>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington DC.
>> Elizabeth Peterson: Hello.
My name is Betsy Peterson.
I'm the Director of the
American Folklife Center here
at the library.
And I'm pleased to welcome
you today to the latest
in our Benjamin Botkin lecture
series here at the library.
The Botkin series allows
the American Folklife Center
to present the work of
leading scholars in folklore
at the musicology, oral
history, cultural studies,
while also enhancing
the collections here
at the American Folklife Center.
For the center and for the
library the lecture series forms
an important facet of our
acquisitions activities.
Each lecture is videotaped
and becomes part
of the permanent collection
here at the Folklife Center.
And in addition, the lectures
are also posted as webcasts
on the library's website.
So they are available
to internet patrons
throughout the world
and for future generations.
So with that said, please
turn off any cellphones
or any electronic devices
that you might have.
That would be terrific.
Now, today I have
the wonderful honor
of introducing the distinguished
musicologist, theorist
and ethnomusicologist;
Nancy Yunhwa Rao.
Doctor Rao is Associate
Director of Academic Studies,
head of the Composition
Program and head
of the Music Theory Program
in the Mason Gross School
of the Arts at New
Jersey's Rutgers University.
That's a mouth full.
[laughter] She is has also
produced award winning research
on a range of topics including;
gender in music, sketch studies,
music modernism,
cultural fusion in music,
racial representations,
the music of early Chinese
Americans, and the life
and contributions
of the American composer
Ruth Crawford Seeger --
whose collection is
here at the library.
Her publications have
provided innovative,
analytical approaches
to cross-cultural music
and enhanced public discussions
about cultural encounters
in music.
Through her scholarship as well
as through her teaching she
has also promoted diversity
and advanced knowledge and
dialogue about the complexity
of diversity issues
in music scholarship.
Clearly Nancy Rao is one
of the leading scholars
in Chinese American
music studies.
And as a music theorist, Rao
has explored intersections
between China and the West, in
particular global perspectives
in contemporary Chinese music.
She's also published, on the use
of music; gestures, vocal style,
and percussion patterns
of Beijing opera
in contemporary music by
composers of Chinese origin.
So today Professors Rao --
[laughing] Professor
Rao's latest book,
"Chinese Opera Theater in North
America," which is the basis
of today's talk,
was just published
by the University
of Illinois Press.
It highlights the
colorful, the complex
and previously neglected
musical history
of Chinese theater
in North America.
In preparing the book she
received an MEH Research
Fellowship and an ACLS Scholar
in China Fellowship
for this project.
And I must add, she also
received an American Folklife
Center Parson's Award to do some
of her research here
at the library.
Following the lecture Doctor
Rao will be signing copies
of her book out in the foyer.
So please I want to encourage
you to go out and buy a copy,
talk with Professor Rao.
Today she'll be speaking
on the fantastic worlds
of Chinese opera
theater in North America.
So please join me in
welcoming Nancy Rao.
[ Applause ]
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao:
Thank you Betsy
for that wonderful introduction.
I'm very humbled by it.
It is a great pleasure
and honor to be here.
This is truly a wonderful
occasion for me
to visit the Library
of Congress again.
Last time I came here
was five years ago.
I came as a Parson's
Fellow and had a great time.
[laughter] I'm happy
today to share
with you the little
known history
of Chinatown Opera Theater in
North America around the 1920s.
The little known history
of Chinatown Opera
Theater is actually a world
of fantastic spectacle,
music and magic.
I would like to take
the opportunity also
to thank Nancy Gross
for the invitation
and for arrangement
of the logistics.
Today I'm going to first map
out a brief history and network
of Chinatown Theaters.
Then I will introduce
their repertoire,
production, music and actresses.
And then I will discuss their
relationship with the community.
And finally, to provide a
few observations to elucidate
or define the impact of
Chinatown Opera Theaters.
I like to start my lecture today
with a composite
picture of eight images.
There is no reason that you
should recognize them all,
but you might know a few.
I think collecting them here
allowed us to enter this world
of Chinese opera
in North America
in its historical context.
You probably recognize
Anna May Wong on the top,
the famous Chinese American
actress who came to fame in 1924
when she performed
with Douglas Fairbanks
in "The Thief of Baghdad."
She also is shown here in
a costume for a production
of "Petunias Toronto."
You may also recognize Milan
Fong [phonetic] next to her.
She was a famous Peking opera
singer performing female roles.
Regarded the most famous
Peking opera singer
of the twentieth century, Milan
Fong had a three month visit
to the United States in 1930s.
These pictures came from
that particular tour.
On the second row
is Alisha Fong,
[phonetic] the most celebrated
Cantonese opera actress in China
around the 1910s and 20s.
In 1927 she came to North
America for two years,
performing in Chinatown
Theaters of many cities.
And then here is Wang Indian,
[phonetic] a Cantonese opera
star who began performing
in North America in
Vancouver in 1921.
She also came to the
United States in 1923.
She travelled across
the Pacific many times
in the following three
decades and eventually returned
to America again in 1961
to settle in San Francisco
until she died in 1979.
Then we have Modan Su,
[phonetic] a very popular
Cantonese opera singers
who perform both male
and female roles.
Arriving first in 1926 in San
Francisco, she reigned later
in New York City's theater until
the theater burned down in 1929.
She eventually also
settled in New York City.
These are all iconic figures
with different contingents
of American society
around 1920s and 30s.
For audiences of that era
these images invoke certain
imaginations about the
world of Chinese opera.
Today however, I would like
to tell the story of one.
Of course Anna May Wong
found success in Hollywood
when her appearance in silent
films brought spotlight to her.
And Milan Fong captivated a
New York with each performance
on Broadway and went
on to six other cities,
receiving even an
honored doctorate degree
from Pomona College.
But an even more spectacular
world of Chinese opera existed,
fully and daily in American
cities from the early 1920s
and well into the 1930s.
Six Chinese Theaters were
established in a very short span
of three years starting in 1922,
mobilizing an active
performing network
like the ones I show here.
English newspapers greeted
the arrival of the theaters
and troupes with enthusiasm.
The first one you see is the San
Francisco and the Toronto Star
as well as a New York
Times showing of these.
The cities had strong support
for Cantonese opera performance,
as reflected on the
playbills as well.
So this one is from Vancouver.
I'm so happy to show all of this
because I couldn't include
all of them in my book.
[laughter] So this one is from
Vancouver, as you can see.
And this one's from
Victoria, British Columbia.
And this one's from Portland.
They have similar
ones from Portland.
This is one of them.
And this is from Seattle, and
we'll talk about this later.
This one from San Francisco,
which is a Mandarin theater.
And this one is also
from San Francisco,
it's Great China Theater.
And we also have here
from New York City,
I particularly show
one that's actually
from a celebrated
festival, so it's in red,
which is quite uncommon.
And then we have
one from Honolulu.
And last, but not
least is from Havana.
And this one is the
only one that exists
that I could find
that's from Havana.
So, as you can see, performers
were correct by these playbills,
some of which were
actually printed daily
for many many years.
So the 1920s was in fact
the second golden period
of Chinese opera in
the United States.
The first was in 1870s.
As early as in 1852 Cantonese
opera troupe came to perform
in the United States,
following in the footsteps
of the Chinese migration.
Many more trips soon followed.
Their performance became popular
entertainment in the frontiers.
By the late 1870s, their
first golden period,
there were four Chinese
theaters running concurrently
in San Francisco.
Yet, after the US Congress
passed the Chinese Seclusion Act
in 1882, the government
tightened the boarder
and literally closed
down the pipeline
for Chinese actors
and troupes to come.
After 1906 earthquake and the
fire in San Francisco burned
down the last existing theaters,
there would be no
professional Chinese theaters
in that city for 18 years.
Our turning point came in
the late 1910s however,
when entertainment
impresario intervened
and seek the admission
of Chinese actors
to the United States to
perform -- guess where --
in Vaudeville Circus [laughter]
or other theatrical
entertainment.
Indeed, Chinese acts
in acrobatic shows
were extremely popular,
so somewhat ironically,
through the effort of circuses
such as Barnum and Bailey
or Ringling Brothers,
Chinese actors were
again allowed
to enter the United States under
a bond for 1,000 dollars each,
for a length of stay
of six months
and renewable up to three years.
With that Cantonese opera
returned to the United States.
In 1922, October, the first
troupe to return performed
at Vaudeville Burlesque Theater,
the Crescent, in San Francisco.
The second troupe performed in
Orpheum Theatre, in Seattle.
And at Portland the
Casino Theater hosted
to Cantonese opera troupe.
In New York the immigrant
theater, Bowery,
became the home to
Cantonese opera.
Even more significantly
though, new theaters were built.
A beautiful, brand new Mandarin
theater opened in Grant Avenue
in San Francisco in 1924.
You can see this is a
postcard of that theater.
And from here you can
see the people looking
at pictures hanging on
the wall at the entrance.
So I hope that you can see
this is actually a rendition
of this corner.
And then, a year later,
the Great China Theater
opened on Jackson Street.
They both had around 800 seats
and offered daily
performances with playbills.
The theater players
was distributed
at lunchtime every day to the
stores throughout Chinatown
and at three o'clock the
box office would open.
Margaret Leonne,
[assumed spelling] one
of the persons I interviewed,
she was a daughter of a tailor
in San Francisco China Town.
She remembered her dad --
she and her sisters found
out about what shows
and performers would be
featured that evening
from playbills delivered to
their tailor shop every day.
Opera theaters were woven into
daily life of community again
and became a cultural
institution.
In fact, because it was so woven
into the daily life from public
to private to even personal and
legal status, today we are able
to construct this lively history
from a variety of sources.
So here are some sources
I'd like to share with you.
The first is immigration papers.
This is the card that they
carry from the moment it arrives
and these are the bond papers.
And what's really wonderful
for a researchers is
that on this bond paper
there's Chinese names.
So we can finally
realize who had come.
And this is the situation that
newspapers and advertisement --
this is the China Youth --
Youth China and this is the
advertisement on that newspaper.
This is a playbill, much better
preserved with synopsis, casts.
And this is also another one
from Great China Theaters.
This is the Mashigen,
[phonetic] one
of the most famous
Cantonese opera.
This is Gwen India,
[phonetic] whose picture we have
seen before.
These are both stage pictures.
Print, as you can see,
and [unintelligible] culture
played an important role.
With the advancement of print
media many Chinese newspapers
were published in North America.
They contributed to the
success of the theaters both
by dissemination of the
content, the daily advertisement
of the theater programs,
and the opera recordings,
and by the fact that
their printing facility --
equipped with Chinese
character blocks --
also produced daily
playbills and thin pamphlets.
A steady production of
photographs of the performers
in stages helped shape
the beautiful culture
of Cantonese opera as well.
Photography story reels,
such as the Mace Studio,
[assumed spelling] of San
Francisco, became partners
with Chinese Theaters.
Today you can see several
studies of main studio
in Chinese American
art collections.
The theaters produced
different opera every evening.
That's their tradition.
Performing both classical
repertoire,
such as the heart-wrenching
story of Madam Wiselink,
[phonetic] lovelorn in the red
chamber or the famous battle
of the quintessential
warrior, Gwangon,
[phonetic] which you
can see over here.
He looks very fearsome,
isn't he?
[laughter] And more
recent, trendy,
and contemporary aura bring
innovation and a sense
of modernity to the stage,
either combining current events
or stories with the traditional
opera practice or weaving
in stories of European
and American characters.
So you can see in this
picture we have this figure.
I have no idea what he's doing
there, but obviously he's able
to play a role in this
particular traditional
period clothes.
People who dress in those.
And these -- you may
not be able to tell --
but it is not typical for
Cantonese opera theater stage
because it actually is a
cinema kind of a picture.
You have a square over here
and she's obviously singing
about something that she
missed, someone she's --
you know wanted to
see or dream about.
And that person's going to be
shown here through projection
from behind the stage.
So you can see that the cinema
technique is also being adopted
in these things.
So, regardless of their stories,
the theaters were heavily
invested in an apparatus
for producing theatrical
illusions,
creating a variety
of magical affect.
When taking part in the new
scene of American entertainment,
Chinatown Theaters were well
aware of possible consumption
of Chinese opera as
entertainment for everyone.
They prepared for the
mainstream society
as a cultural interlocutor.
The earliest troupes
wrote bilingual playbills
for a mixed audience.
So here's an example.
We saw this in Seattle, right?
And now you see that on
the front page is this
and then you have
on the back is this.
And here's another one.
On the front page
is this one and then
on the back you have
the English version.
The stage was decided with
a contemporary sensibility
of realism, in many ways if the
troupe adapted its performance
for the consumption
of mainstream America.
It was often serious and often
grand presentation of opera --
the opera with some of the best
performers in the profession.
Now, here's some time
that we will be thinking
about this sound.
An opera aria, like this
one from Madam Wise Make,
[phonetic] were performed
at a theater,
played on a record,
and sung by fans.
So I thought I'll give
you a little glimpse
of what it sounds like.
This is one couplet and
this is, you know the first
and the second verse
of that couplet.
So the aria has 10
couplets like that.
And, as you can see, on
the right is the Chinese.
Chinese -- classical
Chinese in particular --
is very condensed, right?
[laughing] So just three
words takes this many words
to [laughter] explain.
So by counting you
can see the structure
of the verse is three,
three, two, two.
So it's 10 character
verse, right?
Next one is a little bit tricky
because you have two
[unintelligible] word there.
So take my word for
it again, you have to.
So we're going to listen to
this and I hope it will work.
Let's see.
So what we will have
time to listen
to is only the first verse
of this first couplet.
And the first words will
take about three minutes.
So 10 words for 10 -- for that.
So let's see, okay.
[singing] [laughter] Thank you.
[singing] Okay, now
you're hearing this.
[ Singing ]
So that's the first word
and now the second word.
[ Singing ]
So that's the third
word being elaborated.
A little asthmatic, right?
[ Singing ]
Now we're the second line.
So the second three words.
[ Singing ]
Second word of the
second three words.
[ Singing ]
So we are in these
two words now.
[ Singing ]
The last two words.
[ Singing ]
So this is the last word.
It will take about a minute.
[ Singing ]
So that's --
[ Singing ]
So that was the first
verse for the aria
that will last about 25 minutes.
And Alisha found the person
whose singing was known
for holding the whole
theater quiet
for such long performance
of an aria.
Because her voice -- aria
-- was very beautiful.
And she has a new style of
singing that's very different
from the female impersonator
that was before her.
And so I always love
to listen to her.
So the theater relies
on all these stars.
And from the beginning
the community marvels
at star actresses such as
this one; Chung Futeen.
[phonetic] Every one
of them brought in --
and she was one of the
first ones that came
with mentoring theater
when it first opened.
Any one of them brought
trunks full of elaborate
and expensive costumes -- and
by the way, the best selection
of costumes is in UPC,
Museum for Anthropology.
They preserved it
very, very well.
And this is a warrior, a
general, of a female character.
And you can't see it, but
she's wearing stilts as well
and the stilts make
her tall like this.
And a performer performing with
stilts can do a lot of jumping,
bending, and all sorts
of wonderful things.
And those are the
general women --
women of general roles in the
traditional Chinese opera,
which appear in many different
genre of Chinese opera.
And they were greeted,
these actresses,
with enthusiasm across
the continent.
Their presence in Chinatown
Theaters had indelible impact
on North American and
Chinese community.
And they would argue they
were key to the shaping
of collective social
memory as well.
The reason are manifold.
The vibrant performing
circuit of North America
in 1920s attracted most
of the top actresses
from Southern China to embark
on the cross-Pacific voyage.
Being at the highest
level in the profession,
the artistic presence
defined the level
of performance at
these theaters.
Many were recording
artists as well
and their records were
advertised daily on more
than a dozen Chinese newspapers
published in North America.
The wide circulation of their
records ensured many listening
context outside the
theaters; at home, stores,
family associations, or just
the streets, and even places
where there were no
Chinese Theaters nearby.
Their pictures were also
disseminated through newspapers,
playbills and even for
sale at the general stores.
Just as important however,
the daily performances
and their exalted statute
in the communities these opera
actresses stage persona took
on the significance
of cultural icon.
The actresses embodied
voice, style and fashion
of a famous female
characters, legendary heroines
such as Mulan Chun Ool,
[phonetic] or Madam White Snake,
[assumed spelling] and so on.
In other words, the opera
actresses were not merely
individuals or singers,
they became the icon
or cultural signs
representing Chinese female.
As a result they contributed
to the internal construction
of identity for Chinese
American community.
A large number of
portraits, stage photos,
and scrapbook pages tell the
manifestation of these theaters
in both the interior world
and the public face
of the community.
So here's a scrapbook
of Mudan Soo.
[phonetic] This was collected by
Margaret Leonne and her sisters.
And these are pages
that I could find
in that book about one actress.
You can see that they're
the plays -- repertoire --
that she had and they're the
stage that she's involved in --
all elaborate -- and these
are the individual portraits.
So with these,
the [unintelligible]
experiences were offered;
the stories themselves,
the visual image,
the instrumental sonorities,
the singing voice, the lyrics,
the characters, and moral
principle in different mediums
such that operatic
culture permeated
through the Chinese community
and formed their social memory.
Chinese American
youths' emulation
of these performers
were an important part
of how they took control
of their identity as well.
These operatic bodies
were constituted
by stylized performance,
fashion-forward personal attire,
elaborate opera costume,
routine symbolism.
Let's take a look
at several example.
Here's Lucia Fong, [assumed
spelling] that we talk about,
whose voice you just heard.
Here are two appearances
in traditional roles.
So in this traditional roles she
represents the quintessential
female model in a traditional
world; a filial daughter,
stately aristocratic
lady, loyal lover or wife,
or courageous female warrior.
And in this one you see that she
also presents something else,
and that is clad in
fur and high heels.
She also embodies
contemporary sensibility.
However, the two are
woven into each other.
Her warrior costume includes
Chinese [unintelligible]
characteristic armor-like
wardrobe, and pants and sleeves.
See how they taper to
narrow at wrist and ankles
for the convenience
of fast movement
and fighting required
of such character?
Yet notice the traditional
costume is complimented
by high heels rather than
the traditional flat feet,
flower decorated shoes,
like the one on the left,
or this one which is the
stilts -- a pair of stilts.
These stilts, which is
currently collected in a museum
of anthropology near BC.
You can see that it
actually required the players
to fit the front of the feet
into the specialized shoes,
like a stilts to move
basically tiptoes.
They resulted in slightly
longer legs and the lifting
of the body weight
to higher center
to immolate certain female gait.
Does that sound familiar
to [laughter] the
high heels tradition?
[laughter] And so the high
heels immolated a set of stilts,
but at the same time symbolized
a sense of urban modernity.
I'm sure high heels are more
comfortable than stilts.
[laughter] I've seen
one of those.
It's really hard.
But it is a fascinating
way of performing.
I saw one just last
month in Vancouver.
The actress put this
on and was doing a lot
of fantastic operatic movement.
And here's a quick
comparison as well.
This is a traditional cape
worn by aristocratic lady
and when she goes
outdoors or representing
that they are going outdoors.
So the typical one
has no trains.
And you see Alisha
Fung was wearing one
that has this, right?
And this obviously
is something else.
And this is a headdress.
I say that she has
some traditional one,
but actually much more
traditional would look something
more like this around her time.
But now she's, you know
obviously echoing back
to the much more extravagant
art deco kind of tradition.
So as showing an
example of wardrobe,
the Chinatown Opera Theaters
meticulously went together
diverging styles and fashion.
The opera actresses navigated
and helped her audience navigate
contemporary and traditional,
social and personal,
and a variety
of kind of transformation.
Their star quality broadcasted
to these images well
beyond the theater wall.
Exploring the golden era of
Chinatown Theaters in 1920s
with an eye to where it was
projected in iconic images,
brings to light important
social functions fulfilled
by these performers
and their theaters.
Alisha Fung was by far the most
famous Cantonese opera actress
to have made the residency
in Chinatown Theaters.
Her itinerary indicates
that within two years
she had performed
in at least five cities; San
Francisco, New York, Havana,
Los Angeles, Mexicali.
However, her itinerary
was typical of actresses
that perform in Cantonese opera
network of North America during
that time, who would typically
graze the stage of many cities,
zigzagged across both
northern and southern borders.
In addition to their grace
and glamour and vocal beauty,
Cantonese opera actresses also
symbolized a certain erudite
in literal -- literary ideal.
Well versed in numerous
classical operas
with beautiful lyrics of
classical Chinese texts,
it is little wonder that they
came to represent the educated.
So as we see in this
[unintelligible] picture
of them singing earlier, she's
holding a book in her hand.
And that's very similar
to this advertisement
in a newspaper published in
New York City around 1928.
This is the advertisement
for Opera Record
and this is the [unintelligible]
that she's showing in her hand.
And not to mention there
were actually anthologies
of booklet -- anthology
of lyrics that's published
by the theaters in
North America.
Above all of course, the
emotional transcendence,
the opera's ability to
transport its audience,
was key to the significance and
success of these performances,
whether it be the little
boy who was so mesmerized
by the triumphant
warrior on stage
that he forgot the
melting candy in his hand,
or the little girl whose
face was wet with tears
from watching the
moving performance
of a familiar legend on stage.
The theater tradition
had indelible influence
on their daily life
including many --
and these include many
novelists and dramatists.
We will find a proper type
of Cantonese opera figures
in Mexing Hong Kingston's
[phonetic] "A Woman Warrior,"
which is based on Mulan.
By considering the historical
performance and performances
in Chinatown Opera Theaters
of the 1920s I call attention
to a golden era of Cantonese
opera in North America,
one that came to shape many
dimensions of American life.
For a very long time
the theaters and objects
that were used to facilitate
the wonderful performances,
such as [unintelligible] plot
or lines, music, costume, set,
stage props, and so on
disappeared into obscurity
and gathered dust in
forgotten corners.
Yet they are everywhere
in Chinese communities all
over different American cities.
It was a shear operatic
world and sonnet culture
which Chinese communities
and large net family kinship
in North America were
connected despite being
geographically dispersed.
Indeed, Cantonese opera
set root in North America
as a theater core
and entertainment,
much like other immigrant
theaters in the United States,
as the only prominent,
public entertainment
in Chinese communities in 1920s.
Cantonese opera performance
did not just attract immigrants
who attend out of nostalgia.
With their popularity
and stellar performance,
Chinatown Theaters attracted
new audiences to Cantonese opera
as well, those who attend
because they were the talk
of the town -- a
famous celebrity --
those who attend for the Chinese
identity it symbolized --
which the Chinese
teacher encouraged --
and last, but not least,
the second generation
Chinese American also came
because the theaters
were, for them,
everything from playground
to education.
Therefore, from dealmakers,
merchants, store owners,
to laborers, and from woman to
children audiences of all ages
and professions formed the
base of theater's audience.
With an ordinary glamour,
by the end of the 1920s
Chinatown Theaters
in North America have
become a well-oiled machine
of trans-Pacific operation,
incorporating the steady flow
of professional talent
from China
into the local social milieu.
Their talent, glamour
and skills were key
to the community's
loyalty to the theaters.
Regardless of the
length of their stay,
their rigorous marshalling
of singing, acting, dancing,
and other skills established
a practice in theaters
and formed a large
repository of theater music.
Greater variety of a repertoire
resulted from the growth
of new titles and decrease
in classical repertoire,
a mixture of modern, hybrid
of classic and modern,
and of another novel production
were frequent and popular.
In 1930s and 40s these same
well-oiled machine worked
to generate the earliest Chinese
American cinema, like this one.
And this opera was actually
about Chinese theaters.
These Chinatown Opera Theaters
also influenced American
modernism in a variety
of performing arts,
from dance theater
to music and so on.
Growing up near Chinese
theaters,
American ultima modernist
composer Henry Cowell was
attracted to a type of
sliding tone in Chinese opera,
which he used as the theoretical
foundation to apply to pitch,
rhythm and dynamic
in fascinating ways.
And that theory became
an important aesthetic
in later part of modern
composition in the century.
His two students, John
Cage and Lou Harrison,
frequented the Mandarin
Theater in San Francisco,
which experience inspired
their collaborated work,
"Double Music" in 1941 that
became a pioneering work
in the new percussion
repertoire.
In addition, in 1920s jazz
musicians adopt Cantonese opera
drum as their percussion
instrument,
such that you can find them sold
-- on sale in the magazine --
the trade magazine
around that time.
Well we considered a long and
rich history of Cantonese opera
in North America, its social
significance becomes apparent.
The opera theater accompanied
Chinese migration to take part
in a nation building,
constructed the railroad,
establishing every
cultural and salon.
And the trans-Pacific music
culture has long been part
of American music landscape.
And Chinatown Opera Theater
is a splendid chapter
of American music history.
To understand this history of
Chinatown Theater, its legends,
styles, practice,
and audiences is
to understand an important part
of American cultural space.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Elizabeth Peterson: Would
you take some questions?
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Sure.
Yes.
[ Inaudible Exchange ]
Sure. [inaudible] Okay.
>> You said at the
beginning and the end
that it was Cantonese opera.
Was that the case with
all the Chinatowns?
Even the ones that were named,
you know Mandarin Theater?
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Oh!
[laughing] [inaudible questions]
Yes, Mandarin Theater has --
The question was; were all these
theaters performing Cantonese
opera, even the theater was
named the Mandarin Theater?
Yes, indeed.
The Mandarin Theater
is just a name.
It has nothing to do
with Mandarin Chinese.
And there were Peking
Opera performed all over
but in much more -- there
-- let me put it this way;
Peking Opera was
performed by some immature
around different parts
of the Chinese community,
but not so much by professional,
and certainly not
establishing theater --
professional theaters.
And the reason I
say that is because,
for example in New York City,
we have Columbia University,
which attracted a group of
Chinese intellectuals coming
from another part of China.
And we have in Chinatown,
which has a long tradition
of immigrants coming
from Southern China,
who spoke you know Cantonese.
So they enjoyed different
kind of music in some ways.
So the people in uptown would
be performing Peking Opera
and they were the people
who facilitate the visit
of May Long Fung, the
famous Peking Opera singer.
But you know when he came
to perform actually it was
through the help of Cantonese
Opera Theater people.
[laughing] Because guess what;
for each of these performers
to come in it needs to be
sponsored by a theater.
So who sponsored him?
The Cantonese Opera Theater.
So it's kind of connected,
but not very --
not the same audience.
Yes.
>> I wondered, how much did
the [unintelligible] adopt the
American stage, vaudeville
at the time
or other Broadway performances?
Did they I guess adopt
some of the methods?
[unintelligible] or stick
to these stage performances?
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Yeah.
So; how much of the
Chinese Opera Theaters
in the United States
adopted vaudeville
and Broadway type of stage?
And I would say that's a
really complicated question.
The complicated question in --
because of historical moment.
To begin with, what you see,
these are fantastic
stage productions, right?
More fantastic than one
can possibly imagine.
Now, I mentioned that
traditional Chinese stage was
like no backdrop of any kind.
No stage prop of --
one stick is enough
to represent a horse, right?
[laughing] So it's very,
very symbolic that way.
Abstract. But the move to
a more realism and stage,
you know machinery to have
fancy lightbulb and that kind
of stuff did not start
in North America.
So they started in Shanghai.
So when they started in
Shanghai, from what I read,
Shanghai newspapers said
it came from Hong Kong.
And I have not gone to Hong Kong
to study what Hong Kong
newspapers say, but it's --
suffice to say, when
these opera singers came
to the United States
they brought with them,
not only the tradition,
you know?
Stage production.
But also the new one
that's already popular
in the cosmopolitan cities
like Shanghai and Hong Kong.
However, I must say the
thing in America being
around the Roaring 20s when
Broadway production was
at its height you know,
it's obviously something
that's going to have an impact.
So I would say, "Yes, I think
they have adopted a lot more."
And I didn't show you
more of this scrapbook.
The scrapbook is full of
fantastic pictures of stage
and some you just scratch
your head and think,
"What on earth could
the story be?"
[laughter] It looks so crazy.
So I think there is a kind
of extravagant, you know --
that I do not, or I suspect, is
not existent yet in Shanghai.
But I think it is a complicated
situation like that, yeah.
So -- Yes.
>> I was just wondering, you
know the shoes with the stilts,
it looked like it's
shoes for flat feet.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Yes.
Yeah. Definitely.
It looks very much like so.
And in fact, those still shoes
I think it's even more difficult
than ballet shoes because
they are both the toe
and then a little bit
of ball of the foot.
It looks so excruciatingly
difficult to wear them.
So yeah. It may be bound foot.
>> So some of them
maybe had bound feet?
Still? They -- I'm old enough
to have seen people
with bound feet.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Oh, okay.
>> That's why I recognized them.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Oh, I see.
>> Although I didn't think this
time period [unintelligible]
Chinese have found
[unintelligible].
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Right.
I suspect it's not the case
because I've seen those --
how you put one of those on
and you put a natural feet
in those stilts actually.
It has a way --
>> Oh, okay.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: So,
you actually put the wood --
so your foot was like this.
The foot was like this.
So -- and they used
cloth to wrap around it.
And only the person
who's wearing can wrap
that because no one else can
wrap it in exactly the same,
you know tightness that
would be comfortable.
So, yeah. It's related I
think, but I think it's --
I have a colleague who's
going to do a study on that.
And on top of that, another
thing that's very interesting is
that the stilts are actually
only for female warriors.
>> Well they have -- they'd
have to be for females.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Yes,
but the interesting thing
is not for aristocratic.
[inaudible] It's
actually for warriors.
So one of the things that's
limiting for those performers is
that once they become the people
who wear stilts, specializing,
they specialized also
in warrior roles.
And I think it's the
difficulty of that
that makes it so exciting.
[laughing] Yes.
>> Yeah, do the 19 --
especially the 1920s,
European Americans were sort
of into the exoticism in say,
especially going to
African American [inaudible]
to see African jazz band.
Can you talk a little bit
about European Americans
going to Chinese Theater?
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Yes.
I think they were people
like, you know John Cage
and Harry Carter that I was
talking about, that went.
But at the same time I
think there is also people
who were really into art in
San Francisco that would go.
And I'll talk about
that a little bit.
And there were also people
who were -- many tourists.
So it's a thing to
see in Chinatown.
And you go to Chinatown there
are two things you need to see;
is the jazz house,
it's Chinese Theaters.
Right? So that was the case
since nineteenth century.
But the important thing is
that in San Francisco there
is a club -- a secret club --
called the Bohemian Club.
So the Bohemian had a lot of
theaters and their theaters,
I would say, is much
influenced by Chinese Theaters
because there is a -- there's
an opera called, "Fay Yen Fa,"
[phonetic] come out
of a Bohemian club.
And he has a great deal of
Chinese Theater influence,
even including Chinese
characters.
So yeah, it's related.
Yes.
>> As far as the impresarios
[inaudible] support the
productions, particularly
through ticket sales
or through people who had a
successful or lucrative business
in some other area like
groceries or textiles
or some kind of import.
I mean, were they
self-sustaining financially
or were they requiring cash
from some other source?
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao:
Yeah, I think it's both.
I think anyway these
are business people.
So it's part of their business.
Theater is a good business.
And, for example when
Mandarin Theater first opened,
even that first month,
it made something
like 250,000 dollars in our day.
Right? Even today, right?
So our -- today's 250,000 or so.
So it was good business for them
and that's why they
went into it.
But for a merchant like If
Seng, [phonetic] in Vancouver,
he also built one just near his
compound -- family compound.
So for him it's also
the cultural aspect
of entertainment.
And that's -- remember the
time when there's nothing other
than live performance.
Right? So it was the
thing to have around,
and also very much a
kind of public face.
So when they interact
with the outside --
people who are non-Chinese, you
know non-Cantonese speaking,
they like to think that
this public face is the one
that is represented in
this cultural symbolism
that I was talking
about, the opera you know?
Are able to, you know represent.
So I think it's both.
Yeah. But on top of
that I just want to say,
the theater has 800 seats or so.
So without the people coming in
every day you cannot sustain it.
So there is definitely a
demand in society for it.
>> I have another question.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Okay.
>> I have a lot of questions.
I think -- I don't know about
you [inaudible] but I read
that usually men
played women's roles.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Right.
>> So there were
only a few women
who played their own roles.
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Right.
So this I did talk
about in my book.
And that is to say the Cantonese
Opera was basically male troupes
all the way until
the 1910 or so.
So in 1910 was when
female troupes,
you know were allowed on stage.
And -- however they need to
be performing separately.
[laughing] So they cannot
be onstage at the same time.
So even though we are seeing all
these female and male onstage
in North America playing
together, in China
and Hong Kong they were banned
until 1933 and 34, respectively.
So yeah, you are right.
They were performed by men,
but up until around that time,
the 1910 is when it changed.
Okay, thank you.
>> Elizabeth Peterson: I want to
think Miss Rao for coming today
and that was a wonderful
lecture.
And she will be out
signing books afterwards.
Let's give her a
round of applause.
[applause]
>> Nancy Yunhwa Rao: Thank you.
[applause] Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.