“I Have a Date with Spring” Successfully Ends Tour in Shanghai
The popular Hong Kong stage play I Have a Date with Spring <我和春天有個約會> successfully ended its five-day run in Shanghai on September 18, 2016.
The famous stage play, which had its first show on the Shanghai Oriental Art Center on September 14, starred Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), Jade Leung (梁琤), Elena Kong (江美儀), and Maggie Shiu (邵美琪) as four nightclub performers whose lives were forever changed after one of the performers was given an opportunity to perform one final show for a nightclub, on the night of the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots.
Michael Tse (謝天華), Eddie Kwan (關禮傑), Patrick Tang (鄧健泓), Queenie Chu (朱慧敏), and Ai Wai (艾威) costar.
Queenie, who portrays the sexy Yuen Pik, had on a pair of fake silicone breasts to enhance her figure. The former beauty queen contestant had a lot of fun portraying the character, and is very satisfied with her exaggerated appearance on the show.
She said, “For the sake of the stage, I don’t mind playing these characters. But many of my friends had a great laugh when they saw my appearance. It’s just all for show, guys!”
Queenie thanked her costars for taking care of her, saying, “They know I’m carrying a lot of weight. I have to wear these fake things on my for the entire day. They’d watch out for me, telling me to sit down whenever I could to take a rest. They’d also give me a hot water bag for my back.”
As Michael will soon start training for his other musical The Storm Show <風雲5D音樂劇>, he said I Have a Date with Spring had been a great warm-up show for him. Myolie has also gotten much more confident in her singing compared to her performances in the Chinese music program, King Cross <跨界歌王>.
Myolie has recently been rumored to be “preparing” for a baby, as gossip reports have said that her husband Philip Lee (李乘德) has moved to a new home in Tai Po. In regards to this rumor, Myolie said, “It’s true that we’ve moved houses but it’s not because we’re preparing for a baby.” Admitting that she wants to have a child, Myolie added, “I still have to complete all my jobs at hand before I think about anything else.”
There has also been rumors that the organizers purposely changed rehearsal location from Shanghai to Hong Kong in order to accommodate Myolie. The former TVB actress said, “Rehearsing has always been in Hong Kong. I’ve never requested anything.”
I Have a Date with Spring, a stage play written by Raymond To (杜國威), first premiered at the Hong Kong City Hall in 1992. It was adapted into a Hong Kong film in 1994, followed by an ATV television drama starring Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯), Joey Meng (萬綺雯), and Kwong Wa (江華) in 1996. A loose Chinese adaptation, the television drama Love in Spring <愛在春天>, was released in 2013.
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Nice to see Wilson Tsui (Ai Wai) back in acting! I was so worried when he said that he would stop his acting career and work in the construction industry.
There is a certain old-style charm about “I have a Date with Spring” that has made it popular over the past 2 decades. I look forward to have it remade into a series/movie in a few years soon (the Mainland Chinese adaption does not count since they changed the plot setting into period drama).
@elizabeth Yup, I share the same sentiment with you about Wilson. Glad to see him finally getting more diverse opportunities. He’s a good actor and after putting his career on hold to take care of his wife, he definitely deserves way more than what he’s gotten over the years. I know he’s got a movie in post-production right now where he stars as lead for the first time – it’s a small budget production that probably won’t get much of a theater run and I doubt it will boost his popularity any, but at least Wilson finally gets to fulfill his dream of doing a lead role, even if it’s only one time.
Back to “I Have a Date with Spring” – kind of hard to top the original stage, movie, and television versions in my opinion. There probably will be more remakes of this story in the coming years, since the trend in the industry now seems to be rehashing and piggybacking off past successes. Hopefully future versions will be decent and not stray too far from the original script.
Maggie and Jade looks good. I have always like the both of them but pity that they were always given mediocre roles that never allow them to shine. A real pity. But glad to see them here.
The stage play “I Have a Date with Spring” successfully ended its five-day run in Shanghai on September 18, 2016 ………………… Does anyone know about this stage play? Was it done in Mandarin or Cantonese? I don’t think those artistes are good in Mandarin. Since it was a live show, they could not have any NGs.
@orchid123 It was completely in Cantonese. Actually, most of the stage plays done in Mainland China starring HK artists are in Cantonese, not Mandarin. There was an article about this awhile back ago – apparently , even when the stage play is done completely in Cantonese, Mainland audiences who attend don’t seem to have a problem with understanding the dialogue and reacting the way live audiences usually do. The stage play was essentially done to mark the 20th anniversary of the original play, though it looks like the Shanghai show is just a start. The play will actually be touring throughout Mainland China next year, but the cast will be completely different. They announced the new cast a few days ago – Tavia Yeung will be replacing Myolie Wu in the lead role and the other 3 female leads (which were played by Jade Leung, Maggie Siu, and Elena Kong) will be replaced by Joey Meng (who will be reprising the same role she did in the ATV television version), Eva Lai, and Emily Kwan. Queenie Chu will continue her role from the Shanghai show. On the male side, most of the cast was changed out as well, with only Nelson Cheung (who is also one of the producers of the stage play) keeping his role – Jackie Lui and Kenny Wong will be taking over for I believe Michael Tse and Eddie Kwan’s roles (not 100% sure though, as I only read that they would be joining the cast but didn’t specify which roles). I think the next show doesn’t start until early 2017, so there will probably more confirmed information that will come out in the next few months….
@llwy12 Thanks for your detailed information. I wish that they would ask Sheren Tang and Kong Wah to act the main leads in their 2017 touring shows. They did very well in the ATV drama series. Not all the lead artistes had stage play experience, so we could accept someone like Sheren Tang and Kong whose acting skills are so much better. Did they have to sing much on this stage play in Shanghai vs. the original and ATV drama series?
I watched the ATV drama series, “I Have a Date with Spring” (acted by Sheren Tang and Kong Wah), and I enjoyed it very much.
I don’t know who are Eva Lai, Emily Kwan, Nelson Cheung, Jackie Lui, and Kenny Wong. Could you please give me their Chinese names (either in English or in Chinese characters)?
Thanks in advance.
@orchid123 Eva Lai (黎燕珊) was former Miss ATV pageant winner, also former ATV actress, and currently hosts variety shows for i-Cable. Emily Kwan (關寶慧) filmed for TVB for quite some time, HKAPA graduate so plenty of stage experience. Nelson Cheung (張學潤) famous art director, though also did some acting throughout his career. Jackie Lui (呂頌賢) – pretty sure you know who he is, as he was quite popular as an actor back in the day. Kenny Wong (黃德斌) – you probably know who he is too – supporting actor at TVB.
@llwy12 Thanks very much for your information. I know all of them, except Nelson Cheung (張學潤). Eva Lai is very pretty, one of the prettiest Miss ATV pageant winners. Emily Kwan is a singer and stage player and Jackie Lui was a very popular actor. Not that interested in Kenny Wong’s acting myself.