Patriarch is always the one with his/her reputation on the line except when top-billed female leads are of the caliber like Fong (since the creation of own vocal style)/Tam (before gaining weight in Macau). It is just fantasy until the path from A to B is clear. Only wrong casting makes an incompetent director, who couldn't demonstrate and/or teach, cut & paste vocal style. That approach doesn't fit the 1980s description by Lam who didn't mind directors using his coat tail to make a name in Cantonese opera.