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World of performing arts

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World of performing arts
News and reviews of the performing arts – ballet, contemporary dance, opera, theatre, musicals and more – in and around Hong Kong and beyond.
(Front, from left) Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy and Brandon Uranowitz perform Ragtime with other cast members during the 79th Tony Awards on June 7 in New York. The musical, which opened on Broadway in 1998, still resonates deeply today. Photo: AP
Music

Nearly 30 years since its Broadway debut, why Ragtime remains so relevant today

With themes including immigrant discrimination and keeping America ‘great’, Ragtime feels like it could have been written today.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra pack a punch in back-to-back Hong Kong concerts

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Update | Superb first half let down by second in Hong Kong Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory stars on bringing the musical to Hong Kong

The Broadway musical’s lead actors Daniel Plimpton and Oliver Wong talk about adapting Roald Dahl’s story to the stage ahead of its Hong Kong debut in November.

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A scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the musical. The long-running production that has enjoyed success on London’s West End and Broadway will debut in Hong Kong on November 4, 2026.
Music

Gustavo Dudamel on his enduring love of Los Angeles ahead of NY Phil move

The Venezuelan conductor shares how 17 years leading the LA Phil shaped him as he looks forward to a ‘super exciting’ New York move.

TV shows and streaming video

‘Burning desire’: Hong Kong-born actress Kaja Chan on her rise and motivation

London-based actress who has appeared on Bridgerton and worked with Jeff Goldblum shares how ‘clarity of vision’ drove her from a young age.

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Donald Trump

US judge orders Trump’s name removed from Kennedy Centre

The judge also blocked the administration from closing the iconic arts venue for major renovations.

A sign with Trump’s name is seen at the Kennedy Centre in Washington in January. Photo: AFP
Classical music

Meet Daniel Harding, new LA Phil music director with deep Asia ties

Gustavo Dudamel’s successor, who is an Air France pilot and mentor to young musicians, has agreed to a six-year contract with the LA Phil.

Music

How sitarist Anoushka Shankar broke her creative block after the pandemic

Shankar, who is playing in Hong Kong on June 3, describes the creative process behind her three-part album Chapters and what’s next.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

‘I am hungry’: Elim Chan on taking the lead at the San Francisco Symphony

The Hong Kong-born conductor shares why she’s excited to lead the ‘velvety, warm’ SFS and how San Francisco feels ‘a bit like’ her home city.

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Hong Kong-born conductor Elim Chan will start as the San Francisco Symphony’s music director in 2027. She is the first woman appointed to the role in the orchestra’s 115-year history. Photo: Cody Pickens
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong Shakespeare festival offers fresh takes on the Bard’s classics

The nine Shakespeare adaptations include a Cantonese version of Othello starring TVB actress Mandy Wong and a story of Hamlet’s Ophelia.

Hong Kong actress Mandy Wong (right) rehearses a scene from Tang Shu-wing’s Cantonese adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. Photo: Lee Wai-leung, courtesy of Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong-born Elim Chan becomes first woman to lead San Francisco Symphony

Rising maestro emerged as a surprise choice and will begin her six-year term at the famed orchestra in September 2027.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

East meets West in melodic concert blending the suona with the organ

Organist Eric Chan will make his Hong Kong debut in a programme that marries the Western pipe organ with the suona, a Chinese woodwind.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Soprano-pianist Rachel Fenlon wows in dexterous Hong Kong debut

Fenlon was the epitome of coordination in a near-flawless self-accompanied performance of Schubert’s Winterreise at Hong Kong City Hall.

Canadian soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon performs Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” at Hong Kong City Hall on May 12. Photo: Premiere Performances of Hong Kong
William Shakespeare

A female Hamlet, a BMW-driving Hamlet: how Shakespeare’s play is having a moment

Fresh, vibrant and inclusive, new Hamlet productions are part of a wave of interest in the Shakespearean tragedy seen from stages to TikTok.

Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekera performs in the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre in London on September 25, 2025. Photo: AP
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | East meets West as Opera Hong Kong’s Carmen takes place in 1970s Hong Kong

Opera Hong Kong’s bold Hong Kong-set Carmen reimagines Bizet’s classic with triad gangsters, Cantonese lines and electrifying performances.

South Korean celebrities

Pioneering South Korean soprano Sumi Jo joins K-pop label, sings with Exo’s Suho

Sumi Jo opens up on great moments in her 40-year career, her new album Continuum, and why she signed with K-pop label SM Entertainment.

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What to do in Hong Kong

5 of the best things to do in Hong Kong this Mother’s Day weekend, May 8-10

From an artisan Mother’s Day market to food, fashion and music, check out our recommendations for things to do around the city this weekend.

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Sapphire Shen (front), a lupus patient and founder of My Lupus Diary, is pictured at The Lupus Revolution, an inspiring awareness and fundraising event, in May 2024. This weekend, Shen will hold The Lupus Revolution Vol. 2 in Hong Kong’s Central neighbourhood. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Performing arts in Hong Kong

HK Phil’s compressed Ring cycle recording is Wagner made accessible

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s recording of Wagner: The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure is a symphonic narrative of just over an hour.

LGBTQ

Drag Race royalty Manila Luzon on Asian representation and challenging taboos

The RuPaul’s Drag Race ‘OG’ opens up on representing Filipino drag, hosting reality show Drag Den, and appearing on Worst Cooks in America.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel among stars of HK Phil’s 2026-27 season

Nobuyuki Tsujii and Eric Lu also feature in a top line-up for Tarmo Peltokoski’s first season as the Hong Kong Philharmonic’s music director.

Yo-Yo Ma will perform Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 with the HK Phil at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on January 25, 2027. The American cellist is one of the big names in the star-studded line-up for HK Phil’s coming concert season. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Incredible works of Wu Guanzhong reimagined in Hong Kong dance crossover

Featuring music by Cantopop star Ivana Wong, the Hong Kong Dance Company’s new cross-disciplinary production explores Wu’s visual language.

“Grand Dance Poem In Between – Wu Guanzhong’s Ink Odyssey” from the Hong Kong Dance Company reimagines Chinese artist Wu Guanzhong’s famous dots, lines and planes as dynamic movement. Photo: HKDance
Hong Kong Cultural Centre

Find classical music and opera boring? Hong Kong production aims to change that

A new production aims to make classical music accessible and engaging by fusing opera, contemporary dance, theatre and media art.

Obituaries

‘Bad boy of classical music’, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, dies at 81

Former child prodigy Michael Tilson Thomas led many of the world’s top orchestras, including 25 years with the San Francisco Symphony.

Music

A stroke paralysed pianist’s right hand. Now he wows crowds with just his left

Inspired by his music teacher, South Korean pianist Lee Hun now plays left-hand music only after a stroke paralysed his entire right side.

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South Korean pianist Lee Hun, who plays with only his left hand after his right side was paralysed by a stroke, is now preparing for a new challenge: his first joint performance with an orchestra at an international music festival next month. Photo: AP

How Japan’s kabuki theatre legacies are kept in the family

In the traditional Japanese art form, which featured in the Oscar-nominated Kokuho, names and skills are passed down through generations.

(From right) Kabuki actors Kikugoro Onoe VII, his son Kikugoro Onoe VIII and grandson Kikunosuke Onoe. Photo: AP
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong Ballet brilliantly dances to Beyond, Queen and Depeche Mode

Hong Kong Ballet’s ‘Glam Rock’ triple bill was a feast of popular music and dance that showcased its dancers’ versatility.

Sexual harassment and assault

‘A system of slavery’: ex-geisha apprentice on the dark side of the tradition

Kiyoha Kiritaka says she left Kyoto’s geisha world after experiencing sexual harassment, physical and verbal abuse, and more.

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