I Have a Date with Spring


I Have a Date with Spring was a stage play originally written by Raymond To. It was later adapted into a film that was released in 1994 in Hong Kong.

Synopsis

Most of the film takes place in a continuing flashback of one fateful night in 1967 at the Flower Palace Nightclub. On the night of the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots, Butterfly Yiu was given an accidental chance to perform the final show when the original and star performer, Pak Long, was stranded at another venue. This started a chain of events that will change the four character's lives forever.
The beginning and the end of the movie takes place in modern times, and Butterfly returns from retirement in Canada to perform in a final charity show at the Flower Palace Nightclub before it is demolished.

Ending Of Four Main Characters

Out of the four main characters, only Butterfly became very famous, and had a long career as a singer and actress. She had financial security, but lost out on romance, as her love interest, Karl Sum, cannot bear the pressure and relative shame of living with someone who is much more popular. Karl left for New York City to start a new career, only to be reunited with Butterfly at the end of the movie. This ending differs from the adapted ATV series, as although Butterfly and Karl meet again, she cannot forgive him for leaving her.
Lulu Kim also became popular as a singer and actress, but not on the same level as Butterfly. Lulu eventually was married to Luk Tat Sun, the son of one of the directors of the Flower Palace Nightclub. He originally sought to marry Butterfly, but she waited out for Karl, and refused his advances.
Fung Ping continues her unlucky streak in romance. She followed Donny, her gambling-addict boyfriend, to Vietnam with a show tour team. She arrived in Vietnam at the height of the Vietnam War, and was presumably killed during a bombing raid by US Forces. She gave birth to a son while in Vietnam, despite earlier promises of an abortion, and Karl Sum adopted the son and took him to the US. He was united with Butterfly at the end of the movie.
Nancy eventually sought another job at another nightclub as a lounge singer. She remained obscure, and became depressed and an alcoholic. She eventually lost her voice due to alcohol and died of cirrhosis. Butterfly only knew of this right before her charity show.

Characters

14th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards
The main theme song is 'I Have a Date with Spring' sung by Alice Lau. The drama was performed first by Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in 1992. The drama was later performed by the theatre of Spring-Time Stage Productions.
In 1995, "I Have a Date With Spring" was adapted into a television series by ATV, starring Sheren Tang as Butterfly Yiu and lasting a total of 40 episodes. Similar to the film, the series takes place in flashbacks by Butterfly as she walks through a newly restored Flower Palace Nightclub. The series explores not only the lives of Butterfly, Lulu, Nancy, and Fung Ping while working at the nightclub, but also their lives before they began working at Flower Palace, as well as ongoing issues with their families. It also expands more on the different characters working at Flower Palace, such as Yuen Bik.
In 2001-2005, the film was rewritten as a musical, the Flower Palace, many elder famous singers played in it, sang some of their best songs. VCD and DVD of the karaoke versions of the plays are released in 2001-2003. Alice Lau and So Yuk-Wah performed in many of different performances related to the play.
There is a book of the play by Raymond To.