Tracing Origins – The Life and Times of Cantonese Opera’s Laosheng

Christopher Choo is the only disciple of the legendary master Leng Chi Pak. During his career, Choo also studied under the late Ren Da Xun, a master of the Northern operatic style in Hong Kong, and the well-known Cantonese opera actor and Cultural Medallion recipient, Joanna Wong Quee Heng. Choo specialises in the laosheng (elderly male) role, and also takes on the clown, painted faces, elderly female role, scholarly and warrior male roles. He is an all-rounded Chinese opera performer and has graced many stages in China, UK, US, Japan and Egypt. As a pioneer graduate of LASALLE College of the Arts in Directing, Choo has accumulated close to 50 years of experience in the performing arts scene. Besides the operatic arts, Choo is also involved with directing and acting in the local Chinese and English theatre scene. Some of his recent works include The Patriotic Princess, The Legend of Purple Hairpin, Grabbing the Flute and Rage over a Courtesan, among others.

Chan is well-known amongst the aficionados of Cantonese opera in Singapore. He studied under Madam Chee Kin Foon and received guidance from other masters of Chinese operas, including He Jia Yao and Bing Yong (Cantonese opera), Lin Lai Xi and Rong Da Jun (Peking opera), as well as Chen Jia Bao (Hokkien gaojiaxi opera). Throughout his three decades in the industry, Chan honed his skills through tireless studies and countless hours of practice. A regular at the annual Yang Cheng International Cantonese Opera Festival held in Guangzhou, Chan showcases the vitality of Singapore’s Cantonese opera scene to the world. Chan is the only wenwusheng representative from Singapore at the festival every year. 

Choong began performing in Cantonese operas in 1999 and studied under various famous actors, including the late Foo Yew Fai, Tham Foong Meng, Lou Mee Wah and Huang Ping. In recent years, Choong has been under the tutelage of Joanna Wong and Ling Dongming, as well as Christopher Choo. She is passionate about Cantonese opera and is a recipient of the Chinese Opera Orchid Award for Outstanding Artist, given out by the Chinese Opera Institute in 2022. She hopes to undertake the mission to promote the traditional art form to the younger generation in future. 

Leng Chi Pak – a lifelong devotion to Cantonese opera 

(1904 – 2 June 1992)

Hailed as one of the “Four Kings of Cantonese Opera”, opera master Leng Chi Pak (birth name Lai Cong Pak) hails from a family of opera artists. Leng began his opera training with famed male martial actor, Leng Dai Fong and thereafter with another famed male martial actor Chu Chi Pak alongside fellow student actor Sit Kok Sin. After stepping into the limelight at age 16, Leng rose to prominence and became a household name pre-World War II. Blessed with a natural bass voice, he imbued raspiness and power to his voice to create a unique singing voice. Leng, familiar with the nanyin and gu qiang operatic styles, was able to perform elderly female roles as well. Leng witnessed three generations of prosperity in the Cantonese opera scene over his 70-year career, from his stage debut to his long-standing partnership with the Yam Bak Sin Fung Ming Opera Troupe and his mentoring collaboration with the Chor Fung Ming Opera Troupe in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Evidently, Leng left an indelible mark in the annals of the art form.