PORTLAND—Audience attending the Chinese New Year Spectacular at Keller Auditorium said they enjoyed the many facets of the performance from the professional orchestra to the traditional themes and spirituality.
Mrs. Posey, a financial advisor, attended the show with her husband also in financial services. “We enjoyed it a lot, very colorful. The music ... is fantastic,” Mrs. Posey said.
The live orchestra also impressed Mr. Fontain. “The orchestra surprised me. I didn’t expect to have that quality of an orchestra, very amazing,” he said adding, “very full sound, highly professional.”
As a Vietnamese American, Mrs. Posey could relate to the Chinese culture. “We celebrate the New Year about the same time. We have a lot of culture and tradition that’s very much Chinese.” For example, she was familiar with the story of the Monkey King from the book Journey to the West depicted in ‘The Monkey King Triumphs’: “That story was translated to Vietnamese and I remember as I child, we read those stories.”
In the performance, ‘Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution’ about a father who is persecuted for practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Fontain saw a moral message. “I did see the vindication of the family versus the forces of evil, and then the spirituality of the Buddha, and the reunification of the family,” he said.
