Last weekend, the latest China tour of the musical "Matilda" ended at the Shanghai Grand Theater. A few days later, the concert "Reunion", which brought together stars from the West End and Broadway musicals, will be sung on the same stage , at the same time, the immersive musical "Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812" ("The Great Comet" for short), created by an international team based on Broadway industrial processes, is now being performed at Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center. In a short period of time, musical performances on the Shanghai stage have covered audiences of all ages. The programs include classic plays over the years, and originality and production capabilities are at the forefront of the industry, as summarized by Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theater and producer of "The Great Comet" : "Since the first introduction of the classic musical "Les Misérables" in 2002, we have continued to explore the operation of musicals in the industry for more than 20 years, leveraging Broadway's industrial advantages to promote Chinese creative talents and the culture of the world's musical field. Cooperation."
"Matilda": "Children's Play" and a major cross-cultural proposition
The musical of the same name adapted from the children's literature classic "Matilda" written by Roald Dahl is not the first time it has come to Shanghai. , this top contemporary musical produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2011, caused a sensation when the original West End tour to China four years ago. Therefore, both large and small audiences in Shanghai are already familiar with this "little girl with arms akimbo." The audience knows this story of "amazing kids versus vulgar adults." About this new classic, which broke the Guinness World Record with 7 British Olivier Awards, how it unexpectedly transformed the stage into a magical world in the mind of a genius girl. The children's singing activated the alphabet blocks that filled the stage space, making the letters like magic. The stage is full of excitement, and the audience understands it. In fact, the desks on the stage disappeared and autumn fell from the sky. These "famous scenes" have been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the past few years. This old work, which seemed to have been completely spoiled, returned to Shanghai and still managed to perform for 29 consecutive performances with an average attendance rate of 98%. It premiered at the Shanghai Grand Theater on December 29 last year, and the response was no less than It premiered in China four years ago, and in a very warm and warm atmosphere, this play completed its 200th performance in China.
The fact that "Matilda" returns to its hometown and is so popular is related to the vitality of the original novel and the charm of the musical's lyrics, music, and stage presentation. However, it is worth mentioning that the Chinese team is not only re-introducing a play; Let the audience truly enter this work, making this seemingly juvenile children's play a cross-cultural case between China and Britain. In the guided tour, the lyrics translator Cheng He analyzed the "Matilda" songwriter Tim Menchin's use of English literary words and sentences to create the wonders of the musical, as well as the rhyme and sentence fragmentation of Chinese and English. Echoing has become the key to unlocking "Matilda" in the hands of the audience. It broadens the understanding of this work from a cross-cultural perspective, allowing the audience to "know what it is and why it is so."
"The Great Comet": a brand new work that challenges the audience
As the producer of "The Great Comet", Zhang Xiaoding said very confidently after the successful premiere: "This is a new work that connects with the Broadway industry process and comprehensively improves the original Broadway version. The evolved version, the Shanghai version of "The Great Comet" allows Chinese musical theater practitioners and audiences to see a groundbreaking new musical, setting a Shanghai standard for Chinese musical theater creation." From the formation to the premiere, several In the past month, the breakthrough of "The Great Comet" at the production level has been frequently discussed. It defines the scale and quality of the "heavy industrial products" of the Chinese musical industry. This is a consensus reached in the industry.
In fact, the more bold transcendence of "The Great Comet" is its challenge to the aesthetic model of musicals. Musical actor Liu Yang said after watching the performance: "This work is technically and aesthetically complex. It seems to provide obvious entertainment, but in fact it challenges the audience who are addicted to the comfort zone of watching the show. It is a great artistic challenge. Its eclectic composition style and the defamiliarization of Tolstoy's original novel through music will bring great enjoyment to some audiences who are keen on novelty, and it will also have a profound impact on most audiences. Aesthetic pressure."
"The Great Comet" selects what seems to be the most dramatic passage in "War and Peace": the engaged Natasha was seduced by the playboy Anatole on the days when her fiancé Andrei left Moscow, and she was blindly seduced by the playboy Anatole. Regretting his marriage, falling into self-blame and becoming ill, Pierre is torn between his best friend and the girl he watched grow up, but he also discovers his secret and repressed love for Natasha. Screenwriter Songwriter and songwriter Dave Malloy recreates this episode of the novel in a dedramatic and counter-narrative way. He transforms the plot into a monologue-like chant surrounding the characters. The "sing to the end" format makes a play It looks like an "album" with a mixture of musical styles, and the extensive use of jazz, electronic music, rock and rap elements subverts people's imagination of "Tolstoy's novels". And Dave's talent is reflected in, His unexpected musical style still echoes Toon's character creation in terms of the underlying logic of expression. The style of music achieves a dialogue with Toon while defamiliarizing Toon. And, although the whole play is intuitive The performance form is anti-drama, but the fierce conflicts between the characters and within the characters in the original work are appropriately realized through the expression of music. It is in this sense that "The Great Comet" completes the deconstruction of the "musical" form and innovation.
"Reunion": The emotions that the musical stars forged with the audience on the Chinese stage are difficult to quantify
In 2002, the original "Les Misérables" had its Chinese premiere at the Shanghai Grand Theater. 22 years later, six actors have performed at different times in The star actors and actresses from the musical who participated in "Les Misérables" "reunion" at the "Reunion" concert. This concert became popular even before it was performed. It can be seen that the Chinese musical performance market opened by "Les Misérables" has accumulated over 20 years. It has created an audience group that cannot be ignored by the musical theater industry around the world. The 26 tracks presented in
"Reunion" cover classic plays that are familiar to the audience, such as "Phantom of the Opera", "Wicked", "Moulin Rouge", "I, Don Quixote" "Germany", there are also musicals adapted from popular Disney animations in recent years, such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Frozen", and at the same time, some "unpopular masterpieces" that are favorites of senior musical theater audiences are selected, such as "March" and "Cardar on Ham" , but the play with the most selected songs is still "The Place where Dreams Begin" for Chinese audiences - "Les Misérables", accounting for 6 songs.
Earl Capone, who is well-known to Chinese audiences for his role as Javert in "Les Misérables" Te not only has a huge fan base here, but is also affectionately nicknamed "Carpenter". He also serves as the director of the "Reunion" concert. Talking about this performance in Shanghai, he lamented: "This is not only about music and music." The reunion of our drama colleagues is also a long-awaited reunion with the Chinese audience who have supported us for so many years. The emotions we have established with the audience on the Chinese stage are difficult to quantify. ”
Author: Liu Qing
Text: Liu Qing Pictures: Pictures provided by the theater Editor: Jiang Fang Editor: Xing Xiaofang
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