Book excerpt: "[Wichmann's] writing has authority rarely encountered.... Not only a comprehensive study but [a] study of Beijing theater. A marvelous overview, a virtual encyclopedia." --Choice "Overall, this is a pathbreaking book in terms of contributing to our understanding of the important Chinese art form that is the Beijing opera. It is a model of production. Its wealth of detail does not prevent it from being eminently readable. The author has unparallelled mastery of knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of her subject. The book will certainly help not only to make Beijing opera better understood in the West but also to make it more widely performed and appreciated." --China Review International, Spring 1994