Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Cambodia's first ever rock opera to premiere this month

Cambodian rock fans attend a concert. Cambodia's first-ever Broadway musical-style rock opera, which will incorporate Cambodian lullabies and Khmer Rouge propaganda songs, will premiere later this month, organisers said Tuesday.(AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)
Tue Nov 4

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia's first-ever Broadway musical-style rock opera, which will incorporate Cambodian lullabies and Khmer Rouge propaganda songs, will premiere later this month, organisers said Tuesday.

"Where Elephants Weep," a modern take on a traditional Cambodian love story that merges pop and rock music with more traditional and historical Cambodian tunes is scheduled to open in Phnom Penh on November 28.

"It will be the first time in the kingdom's history that a Broadway-ready contemporary opera of this scale and calibre has ever been staged and represents a turning point in the creative and cultural revival of Cambodia," organisers said in a statement.

The show will use instruments ranging from modern synthesizers to folk drums to perform music composed by Russian-trained Cambodian maestro Him Sophy.

It will tell a love story similar to "Tum Teav," a Cambodian version of "Romeo and Juliet," said Him Sophy during a press conference.

Organisers said the show had a successful preview in the United States last year and after its run ends in Cambodia next month it is expected to tour South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan before returning to the US.

The Khmer Rouge destroyed a vibrant Cambodian rock music scene as it sought to construct a Communist utopia, evacuating cities and forcing people to work on collective farms where they were made to sing propaganda songs.

Some 1.7 million people were executed or killed through overwork, starvation and torture during the 1975 to 1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge.

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