This afternoon and evening, the musical "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" (hereinafter referred to as "The Great Comet") officially premiered at the Bank of Communications Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center. Reviewed by the American media as "Broadway's most innovative

This afternoon and evening, the musical "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" (hereinafter referred to as "The Great Comet") officially premiered at the Bank of Communications Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center. Reviewed by the American media as "Broadway's most innovative new musical since "Hamilton"", this unique Shanghai version was created by a Chinese and foreign joint creative and performance team, "breaking into" the horizons of Asian musical audiences.

"The Great Comet" is based on some chapters of Tolstoy's masterpiece "War and Peace". It was first performed at a cutting-edge art theater in New York in 2012. At that time, it was an immersive musical in a small micro theater. By 2016 In 2018, an "evolved version" with improved music, performance and stage design appeared on the Broadway stage. As for "The Great Comet", which was unveiled in Shanghai today, it is intended to allow domestic musical practitioners and audiences to experience an "innovative A groundbreaking new musical."

The "newness" of the Shanghai version of "The Great Comet" means that domestic musical productions are aligned with Broadway industry processes, thus redefining the "rules of the game" for the local industry. Zhang Xiaoding, producer of the musical "The Great Comet" and general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theater, said: "This time "The Great Comet" is trying hard to set Shanghai standards for domestic musical production: reaching the core copyrights of Broadway, selecting Chinese creative talents, and building a team for the world. , strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between China and foreign countries, and promote a new transformation and exploration of domestic musicals."

html On the night of January 7, the symphony music at Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center did not stop, and the stage design and stage installation technicians of the musical "The Great Comet" Already waiting to enter. Based on the tacit understanding reached by Chinese and foreign staff over several months, the complex installation project was completed in less than a week. Surrounded by gold and red velvet curtains, the bright red star ring-shaped stage is as dazzling as fireworks. The moment the audience enters the theater, they feel as if they have traveled through 200 years of time and space and entered the Moscow High School described by Tolstoy in "War and Peace". The social scene of the Menju tribe.

Cooper Godin, who plays Pierre, mentioned during the rehearsal: "What I like most about the interactive nature of the Broadway version of "The Great Comet" is that the 'fourth wall' does not exist at all. The actors and the audience are each other's They complete the show together. I love such an intimate performance experience." Godin has played the role of "Phantom" in the Broadway touring version of "Phantom of the Opera", and also participated in "Les Misérables" and "Mamma Mia!" "A series of classic Broadway musicals. His voice has unique conditions, which vividly display Pierre's confusion, depth and decadence. He said: "Shanghai is my dream stage."

Compared with the Broadway version, it creates a sense of intimacy between the audience and the performer in a relatively compact theater space. On the "Shanghai Stage" designed by Korean stage designer Wu Biyong, the audience is more intuitive. The impression is that the characters are running non-stop on the star ring stage that looks like a trajectory of destiny. For the audience who are not in the pool seats, although they maintain a distance from the performance area, viewing "The Great Comet" as a musical on a framed stage, it is still uniquely attractive because of its mixed and rich musical styles. . Screenwriter and songwriter Dave Malloy boldly allows Cossack folk songs and electronic music to meet, using jazz themes to depict the Moscow Playboys of 1812, and opening up Pierre's inner world with classical adagio... Various styles of music Far from conflicting with the background of the novel, on the contrary, the songwriters of this era completed a dialogue with Tolstoy in a way full of vitality and creativity.

The whole play is "sung to the end" from beginning to end. The only non-singing line comes from the classic passage of "War and Peace", which is Pierre's confession to Natasha: "If I were not like this, if I were the world The most beautiful, the smartest, the most outstanding man in the world, and he is free, I will kneel down and propose to you immediately." The fate of the two people intersects from then on. In 1812, the comet pierced the cold night of Moscow, and in the novel Natasha and Pierre will also endure war and separation of life and death, and the musical "The Great Comet" comes to an end when Pierre feels the poetry and energy of life.After the premiere of

, the musical "The Great Comet" began a one-and-a-half-month residency with as many as 50 performances.

Author: Liu Qing

Text: Liu Qing Pictures: Pictures provided by the crew Editor: Jiang Fang Editor: Xing Xiaofang

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