Chinese New Year Splendor

04/29/2008 Posted by AaronHartwell

I agree with some of the other negative criticisms. I was expecting something more along the lines of a show you'd see in China or Cirque de Sole here in the states. This was no where close. Overall, it felt like a low budget production. The stage was not decorated in any way, the dances were fairly boring and repetetive, and there was a big religious / political message being repeated throughout the whole show. Definately not worth the $100 per ticket we paid.

02/25/2008 Posted by madlip

I took a group of my friends (many of them are not Chinese) to visit China in 2005. We went to various acrobatic and dance shows there. Everyone was thrilled with the performances. My Egyptian friend saw the ads for this show and thought it would be like one of the shows she saw in China. She organized the same group of friends to go see the show. She was also very eager to share with her mom the rich Chinese culture and extravagant showmanship she had witnessed in China, so she took her mom along too. The show turned out to be a big disappointment. It was a political propaganda performed by a team of talentless amateurs, that completely distorted the essence of Chinese arts. Of course the organizer of the show tactically marketed the show as a culture celebration performed by highly professionally trained talents. It was completely deceiving. In the show, it repeatedly emphasized that the number one belief of Fa Lun Gong is being truthful. The organizer just demonstrated the opposite. Fortunately my non-Chinese friends had already experienced the true essence of Chinese culture. Otherwise this show will undoubtedly distort their view about China and 5000 years of Chinese history.

Pros: none

Cons: everything about the show

02/11/2008 Posted by Franny08

I am a Californian and I watched the show in Radio City Music Hall last week. The show is fabulous, extremely well done. To me, it is no doubt one of the best quality shows I have ever watched. I watched many Hollywood shows and Las Vegas shows. From production point of view, this show is second to none. I could understand people offering 4 star comments depending on their personal taste. But for a 1 star comment, either that guy is blind or crazy, there is no excuse for such a behavior. One should definitely go watching the show in person. This show should not be missed.

Pros: Well done high quality production, beautiful costumes, talented dancers, profound music

Cons: none

02/10/2008 Posted by spacegal001

My father and I watched the last Splendor production on Saturday. It was certainly the most entrancing Chinese performance I've ever seen, and I daresay its vivid digital backdrop is unprecedented. My father, a Chinese immigrant born during WWII, said he was exhilarated to see a show that depicts our ancestral land in its majestic splendor and free of communism, at last. He said the Splendor starkly contrasts past Chinese shows he had seen, most of which extolled Mao or the Chinese Communist Party. This performance was refreshing and edifying. My father even shed tears during a few of the poignant numbers. We'll definitely watch it again next year.

Pros: depicted a china free of communism

Cons: wish we could get it on DVD

02/10/2008 Posted by Mixkons1

We attended the NY production 02/09 in NY (Radiocity). Glad we paid discount $58 with half off the second ticket. Silly dialogues from commentators, cheesy "tech digital" background, bad performances, costumes seem to be from Chinatown, not really any acrobatics as advertised and most importantly this is a Falung Dafa production with several political messages. Which by the way I might not oppose but they should have mentioned when we bought the tickets. Several songs _ Dafa is good and going on and on and on... - about the bad Chinese government and oppression. This was suppose to be Chinese New Year production and had NOTHING to do with Chinese New Year. How did end up politicized I have no idea. Couple of people left half way - and yes, some Asian too! Also, some of Chinese 12th century soldiers were dressed up as 15th century European musketeers, Buddha had blue hair and it also included Korean dancing. Cheesy and cheap is the least I can say for the show. I am dissapointed that unintentionally I have financially contributed in a political organization. Shame on Radiocity that does not inform us what are we going to see. Too bad for the venue, I guess they have decided to be political these days...

Pros: NONE!

Cons: Falung Dafa political propaganda, cheap, cheesy, nothing Splendor

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

02/09/2008 Posted by AdamS100

This show catapulted the majesty of the Tang Dynasty and legends of ancient China under Broadway’s limelight. The curtains open with the elaborate dance “Creation” that recounts the legendary origin of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Tang and his subjects are depicted as Buddhas who had descended from the heavens with a mission to bring goodness to mankind. The vaunted digital backdrop immediately proves its worth. Three-dimensional golden palaces sit amidst drifting clouds. Iridescent colors richly saturate Radio City's gigantic movie screen. Tree branches sway, rivers flow, and waterfalls splash. In addition, videos of real, moving actors are seamlessly embedded in the computer generated dynamic landscape. With perfect timing, dancers emerge on stage from the corner where their animated counterparts just disappeared. On other occasions, animated actors soar across the backdrop from where real actors vanished in the mist seconds earlier. A caveat: Falun Dafa’s spiritual elements protrude in some of the numbers, but they resonated well with my girl-friend’s and my Buddhist upbringing. From what we know of China’s history, Buddhist and Taoist philosophies had always influenced the land and its people, until the Commies took over. So you can surely get a glimpse of the spiritual China from this show.

Pros: 3 hours of ethereal immersion in authentic Chinese culture

Cons: I also hoped to see dragons and lions, but I guess those dances are too common

02/09/2008 Posted by Nancy990

I watched the show with my family. Unlike a few thought the show was a bit long, I thought it was a little short. Time past by so quickly, I felt we only spent an hour there. I liked the Mongolian bowl dance the most, it needs a lot of practices to keep the bowls balanced on the head. The dancers are gifted. I also liked the orchestra mixing Chinese instruments with the western's. I consider this a really good combination. The show was great. My whole family loves it.

Pros: dance, music

02/09/2008 Posted by stone003

Very nice and impressive one, and brought us back to the true Chinese history. All the Chinese historical stories, the music and dance, check out yourself. We and many Chinese friends lived in the “red” China for over 30+ years and saw all kinds of “performing”, yes, all kinds of “shows”, whether it was on stage or on the real world. That is truly very political and religions. We/everyone had to read that Chairman mao’s books everyday, even when I was 7! in every schools every companies, every office ! The first English we were taught was “long live chairman mao”. there are a lot more like that.. someone could tell you more

02/09/2008 Posted by jcc2008

This show was a great disappointment. My husband and I are Chinese Americans, and we thought that this would be a great way to introduce our children to the Chinese Culture. Having been in a Chinese dance troop before, I can tell you that there was nothing Chinese about this show except for the dancers themselves. The costumes were beautiful, but the women on stage were pretty much doing a marching band routine. The underhanded way in which the Falun Gong used this show to promote their cause is truly despicable....I never gave much thought to them, but now knowing that money is funding their cause makes me very mad. I hope that this show has not turned off non-Chinese to the true splendors of China. I will be taking my children to see other shows that are truly Chinese in spirit and hope that they will forget the image of the woman being beaten to death by the police.......the Falun Gong should be ashamed.

Cons: Falun Gong Propaganda

02/09/2008 Posted by lamiche32

I agree with the other two posters who had negative reviews. I looked foward to seeing an artistic rendering of cultural celebrations having to do with the Lunar New Year, not simplistic, anti-communist, pro- Falun Dafa propaganda, and felt very defrauded. The entire time the MC's were touting China's ancient, 5000 year culture, yet, all they performed was original, western style music with saccharine, falun-dafa promoting themes. I knew very little about this organization before, but whatever complaints they have against the Chinese goverment, this sort of underhanded indoctrination weakesn their case. Very disappointed.

Pros: dances, though repetitive, were lovely

Cons: Bland, amateur, us-good, them-bad themes, overtly political agenda inapproriate for occasion