The all-star Yueju Opera performance of Butterfly Lovers is staged in Auckland, New Zealand on March 25. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Performers from Shaoxing, East China's Zhejiang province presented the classic Yueju Opera play Butterfly Lovers at the Skycity Theater in Auckland, New Zealand on March 25 with the support of China National Arts Fund.

The version of the time-honored love story staged in Auckland is a joint effort by many renowned Yueju Opera stars most of whom have won national awards.

The two successive shows on the day attracted approximately 1,500 spectators. The touching plots and the soft dialect of Jiangnan (the region south of Yangtze River) aroused the overseas Chinese people's strong emotions for their homeland.

"I told my family that this is China's Romeo and Juliet," said Chen Meiyan, an overseas Chinese who watched the performance with her husband John Phillips and their four-year-old daughter Sherlock.

Phillips was enchanted with Yujue Opera, "It is a wonderful art. I like its melodies and also the fancy costumes and makeups."

After the show, people were so immersed in the story that few of them left the theater. They presented bouquets out of gratitude and took group photos with the performers. Overseas Chinese said Yueju Opera is a quintessence of Chinese culture and they will help promote the traditional performing art on the world stage.

The all-star version of Butterfly Lovers is a trump card of Shaoxing Yueju Opera Troupe. Qiu Jianping, general manager of the troupe said they will explore new approaches to globalize Yueju Opera.

"We hope to tell Chinese stories in the form of Yueju Opera and show the whole world a diverse and charming China," said Qiu.

This year, the classic play will further enter the overseas markets. In addition to New Zealand, the troupe will go to countries including Australia, France, Germany and the United States to perform the story and to better boost the international cultural exchanges.

Nearly 1,500 people watch the Yueju Opera performance of Butterfly Lovers in Auckland, New Zealand on March 25. [Photo/zjol.com.cn]