HUNTSVILLE, Alabama--After a tour around the globe, the Divine Performing Arts Company gave its last United States Chinese Spectacular performance at Huntsville's Von Braun Center. The Von Braun Center Concert Hall, which seats 2,153 people, was filled almost to capacity.
The Huntsville audience showed its appreciation with a standing ovation before the last curtain call.
Monique and her 13-year old son Vaughn are originally from New York. They had moved to Huntsville where Monique works at Comcast Corporation. She was surprised that she had missed the show while living in New York.
Monique said, "We were impressed by the costumes and enjoyed the entire show."
Vaughn wanted to point out that he especially enjoyed the opening scene "Descent of the Celestial Kings." He said, "This scene was great."
Then, Steve Keiser, a member of the U.S. army, which has many soldiers stationed in the Huntsville area, and Gaile Wilbur, who had come to the show together, wanted to share how much they enjoyed the show before leaving for home.
"I have never before seen a show like this about China and I really enjoyed it," said Keiser.
He said "the music was a great blend of Western and Chinese influences and we particularly liked listening to the singers. They were wonderful."
Gail was fascinated by the tones of the Erhu, a Solo by Xiaochun Qi. The Erhu is similar to a two-stringed fiddle. She said, "I had never heard anything like it before."
There were so many people from the audience who wanted to share their feelings. Among them were Tracy Watkins, a salesman of industrial supplies from Huntsville. His wife is from Japan. He bought the tickets for her as a gift because she needed a break from the humdrum of everyday life.
He enjoyed the show and said, "It was something different."
This is the first time he had seen any type of Chinese performance and he shared, "I liked the movements, the colors and costumes -- they were bright and pretty."
He encouraged the organizers to bring the show back next year, saying that Huntsville is a culturally diverse town with a growing Asian population, and "no one who lives here was actually born here."
Among the audience was a family that brought family members from three generations to see the Chinese Spectacular.
Sharon Rauh, a registered nurse and flight attendant, Gianluca Simmonds, her 12-year old son, and her mother who is in her eighties had heard about the show through television advertisements and were also given a flyer. They wanted to share their impression during the intermission.
Sharon said that the show was "beautiful, and glowing and the flow was amazing."
Gianluca eagerly chimed in and said, "each scene had its own underlying story and I understood them all. It was interesting and the costumes were beautiful."
He was quite interested with the long sleeves in the scene "Water Sleeves" and said, "The sleeves were made of light silk that flowed like a waterfall."
Both were of one mind about the costumes and said that they were "exquisite."
Another youngster, Leiling, an 11-year old girl, attended the show with her father. It was her birthday and she had received the tickets as a birthday present.
She was quite taken by the costumes and said, "I liked everything about the show, but most of all the costumes."
Before everyone was leaving for home, Dustin DuBois from Huntsville said, "I liked the choreography and the costumes."
The successful show that amazed audiences in 62 countries throughout the world had come to an end and the Huntsville audience was no different -- it loved the Chinese Spectacular and hoped that the show would grace their city next year.
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