Snow.Wolf.Lake
Encyclopedia
Snow.Wolf.Lake is Hong Kong's first modern musical. Jacky Cheung
, a cantopop
artist, was the artistic director of the show. He also played the leading character of the musical. The show time of the whole musical lasts for about three hours. Snow. Wolf.Lake has two different versions; one in Cantonese
, the other in Mandarin
. The title combines the Chinese name of the two main characters; "Wolf" in the title refers to the main male protagonist, and "Snow" refers to the main female protagonist. The "lake" refers to a plot related element.
on 28 March 1997 for a total of 42 shows. The original version of the musical is in Cantonese
. Every showing was sold out. Snow. Wolf.Lake then headed to Singapore and also received critical success there, breaking records of audience and number of showings. From 2004 to 2006, the revised Pǔtōnghuà version of the musical went on a world tour for a total of 53 shows. The last showing of Snow. Wolf.Lake was on January 7, 2006 in the Beijing's Capital Gymnasium. Snow. Wolf.Lake totals at 102 performances.
Cantonese version
Mandarin Version
Act one:
The main characters of the story are introduced. Wu's introverted character seems to prevent him from making friends with anyone except flowers. Unexpectedly, Wu's gentle nature attracted the attention of both the daughters of the Ling house which Wu works for. Jing Shu's outgoing nature makes it easy for her to get close to Wu, leaving the rather introverted Yuk-Fung watching the two from a distance. One night, Wu and Shu gazed up at the sky and saw a shooting-star; naturally they started exchanging their wishes for the future. Shu wants to be a violinist, and Wu wants to nurture a unique brand of flower that can be a true embodiment of love. Scene changes to another night, when Wu and Shu meets on a boat sailing on a lake. Shu tells Wu that there is a musical school by a lake in Vienna, which is the school Shu wishes to study at; Wu says that he will go wherever she wishes to go and nurture by the lake his special brand of flower that he names the "Snow of tranquility" (which is the meaning carried by Shu's name—宁静雪).
On Valentine's Day, Wu was tricked by Leung Jik to set on fire the Valentine's carnival...
Act two:
A long time has passed since the conclusion of act one. This part deals with what has happened after that fateful night at the Valentine's carnival. The relationship of Wu and Fung is explored further in this act, in which we see that Fung has been patiently waiting for Wu, despite the fact that she knows Wu will never forget Shu.
On Silent Night, Wu sees Shu from a distance on a street of Vienna, but fails to catch up with her. The next morning, news has filled the streets of Vienna that a famous violinist, Ling Jing-Shu has died, her body sinks to the bottom of a lake...
. Instead, Carol Chan, a HK local voice talent, takes over the role of Ling Jing-Shu (宁静雪) in the audio recording. In 2006 Cheung was nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer at the 17th Golden Melody Awards
for his work on the original soundtrack album (雪狼湖創意音樂劇).
Jacky Cheung
Jacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
, a cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
artist, was the artistic director of the show. He also played the leading character of the musical. The show time of the whole musical lasts for about three hours. Snow. Wolf.Lake has two different versions; one in Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
, the other in Mandarin
Standard Mandarin
Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....
. The title combines the Chinese name of the two main characters; "Wolf" in the title refers to the main male protagonist, and "Snow" refers to the main female protagonist. The "lake" refers to a plot related element.
Introduction
Snow.Wolf.Lake had its first showing in Hong Kong ColiseumHong Kong Coliseum
Hong Kong Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena, in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.It was built by the Urban Council and inaugurated on 27 April 1983....
on 28 March 1997 for a total of 42 shows. The original version of the musical is in Cantonese
Standard Cantonese
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a language that originated in the vicinity of Canton in southern China, and is often regarded as the prestige dialect of Yue Chinese....
. Every showing was sold out. Snow. Wolf.Lake then headed to Singapore and also received critical success there, breaking records of audience and number of showings. From 2004 to 2006, the revised Pǔtōnghuà version of the musical went on a world tour for a total of 53 shows. The last showing of Snow. Wolf.Lake was on January 7, 2006 in the Beijing's Capital Gymnasium. Snow. Wolf.Lake totals at 102 performances.
The core creative team
- Producer：Chan, Shuk Fun (陳淑芬)
- Musical Director：Jacky CheungJacky CheungJacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
- Artistic Director：Jacky CheungJacky CheungJacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
- Stage，costume and artistic design： Xi Zhongwen (奚仲文)
- Music/score Director：Au, Ding YukMichael AuMichael Au Ding Yuk is a Hong Kong music producer. He is well known for his collaboration with Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung.He won six consecutive Best Record Producer Award in RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards, all in collaboration with Jacky Cheung...
(區丁玉) - main score：Leon KoLeon KoLeon Ko Sai Tseung is a composer for musical theatre and films. He won a Richard Rodgers Development Award, a Golden Horse Award and numerous musical awards. His mother, Lucilla You Min , was a famous actress in post-war Hong Kong Mandarin cinema and won the 1st Annual Golden Horse Awards and two...
(高世章), Dick LeeDick LeeRichard "Dick" Lee Peng Boon is a Singaporean pop singer, composer, songwriter, and playwright. He is best known as a Singapore Idol judge, but often too as spokesperson for the New Asian generation....
, Iskandar Ismail, Lam Ming Yeung (林明陽) - main lyrics：Lam, Jang Keung (林振强), Lam, Jik (林夕), Choo, Sin Man (古倩敏), Jacky CheungJacky CheungJacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
Main cast and characters
Traditional musical has a main cast, which perform regularly, but will occasionally allow the alternate performers to play the lead roles. This is to allow rest for the performers and for other practical purposes. Regarding the cast, Snow.Wolf.Lake was more rigid. The cast of the canto-pop musical remains unchanged for the majority of the time. There was no alternate performer for the same role. Occasionally, a performer would leave the cast, and another performer takes over, but the replacement will have to remain in that role for all the subsequence performances. Jacky Cheung remains in the role of Wu Long (胡狼) for every performance of the musical's existence.Cantonese version
- Wu, Long or 胡狼 (played by Jacky CheungJacky CheungJacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
)-----Gardener for the Ling family, who falls in love with Ling, Jing-Shu. - Ling, Jing-Shu or 宁静雪 (played by Sandy LamSandy LamSandy Lam, also known as Lam Yik Lin, is a Cantopop singer who sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Japanese.-Career:...
in the first showings, then Nadia ChanNadia ChanNnadia Chan Chung Ling is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She started show business in 1985 at the age of 14 winning a Sally Yeh impersonation contest hosted by TVB, within the show Enjoy Yourself Tonight . Thereafter she hosted many children's show and sang many children's songs which gained her...
in the Singapore showings)-----Second daughter of the Ling family, who falls in love with Wu. - Ling, Yuk-Fung or 宁玉凤 (played by Kit ChanKit ChanKit Chan is a Singaporean singer.-Music:She was a member of the pioneer generation of Singaporean singers to successfully break into the international market, marked in particular by her breakthrough into the competitive and highly critical Taiwanese market with her hit Mandarin album Heartache ...
)-----Eldest daughter of the Ling family, who also falls in love with Wu. - Leung, Jik or 梁直 (played by Michael TseMichael TseMichael Tse Tin Wah is a Hong Kong TVB actor.-Career highlights:Michael Tse graduated from TVB's Dance Training Class and worked with TVB as a dancer for 5 years. He then left TVB and formed a boy band group called 風火海 with Jordan Chan and Jason Chu...
) -----A wealthy bachelor who loves Ling Jing-Shu. His arranged marriage with Ling Jing-Shu by Ling's parents is but a mean to bring the Ling's family out of financial trouble.
Mandarin Version
- Wu, Long or 胡狼 (played by Jacky CheungJacky CheungJacky Cheung is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. The Chinese language media refers to him, Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau and Leon Lai as the Cantopop Four Heavenly Kings , with more than 60 million records sold as of 2000....
) - Ling, Jing-Shu or 宁静雪 (played by Tong Chiang in the showings in China, then Evonne HsuEvonne HsuEvonne Hsu, also known as Hsu Hui-hsin was born 5 December 1979, in Longview, Texas, United States. She is a Taiwanese American Golden Melody Awards Mandopop singer...
for the remainder of the tour) - Ling, Yuk-Fung or 宁玉凤 (played by Kit ChanKit ChanKit Chan is a Singaporean singer.-Music:She was a member of the pioneer generation of Singaporean singers to successfully break into the international market, marked in particular by her breakthrough into the competitive and highly critical Taiwanese market with her hit Mandarin album Heartache ...
, then later Nadia ChanNadia ChanNnadia Chan Chung Ling is a Hong Kong actress and singer. She started show business in 1985 at the age of 14 winning a Sally Yeh impersonation contest hosted by TVB, within the show Enjoy Yourself Tonight . Thereafter she hosted many children's show and sang many children's songs which gained her...
) - Leung, Jik or 梁直 (played by Yu Yiy or 于毅)
Synopsis
This is not to reveal the complete story, but a brief introduction of each act. Important plot elements are left out on purpose.Act one:
The main characters of the story are introduced. Wu's introverted character seems to prevent him from making friends with anyone except flowers. Unexpectedly, Wu's gentle nature attracted the attention of both the daughters of the Ling house which Wu works for. Jing Shu's outgoing nature makes it easy for her to get close to Wu, leaving the rather introverted Yuk-Fung watching the two from a distance. One night, Wu and Shu gazed up at the sky and saw a shooting-star; naturally they started exchanging their wishes for the future. Shu wants to be a violinist, and Wu wants to nurture a unique brand of flower that can be a true embodiment of love. Scene changes to another night, when Wu and Shu meets on a boat sailing on a lake. Shu tells Wu that there is a musical school by a lake in Vienna, which is the school Shu wishes to study at; Wu says that he will go wherever she wishes to go and nurture by the lake his special brand of flower that he names the "Snow of tranquility" (which is the meaning carried by Shu's name—宁静雪).
On Valentine's Day, Wu was tricked by Leung Jik to set on fire the Valentine's carnival...
Act two:
A long time has passed since the conclusion of act one. This part deals with what has happened after that fateful night at the Valentine's carnival. The relationship of Wu and Fung is explored further in this act, in which we see that Fung has been patiently waiting for Wu, despite the fact that she knows Wu will never forget Shu.
On Silent Night, Wu sees Shu from a distance on a street of Vienna, but fails to catch up with her. The next morning, news has filled the streets of Vienna that a famous violinist, Ling Jing-Shu has died, her body sinks to the bottom of a lake...
Recording
There is no known live recording or live video of Snow. Wolf.Lake being sold in the market. Only audio recording is available. Due to property right problems, the recording of Snow. Wolf.Lake does not include any singing of Sandy LamSandy Lam
Sandy Lam, also known as Lam Yik Lin, is a Cantopop singer who sings in Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Japanese.-Career:...
. Instead, Carol Chan, a HK local voice talent, takes over the role of Ling Jing-Shu (宁静雪) in the audio recording. In 2006 Cheung was nominated for Best Mandarin Male Singer at the 17th Golden Melody Awards
17th Golden Melody Awards
The 17th Golden Melody Awards were held on June 10, 2006 at the Taipei Arena in Taipei, Taiwan.-Summary:Although alternative musicians were nominated several times for awards, most of the categories were won by mainstream artists. The award ceremony featured South Korean pop singer Se7en as a guest...
for his work on the original soundtrack album (雪狼湖創意音樂劇).