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In memory: Catch The Moon Speaks For My Heart: Teresa Teng, Her Life, Her Love, Her Songs, a tribute show by the award-winning Dama Orchestra in honour of the late songstress .

The Moon Speaks For My Heart shines a light on beloved Taiwanese diva Teresa Teng’s legacy.

IF SHE were still alive, Teresa Teng would be 60. And though it has been two decades since the asthma attack that took her life away, the Taiwanese artiste’s music continues to linger on – in radio waves, movie soundtracks, and as the background to many a cherished memory.

Teng didn’t have a loud voice. Nor did she have great charisma. But holding the microphone close to her lips, and singing in a soft yet controlled intonation, she could fill an entire stage with feeling.

That was her secret, songwriter Tsuo Hung-yun once described it as “seven parts sweetness, three parts tears” – Teng was in essence, a master of her own voice.

And staying true to that aspect of her will be one of the most challenging tasks for an upcoming tribute performance, by the multiple award- winning theatre company, Dama Orchestra.

Seasoned singers Tan Soo Suan, Rachel Tan and Chang Fang Chyi have been in training for two months.

Tan and Chang have the benefit of having performed in previous tributes staged by the company. However Rachel, who will be presenting numbers from the earlier stages of Teng’s career, is new to this.

The Moon Speaks For My Heart isn’t just going to be a concert, but a documentary-style tribute to her life.

For its director, Dama Orchestra co-founder Pun Kai Loon, the devil is in the details – which have, three weeks ahead of opening night, been keeping him up untill 3am.

“I usually deal a lot with the sub-text when it comes to the stage directions for each song. However, this time around, I’m putting extra focus into it,” says Pun.

Dama Orchestra resident performers (from left) Tan Soo Suan, Chang Fang Chyi and Rachel Tan will be singing in the tribute show.

Pun says the show is framed around the relevance of the songs throughout her life.

“For example, when she was going through a tough period, she churned out a number of songs about heartbreak. Hence, finding the right settings, stage directions and mood to illustrate the background story that accompanies each song, is of paramount importance.”

Two narrators – Alex Koh and Samuel Tseu – will acquaint us with everything from the early years of her career, to the dizzying achievements at the height of her fame.

Audiences will also learn about her love life, and the numerous scandals thrown at Teng’s unforgiving perch in the limelight – usually dealt by the singer, through an unwavering candour and dignity.

Fame is often accompanied by scrutiny.

Popular icon the late Teresa Teng has left behind a great musical legacy.

“And there has never, in the history of oriental singers, been anyone that has penetrated the global market quite as strongly as her ... even up to today,” says Pun, 54, who confesses that, as a youth, he had thought her music boring.

Part of his lack of interest was because Pun was never a Mandarin speaker. The other half was because he just wasn’t a fan of ballads – of which many of Teng’s songs are.

It wasn’t untill his colleague, Dama Orchestra co-founder Khor Seng Chew, suggested staging their first tribute to Teng, that Pun came to appreciate the full extent of Teng’s influence.

In the process of preparing for September Tale, staged in 2005, Pun says he came to recognise the indelible imprint that Teng’s music has left, not just on society, but on popular culture.

“Once I started researching into her life, her personality grew, getting bigger and bigger in my mind, and when you take a step back, that kind of achievement inspires awe.”

She penetrated the broader Chinese market in a way that no one else had, with hits in Hokkien, Cantonese, Mandarin and even Japanese, he points out.

She was also big outside of Chinese-speaking countries, garnering a huge following in Indonesia and Japan.

“I mean, to penetrate the Japanese market is so difficult, and she wasn’t just a one-hit-wonder. She has proved herself to be an eternal legend, even in that context.”

Unlike Pun, Khor was a convert from day one.

The musical director for The Moon Speaks For My Heart adds that Teng liked to do cover versions of a lot of non-Chinese songs.

“In fact, she was the first Eastern oriental artist to perform in Las Vegas!”

Since the 70s, Khor has been collecting CDs, biographies, and all sorts of books about her from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong ... you name it – now all neatly line at least two shelves’ worth of office space at Dama’s headquarters, in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.

Khor, 57, recalls leaving for London, England in 1985 to study classical guitar.

“I brought only three Chinese albums with me, and one was Teng’s, featuring classical poems from the Tang and Song dynasty – Dandan youqing.”

A revival

Rehearsals for the tribute began two months ago.

Whilst the production itself seems like a 90-degree turn from the grandeur of Dama’s recent, award-winning hit, Empress Wu, it comes with its own challenges.

With a multi-lingual set, Tan, Chang and Rachel have been subjected to the keen ear of dialect coaches. They’ll be covering Teng’s hits in Mandarin, English, Cantonese and Japanese.

Rachel will be singing songs from Teng’s younger years – more folksy and pop tunes, Chang will cover tunes from the 70s and 80s, and Tan will be singing tunes from the height of her fame.

For classically-trained Rachel, the experience has entailed stepping out of her comfort zone.

She is used to singing in a more operatic style, which requires a lot of voice projection.

“We don’t normally use a mic,” she says.

Teng’s style however, is based on subtlety, and having to soften the volume made Rachel feel very exposed.

But as Khor explains, Teng relied not on using a range of fancy pitch acrobatics to impress her audiences. Rather, she captivated people using nothing but good voice control, microphone technique and clear enunciation.

“A lot of the songs she sang had very simple melodies, but she was a master at using inflections to reflect all the subtle peaks and troughs, and as a result, getting at the emotional core of a song,” he says.

And this is what Rachel has been training to do.

“One of my solo numbers, Songs of Grief, is a Tang dynasty poem.

“It has just four lines, and lasts two to three minutes.

“So, the challenge is to bring depth to it. It is slow, beautiful and very lyrical, and it’s all up to the skill of the singer to achieve that.”

The two narrators will also be joining in for certain numbers – this will be Dama’s first Teresa Teng tribute to feature male singers.

As part of a series of productions to mark Dama Orchestra’s 20th anniversary, this will also be the first time the company has re-staged a show. (The first time when The Moon Speaks For My Heart was staged back in 2011, it proved to be a sell-out hit.)

Choosing The Moon Speaks For My Heart specifically, seems apt, given that 2013 commemorates the 60th anniversary of Teng’s birth.

Besides, Pun says it would be more accurate to term the performance as a “revival”, rather than a “re-staging”.

“In the last two shows (The Moon Speaks For My Heart, 2011 and September Tale, 2005) we did just a few of her more popular songs,” he explains.

“This show takes a more comprehensive look other hits and signature tunes that we have not been able to feature previously, and will include quite a lot of her non-chinese numbers.”

Expect variety

Among her classic Chinese numbers, the set will feature western favourites such as Copacabana, The Way We Were, Careless Whisper, and Flashdance.

Pun promises the show will provide a fresh take on the Teresa Teng tribute – not that Teresa Teng tributes ever seem to become outdated.

As someone who has been travelling to China on a regular basis for many years now, Khor says that over there, one is never short of a Teresa Teng tribute – even today.

It’s hard to overstate Teng’s popularity.

Even when her music was banned for being too “bourgeois” in mainland China during the 80s, amidst political tensions between the latter country and Teng’s native home, Taiwan, her music was played everywhere – from nightclubs to government buildings, thanks to the black market.

Teng’s name in Mandarin pin-yin was Dèng L? Jun.

“As the saying goes,” says Khor. “China’s communist leader Deng Xiaoping may have ruled the country by day, but Deng the singer, ruled China by night.”

■ Catch The Moon Speaks For My Heart: Teresa Teng, Her Life, Her Love, Her Songs, which will be playing from June 14 – 23, 2013, at Pentas 1, Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, Sentul Park, Jalan Strachan, Off Jalan Ipoh, KL. Evening shows are at 8.30pm, while Saturday and Sunday matinees will be at 3pm.

Ticket prices range from RM68 to RM288. For more details, or to book tickets, contact the box office at KLPac @ Sentul Park: 03 4047 9000/ 03 4047 9010 or iLasso Office @ Phileo Damansara II: 03 7957 6088. For online booking, visit ilassotickets.com.