Ying Han, who has lived in Harrison since 2000, is in charge of projection operations for the stage backdrop of a show called “Chinese New Year Splendor.” The talented 28-year-old will be adding to the lights of the Great White Way with a show at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.
Coinciding with Chinese New Year, which is Feb. 7, the show “Chinese New Year Splendor” will have an 11-day run at New York City’s famous Radio City Music Hall located at1260 6th Ave. The stage extravaganza features Chinese dance, music and singing, and is hosted both in Chinese and English. The programming draws on the deep inner expression shown through Chinese classical dance. It also uses a combination of background scenery, costumes and choreography to express the ancient Chinese virtues of truthfulness, compassion and pure beauty.
Han’s work on the backdrop scenes, which are digitized projections of artwork, graphics and rich scenery, started as early as July and lasts through the end of the show’s global tour in April. But she says spending almost an entire year on the show is all worth it when the curtain goes up.
“We try to make the backdrops match with the dances, the costumes, the lighting,” Han said. “So we want to make everything like one body. When the curtain is up, what the audience will first be able to see is a beautiful picture.”
“Chinese New Year Splendor” also showcases a brilliant array of costumes, dancers and musicians depicting ancient Chinese culture and history, with a modern twist in some acts. Performances include original dance numbers, solo vocalists and musicians, and dramatic depictions of stories through dance and music. The main musical accompaniment, the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra, employs a unique blend of Chinese and western musical instruments to play original scores.
“We do a lot of reference research to make sure that the content of the backdrops is historically correct,” Han said. “I have watched the show many, many times, but every time I watch it, I am still drawn to it and sometimes, very touched by it. All the dancers on the stage are really sending out good energy. It makes you feel very touched.”
The Observer staff spoke with Han on Friday while in Los Angeles. She had just finished a show in San Diego. Han has traveled with the “Chinese New Year Spectacular” (it is called Chinese New Year Splendor in New York so as not to confuse with the Radio City Christmas Spectacular) from coast to coast and throughout the mid-west including Denver, Dallas and Phoenix. She will begin touring in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand after the New York shows.
“I have quite a tight schedule with the show, over a five month duration. I enjoy Harrison because it is a calm, nice, quiet town. In four days we are going to go to Las Vegas, then San Francisco and then back to New York for the Radio City show,” Han said. “The technical aspect of the show poses many challenges since each theater is different. There are all kinds of situations.”
Han said she started in the production department at NTDTV (New Tang Dynasty Television) in 2002. That job encompassed graphic design for commercials and promotions in short-video format.
Chinese New Year Splendor is sponsored by NTDTV, an independent, non-profit Chinese and English language TV broadcaster established by overseas Chinese. Broadcasting began via satellite in North America in February 2002 and extended its round the clock programming to cover Asia, Europe and Australia in July 2003. NTDTV headquarters is in New York City and currently has reporters and correspondents in more than 60 cities worldwide.
“In 2004, when the “Chinese New Year Spectacular” first started, we transitioned to the backdrop design for the show. It’s a team project with two different troupes,” she said. “I do onsite cues so I have to work in the theater to set up the projector and see how the projected images will look pre-show. Then I cue when they are to be shown. It is exciting and quite challenging to set up the stage.”
Han will return home in May when her team will start doing the design for next year’s show.
“Chinese New Year Splendor,” now in its fifth year, will run at New York’s Radio City Music Hall from Jan. 30 through Feb. 9.
Tickets are available at www.ChineseSplendor.com, by calling NTDTV hotline at 212- 695-7469 or Ticketmaster at 212-307-4111. Ticket prices are $58, $88, $110, and $150.