Mr. Wing
[Based on Jimmy's illustrated books 'Mr. Wing' (Xing Yun Er) & 'A Fish with a Smile'(Wei Xiao De Yu)]
Producer: Cherie Huang Xiu Yu
Director: Miguel Li Huan Xiong
Playwrights: Miguel Li Huan Xiong,Li Ge Di
Cast:
Winston Chao Wen Xuan
Faith Yang Nai Wen
Michael Wang Guang Liang
Premiered : 2/9/2005 (Taiwan National Theater)
Merchandise : T-shirt, program booklet, soundtrack CD
Miguel Li, who made Jimmy's book "Sound of Colors" (Di Xia Tie) into a stage drama for the first time in July 2003, is collaborating with the author again in September 2005 for another production,'Mr. Wing', which is the adaptation of 'Mr. Wing' (Xing Yun Er) combined with 'A Fish with a Smile' (Wei Xiao De Yu). The new play was written by Ge Di Li and Miguel Li, with Chen Chien Chi appointed as the musical director while Meng Chao Wang is in charge of the stage design. Miguel Li has maintained his approach of infusing poetry into musical numbers to create a unique literary musical style, and thereby combining many elements together to fill the light-hearted stage drama called 'A Romantic Rhapsody'.
“Mr. Wing” is a story about 'Chairman' who has lived an enviable life from his childhood until he has a pair of wings on his back one day. People see him as an incredibly lucky man, but are the wings growing by themselves a sign of blessing or that of curse? The distinction becomes increasingly obscure as Miguel Li says, "The storyteller in the book 'Mr. Wing' is Chairman's chauffeur, which is also the main character in 'A Fish with a Smile'; an ordinary man just like me. So I thought of asking a question as well, ‘the two characters are both 37-year-olds and have lived different lives, but which one is truly the lucky one?" However Li also stressed, "Unlike the original book, the drama "Mr. Wing" is more likely to be a comedy with an anarchism orientation, and it also has a touch of warm-heartedness and sentiment."
Veteran actor Winston Chao will play the role of Chairman, and pop singer-songwriter Michael Wong, whose singing style and image are considered to be a perfect man for Jimmy's works, will play Dada the Chauffeur. Female singer Faith Yang, known for her distinctive image, will play mysterious heroin Beatrice. More than a dozen good actors and actresses from Taiwan and Hong Kong will join the main cast.
This is Michael Wong's first time acting in a stage drama. Although he is not in the lead role of this drama, his character Dada the Chauffeur has watched Chairman grow up since his childhood while experiencing hardships in his real life. Actually Dada is the de facto leading role.
When the drama starts, 'Skypeople' from the underground society and three aliens tell the history of flying. When their narration finishes, many other various people appear on stage, and Dada continues to look into the aquarium.
Dada keeps a fish with a smile called Beatrice. Although without freedom,Beatrice has fell in love with Dada, but Dada doesn't know Beatrice is actually the incarnation of the Skypeople's leader who is destined to go back to the ocean.
Nobody knows where the aliens come from, but Dada has always seen them since his childhood. They have never thought of converting him or pulling him into their world, because he too ordinary. Coming down to make fun of him frequently is just enough for them.
While Chairman celebrates by having a huge feast on his birthday,Dada is alone during his own.The only gift he received is a terribly small piece of birthday cake from the aliens,which he shared with Beatrice as well.Suddenly Chairman arrives in Dada's home, flying with the pair of unwanted wings on his back. The two talk about their childhood and how their different their lives are now. Chairman is envious of Dada's fish, but as for Dada,he feels that Chairman is lucky to have the pair of wings.
On the day of the medical operation to remove his wings, Chairman and Dada bid farewell to each other emotionally, but when everything is ready, Chairman's wings suddenly started to flap strongly to take him away to the skies beyond the view of others. Chairman, now a savage, keeps flying everywhere in a distance, and when he returns to his old place, they are no longer what they used to be. He gradually vanishes from the human world, but only Dada remembers his story...
As the situation has changed completely now, Beatrice decides to leave Dada. Dada has learned a new lesson about love and freedom, and finally makes the decision to return Beatrice to sea...
In the final scene, a pair of wings falls down to the playground, and Chairman appears in front of Dada. As it starts to rain, Chairman and Dada takes a look back into the past, as all the other characters and even a younger Dada joins them;ending the story with the song "I Still Remember Him Turning Around at the Playground while it Rained."
Contrary to what he is called, Chairman may not be a lucky fellow. Actually Dada, although he has always been ordinary, is the real lucky one.
Unlike some TV dramas and films Wong has done before, there was no excuse for mistakes in a stage play.Therefore making him very nervous at his theater debut.
Besides demonstrating his acting skill, he also wrote a song called 'The Time Has Come" for the drama. The song was sung by Chairman and Dada (Wong) as they bid farewell just before the medical operation, and this song has something in common with Wong's previous works.
Wong also sang "A Man and his Fish", a song revolving around the relationship between Dada and his smiling fish.This song was also rendered with Yang's "If we gain freedom" when the drama approaches the end. All musical numbers fitted perfectly into the plot.
Aside from heartwarming scenes and songs, there is also another song called 'Give Me Luck and The symbol is Yours'. Wong's unforgettable line was "You have the car, I' m in charge of its direction, and you don't have to care about the blandness and inequality,".He made himself sound very cute and lively with his singing skills with a lovely treble. In the scene,he was pushing a shopping cart with a steering wheel and a certain luxury car's emblem, which symbolizes Chairman's luxury car that Dada drove.
In the first four shows, Wong's physical and facial expressions were tense, and he made some very small mistakes that didn't affected the drama. However in the other four shows, he was no longer nervous, playing his role naturally.
In the final show, Dada as a child should have taken out a paper plane at the end of one scene. Actually Wong did so then, and the audience sitting in the front row thought that it was Wong's special performance for everyone...In fact,it's actually Wong hurrying to appear as the child because the child had a slight problem. Wong's special surprise was presented during the curtain call;he blew a kiss to the whole audience. He must have thought of doing this all night!!
As the premiere approaches, Wong celebrated his birthday in the rehearsal hall. During the rehearsal of a scene where the aliens send a birthday cake to a blind-folded Dada, the cast and staff passes an automobile-shaped cake to Wong. He was absolutely surprised to see it when his blindfold was taken off!
Although Wong is not the lead role of the drama,but Dada is the character Jimmy sees himself in, and Jimmy says Wong's portrayal of Dada was excellent. Perhaps you can put it this way: Wong is Dada, Dada is Jimmy, and therefore Wong is Jimmy.
Although 'Mr. Wing' was not a flawless production, appearing in the drama was an extremely big challenge for Wong. He took great pains for three months in rehearsalds to reach out to the audience by bringing a true 'Dada' out. Wong's fans were happy about his appearance and were very proud of it, because his theater debut ended up in success. They hope he will have another opportunity in theater so that everyone can see his remarkable performance on stage again.