their idyllic romance is disrupted by a
> narrow-minded and doctrinaire Buddhist Monk named Fa Hai, who
> fervently believes that the intermarriage of an animal spirit with a
> human being constitutes an affront to the Cosmic Order. He does
> everything he can to force them apart. Only White Snake's repeated and
> vigorous opposition, assisted by Bluesnake=EF=BF=BDs formidable martial arts
> abilities, defeats his plans. Eventually however Fa Hai, finally
> manages to capture White Snake with a magical snare and imprison her
> beneath a huge pagoda.
>
> FREE!! Two shows only
> Saturday, Oct 10 & Sunday 11, 2009   at 7:30 pm
>
> In the courtyard of Pace University=EF=BF=BDs Main Building in Lower
> Manhattan  (entrance on Spruce Street)
>
> Phone for reservations:  (718) 457-1627. (Please bring a valid ID to
> enter the campus.)
>
> Stephen Kaplin
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>
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