#yue opera

[wlwcatalogue]

Further reading below the cut!

Edit on 15/08/2025: updated to add details on male leads in Western opera.

Takarazuka:

See here for my beginner's guide to Takarazuka

The official Takarazuka channel on Youtube has lots of well-shot performance clips to check out, and there are even more if you know where to search

Cantonese opera:

For a taste of how deliciously dramatic Cantonese opera can get, check out this short clip of a scene from The Butterfly Lovers, in which the two main characters (played by Joyce Koi/ 蓋鳴暉 and Ng Mei Ying/ 吳美英) struggle to come to terms with the female lead being forced into an arranged marriage

See here for my post on Yam Kim Fai (任劍輝) and Pak Suet Sin (白雪仙), the aforementioned "iconic pair" who dominated the Cantonese opera world

Many Cantonese opera films can be watched in full, in pretty decent quality, on Youtube, and English translations for much of the core repertory for Cantonese opera can be found with a quick Googling. For example, Yam-Pak's Legend of the Purple Hairpin (紫釵記) can be watched here, together with the English translation of the script here.

You can also take a look at my other posts on Cantonese opera here!

Yue opera:

Click here for a clip of Chen Lijun performing a modernised arrangement of a song from the hit Yue opera adaptation New Dragon Gate Inn (新龍門客棧). Basically can be described as "Yue opera and wuxia meet idol aesthetics"

For something more substantial, watch this pro-shot excerpt of the ending of Dream of the Red Chambers, which fuses traditional singing with modern staging. Alternatively, there are plenty of bootlegs of full shows on Youtube, so take your pick!

Trousers roles in Western opera:

Please also check out the "mezzosexual" tag :)

There are definitely some notable cases where the male lead is a trousers role, such as in Der Rosenkavalier, I Capuleti e i Montecchi (a.k.a. Romeo and Juliet), and Orlando Furioso. Also, as @siridealphosphorus kindly pointed out, it's much more common in Baroque operas, such as in Alcina, Ariodante, Giulio Cesare, Serse, and Orfeo ed Euridice.

I highly recommend the queer opera blog Queer Lorgnette, which reviews opera productions with humour, wit, and a distinctly queer and feminist eye

Korean musicals:

See here for my video on Korean musicals, which includes clips from several shows with genderblind casting

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Main types of Chinese Opera pt. 1

There are many different types of chinese opera, so here are some of the main ones!

Peking Opera 京剧 (Jīngjù)

This is probably one of the most well-known operas, originating from Beijing during the Qing dynasty. There are 4 main roles:

1.生 (shēng), which is usually an older dignified male character such as a scholar, which can be divided into older, younger and martial 生 aka 武生 (wǔshēng)

2. 旦 (dàn), a female role which was previously played by men as women were not allowed to perform during the Qing dynasty, but nowadays both men and women can play this role. This role has several subtypes:

闺门旦 (guīméndàn), a young unmarried high-status virtuous woman, whose main focus is singing.

正旦 (Zhèngdàn)/青衣 (Qīngyī), an elegant, middle-aged, usually married woman who mainly sings.

花旦 (Huādàn), a young woman who unlike the Guīméndàn focuses on speech and movement.

武旦 (Wǔdàn), this is a martial arts role with quite a lot of stunts and fighting with rare singing moments

刀马旦 (Dāomǎdàn), a young brave warrior, who usually focuses on acrobatics, singing and dancing unlike the Wǔdàn.

老旦 (Lǎodàn), is an older female role, usually with a lower singing voice.

彩旦 (Cǎi dàn), is more of a clown role, which is apparently more commonly performed by men

4. 净 (Jìng), a "rough man" role, usually has a vibrant and strong character, which has heavy face painting.

5. 丑 (chǒu), the clown role, which is one of the most physically demanding roles due to the acting and acrobatics combo, despite being considered as a minor role.

There are over 1400 stories used in Peking Opera, with 2 traditional types, civil and martial. Civil focuses on the relationship between the characters and is usually about normal daily occurrences, whereas martial is more about action and fighting. Another more modern type of differentiation divides the plays into traditional (pre-1949ish), plays created after 1949, and contemporary plays.

Kunqu Opera 昆曲 (kūnqǔ)

This is one of the oldest types of Chinese opera, originating from Kunshan, combining signing, dancing and martial arts. It features similar characters like the Peking Opera with another character 末 (Mò), who is an old man with a long beard.

However, there are some differences, as Kunqu uses softer, melodic music and different instruments such as the flute as the main accompanying instrument rather than Peking Opera's stringed instruments. The types of stories are also different, as Kunqu's focus more on the romantic and poetic aspect, exploring various classical stories. Peking Opera's stories tend to be a bit more varied as previously mentioned.

Traditionally, Kunqu was mostly for the upper-class as the stories performed were classical Chinese literature, and at the time not everyone had the opportunity to learn. This may be why Kunqu typically uses classic chinese, whereas Peking uses a combination of both classic and vernacular, making it more available for everyone.

Yue Opera 越剧 (yuèjù)

This opera is also known as Shaoxing opera, originating from Shaoxing, Zhejiang in early 1900s. Originally the performances featured only male actors but nowadays all-female performance troupes are becoming the standard. It's interestingly the 2nd most loved opera type, just after Peking Opera as it's slow and romantic form is perfect for love stories such as The Butterfly Lovers.

Yue Opera also features the usual set of character types e.g. 生，旦 etc. except they are usually played by women.

In terms of appearance, Yue Opera tends to go for a more subtle makeup look (as subtle as stage makeup can be) and simpler but nonetheless gorgeous costumes, in contrast to Peking Opera's dramatic and bursting colors.

Yue Opera usually relies on string instruments, with a smaller musical ensemble and musical accompaniment so that the performers singing is more clear unlike Peking Opera's stronger background music.

[ziseviolet]

Hello! Do you happen to have a post on costumes for traditional Chinese operas like Peking operas, Kunqu or Yueju? I imagine they would be stage wears that were different than daily wears even back in the day? Thanks.

Hi! Thanks for the question, and sorry for taking ages to reply! (kunqu image via)

Yes, Chinese opera costumes (戏服/xifu), as stagewear, were/are different than daily wear.

There are posts on costumes for traditional Chinese operas here:

Do Chinese opera costumes count as hanfu? 

What type of clothing do Beijing opera actors wear?

Are Chinese opera costumes based on hanfu to some extent?

I also have Chinese opera and opera costume tags with more information, as well as tags for specific types of Chinese opera including beijing opera (jingju), kunqu, and yueju.

Hope this helps!

[xiaoshengnu]

this performance has been blowing up on xiaohongshu, and honestly I need to share it here. when I say the first time I watched this I SCREAMED- like sure it's inspired by yue opera, sure chen lijun is playing a man and it's desperately heterocoded as hell- but two women? singing and performing together in a somewhat romantic context? YES PLEASE.

[murasakinoiro]

Li Yunxiao (李云霄) and Chen Lijun (陈丽君) in New Dragon Gate Inn (新龙门客栈), an Yue Opera (yueju 越剧).

Yue Opera is an all-female theatre, Chen Lijun is a xiaosheng (小生) - young male role and Li Yunxiao is a huadan (花旦) - female role.

[cfensi]

Latest White Snake Film Hopes to Bring Yue Opera to the Modern Age

Latest White Snake Film Hopes to Bring Yue Opera to the Modern Age

This trailer for an adaptation of the Yue Opera version of White Snake is so beautiful. The special effects, sets, and new music flawlessly enhance without distracting from the Yue Opera. Titled White Snake 白蛇传·情, the film is coming out on May 21st, 2021.

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[xiaoshengnu]

chen lijun + ju jingyi's performance of 游山恋