In 1941, a group of literary and artistic young people gathered in the Chaohua editorial office, chatting and laughing, shouting for freedom, and singing for art... From July 26th to 27th, the Chinese version of the musical "Letters from Fans" was performed at the Nanjing Poly Grand Theater, debuting in 2024 ·Nanjing Musical Theater Festival. At the same time, the play is also a specially invited play at the 2024 Nanjing Art Festival. Before the performance, a group of audiences walked onto the stage and walked into the "Chaohua Editorial Office" in the play. They followed Hua Jing, the deputy director of the Chinese version of the musical "Fan Letters", and unlocked the wonderful behind-the-scenes design.
The original version of "Fan Letter" won the first prize in the 2016 Korean original musical competition project "glocal musical live". The Chinese version of the musical "Fan Letters" has been polished for four years. The original story background, characters, etc. have been adapted locally. The story is set in Shanghai in the 1940s and tells a story about love, words, sincerity and lies. story and premiered in early 2022, winning the love of musical theater fans.
In the play, in 1943, a high-profile scandal gradually spread in Shanghai: the last private letter between the recently deceased novelist Hai Ming and the female writer Xia Guang was about to be published. The publisher Li Ling is currently being held in the Japanese Military Police Detention Center because of his participation in the editorial work of "Chaohua" magazine. Zheng Weilan, who admires Haiming very much, found Li Ling. In order to witness this "fan letter", Weilan and Li Ling began to slowly recall the mysterious past of "Xia Guang"...
The full bookshelf, the small box hidden behind the sofa Mechanisms, suspended windows and white stairs... the "Chaohua" magazine editorial room is a very key scene in the Chinese version of the musical "Fan Letters". The decoration and layout have strong characteristics and style of old Shanghai. "Hai Ming, including the newcomers when Wei Lan went to intern, this is where all the literati work every day." Hua Jing said that the three desks are the writing spaces belonging to Hai Ming, Wei Lan and Xia Guang respectively. This is not only their personal space for literary creation, but also a space where their hearts and souls mingle.
On the table are some documents, books and manuscript props, full of words. Hua Jing introduced that these words were not made up by the stage designer, but came from a novel actually written by a writer in the 1940s. The contents were disassembled and printed on various stationery papers. "If you put them together, you can spell out a complete novel."
"When you sit in the audience and watch the performance, you can't actually see these words. Why do you have to do it so carefully?" Hua Jing Explain that in addition to making the audience believe, all these props are also important aids to the actors, allowing them to immerse themselves in it and believe that they are the characters in the play.
In addition to the two mirrors "lurking" in the bookshelf that are difficult to find, Hua Jing also revealed the mirror tunnel hidden behind the bookshelf in the editing room. The tunnel is revealed by gently pushing the secret door open, and continues to extend during the performance. On the front of the tunnel, there is a special mirror revolving door, "people can go directly from the backstage to the stage."
After seeing the large-scale stage scheduling design, Hua Jing led the audience to the costume rush area to explore the intentions behind the small props. "This is actually a mini 'express station'. It does not implement 'same-day delivery', but arrives in one second."
Letters, stamps, glasses... The reporter from Modern Express saw that all kinds of items were used in the plot. The props are arranged in an orderly manner and marked with the names of the characters. The fictional "Chaohua" magazine and "Night Scenery" in the play also have covers. Even because the actors who play Wei Lan are different, the crew also prepared an exclusive bandage prop for Wei Lan in each edition.
Hua Jing told the reporter of Modern Express that the Chinese version of the musical "Fan Letters" has been performed hundreds of times in the past few years. Many fans and audiences are also very curious about the show's front and backstage. "The tour guides are this group of loyal audiences. They can learn more about this play, go deeper into the stage scenes, and learn more about these characters they like.”
Intern Liu Zhaoyi Modern Express/Modern+ Reporter Li Ming/Text Su Rui/Photo
