New vista for Canto-pop

The music swelled; the curtains rose; and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau made a rather unusual singing entrance, eliciting delighted squeals from his fans. Then, he started waving and talking to them amid screams of 'Jacky!' and 'Hok-yau!'.

Excuse me? Wasn't this supposed to be Snow.Wolf.Lake, Hong Kong's first home-grown 'Broadway musical' with a Canto-pop twist? I dreaded to think what was next, but it later became apparent that it was precisely for those reasons that Cheung felt the need to have an 'interlude' to the musical-proper.

With an audience mainly used to the screaming and irritating whistle-blowing at concerts, house rules had to be laid down: there would be no screaming of his name and no distracting camera flashes.

But even without the warning, it was apparent by the first half-hour of the near three-hour show that the audience had become so enthralled by the music and the story that the Coliseum, for once, was strangely silent but for the sound of music.

As the story unfolded of the ill-fated love between a poor gardener, Wolf (Cheung), and rich boss' daughter, Snow (Sandy Lam Yik-lin), being destroyed by a jealous third party and a greedy mother, there were many sniffles in the house as well.

Snow.Wolf.Lake is an extravaganza in all senses of the word. No expense was spared, from the spectacular set to the colourful costumes.

Scenes changed miraculously fast with the fully-automated stage that went from being a mansion with hanging chandeliers to a run-down church and a marketplace. There was even a bobbing boat.