BOSTON—Despite bouts of bad weather during the week and an overnight storm on Saturday, the Boston Opera House was filled to capacity on the weekend with people coming to see the “Chinese New Year Spectacular” by Divine Performing Arts. There were two shows on Saturday, Jan. 10, and one afternoon performance on Sunday, Jan.11.
Magazine editor Mr. Chin attended the show on Saturday. When asked about the opening piece, he said, “I was stunned, as I think everyone was—there was a big ‘Ahhh’ in the audience. And the vibrant colors, the amazing fog. It gave me a little shiver, actually.”
Mr. Neece, cofounder of a software company, said that the Sunday performance was “a unique theatrical experience” and that the colors were “indescribable.”
“When you go to a show often, you have a play or one type of performance. So this is more color than anything I’ve ever seen before, and it’s also very diverse. … At one point, you have just one piano player and one soloist, and then the next act, you have very dramatic dancers drumming. So one act will appeal to your ears, and the next act will appeal to your whole body because you’ll feel it,” he said.
Mrs. Neece, who says she is a “big theater buff,” added, “It’s wonderful, it’s really beautiful, it truly is.”
The Boston Opera House, described in its heyday as “a perfect jewel-box of an opera house” and now a national landmark, was the perfect venue for Divine Performing Arts.
The original building, which had been demolished after a period of disuse, was rebuilt in its current location in 1928 in the lavish Beaux Arts style. The Boston Opera Company bought it in 1978 and named it the Opera House, but when financial difficulties struck the company, the building fell into disrepair and was eventually purchased by Clear Channel. A massive restoration project was finally begun in 2001.
The theater reopened in 2004, complete with polished marble columns and floors, ornate mirrors, glass chandeliers, ceiling murals, and gilded walls—reviving its original Renaissance and Baroque-style grandeur.
Elected officials greeted the arrival of Divine Performing Arts with letters of welcome, certificates of recognition, citations, and a resolution.
“I look forward to the Year of the Ox,” wrote Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, “may it bring you peace, good fortune, and joy.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wrote, “I am so grateful for the wonderful cultural contributions the Chinese American community makes to our state.”
New York-based Divine Performing Arts is a music and dance company that “gains its creative inspiration from traditional Chinese culture, and seeks to further the heritage, this treasure of humankind, through the artistic forms of classical and ethnic Chinese dance,” according to the program book.
DPA this year consists of three touring companies, two of which have live orchestras. They will be performing in over 80 cities and in some of the worlds’ finest theaters during the 2009 World Tour.
This is the third year DPA has returned to the Boston Opera House as part of its world tour. The company will return to New England in the spring to perform in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 5 at the Providence Performing Arts Center; and in Hartford, Connecticut, March 21–22, at The Bushnell.
With reporting by NTDTV
For a list of cities and more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org
Magazine editor Mr. Chin attended the show on Saturday. When asked about the opening piece, he said, “I was stunned, as I think everyone was—there was a big ‘Ahhh’ in the audience. And the vibrant colors, the amazing fog. It gave me a little shiver, actually.”
Mr. Neece, cofounder of a software company, said that the Sunday performance was “a unique theatrical experience” and that the colors were “indescribable.”
“When you go to a show often, you have a play or one type of performance. So this is more color than anything I’ve ever seen before, and it’s also very diverse. … At one point, you have just one piano player and one soloist, and then the next act, you have very dramatic dancers drumming. So one act will appeal to your ears, and the next act will appeal to your whole body because you’ll feel it,” he said.
Mrs. Neece, who says she is a “big theater buff,” added, “It’s wonderful, it’s really beautiful, it truly is.”
The Boston Opera House, described in its heyday as “a perfect jewel-box of an opera house” and now a national landmark, was the perfect venue for Divine Performing Arts.
The original building, which had been demolished after a period of disuse, was rebuilt in its current location in 1928 in the lavish Beaux Arts style. The Boston Opera Company bought it in 1978 and named it the Opera House, but when financial difficulties struck the company, the building fell into disrepair and was eventually purchased by Clear Channel. A massive restoration project was finally begun in 2001.
The theater reopened in 2004, complete with polished marble columns and floors, ornate mirrors, glass chandeliers, ceiling murals, and gilded walls—reviving its original Renaissance and Baroque-style grandeur.
Elected officials greeted the arrival of Divine Performing Arts with letters of welcome, certificates of recognition, citations, and a resolution.
“I look forward to the Year of the Ox,” wrote Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, “may it bring you peace, good fortune, and joy.”
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick wrote, “I am so grateful for the wonderful cultural contributions the Chinese American community makes to our state.”
New York-based Divine Performing Arts is a music and dance company that “gains its creative inspiration from traditional Chinese culture, and seeks to further the heritage, this treasure of humankind, through the artistic forms of classical and ethnic Chinese dance,” according to the program book.
DPA this year consists of three touring companies, two of which have live orchestras. They will be performing in over 80 cities and in some of the worlds’ finest theaters during the 2009 World Tour.
This is the third year DPA has returned to the Boston Opera House as part of its world tour. The company will return to New England in the spring to perform in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 5 at the Providence Performing Arts Center; and in Hartford, Connecticut, March 21–22, at The Bushnell.
With reporting by NTDTV
For a list of cities and more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org
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