The way to pop star

Men playing female roles in stage performances can be dated back to Ancient Rome and were widely seen in Shakespeare’s plays. Well, that phenomenon is not exclusive(独有的) to the west. In traditional Chinese operas, such as Peking Opera, many female characters are performed by male actors.

Li Yu gang is one of the most popular actors currently singing and performing in drag on stage inChina. He is one of the two Chinese singers to successfully hold their own concerts in the Sydney Opera House.

In 2005, his performance inEuropedrew lots of attention. The European Times featured him on the first page, declaring that he had brought Opera art out ofChina. But his golden time was still to come.

Li Yu gang was born in a village inJilinProvinceinNortheast China. He loved performing even when he was little. At the age of 17, he was given an offer by an art college. He chose instead to work as a waiter in a nightclub in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province，because his family was too poor to afford his study. He started his new life with a small suitcase and 200 Yuan or 25US dollars. That was all he had to his name.

One accident changed his life, forever. During an important show, a female singer was absent. Li Yu gang proposed to the boss that he could finish the show for her. Everyone had their doubts. It was a formal show, not some silly drama. Could Li sing two roles? The result couldn’t have been better. From that point on, people flocked to see his performances. Li Yu gang gradually found his confidence and discovered the huge market potential of female impersonation.

In 2006, Li Yu gang participated in a national TV singing contest. When the pretty woman on stage turned into a handsome young man, the audience went wild. They had rarely seen a show like that before, especially outside of opera theaters.

As he attained national attention, he became the talk of the town, for both praise and criticism. Artistically, Li Yu gang is far less skilled than some female impersonators in Peking Opera art circles. Many professional opera actors disapprove of Li for using Peking Opera to glorify his pop culture performances. However, I always think if young people can learn more about Peking Opera from Li Yu gang’s mixture of the traditional and pop culture, it shouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

WORDS:

Phenomenon现象exclusive独有的 in drag 穿着女服feature 给某人特写或做专题节目propose 提议，建议 silly 可笑的，荒唐的 flock群集，聚集，成群结队 impersonation 扮演，饰演 impersonator 演员 artistically 在艺术上 glorify 吹捧，美化


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