The story — as recounted in WaPo — "revolves around Trump’s fictional twin brother (inspired by Barack Obama’s real-life half brother, Mark Obama Ndesandjo, who lives in China). The Trump twin in the opera grew up in China after being separated from his wet nurse on a trip during World War II, ending up in an orphanage and eventually living through the upheavals of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. 'Growing up, he was constantly being discriminated against because he was blond, a foreigner,' [the opera's creator Li Kui-ming] said of Trump’s fictitious twin brother. 'But he speaks Cantonese. So through him, we can bring out the modern history of China.' Eventually, Trump and his twin brother are able to reunite. At one point in the opera, Kim Jong Un visits the United States and meets with Trump, who teaches the North Korean leader how to turn his country’s economy around overnight by partnering with Coca-Cola to develop a Coke brand infused with ginseng."
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38 comments:
Good silly idea.
I hope its still playing by the end of the year.
MSNBC to buy the US rights.
I like the ping pong paddle!
Why would MSNBC care about a commentary, a satire, about Chinese history and politics?
Thats the point, the Chinese Trump is just a conceit, a vehicle for this.
And knowing the Chinese and especially the Cantonese, the thing would have to be thoroughly bowdlerized and politically corrected to play in the US in English.
Reminds me of the popularity of "Billy Beer" during the Carter Administration. The beer brand founded by Jimmy Carter, brother of the president.
From a single TV interview, I remember Mark Obama seemed like a much more than enough likeable and intelligent person than Barry.
Things go better with Coke.The billion Chinese peasants are moving on up to middle class spending habits.Now if they only don't steal Coke's secret formula.
Given the tie we are looking at Dilbert, not Trump. Although given how much Scott Adams talks about Trump that might be intentional.
Is the woman on the far right of the poster supposed to be Ivanka?
The Chinese are fascinated by Trump's intelligence. He even speaks some Chinese to them . That is an honor shown to them that is a very big deal to the Chinese.
Trump rules the world.
Coke with ginseng is a fantastic idea! Is that a real thing? It should be.
"Trump’s fictional twin brother (inspired by Barack Obama’s real-life half brother, Mark Obama Ndesandjo, who lives in China)", or '[...] Ndesandjo), who lives in China.'?
The importance of punctuation... and Coke with ginger sounds better.
Hope they make it into a movie.
Great, great stuff. Hopefully Red Bubble or somebody pirates the poster.
What a brilliant idea for a show, from the description Trump on Show is an opera in the same sense that The Pirates of Penzance is also an opera.
I'm trying to ID those character stills along the bottom. From left to right:
(1) That severe-looking Red Guard type must be Jiang Qing, Mao's wife who lead the Gang of Four coup attempt. She off'ed herself in 1991. Good riddance.
(2) The dude with the eyebrows must be Zhou Enlai. A funny guy if he wasn't trying to kill you.
(3) Gawd, I hope that isn't the dread kaiju, Sino-Hillary.
(4) ??
(5) Little Rocket Man (that ginseng-infused Coke is a killer app, fatboy!)
(6) Some angry Party apparatchik dude
(7) ??
(8) Jared Kushner?
(9) Melania, or maybe Ivanka (Trump women tend to look alike.)
It's cool that they cast an Alec Baldwin look-alike as Trump.
"chick" on the far right...
That's a man baby!
Undoubted everybody in China knows exactly who those caricatures are.
The Chinese perspective on Donald Trump is really interesting. I first noticed this from an article in The Financial Times. That's an English newspaper owned by the Japanese. The Chinese Are Wary of Donald Trump's Creative Destruction. Very, very good article. And it's such a different perspective from what we get in our media.
For instance, here's what Politico is saying: How Trump's Trade War Is Driving China Nuts. The reporter is based in Asia, and it's good reporting on what's happening in China. But of course Politico tries to spin it like what's happening in China is Donald Trump's fault. Trump is making China "nuts."
And then you get this article in The Atlantic: China Loves Trump.
That's an idiotic article. Again, some of the reporting is good. It starts off factual. But it spins off into fantasy and fear-mongering and gossip. I mean, Politico and The Atlantic sound like they are describing a love affair on a Hollywood set or something. China loves Trump! Trump is making China crazy!
Interestingly, we booked a Cruise on Norwegian Joy. It's a two year old big boat that spent its first two years serving the Chinese market but is being done over to serve the Alaska/West Coast trips at a cost of $120,000,000. The Chinese like the casinos more than Spas.
LITERALLY all they need to make this a roaring hit on film is to add a bad lip sync job like the 70s Shaw Brothers kung fu films. "My Eagle Claw is the best! Your Forbidden Palace has cracked ceilings!"
Folks in the ROK will lay down for anything with ginseng in it, just like some Americans will spend Junior's college fund on something without gluten in it.
I was wondering who they cast as DJT. It has to be someone who could be taken for Trump's fictional twin brother's twin brother. Then it hit me. It was an epic face-palm moment. All Chinese look alike. (ducks)
Typo alert
That severe-looking Red Guard type must be Jiang Qing, Mao's wife who lead the Gang of Four coup attempt. She off'ed herself in 1991. Good riddance.
Should read: That severe-looking Red Guard type must be Jiang Qing, Mao's wife who led the Gang of Four coup attempt. She off'ed herself in 1991. Good riddance.
I would blame that on Dragon Dictate or macOS, but it's my fault. I was writing about lead fulminates earlier and got in a "lead" rut.
Mao's "long march" through history pauses to enjoy some Monty Python.
Probably, a good development for the ChiComs.
Wasn't it here that we read about the American actors trying to get work in South Korea (or was it Japan?)
You'd think they would get some work out of this gig. Looks like maybe one non-Asian in the cast. I guess you have to be able to sing.
It could be a Chinese adaptation of Dobie Gillis.
Wasn't it here that we read about the American actors trying to get work in South Korea (or was it Japan?)
Judging by the people they have playing Americans in Kdramas, there's a reason they are out-of-work actors. (Although, I suspect that they are told to say their lines in a way that sounds weird to us - odd inflections and stresses - but that is, perhaps, easier to understand for someone who just knows a little English.)
All the people in the character stills are very white-skinned. I suppose that may be due to some setting on my screen...
The red ping pong paddle on the white background looks like a Japanese flag.
They gave him Dilbert's neck tie!!
If Amazon or Netflix filmed this with subtitles, I would definitely watch it. Well, the first ten minutes definitely and maybe even the whole thing. I hope there's dragon dances. A Chinese opera without dragon dances is like a GOT episode without tits........I wonder when we'll see a movie with a favorable reference to Trump. Not in my lifetime certainly, but I did live long enough to see some favorable nods to Reagan. Maybe by mid century.
I wish someone in the USA would put on a play like this. This administration is a ripe target for political farce.
(BTW have you tried Coke with Orange and Vanilla?)
I would buy a ticket.
Obama's real-life half-brother resides in China?
who knew?
"Judging by the people they have playing Americans in Kdramas, there's a reason they are out-of-work actors."
In a Japanese movie called "Pigs and battleships" the American Sailors are played by Russians! [Insert common 1960s Joke]. I
ts always amusing how foreigners portray Americans & America. For example, a Japanese Soap Opera that played on US Cable TV 20 years ago. Every once an while I'd channel surf and stop and watch it for 10 minutes. Anyhoo, the "Heroine's daughter" was supposedly working for a Japanese firm in NYC. To depict this, they had a window with a big "statue of liberty" in the background, plus ever couple of minutes a big blond guy would walk across the office.
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