Having relaunched his career in recent years, singer Chris Wong Hoi-kun is now taking on the ambitious project of turning the famous Chinese tale The Legend of White Snake into a stage musical.
Wong, 43, has invested more than $1 million in the musical which will star Chapman To Man-chak's wife, Kristal Tin Yue-lai (far left with Wong), and will run at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from September 1 to 4.
Wong is writing the script and songs, and will star in the musical, as well as act as producer, costume designer and image projection designer. He has enlisted experienced theatre artists Ken Kwan Chung-yeung and Daniel Yeung Chun-kwong as the director and choreographer.
'It's something I've wanted to do since I entered this industry,' said Wong, who was active in theatre production when he was studying at the University of Hong Kong. 'But being an artist in Hong Kong, there were not many chances to take part in theatre productions.'
DJ-turned-singer Wong left his Hong Kong career behind in 1996 and moved to Canada. His comeback began with the release of a new album and the staging of two concerts at the Hong Kong Coliseum in late 2002.
'I like [the White Snake] story so much. There have been stage productions and movies, but this doesn't mean I can't do it differently,' he said. 'There are a lot of things that can be done on the stage for this story.'