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Taiwan Fun Magazine, May 2003

By Selena Huang
Translated by Yvonne Chen (³¯¨|ªÚ)

Beijing Culture & Humanities--Tea House Date: May 14-20, 7:30pm Location: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Prices: NT$500 700 900 1200 1600 2000 2500, Acer Ticketing Tel: (02) 2709-3788

       This famous play by Lao She describes events over half a century, from latter part of the Qing dynasty through the warlord period to the Japanese occupation. The Beijing teahouse Lao Yu Tai serves as a miniaturized composite of society, with more than 70 characters portraying various social classes as events unfold. Lao She used his unique stylistic method to reveal the social changes in history in the form of lively dialogues. The detailed depiction of Beijing teahouse culture enhances the thematic realism of the play and reveals a part of Chinese social culture.

Hollywood Festival Orchestra--Movie Night Gala Date: May 28-29, 7:30pm Location: National Concert Hall Prices: NT$300 500 700 900 1200 1500, ERA Ticketing Tel: (07) 740-3466

       The Hollywood Festival Orchestra is skilled at fusing classical and modern emotions into their music. They have taken movie soundtracks out of the movie theater and into concert halls, presenting these pieces with a refinement not shown at the movies. They will recreate the mysterious "James Bond, 007," the thrilling "Mission Impossible," the philosophical "Forest Gump," the imposing "Apollo 13," the epic "Dances With Wolves", the undying pledge in the "Titanic," and the romantic "King And I." The May 28th and June 3rd performances will feature Broadway classics.

Irish River Dance--Magic Of The Dance Date: May 30-June 1, 7:30pm; May 30 & June 1, 2:30pm Location: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Prices: NT$300 600 900 1200 1600 2000, ERA Ticketing Tel: (02) 2365-6287

       "Magic Of The Dance" will be taking the stage for the first time in Taiwan. The group's leader, Michael Donnellan, is the world's fastest tap dancer, the two-time champion of the World Irish Tap Dance Competition, setting an average 40 taps per second record. The fast dance steps and the dizzying lighting effects will transport you to a dream like state. Like magic, audiences are led to a mystical and astonishing stage. If you haven't yet witnessed the charm of Irish River Dance, you will find that the stunning impact of "Magic Of The Dance" unforgettable.

Performance Workshop--Sand and a Distant Star Date: May 9-17, 7:30pm; May 18, 2:30pm Location: National Theater Hall Prices: NT$300 550 800 1100 1300 1500 1800, ERA Ticketing Tel: (02) 2698-2323

      Sheng-chuan Lai weaves urban legends using his skilled ¡§laugh till you cry to make you think¡¨ method. His latest work tells about Yin Yeh (played by Hsiao-yen Chang), a woman roadside vendor and astrologer, who watches the stars every night because she firmly believes that aliens abducted her missing husband who will someday come back to her. Her friend, fellow roadside vendor (played by Hsueh-liang Pu), urges her to face reality and that real life is not that romantic. Her daughter (played by Han-ya Leou) sets up a ¡§visit from the alien¡¨ scheme with her boyfriend in hopes of curing her mother¡¦s delusions. All the while, everyone is faced with his/her own dilemma in life of deserting or deserted by someone

Image in Motion Theatre--@ Dream Date: May 2, 7:45pm; May 3, 2:45pm & 7:45pm; May 4, 2:45pm Location: National Theater Hall Prices: NT$300 500 700 900 1000 1200 1500, Acer Ticketing Tel: (02) 2392-5322

      Image in Motion Theatre, Taiwan's only group to combine high-tech animation specialists with performance art, presents a brand new 2003 production "@ Dream"--an animated virtual dance theater that turns the National Theater Hall into a dream bed dreaming dreams about interactions of wealth and destruction, idealism and reality, and love and nightmare. The entire production uses placement art, movie, and animation dance theater to emulate a dream state where audiences are invited to dream, dance, and experience ownership, explosion, pain, disillusionment, and starting over--shuttling between the virtual and real worlds, living through the arguments of life is a dream and dream is life.

International Food & Wine Festival Date: May 16-18 Location: Taipei World Trade Center, Hall 2 Prices: Adults NT$350 / children NT$250 Tel: (02) 2777-1725

       To give food lovers an opportunity to learn about the essence and features of various world cuisines, Taipei's renowned foreign cuisine restaurants, hotels and pubs will be on site providing cuisines from places such as Italy, France, Germany, US, Austria and South America. There will be three major sections: "Ethnic Food Court," "Wine Country," and "Connoisseur." There will be food preparation demonstrations by world famous chefs and celebrities, wine seminars at "Wine Country", and live jazz and light music performances at the stage area. The rest area will provide about 200 seats for people to enjoy food and wine.