United States: Professional Opera Singer says it Can't be Beat!

Ushering in the Year of the Ox is the 2009 Chinese New Year Spectacular, as Divine Performing Arts illuminated the People's Palace - Radio City Music Hall on January 24th-25th with a brand new programme that is both invigorating and inspiring. Judging by their reactions, the show enthralled the audience.

An Indian man said he strongly identified with what was unfolding on stage, which attests to the Spectacular's universal appeal, "I come from an old culture, the Hindu culture, and I like this Chinese tradition also, the Buddhism and all that, so I'm enjoying it, I'm really enjoying it!" Beaming with joy, he added, "The costumes, the talent of all the performers, they are excellent! They are really well trained. They must have worked very hard. I'm so glad we came, this was the first time we saw [a show produced by DPA], and we'll come again next year."

Equally dazzled was Isabelle Madison, co-owner of a design firm with branches in New York and Colorado. For her, the performance was not just "lovely" but in fact "absolutely splendid," because her favourites were the costumes and the classical dances. As someone who works in the ever-changing industry of fashion design, she was attracted to the "strong lines and beautiful colours," and called the pink and white flowing sleeves "incredible." Also intriguing to her was the difference between modern China and the glorious ancient China presented on stage, "It's an interesting contrast, particularly with the current changes in China, and to see the traditions and the history is very different than what I expected. Beautiful, stunning! Very well done, very appealing. The history, the culture, it's very specific and very unique, very unexpected, and very nice."

Physician Medappa said he liked all of the numbers and went on to explain why he thought the show was significant, "China has a long tradition, more than 5,000 years, [and at] different times, different things must have been going on. I think it's very important to remember the past, too."

Earl Hui is a retired professional singer living in Long Island, and he spent 14 years of his career singing operas. He gave the DPA singers unusually high marks, saying they are "marvelous, extremely good, extremely good." He loved the costumes because, "They are wonderful, can't be beat, very, very beautiful, I love it." He also mused on the propriety and finesse that constitute part of DPA's magic, "This is not the kind of show you see on Broadway, it has its own set of qualities. With American entertainment, we expect a lot of noise, let's put it this way, a lot of body exposure, which is different. [In this show] everybody was well-clothed, and that's why I loved it." The spiritual aspect of the Spectacular also struck a chord with him, "In America, we are Christians, and you [Chinese culture] have Buddhism, but there are the same morals in the show, [such as] love each other, don't kill, etc."