Previewed and Reported by Manling Chen, the World Journal
TigerLion arts presents the musical “The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, the musical tale of a
nasty dragon” for welcoming the dragon year based on lunar new year and Chinese zodiac animal at
the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Several artistic groups cooperated to devote their
talents to this excellent performance including: Minnesota Boychoir, Puppet Farm Arts, Circus
Juventas, and 12 musicians play the beautiful songs composed by Laurie MacGregor, plus the talented
actress Isabella Dawis, and Maxwell Chonk Thao, Tyson Forbes, and Elise Langer.
The story is based on the poems written by American Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky.
It was about the boy who accidentally found the dragon egg and raised it. While the dragon kept
growing, the boy ignored the dragon’s emotional need of company. Worse than that, due to the fear and
distrust, the boy trained the dragon to obey himself in a harsh way. The accumulated sadness and anger
of the dragon lead to the outburst of breaking its relationship with the boy. After the dragon left home,
the boy’s girl friend reminded him of the message: Give him room; let him boom; believe and honor
him.
The Chinese idiom “Expect a son to be a dragon” (Wang Zi Cheng Long) means that the
parents expect their children in a high standard. Although it’s common for all the parents to anticipate
the best success from their children, some parents really learn the hard lesson by controlling their
children without remembering to honor and believe their children. The whole story seems to imply the
struggle and maturing process between the parents and their next generation.
The 12 top-notch musicians played the beautiful songs of jazz and soft melody with the instruments
like saxophone, flutes, and piano etc. The whole play smartly and elegantly combines the 4 actors and
30 boys from the Boychoir, singing beautifully like heavenly angels, with the 3 dazzling aerialists
skillfully performing in the air to express the flying image of the dragon. The whole performance is
also expressed in humorous dialogue, creative stage setting and props, and touching music to bring out
the message to believe.