The number of tea-picking opera troupes has dropped from 40 or 50 to about a dozen today, and some of the remaining ones are as good as defunct, for they can't gather the resources to put on a proper performance. Even the busy Huang Hsiu-man says, "I'm getting pretty old. I'm thinking about closing down the troupe next year and retiring."
歲月不饒人，採茶劇團也由當年的四、五十團，至今剩下十團左右，有些團根本組不起來，就連目前演出邀約不少的黃秀滿都說：「年紀大了，我考慮明年把團收起來、不做了！」