George Chiang (along with singer and performer, Harriet Chung) did an interview on Howl (CIUT 89.5 FM) to talk about “A World Away (Remix)”, a new single they released earlier this year. Listen to the interview now:
TORONTO - A World Away, a signature pop ballad from the award-winning musical, Golden Lotus, has been remastered and scheduled to be launched on all platforms on August 18, 2020. The original edit of the song, which was written by George Chiang and sung by award-nominated singer Harriet Chung, transcends time with a heart wrenching message about love.
"The song, A World Away has a life of its own; it’s a great ballad for anybody who pines for the person they love”, says George. Golden Lotus is a musical written by the Taiwanese-Canadian writer and developed in New York and Toronto. The musical has received international praise, winning the Hong Kong English Drama Award for Best Original Work.
The newest rendition for A World Away features a live orchestra arranged and conducted by Warren Robert, accompanied by the vocals of Harriet Chung, Canada’s first Asian actress to be cast in The Phantom of the Opera. Harriet was also nominated for Best Actress for her performance as the title character in Golden Lotus where she sang the stage version of A World Away.
The newly orchestrated single, produced by Hayward Parrot, is a refreshed version of the ballad with hints of pop, soft rock and jazz; a modern fusion of genres coming together to create a unique remix of a song whose origin story began on stage.
“It’s a song that anyone can relate to. I had a friend listen to it and tell me how it made her think of her son who was away at school”, says Harriet.
The music video for the single was shot in the Heintzman House in Thornhill, Ontario, one of York Region’s heritage homes. Directed by Theresa Kowall-Shipp, the video offers a visual of the historical and timeless nature of the message behind the single.
A World Away is Harriet Chung's first single as a solo artist.
See original Press Release here.
George Chiang at BookCon NYC on June 2, 2019. Book signing for “"The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing".
The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing wins the 2018 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for "Best in Children's Fiction". To see the full list of winners, visit:
http://www.bookmarketingprofits.com/PinnacleAwardsWinter2018.html
George Chiang journeyed deep into the mountains in the Pacific Northwest to uncover the long lost stories of Chen Sing. George wrote and composed the award winning musical, Golden Lotus. Also an actor, he has appeared in many film, television and theatre productions.
Welcome George, and thank you for being with us today. What is your book, The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing about?
Read MoreThe Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing wins the 2017 Pacific Book Awards for "Best Children’s Picture Book 5 and Younger". To see the full list of winners, visit: http://www.pacificbookreview.com/2017-winners-finalists/
Read More
The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing wins another award! This time, for the Reader Views' 2017-2018 Reviewers Choice Award, for the Canada West region. To see the full list of winners, visit: http://readerviews.com/2017-2018-literary-award-winners/
Read MoreThe Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing by George Chiang is a delightful children’s book that tells the adventures of Chiang’s grandfather when he first came to America in the 1880s to work on the transcontinental railways on the West Coast. From a small farming village in Southern China’s Guangdong Province to the bustling metropolis of Guangzhou, where Sing and his companion Bo are kidnapped and shipped to Hong Kong, the pair eventually finds themselves on a ship to North America, where their adventures begin. In the raw, untamed Canadian Pacific Rockies, the team of Chinese workmen face daily danger and death as they blast their way through the mountains to build the iron road on Gold Mountain...
Read MoreBy Tara Bowie, Keremeos Review
A children’s book based on interviews done about 20 years ago with a man who lived in Cawston has earned global recognition.
The book titled The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing earned author George Chiang a 2017 Global Ebook award for best Chinese Literature Fiction and Juvenile Fiction.
Chiang travelled from his home in Toronto to interview Isaac (Ike) Sing over a two-week period in 1996 and then again in 1997.
During those interviews Sing spoke about many of his father Chen Sing’s adventures coming to Canada and working to build the railway.
“Ike was an incredible storyteller,” he said during an interview from his home. “We actually met when I was in Cuba. He was fishing off a pier wearing a fishing vest. We were just lucky to be on the same plane and I walked down the aisle to talk to him.”
Read MoreThe Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing, the story of a railroad worker who braved dangerous conditions during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, had already earned plaudits from critics – but Merrittonians in particular might find something special in the story.
That's because Chen Sing's story is based on the real Chen Sing, a Chinese immigrant who moved to Canada to work on the railroad, and later settled down in the Nicola Valley to raise a large family.
A work of historical fiction, the book is aimed at teaching young children and pre-teens about the dangerous and harrowing conditions that work crews – especially Chinese work crews – faced as they attempted to cut a railroad through the Rocky Mountains in the latter half of the 19th century.
Read MoreView The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing on globalebookawards.com here:
http://globalebookawards.com/nominee-publicity/the-railroad-adventures-of-chen-sing/
View all winners of the 2017 Global eBook Awards here:
http://globalebookawards.com/2017-global-ebook-award-winners/
Photography by Crystal Marie Sing Photography
Reviewed by Paola Belloso (age 9) for Reader Views (04/17)
“The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing” by George Chiang, is a story of a boy named Chen Sing who lived in a farming village in China. He had lost both parents and now lived with his older brother and a younger sister. The family was very poor and had to work hard to survive. One day a big storm went through and flooded the village, and everything that they had was gone. Chen Sing’s older cousin, Bo, was leaving the village to find a job to help his family. Chen Sing wanted to go with Bo, so he left his siblings and promised to send money and help them. It was a long way, but when they left, the adventure had just started for both.
Read MoreThe old saying is better late than never and that's what playwright George Chiang thought when he finally decided to create the children's book The Railroad Adventures of Chen Sing.
"It was sitting on the shelf, and you know what? I'm not going to live forever," Chiang told me in an interview over Skype from his home in Montreal.
The 68-page colour book just came out in early March and the Montreal-based actor/writer is feeling relieved and a little reticent. The book was almost two decades in the making.
Read MoreThere's always tougher competition between the ladies in HK. There's more of us. It seems like there are less roles to go around and all the ladies in town are super talented. This year in particular we had a great number of plays with outstanding roles for women.
Read MoreHave you ever wished you could burst into song at random? Characters in musicals have all the fun...
Mass disclaimer: all the photos in these nominee articles are the property of the artists who created these shows and the photographers who took them. We're writing these articles to help inform the public so they can make their decisions on the Heckler ballot. Voting will close September 4th. And don't forget the ceremony on September 7th at Orange Peel!
You can see all the nominees here. You can sign up for your ballot here. And you can sign up for the newsletter here. Newsletter subscribers will be the first ones to receive invites to the party after the nominees! Continue reading >
Read MoreAll of the shows nominated in this category are nominated for creating brand new shows from the ground up. Making a world premiere is no easy task and new work should be celebrated. They're a little bit harder to sell, they're a little bit harder to rehearse but it's very rewarding to know you're the first one to do this production. Congrats to all artists involved with these productions; we know they must have been a challenge!
Mass disclaimer: all the photos in these nominee articles are the property of the artists who created these shows and the photographers who took them. We're writing these articles to help inform the public so they can make their decisions on the Heckler ballot. Voting will close September 4th. And don't forget the ceremony on September 7th at Orange Peel!
Read More[source: https://www.goldenlotusthemusical.com/news/preview-golden-lotus-the-musical/]
“It’s very rare for Hong Kong to get a world-premiere musical event. The last one I can remember isGood Morning, Hong Kong. This time we’re getting the world-premiere of the critically acclaimedGolden Lotus. Written by George Chiang, it was the first Canadian musical to ever receive an ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop. The workshop was run by Tony award winning composer Stephen Schwartz…”
Read the full article here
