Harlem Yu has “death wish” with new musical?

Harlem Yu, Jam Hsiao, and more held a press conference in Taipei on May 29 to promote their new musical The Journey to the West: Uprise of the Young Devil, which will premiere in Kaohsiung in September.

This is the sequel to the musical that Harlem created in 2017. The veteran singer admitted that after being in showbiz for over 30 years, holding concerts and recording albums are no longer enough to satisfy him. “Musicals can be challenging, but I believe that good works of art will live on and on,” he said.

Jam will play a brand new character that was created specially for the play. Revealing the new character as someone who is “cold on the outside, but warm on the inside”, Harlem declared that he thinks there’s no one more suited for the role than Jam.

Jam, who has never taken on a musical before, said that he was drawn to the script and was touched by Harlem’s invitation to include him in the cast. The singer also revealed that Harlem made special arrangements to accommodate his schedule, as his band Lion is set to start work on their new album as well.

When Harlem, who plays Sun Wukong in the musical, was asked if he sought advice from his good friend Jacky Cheung (who starred in the classic musical Snow.Wolf.Lake), he laughed and said, “Yes! He said I have a death wish.” But Harlem then emphasised that the genres of their musicals are completely different.

Photos: TPG