Last two chances to catch Cambodian opera
Posted by Jackie on April 28, 2007
Last night, I attended the opening-night performance of Where Elephants Weep, a contemporary Cambodian opera held at the Cyrus W. Irish Theatre at Lowell High School. The last two performances of the opera are tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.and believe me, you don’t want to miss this incredible experience that in many ways mirrors our own community. (See Margaret’s earlier post, dated 4/27 for a more detailed review.) The opera is intense, an incredible mix of traditional Cambodian dance and music, with rock n roll and rap. At some moments, I laughed out loud and at others, I cried–such as when the lovers sang No Mothers, a song about motherless children. I can only imagine how much more intense it must have been for the older Cambodians in the audience who had experienced this history first hand. I can also imagine how the opera epitomizes what our Cambodian-American youth experience every day as they try to make sense of their new culture with that of their families’; at times, the language in the opera (such as the use of a few F words) startles as it yanks the audience back to modern America. Speaking of the audience, the auditorium was packed — every seat taken by a mixture of ages and races that truly is our city, so was the after party at the Mogan Cultural Center. It was also great to see so many people from the Lowell schools there, including teachers, principals and administrators, and to realize how art and opera, in this case, informs our understanding of each other. To see everyone together, enjoying the music, dance, and history of this story was very cool. The audience’s enthusiasum was evident by the standing ovation they gave the performers at the end. One of the greatest strengths of our city (and our public schools) is the diversity of people here, and that was the overwhelming feeling I had as I laughed, cried, and was moved along with fellow members of our mixed community. Also, two of the dancers in the show are LHS graduates!
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