Tonight... tonight... the stars align tonight...
Tonight we get to see how well CBC Regional Director Rae Hull's vision of a multicultural television performance special has been realized by producer Moyra Rodger. I sat in on our first blue sky conception meetings that were rejected. I recommended performers, locations and concepts in my role as consultant.
I watched the music video filmings at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden and on Keefer St in Chinatown. I brought my family in for filming a simulated Chinese New Year Dinner. I modeled a kilt on a late night Gastown street. I listened to Moyra say that she is happy with the production and that she is proud to have her name on it.
What can we expect? Expect the unexpected! Look for the intersections between two of Canada's oldest non-official founding cultures on the West Coast. Look at how stereotypes are flipped, racial images are juxtaposed with cultural images in ways you never imagined before. Think outside the box. Think... "What if?"
But most of all... think of how much fun all the performers had of being a part of this show. Think how much they enjoyed pushing the boundaries of stereotypes and playing cheekily with the traditional. I haven't seen the final product. I look forward to seeing the show tonight with my girlfriend, Deb Martin, and her parents who have travelled all the way from Vernon BC to attend the dinner.
I look forward to hearing comments from my parents and my 93 year old grandmother who was born in Victoria BC, the grand-daughter of Rev. Chan Yu Tan who came to Canada in 1896. In each subsequent generation we have had inter-racial marriages in the family. The blending of Scots and Chinese is truly nothing new to us!
