Ng Kwan Lai’s success on the opera stage owed much to her own efforts, but she was also well served by good scripts and her collaboration with outstanding principal male performers.

After Tong Tik Sang changed the course of Ng’s career with the production of A Beauty’s Grave in 1956, Ng expanded her Lai Sing Opera Troupe into a much larger troupe, attracting performers such as Mak Bing Wing, Ho Fei Fan, Chan Kam Tong, Boon Yat On, Leung Sing Po, Lang Chi Pak, Fung Wong Nui and Lam Kar Sing to the cast of principals. From 1956 to 1959, Tong Tik Sang wrote a number of scripts and librettos for Ng, including The Fragrant Sachet, The Double Pearl Hair-pins, Two Immortals at the Pavilion of the Moon, Madam Lee Sam Neung, Presenting a Sword at Hundred-Flower Pavilion, and Bloody Silk Robe. All of these are regarded as some of her most successful operas, and they still performed by various opera troupes today.

In 1960, Ng appeared with Sun Ma Si Tsang in Tragic Yearnings for the Return of the Betrothed, A Royal Wedding, and A Bitter Revenge. She sang alongside Ho Fei Fan in Fei Fan Heung Opera Troupe’s production of Dream of the Golden Well in Red Chamber, composed by the playwright Yip Shiu Tak. Ng’s vivacious portrayal of the character Kam Chuen was well matched by Ho’s performance as Bo Yuk, and their singing was considered legendary at the time. Ng and Ho performed the same opera in 1969, when Ho’s Fei Fan Heung Opera Troupe toured Chinese communities in North America. Presenting a total of 62 performances, the tour broke all North American records for Cantonese Opera.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Ng performed with Lam Kar Sing in this Chung Sun Sing Opera Troupe, with Yip Shiu Tak writing The Story of Chu Pin’s loyalty to the Sung Dynasty especially for them. Ng took the part of the Princess of Liao, which is a gentle role with a touch of the martial, allowing her once again to showcase her martial arts and acrobatic agility. During the same period, the renowned playwright Lee Siu Wan composed a number of new operas for the Chung Sun Sing Opera Troupe, including some of his best known works such as Clever Lin Xiang Yu Saving the Kingdom Zhao, Bo Yuk and Doi Yuk at the Red Chamber, and Adventures in a Snow Storm.

Performing the best scripts in collaboration with the outstanding artists of the time, Ng achieved even more dazzling success.