Yi Nengjing, the popular singer and television actress from Taiwan plays the title role.

    "The play is rich in the nostalgic flavour of 1930s Shanghai. The music, the movie skits, the setting of the nightclub and neon lights transport the audience back to that extraordinary time. Yi devoted herself to the role and gives a convincing portrayal," comments Lun Bing, the Beijing Youth Daily's theatre reporter who attended the premiere in Shanghai.

    The co-director Wang Jiana also rates Yi's performance highly, likening her to Vivien Leigh.

    At the press conference ahead of the play's Beijing's run, Yi revealed how she had tried to immerse herself in Zhou's character.

    "I lived in Shanghai alone to prepare for the play. I watched the videos of her movies and listened to her songs. The wall of my bedroom in Shanghai was full of Zhou's pictures and posters," she said.

    Lin Yilun who plays Zhou's husband Yan Hua recounted a story of how deeply Yi became absorbed in Zhou's tragic life.

    One day after rehearsals they went to a bar in Shanghai with composer Tan Dun and some other friends to unwind. While they were all enjoying themselves chatting and drinking, Yi, who was a little tipsy, started sobbing.

    Tan asked, "What makes you unhappy? You have a happy family, a loving husband, two lovely boys and successful career in both Taiwan and mainland."

    The actress answered, "If I were happy, I wouldn't have been Zhou Xuan."

    Looking a little uneasy, Yi explained, "I just tried to feel her soul with my soul, to get close to her and to feel her."

    She also said she felt both excited and nervous when she played in Shanghai, because "it is the place where Zhou performed."

    But Yi's portrayal is not simply that of a pretty singer and sad woman caught in an unhappy marriage and under enormous social pressure at the height of her fame.

    "Before I started rehearsing, I supposed Zhou was a fragile and simple woman. However, the more I entered her inner world, the more I felt she was a brave, open-minded, sophisticated and unyielding woman and that is what I want to portray on stage," said Yi.

    "When their marriage is in trouble and the husband, Yan, beats her up, she refuses to submit and bursts out, 'you should not humiliate me in this way.' I could feel her rebellion and forthrightness," explained Yi.

    Another example of her strength of character was how she divorced her husband, by issuing a public notice in a newspaper, and waiving all claim to any property or compensation.

    "How bold she was at a time when most people felt divorce was something very shameful and women still lived on men," Yi said.

    Zhou Xuan was born to a family named Su in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. Adopted at the age of 3 by one family, she finally ended up in another named Zhou in Shanghai.

    They sent her to a local song and dance ensemble when she was around 7 and when she was 12, Zhou joined "The Bright Moon," a then famous song and dance troupe in Shanghai, where she gradually rose in fame with her enchanting voice.

    In 1934, the 14-year-old Zhou took part in a singing contest held in Shanghai, winning the second prize and the title "golden voice" by the press.

    Before long she was singing professionally and playing some supporting roles in films. Her talent marked her out, and soon she was playing lead roles and recording some of the most popular songs of the day. In 1938, she married Yan Hua, a singer and actor. But their marriage did not last long and they divorced in 1941 - Zhou's star was rising as her husband's fell.

    Later Zhou moved to Hong Kong where she had an affair with a businessman, which floundered. A failed marriage, a broken love affair and an obsession with getting back to the top in movies unbalanced her. Her psychiatric problems worsened after she returned to Shanghai in the early 1950s, and in 1957 she contracted and died from encephalitis.

    (Source: China Daily)