Audience Reaction to NTDTV Berlin Spectacular
By Alexander M. Hamrle/Epoch Times German Staff
Mar 01, 2007
The final Berlin performance of "NTDTV's Global Chinese New Year Spectacular" ended with great success on February 28. The audience bid the performance farewell with loud bravos and strong applause.
The next performance will be in Chicago during the coming weekend.
There was no doubt in the mind the minute Klaus and Dora Quirling saw the Spectacular's posters—they would go and see the Spectacular. They had never been exposed to Chinese culture, yet they bought the tickets during promotional activities in a department store.
"It was beautiful! The stage set and everything was just beautiful! It was a great Spectacular! It was worth our time! The atmosphere was wonderful, so disciplined and not a sound—one could hear a needle drop. We felt that the dances were typical Chinese."
Professor Dr. Peter Marx of Berlin heard about the Spectacular from one of his students. Before that he never had much interest in Chinese culture.
"Frankly, I liked everything. It is something from another culture. I naturally can't judge if this is true traditional Chinese culture, but I do believe it is so. The culture can be recognized in the religion of a culture. Even, if the present Chinese regime is anti-religion, religion is still rooted among the populace."
Hellmut and Ute Hube from Berlin were spectators at a Vietnamese New Years festival, and they also saw the Beijing Opera for the first time in the 1980s.
"We really enjoyed it [the Spectacular], especially the many colors and the different costumes. We especially noticed something that we had not heard before, although we do find it wonderful—the songs were about love and compassion. The value that was inherent in these songs gave us great happiness.
"For example the song "The Vows of Old," which lyrics we could read in the program (she looked for it in the program), and "Finding Truth" were also wonderful. We will read the lyrics more thoroughly at home."
Helga Mueller, who had visited China, received the tickets from her husband as a birthday present.
"Everything left a lasting impression. I assume these are all Chinese in exile. But, it seemed so Chinese, as if one lived in that country. I was totally captivated! I visited China about eight years ago. I must say, what I saw there can't be talked about in the same breath than the Spectacular—it is like day and night. This was true art, all of it: the technique, costumes, performance, the dancers and the singers. It was of much deeper content then I had seen in Beijing. What I had seen in Beijing was crude compared with what I saw today. The Spectacular was filled with value and as well very artistic. I must say that it was fantastic."
Inge Zellmann was certain that she had to go and see the Spectacular after she saw the posters. She had visited China and was interested in Buddhism.
"I was completely captivated by the Spectacular—the costumers, the singers, the choreography, the music, and the ambiance. I enjoyed the atmosphere—it was a meditative mood."
