14 發光的城市 A R O U N D T O W N FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2008 • TAIPEI TIMES

his week has seen the The Chairman is back at the top of the T emergence of a genu- Mando-pop charts. photo: Taipei Times Country band 2 Acres Plowed, far left, and singer- usicians and journalists in Taipei inely self-made celebrity in the songwriter Dana Wylie and multi-instrumentalist Jez 黃 come together tomorrow at the shape of Huang Chao-kang ( Chinese-language pop music Hellard, above and left, play tomorrow at the Daniel 照岡 魔杰 Taipei Artist Village for a full day ), a 16-year old trickster world with Capricorn ( M Pearl World Day of Music. whose most recent exploit 座), his latest album, which of live music that commemorates the life photos: David Chen, Taipei Times and courtesy of the Dana Wylie of taking former president has put virtually every other of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for a wannabe star in his or her reporter who was brutally murdered in will be used to cover the costs of the ride has given him the type of place. Even the members of 2002 while on assignment in Pakistan. venue with the remainder going to the media coverage that aspiring girl group S.H.E, which has As Pearl was both a music lover and Daniel Pearl Foundation. My band, the stars could only dream of. recently dominated the charts, musician, his parents started a series of Muddy Basin Ramblers, will be there The saga’s latest install- could only look on aghast as live music concerts in his memory, which tomorrow playing American roots music ment, which started with Capricorn blew them out of grew into a global event, with musicians along with a host of other locally based Chen’s visit to Huang’s house the water with massive sales. all over the world performing as part of groups: solo rock act Nathan Javens; folk on Sept. 14, has developed On the cover of the deluxe the Daniel Pearl World Music Days. rock musicians Tyler Dakin and Russell into a publicity disaster for the package, Chou is portrayed as Taipei has held an annual World Louis Picard; country music band 2 Acres nation’s beleaguered former a character from a sword-and- Music Day since 2002. The Daniel Pearl Plowed; singer-songwriters Dana Wylie leader. Chen, who is under sorcery fantasy game, but the Foundation’s stated purpose for the and Jez Hellard; blues guitarist Steve Ray; events is to “use the universal language investigation, along with family figure-hugging black leather and indie-rock band 88 Balaz (88顆芭樂籽). members and associates, for suit he wears has given rise to of music to inspire unity, tolerance and Tomorrow’s event is sponsored by the corruption, reportedly sought comparisons to a similar outfit cross-cultural understanding,” under the Taipei Foreign Correspondents Club, the Huang’s fortune-telling skills. donned by ex-girlfriend Jolin theme of “harmony for humanity.” Taipei Artist Village and the newly opened Huang, who adopted the Tsai (蔡依林) for her album “Danny was a passionate believer Village Cafe, which will be selling burgers, professional name Huang Chi Special Agent J (特務J). in the power of music to bring people sausages, vegetarian food and beer. (黃琪), had set himself up as a Another musical success together regardless of ethnic, religious To get to the Taipei Artist Village, get or cultural differences,” said his father tarot card reader and medium story has been created by off at Shandao Temple MRT Station (善導 Judea Pearl, president of the Daniel Pearl of 10-years’ experience and F4, which has had a 寺捷運站), exit No. 1, walk to Tianjin Street Foundation, in a recent press statement. boasted of a dual master’s very profitable run in Japan. (天津街) and then turn right at Beiping degree from the UK. As it A series of seven concerts in Pearl was a classically trained violinist East Road (北平東路). — David Chen turned out, the vivacious and Tokyo and Osaka earned the who also played the mandolin in a articulate youngster, who has band NT$300 million in ticket bluegrass and rock band. The World Music Days, which tradition- Harmonizing indulged his game of imper- sales and merchandising, Festival notes: sonation before, only recently making this the most ally take place around Pearl’s birthday on graduated from high school. profitable concert tour by a Oct. 10, have grown in size and stature. What: Daniel Pearl World Music Day In a previous exploit, Taiwanese band in Japan. During their first year, the commemora- in Taipei 2008 Huang wrangled himself a In the run-up to the Golden tions were marked with 117 concerts in 18 for Where: Taipei Artist Village job as an assistant executive Bell Awards (金鐘獎) next countries; last year, there were more than (台北國際藝術村), 7 Beiping E Rd, Taipei manager of a creative arts Friday, a Yahoo Kimo survey 500 concerts in over 40 countries, accord- City (台北市北平東路7號) management company for found Ethan Ruan (阮經天) and ing to the foundation’s Web site. A number When: Tomorrow from 2pm to 9pm a few months, and obtained Chen Chiao-en (陳喬恩), both of high-profile musicians have lent their Details: No entrance fee, but celebrities’ personal details stars of the super-successful talents to Daniel Pearl music events in humanity suggested donation of NT$300 to by impersonating senior television soap Fated to Love recent years, including jazz pianist Herbie cover venue costs management from several You (命中注定我愛你), topped Hancock, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and On the Net: www.danielpearl.org; media outlets. respondents’ lists of this year’s rock stars Elton John and REM. www.danielpearlmusicdays.org Local media have been television idols. Donations from tomorrow’s Daniel delighting in the similarities Ruan beat his closest rival, Pearl World Music Day in Taipei 2008 of Huang’s career to that of F4 singer Jerry Yan (言承旭), by con artist Frank Abagnale, 14,669 votes to 8,994. Chen’s who was portrayed by lead over her rivals was even Leonardo DiCaprio in the greater, winning 29,458 votes Steven Spielberg film Catch compared to singer-actress A play that ‘tortures’ its actors Me If You Can (2002). Ariel Lin (林依晨) who garnered 吳定謙 Chinese Nationalist Party 8,902 and (楊丞琳) Whenever Denny Wu ( ) encountered to retain the dialogue-heavy nuance and (KMT) legislator Chiu Yi (邱 who notched up 4,377. difficulty translating David Lindsay- tear-jerking pathos of the original. 毅) earlier this month claimed, Fans are up in arms that Abaire’s Rabbit Hole, he would recall Wu said that because of its emotional in allegations that have been Ruan and Chen have yet Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山) Master intensity, “It’s a play that tortures the denied, that Huang reduced to transfer their onscreen Sheng Yen’s (聖嚴法師) four precepts for actors.” After watching the run-through, Chen to tears when he drew chemistry to real life, and problem-solving. it is easy to understand why. the “death” card during his according to the Apple Daily “We are always dealing with The opening scene sets the tone of reading for the ex-president. (蘋果日報), Set-TV (三立) has [setbacks],” Wu said before a run-through the play, with Becca folding the clothes (Chen admits to visiting Huang had to quell rumors that the of the play last week. “You know it and of her young son, who died eight months but denies he had a reading.) pair might attend the Golden you accept it and you deal with it and previously. Though the audience is In other news, Jay Chou Bell Ceremony with partners you leave it,” he said, paraphrasing Yen’s unaware of the tragedy, a silent sadness (周杰倫) again confirmed his of their own choice. philosophy. overwhelms the scene. The connection between Yen’s philoso- Gwen Yao (姚坤君) reveals herself to position as the king — or the — compiled by Ian Chairman, indeed — of the Bartholomew phy of dealing with adversity and the play’s be one of ’s more accomplished central theme of coming to terms with the stage actors in the lead role of the death of a loved one intersect and inform grieving mother, a character that requires Wu’s translation of Lindsay-Abaire’s 2006 the actress to juggle several disparate Oct. 10 to Oct. 16 work that deals with sorrow, which is emotions at once. She delivered a Top Five Mandarin AlbumS Plenty of tissues are needed to sit through Green Green Ray Theater’s (綠光劇團) most recent performance of quiet rage that avoided Ray Theater’s excellent adaptation of David Lindsay- Jay Chou (周杰倫) and Capricorn — Deluxe Package adaptation of a Western play. melodramatic bathos. Performance notes: Abaire’s Rabbit Hole. Photo courtesy of Green Ray Theater 1 (魔杰座) with 58.95 percent of sales “There is always a sense of loss … You Becca’s inability to overcome her feel pain at first. It hurts but you have to sadness unintentionally alienates her caught peeing on the carpet. Similarly, What: Rabbit Hole 我的電台 S.H.E and FM S.H.E — Retro Version ( FM pass through it and no matter how hard it husband, Howie, played by Wang Yao- Becca’s sister, played by Lin Wei-i (林微弋) Where: National Taiwan Arts —復古電台版 2 S.H.E ) with 6.35% is you have to work at resolving it … that ching (王耀慶), who maintains a nuanced doesn’t quite capture the struggle between Education Center (國立台灣藝術教育館本 部及演藝廳), 47 Nanhai Road, Taipei City Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) and Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) is something that Lindsay-Abaire reveals performance of remaining sympathetic mourning her sister’s loss and celebrating her own pregnancy. (台北市南海路47號) with 4.28%% in the play,” he said. to his wife while trying to hold back 3 Wu, who is new to the directorial the frustration he feels because she The set accurately recreates a middle- When: Tonight, tomorrow and Sunday Original sound track of The Legend of Brown chair, has worked on or translated a monopolizes the couple’s sorrow. class American home, with its fully at 7:30pm; tomorrow and Sunday at 4 Sugar Chivalries (黑糖群俠傳) with 3.96% number of scripts for Green Ray, most Cheng Kai-yun (鄭凱云), who plays the stocked fridge and toys scattered about, 2:30pm recently Proof. The challenge with man who accidentally hit and killed the which lends a sense of homey verisimili- Tickets: NT$500 to NT$1,000, Van Fan (范逸臣) and Wu Le Bu Tsuo (無樂不作) with 2.4% Rabbit Hole, he said, wasn’t so much the boy, doesn’t manage to evoke feelings of tude — ironic in the context of a family available through ERA ticketing 5 directing but translating the play in a way guilt and looks more like a dog who’s been that is falling apart — Noah Buchan Album chart compiled from G-Music (www.g-music.com.tw), based on retail sales

[ EVENTS & ENTERTAINMENT ]

2:30pm his complex “fingerpicking” style and Robert Levin and Chuang Ya-fei (莊 positive black sounds.” Tickets are NT$300, available through was named Best Acoustic Guitarist in a 雅斐), who will perform with the B1, 77, Wuchang St, Sec 2, Taipei City Theater NTCH ticketing readers’ poll by Guitar Player Magazine Evergreen Symphony Orchestra (長 (台北市武昌街二段77號B1). Call (02) The Room (房間) by Flying Group in May this year. [See story on Page 16 Upcoming 榮交響樂團) in concerts in Taipei and 2314-1868 for more information Theater (飛人集社劇團) investigates the Taiwan’s expulsion from the UN in 1971 of tomorrow’s Taipei Times.] Showcasing the latest works by Tainan. The program in Taipei includes Shows begin at 10pm shifting nature of memory and how serves as the background for Ping-Fong Sunday at 7:30pm new talents and heavyweight Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 in NT$400 cover includes two drinks impressions of the past fill in the blank Acting Troupe’s (屏風表演班) latest work Armed Forces Cultural Center (國軍文 filmmakers that include Jean-Pierre G Major, Op.58 and Chopin’s Piano spaces of the present. Twenty years Stand by Me (六義幫). Written and 藝活動中心), 69, Zhonghua Rd Sec 1, Luc Dardenne’s The Silence of Lorna, Concerto No.2 in F Minor, Op.21. The Tonight Underworld(地下社會) hosts after the disappearance of his father, directed by Hugh Lee (李國修), the story Taipei City (台北市中華路一段69號) Wim Wenders’ The Palermo Shooting program in Tainan includes Mozart’s metal rockers Hardcase and Sideffect. a young man returns to the house follows six youths who use an air-raid Tickets are NT$600 to NT$2,000, and Changeling by Clint Eastwood, Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, Tomorrow night it’s indie-band Red where the old man lived in an attempt shelter as a meeting place to discuss available through ERA ticketing Taiwan’s oldest and biggest K.448, Debussy’s En Blanc et Noir, Flower (紅花) and loud rockers Shi Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey to gain a greater understanding of his their roles in history. international film festival, the 2008 Lutoslawski’s Variations on a Theme Zhen (十震). Scream Silence and emo Photo courtesy of Golden Horse family’s past. Hsinchu County Cultural Affairs Chai Found Music Workshop Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival (台 by Paganini and Rachmaninoff’s rockers One Way to Die (死路一條) Crown Theater (皇冠藝文中心小劇場), Bureau (新竹縣文化局), 146, Sianjheng and Ensemble 2e2m (台法樂響－采 北金馬影展) will open on Nov. 6. will be two special screenings of Symphonic Dances, Op.45. perform on Wednesday. B1, 50, Ln 120, Dunhua N Rd, Taipei (台 9th Rd, Jhubei City, Hsinchu County (新 風樂坊與Ensemble 2e2m) is a The festival program is divided into Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Tomorrow (Taipei) and Monday B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師 北市敦化北路120巷50號B1) 竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號) collaboration between the Taiwanese thematic sections under headings Odyssey to mark the film’s 40th (Tainan) at 7:30pm 大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369-0103 or Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm; Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at experimental music group Chai Found such as LGBT, Midnight Fever and anniversary. National Concert Hall, Taipei City; visit www.upsaid.com/underworld for tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm 2:30pm Music Workshop (采風樂坊) and French Window to Southeast Asia. Made The festival takes place at Vieshow Tainan Municipal Cultural Center more information Tickets are NT$450, available through Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500, group Ensemble 2e2m. The program in USA is a new addition that aims Cinemas Sun (日新威秀), Vieshow Performance Hall (台南市立文化中心演 Live shows go from 9:30pm to NTCH ticketing available through NTCH ticketing includes five new compositions to present the cream of American Cinemas Xinyi (信義威秀) and Shin 藝廳), 332, Jhonghua E Rd Sec 3, 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and specially commissioned to display the independent productions. Kong Cineplex (新光影城) from Nov. 6 Tainan City (台南市中華東路三段332號) from 9pm to 11pm on Wednesdays. A debate about death and the The Puppet and Its Double Theater innovative orchestration and talents of This year’s edition shines the to Nov. 21 Tickets are NT$400 to NT$2,500 for The bar is open from 8pm daily; closed exploration of reality underlies Creative (無獨有偶工作室劇團) revises its The these two groups. spotlight on Russia’s most celebrated Tickets cost NT$230 per screening, Taipei and NT$400 to NT$2,000 in on Mondays Society’s (創作社劇團) play To Be and Happy Prince (快樂王子), a puppet Today at 7:30pm animation director, Aleksandr Petrov, or NT$200 for students; available Tainan, available through NTCH Entrance tonight and tomorrow is Not To Be: The Dark Fantasy of performance based on Oscar Wilde’s National Concert Hall, Taipei City and features retrospective programs through ERA ticket outlets or online ticketing NT$300 and includes one drink; Formosan Dead II (不三不四到台 fairy tale by the same name. Tickets are NT$400 to NT$1,200, on Jean-Pierre Melville and Kon at www.ticket.com.tw. For more entrance on Wednesday is NT$100. 灣). Wenfang (文芳) travels across the Ilan Performing Arts Center (宜蘭縣文 available through NTCH ticketing Ichikawa of Japan. information about the festival, visit Drinks are buy-one-get-one-free����������������������� on�� globe to visit her friend Sandy, who is 化局演藝廳), 482, Jhongshan Rd Sec 2, In another blast from the past, there www.goldenhorse.org.tw Tuesdays and Thursdays before on her deathbed. Upon arrival, Sandy Ilan City (宜蘭市中山路二段482號) Ethnomusicolgical Lecture Contemporary midnight reveals to Wenfang that she is a ghost. Tomorrow at 1:30pm Performance by Liang Ming-yue Tonight VU Live House hosts Dub Wenfang, a reporter accustomed to Tickets are NT$350, available through and Huang Hao-yin (民族音樂學堂 Verbier Festival Chamber Or- National Concert Hall, Taipei City Selecta, presented by Tranquility Bass UK alternative pop group Camera the absurdities of life, scoffs at Sandy’s NTCH ticketing 名家經典—琴與箏的對話) is a concert chestra (馮史達德與瑞銀韋爾比耶音樂 Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500, Productions. The music will be spun Obscura takes to the stage tomorrow�������� revelation, only to discover a more by masters of two of Chinese culture’s 節室內樂團) features renowned mezzo available through NTCH ticketing by DJs Saucey from Canada and night at The Wall (這牆). See Page 13 shocking truth. Through humorous most representative solo instruments, soprano Frederica von Stade, who has Ting from New Zealand. Live band of today’s Taipei Times for full story. dialogue, Wenfang has to decide the qin (琴) and the zheng (箏). built an international reputation on her Duo Concertos for Levin and Dub Supervisors plays afterwards. B1, 200, Roosevelt Rd Sec 4, Taipei whether life is worth living. Classical music Tomorrow at 7:30pm ability to straddle Broadway musicals, Chuang (鶼鰈琴聲—羅伯烈文與莊 Tomorrow night it’s Old School City (台北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). For Chiayi Performing Arts Center (嘉義 2008 Tommy Emmanuel National Recital Hall, Taipei City traditional opera and lieder. She will 雅斐雙協奏曲音樂會) is part of the Science with Coffeepot, Rich, more information, call (02) 2930-0162 縣表演藝術中心), 265, Jianguo Rd Sec 2, Taipei Concert (2008 Tommy Tickets are NT$400 and NT$600, sing in Taipei with the UBS Verbier Taiwan International Piano Festival Mixter T and Soulbasic. On Sunday or go to www.thewall.com.tw Minsyong Township, Chiayi County (嘉 Emmanuel 台北演奏會) brings the available through NTCH ticketing Festival Chamber Orchestra under the (2008台灣國際鋼琴藝術節). The month- the venue hosts the Mandinga Latin 8pm tomorrow 義縣民雄鄉建國路二段265號) Australian guitarist to Taipei for a baton of Gabor Takacs-Nagy. long event continues this week with a Jazz Quartet, followed by DJ Zulu, Tickets are NT$1,100, available at Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at single concert. Emmanuel is known for Frederica von Stade and UBS Monday at 7:30pm program featuring renowned pianists spinning what he calls “timeless and White Wabbit Records and at the venue