A musical to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Idea House folk song restaurant is to be staged from Oct. 6 to 8 at the Taipei Cultural Center.
The now-closed restaurant is credited with fueling Taiwan’s campus folk song boom from the early 1970s to the 1990s, as well as launching the careers of some of Taiwan’s most iconic signers, including Tsai Chin (蔡琴) and Lo Ta-yu (羅大佑).
Idea House Was Here (艾迪亞曾經在此－五 十年的熱情與堅持) is to feature musical performances by more than 30 folk singers who used to play at the restaurant on Zhongxiao E Road. The show is written and directed by Golden Horse Award-winning director Stan Lai (賴聲川).
Photo courtesy of “Idea House Was Here”
The cast includes singers Wu Chu-chu (吳楚楚), Harlem Yu (庾澄慶) and Jin Zhi-juan (金智娟), music producer Bing Wang (王治平), singer and democracy pioneer Yang Tzu-chun (楊祖珺), as well as actors Chu Chung-heng (屈中恆) and Judy Chou (周定緯).
Lai, who was a key stakeholder in Idea House, said when the venue opened in 1973, there was “nothing but dirt” on Zhongxiao E Road, and, in hindsight, the decision to invest in a restaurant there was “very brave.”
The restaurant was often raided by police officers, because at the time people were prohibited from singing in public places, Lai added.
Some of his fellow performers were detained, he said, adding that attendees at the musical would hear more anecdotal accounts of such incidents.
Wu, who coproduced the show, said police officers would often stop musical performances if there were more than two people onstage.
“We want the younger generation to understand how we discovered music and how it served as an outlet for us while we were under enormous stress,” Lai said.
“We want young people to know that we had dreams; dreams that set us on different paths and made us who we are today. That is in and of itself a compelling story,” he added.
Lai said that it took him a year, the longest time he has spent writing a show, and many revisions, to finish the script.
“With so many singers on the bill, each one having his or her personality and strength, just putting together the setlist was no small feat,” he said.
Lai credited fellow Idea House performer and cast member Danny Lay (雷壬鯤), who has since become a businessman, for playing a major role in helping bring the performers back together for the reunion.
A number of them have moved overseas and would be paying for their flights out of their own pockets to appear on stage.
Tickets are available for sale through the TixFun ticketing service.
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