curtain opened slowly, and the news of Evita Belon's death was broadcast on the radio. The air was pierced by several sharp wailing and crying, and then was drowned in solemn requiem. The sad atmosphere did not last long. A man named Che broke into the crowd and broke this "illusion" with his rock-and-roll singing...
's "Madame Veron", which was being performed in Shanghai Cultural Square, was full of great changes in Argentina before and after World War II. In the background, it tells the magnificent and controversial life of the former Argentine president’s wife Evita Veron.
Ivyta was originally a poor girl who suffered from social discrimination, but she was unwilling to succumb to the arrangements of fate. With her outstanding talent and wisdom, she gained fame and respect step by step and eventually became a political star in Argentina. However, the illness ended her brilliance, and her short life was frozen at 33.
This musical was first born in a rock opera concept album by Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer) and Tim Rice (lyricist) in 1976, and in 1978, Broadway legendary director Harold Prince Joined, put this album on the stage, and created a very innovative musical under the social environment at that time. For more than 40 years since the advent of
, "Mrs. Veron" has been re-arranged many times around the world. This version of the Jucheng musical was first introduced to mainland China two years ago, and it completely followed the 1978 directing technique. "
" is also Weber’s musical. This play is not as famous as "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera", but it is more profound and has a serious drama charm. The original director Prince once said that you should not always think about how to attract. Audience, please the audience, as long as you do your best, the audience will come naturally, don't underestimate the audience's appreciation." said co-director Daniel Kurtner.
Kutner has worked with Prince for 17 years. He said that the style of this show is minimalist, without complicated stage art. A bed and a door represent a scene, but the stage schedule is actually It is very complicated. In order to ensure the effect of the performance, all scheduling must be precise and clear. The rearrangement director must understand the motivation, psychology, and emotion behind the characters, and fully inspire the actors to make the stage more contagious.
Prince always believes that an excellent musical should rely on the work itself to speak, rather than relying on stars to attract attention and divert attention, and therefore, he is not keen on hiring stars to perform musicals. Duplicate typesetting also inherits this concept. The actors are not well-known stars, but they all have rich theater experience.
Jessica Daly, who plays Evita, graduated from the London School of Art Education. She got the role after two interviews. When preparing for the role, she often listened to the songs of big voice female singers such as Barbra Streisand to help Enter the state by yourself.
Jessica comes from a working class, relying on her own efforts, has grown into a mature actor step by step, and has a firm foothold in the musical theatre industry. The similarity of growth experience and how women position themselves in their careers all make Jessica empathize with Evita, but she does not agree with every decision in Evita’s life, feeling that she is sometimes too radical, Too ambitious.
From the illegitimate daughter of the poor tailor to the dancing girl, from the high-level social flower to the wife of the president, Evita’s time span in the play is nearly 20 years. For Jessica, Girls’ Generation is the most difficult to perform because she has passed At this stage, especially close to the state where Evita sang "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", she had to work very hard to find her innocent side. When researching the character, Jessica read a lot of diaries and manuscripts related to Evita and was asked how she viewed the relationship between Evita and Veron. She used "complex" to describe it.
"Evita was abandoned by her father since she was a child. When striving for a better life and higher social status, she hoped to have a pair of strong arms to protect her and give her a sense of security. After meeting Veron, she gradually moved towards At the pinnacle of life, in this process, they rely on each other and use each other’s strengths to make themselves stronger.”
Jessica believes that Ivyta respects, attaches, and admires Veron deep down. Even in the hospital bed, at the end of her life, she was still concerned about how to put Veron at the pinnacle of national power.
co-director Kurtner added that Evita’s influence on Veron is also very large. Veron can become a powerful and truly influential national leader, as well as Evita’s personal appeal and her efforts behind her. Inseparable.
There is also a special character beside Ivita-Cut. Adopting Brecht's alienation technique,Prince allows the audience to understand Evita's life of ups and downs, and at the same time follow the "God's perspective" into the story, becoming a bystander and thinker.
"Ivyta supports the poor and does a lot of good deeds, and many people will fall in love with her. I am like the "conscience" in the play. I will remind Ivyta to let people see her less right side and cause The undesirable consequences of Che Guevara.” Lucas Rush, who played Che, revealed that when the director dealt with Che, he had deliberately directed this role to Che Guevara.
"Mrs. Veron" is a complete "big female lead drama". Before that, Shanghai Cultural Square also introduced another "big female lead drama" "Elizabeth". What is interesting is that between the two dramas There are still inextricably linked.
It is precisely because of watching "Mrs. Veron" that the playwright Michel Kunze wrote "Elizabeth". Before that, he was a translator of the German version of "Madame Veron". Later, Prince told him that your translation was good enough to write the play by yourself. He wrote "Elizabeth" and portrayed a legendary queen. History of growth. Similarly, this play also uses the alienation effect-the assassin who killed Elizabeth by mistake, Luckini, walks on the stage from the beginning, jumping out of any situation at any time to give a live commentary to the audience.
On September 15th, "Mrs. Veron" will usher in the last performance of the Shanghai station. Yu Xinyue, deputy general manager of Jucheng Musical, observed that many female audiences, especially women from Kochi, like this drama very much, and feel it speaks for itself What I want to say from the bottom of my heart, "Women dare not say'I am ambitious', and dare not say'I want to conquer the world.' Evita also conquered the world by conquering men. For example, there are some passages in the play that she blurted out." What do I want,” and suddenly changed to “what do we want,” feminist discussion abounds. Female audiences may feel more about watching a woman show, because there are too many resonances.”
Shanghai After the station, "Mrs. Belon" will also go to 9 cities including Beijing, Wuhan, Xi'an and Guangzhou for more than 70 consecutive performances.
Every time
goes to a city to tour, the crew must recruit a group of children actors in the local area. Although they don’t make many appearances, they are highly integrated with the plot. For example, the first act commemorates Mrs. Veron and the second act is dressed in a holy robe Sing chants for her. The co-director of
, Kutner, said that child actors must have good singing skills and good typhoons. Because there are too many outstanding children, he finally chose seven in Shanghai. Before coming to Shanghai, the crew had recruited young actors in South Africa, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong. So far, "The young actors in Shanghai are the ones with the highest level of self-discipline and the most adequate homework. They put all the songs we asked for before they came. I have learned, and I also abide by the rules in the background, never miss the scene, talented and lovely, they bring a lot of joy to everyone."
