once upon a time, on a misty precipice of Emei Shan (located in southern sichuan county, about 130 km southwest of chengdu), there lived a pair of snake goddesses. the sisters weren't satisfied with life as snakes, or as goddesses-- they aimed higher. they wanted to be GIRLS. relying on the good old-fashioned magical incantation of "presto chango," they transformed themselves into earth dwelling maidens named White Snake and Green Snake.
their first step as humans was to check out the scene at the classically beautiful West Lake of Hangzhou (southwest of shanghai on the hangzhou bay). they were not disappointed. White Snake immediately fell for a foxy scholar named Xu Xian, and her green sister helped out by magically conjuring up some matchmaking rain. the sisters promptly stole away with Xu Xian's heart and his umbrella. Xu Xian, for his part, ignored Fa Hai the Monk's sage advice to keep away from this snake-in-disguise, and married the bewitching girl of his dreams.
after the wedding, the happy couple was blissful as can be... until, that is, the day of the dragon boat festival. that day, White Snake noticed everyone on her block setting out sprigs of the traditional magic-blocking ai cao. she got herself home quick as can be, and, against her better judgment, took a healthy slug of the traditional xiong huang jiu that Xu Xian passed her way. she should have known better. the jiu made her pass out and turn right back into a snake, and Xu Xian went ahead and DIED at the sight of his wife slithering and squirming around on the floor. White Snake eventually came to, and when she did, found some special chinese medicine to revive her man. just then...
Fa Hai the Interfering Monk showed up! Fa Hai not only kidnapped Xu Xian, but summoned up a Heavenly General and his crew of Heavenly Henchgods. 5 to 1, they fought the lovesick White Snake in a turf war over poor Xu Xian. at that moment, who should appear? none other than...
yes. MICHAEL JACKSON. in all of his white gloved, moonwalking glory. the heavenly battle came to a screeching, mesmerized halt just long enough for White Snake to lock Fa Hai and the Heavenly Helpers into a pagoda and throw away the key.White Snake and Xu Xian, of course, lived happily ever after.
photos: billy and angel on Emei Shan; justin as xu xian meets and then marries billy the snake girl; billy snake knocks back a dragonboatini; xu xian keels over; vicky as fa hai gets a little help from the heavens; the smoke machine overtakes GES; happy as MJ; our audience on the edge of their folding seats; bravo GES cast and crew! **set design by chung, costumes by alexander**
Oh my goodness! The most amazing GES production yet. Beautiful costumes and, of course, set design. You guys have really outdone yourselves! I wish I could have seen the whole thing in person. Looking good Vicky!
ReplyDeleteThe best part is that I really feel like I learned a lot from this play/blog. All my life, I thought that MC Hammer was the one who locked up Fa Hai. WHAT!!