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Carrie Chan

Snow.Wolf.Lake

Hong Kong Coliseum

Until Wednesday

Singer Jacky Cheung Hok-yau must be relieved that the restaging of his  musical Snow.Wolf.Lake was well-received - despite the absence of Canto-pop diva Sandy Lam Yik-lin  as the female lead this time around.

For despite all the refined singing techniques, the new show produces a cacophony of singing styles from its mainland  musicians and  singers.

First staged eight years ago as the first original Chinese musical, the plot of Snow.Wolf.Lake is no more than a cliched love story. It tells of the doomed relationship between poor gardener Wolf and rich girl Snow.

Cheung, as Wolf, is the main draw  and  comes armed with  powerful expressions and great variation in the timbre of his voice.

Also the artistic director of the show, Cheung, 43, deserves credit for improving  its visuals, including the dramatic  projection of a  fiery image on the  backdrop when Wolf sets a ballroom aflame.

But  with Snow now played by 25-year-old Taiwanese starlet eVonne Hsu,  age has become something of a barrier in the relationship of the two leads.

Hsu,  better known for her doll-like face than her voice,  puts in  a better-than-expected performance. She  displays plenty of vocal range and variation,  but is a little wobbly on some high notes.

Mainland actress Du He's singing style is more operatic, and she delivers an affected performance as Snow's money-loving mother and provides comic relief to the show.

The use of Putonghua instead of Cantonese seems to have been accepted by the audience. About half gave the show a standing ovation at the first performance on Friday.

But the mix of singing styles might get even more jarring when mainland folk singer Tang Can replaces Hsu from  today.



Musical a  cacophony of refined techniques