New Olympic songs released

Tuesday saw the release of another 30 Olympic songs by the BOCOG. "Welcome to Beijing" and "I am a Star" are on the list. An album of official Olympic music soon will be in stores. Let's listen.

Tuesday saw the release of another 30 Olympic songs by the BOCOG.

The Olympic tunes are written on many themes pertaining to the games. "I am a star" honours Games volunteers. "Light the Passion, Pass the Dream" is about the Olympic Torch Relay. "Beijing Welcomes You" provided the theme for celebrations marking 100 days before the commencement of the games. Collecting musical pieces for this year's games has been a huge effort, over 5 years ago. The BOCOG received over 98 thousand submissions from home and abroad. There are some big names on the list of song writers and performers. But many of the entries came from ordinary people, as well.

The 30 latest releases will be broadcast on radio and television. Two-hundred-and-seven official tunes will be performed at Olympic events. A collection of those official songs is slated for album release, shortly.

Live, Lively: Quake drama staged

More than 50 days have passed since the May 12 earthquake stuck China's Sichuan Province and surrounding areas. The day the quake hit, the Beijing People's Art Theatre's set to work on its latest stage drama - "Live, Lively". In Chinese, live translates as "Shenghuo." But what is the distinction of the title?

The drama begins with an ordinary family scene in downtown Beijing. May 12 was Wang Baonian's birthday. And his nursemaid organized a celebration. She invited her friends, all natives of Sichuan, to come and celebrate. The old gentleman's sons, an entrepreneur and a doctor arrived late. Just as the party began, came news of the Sichuan earthquake.

Life changed for everyone. Wang's sons did their part. One donated money and relief supplies. The other joined an emergency medical team. The catastrophe seasoned and matured the nursemaid and her friends from Sichuan as the magnitude of the event awakened to them.

Unlike other productions on the theme, "Live, Lively" takes place far from the heart of the earthquake drama. It is set two thousand miles away. In the People's Art Theatre's established tradition of staging Beijing Dialect drama, "Live, Lively" adds humorous elements. There is a message to the story - about how to live and how to "live, lively," in the face of disaster.

"Live, Lively" is on the playbill for the first "Beijing People's Art Theatre Classics Performing Season." Also on the bill are the "Teahouse" and "Thunderstorm." Those two productions have been popular for decades. The crew hopes to create a new classic with its latest presentation. The theatre has been recognized for decades, for its commitment to works that carry deep meaning and social significance for Chinese people.