Romance of the Western Chamber--A Musical - Softcover

Howard Rubenstein; Max Lee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1929468288 ISBN 13: 9781929468287

Publisher: Granite Hills Press, 2012

Synopsis

Romance of the Western Chamber--A Musical based on Xi Xiang Ji, a play that is a masterpiece of Chinese literature, tells one of the great love stories of world literature. Xi Xiang Ji dates from the 13th century, with authorship attributed to Wang Shifu and/or Guan Hanqing. The play has held the Chinese stage almost continuously for eight centuries in spite of intermittent condemnations for "obscenity." It is a "rich girl, poor boy" love story, with almost insurmountable obstacles in the way of the lovers, many of them overcome with the help of the heroine's devoted attendant and friend.

Howard Rubenstein condensed the Chinese play from many hours to a few, and rendered it in standard American English in free verse. Max Lee adapted traditional Chinese folk tunes to Rubenstein's lyrics, and scored the melodies for western instruments. The scores have been published, and recordings of the music have been published on CDs.

Romance of the Western Chamber--A Musical had its premiere at the Dongpo Theatre, Hangzhou China, on September 9, 20ll, to acclaim. That was the first time a version of the play was performed in the English language, with Rubenstein's words spoken and sung on stage and simultaneously accompanied by Mandarin supertitles.

About this title

About the Author:

Howard Rubenstein is a physician and a writer. He was born in 1931 in Chicago, where he graduated from Lake View High School. He received a B.A. from Carleton College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, and won the Noyes Prize for excellence in ancient Greek. Rubenstein received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. In 1967 he was appointed Physician and Chief of Allergy at the Harvard University Health Services. In 1989 he was appointed a Medical Consultant to the Department of Social Services, state of California. In 2000 Rubenstein retired from the practice of medicine.

Howard Rubenstein's translation of Aeschylus' Agamemnon was produced in San Diego in 1997. P.E. Easterling, Regius Professor of Greek, University of Cambridge, England, gave the translation a glowing review, calling it "lively . . . vigorous . . . [with] great directness . . . accessible to modern audiences." Rubenstein's translation of Euripides' The Trojan Women was produced in San Diego in 2001, and was the most decorated show (San Diego Playbill) of the 2000-20001 San Diego theater season. Rubenstein has also written several other plays and "Maccabee" an epic in free verse. Howard Rubenstein's works are available on amazon.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Granite Hills Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1929468288
• ISBN 13: 9781929468287
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128