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"City Inside a Broken Sky", a pop opera by Kung Chi Shing about a Hong Kong man living in rapid motion between heaven and hell, will be staged at the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium on May 19 and 20 (Friday and Saturday) at 8pm. A meet-the-artist session will also be held after the performance on May 19 (Friday).

It is a deconstructed opera for the 21st century: a live-music concert of international musicians and Chinese alternative pop artists performed in a visual landscape of theatre art and video poetry, strange and fantastical spirit machines and unidentified flying objects. Through music and imagery, it conjures visions of the inner life and outer world of a Hong Kong man in the city.

Conceptually, musically and artistically, "City Inside a Broken Sky" represents a new level of performance. As a work of music-theatre, it acts both as a concert and as a deeper visual and narrative experience. In this work, Hong Kong alternative composer and musician cum the director and producer of the programme Kung Chi Shing will bring together international talented artists, including Electric Guitarist Hahn Rowe (New York), Voice and Cello player Robert Een (Los Angeles), Percussionist Peter Jarvis (New York), Piano and keyboard player Nancy Loo (Hong Kong), choreographer and dancer Makoto Matsushima (Tokyo) and two well-known Chinese pop singers Jun Kung (Hong Kong) and Sandee Chen (Taiwan). Further, Chow Yiu Fai, Valerie C. Doran, Michael Lam and Hsia Yu (Lyrics and Poetry), Wong Chi Fai and Jamsen Law (Video) Masato Tanaka (Kinetic Sculpture), Eve Yip and Lee Man Seng (Cyber Costumes and Objects) will joint hands to participate in the music-theatre.

Not a musical "story" in the way an opera is, "City Inside a Broken Sky" presents a musical and visual mosaic whose many pieces create an emotional picture: the real and imagined life experiences of a man in the city. On another level, it is an abstract statement about modern existence. The performance will be divided into a series of musical segments performed by a live ensemble. At the same time, each of these segments will be expanded on by performance and visual artists using movement, voice, film, words, objects, creating a multi-dimensional human experience. The ultimate aim is to directly engage the audience in the way Pop music does, but at the same time to create a deeper, more challenging emotional encounter.

Kung Chi Shing has been working in the vanguard of Asia-based music-theatre for over 14 years. One of the trademarks of his former alternative-music group BOX was the way they combined the concert format with a strong theatrical element and creative physical environment. Kung has independently created two full-length music-theatre works in 1996, namely "Destiny Travels Limited" (Hong Kong Arts Festival) and "Floating Bridge" experimenting with a different balance of live music, theatre and visual art in each work.

Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, tickets priced at HK$170, 130 and 90 are now available at all URBTIX outlets, with half price concession for senior citizens, people with disability and full time students. A 10% discount is also available for each purchase of 4 to 10 tickets and 20% off for each purchase of 11 or more tickets.

Programme enquiries can be made on 2734 2937 while ticketing enquiries and reservations on 2734 9009.

End/Wednesday, May 3, 2000

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