Jacky Cheung to defer performance

Original URL: http://www.chinapost.com.tw/i_latestdetail.asp?id=33207

2005/12/5
The China Post staff

Hong Kong star Jacky Cheung, who sang and danced with a sore throat Saturday, canceled appearance in his popular musical "Snow Wolf Lake" in Taipei yesterday.

He said he would have to rest for two more days to fully recover from the flu he had caught two days before arrival from the former British crown colony.

There will be no performances at the Taipei Arena today and tomorrow, Cheung's promoters said.

The canceled performances will be given on next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday or December 11 through 13.

Cheung, who plays Wolf in the musical, has a frog in the throat due to the flu and wanted to cut short his appearance after the intermission Saturday night.

His voice turned hoarse before the intermission.

Later, however, Cheung decided to play to the end and left the stage amidst a standing ovation of a packed audience at the Arena.

"I was very warmly received by the fans," Cheung was quoted as saying. "But as one who sings on the stage," he added, "I didn't hope I am in no position to know, before the next time I sing, whether I have to swallow hard so that I can sing."

That's why Cheung has to defer the three performances.

Those who have tickets for last night, Monday and Tuesday may use them for next week's performances. They may have a refund, if they can't attend.

Tickets were priced from NT$800 to NT$6,000.

Many fans have been kept out from the long-running musical about the love between Snow and Wolf, who in the end will have to get lost in an icy lake.

The musical, a box office hit in Hong Kong and China for years, is being presented in Taipei for the first time. The local premiere has attracted too many fans for the Taipei Arena to accommodate.