Bangkok, Thailand — When Ekachai Uekrongtham first considered retelling the story of the world's most famous Siamese twins, he was thinking Elephant Man.
But the more the Thai-born theater producer delved into the lives of Chang and Eng, the less they seemed to resemble the tragedy of John Merrick, the 19th-century Englishman whose grotesquely deformed head turned him into a sideshow freak.
Actors R.J. Rosales, center, and Roy Rolloda, right, perform as Siamese twins Chang and Eng in a new musical.
"They led a very, very colorful life. It was not a pathetic life. It was not an Elephant Man life," Ekachai said.
The story of Chang and Eng came full circle last today when "Chang and Eng: The Musical" had its final performance in Thailand, the country where the twins were born 190 years ago when it was still called Siam.
Chang and Eng were born March 11, 1811, to a fisherman's family in a boathouse in Samut Songkram, a seaside province near Bangkok. They shared no organs and were joined only by a 3-inch-long cord of flesh just below the chest.
Under the influence of "The Elephant Man," the Broadway play and hit 1980 movie about Merrick, Ekachai first thought of creating a brooding play.
"Originally, I thought of the Chang and Eng story as gray and dark," he said. "But when I did research into their lives, the colors began to change. I began to see red, blue, violet. I could imagine them singing and dancing."
The twins were 17 when they sailed to the West with two British businessmen who realized their freak show potential. Their manager, Capt. Abel Coffin, sold tickets at 50 cents each to look at them on stage. After two years, the twins struck out on their own. They found fame, wealth and happy marriages in the United States, where they lived until their deaths at age 62.
They settled in Trapp Hill, N.C., and married American sisters Adelaide and Sarah Yates. As rich farm owners, they built each wife a house and took turns living three days in each home. They had 21 children between them and toured Europe in shows to support them. In 1870, they retired. Chang died of pneumonia on Jan. 17, 1874, and Eng followed him an hour later of a heart attack.
Despite being conjoined twins, Chang was an extrovert and Eng an introvert.
That, Ekachai said, provides the message of their story: "The value of tolerance and interdependence, coexistence whether it is husband and wife, brother, sister or co-workers."
The musical glosses over the twins' marital arrangements, but devotes an entire act to their loving family life.
"The more interesting part of their lives is not the sex bit. What is more interesting is, why would two normal American girls fall in love with Siamese twins," Ekachai said.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.