[Source: Beijing Daily] The neat boatmen's chants roared with shocking momentum, and a large boat "sailed" onto the stage, heading north in the Grand Canal channel... From September 7th to 8th, the original musical "Going North" will be performed in the country Premiere at the Gr

The neat boatman chants roared with shocking momentum, and a large boat "sailed" onto the stage, heading north in the Grand Canal channel... From September 7th to 8th, the original musical "Going North" was performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. Arts Center Premiere. Musical actors such as Jia Fan, Aladdin Asghari, Li Chenxi, Sonam Dundup and other musical actors take the audience through time and return to the era of turbulent changes in Chinese society a hundred years ago.

Going North to interpret past events on the canal

The musical "Going North" is adapted from the novel of the same name, which won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award and the 15th "Five One Project" Award for Spiritual Civilization Construction. It is produced and produced by Beijing Radio and Television .

The play is based on the story of 1901 in the original novel - Xie Pingyao, the translator of the Governor's Office of Water Transport, has the ambition to serve the country but feels helpless. He happens to meet the Italian Paolo Dimarco who comes to China. Paul Demarco calls himself "Little Polo" and comes to inspect the Grand Canal and find his brother. The two decided to go north along the Grand Canal to Beijing, experiencing hardships along the way.

"When a river comes alive, a piece of history becomes possible to go upstream, and the faces of the ancestors who shuttled on the canal become clearer." Shi Lu, the director of the play, poetically described this "northward" road. In his opinion, "Little Polo" and Xie Pingyao's journey north along the Grand Canal has the meaning of looking back in time. The audience follows their footsteps and returns from reality to the late Qing Dynasty more than a hundred years ago.

On the way north, the two met the captain Shao Changlai, the canal singer Tianxiang girl, and the Sun brothers. This journey encountered many changes, and the fate of the characters in the play also changed. Xie Pingyao found his life direction and devoted himself to the revolutionary torrent.

When shaping the characters, Shi Lu did not want the images of Xie Pingyao and "Little Polo" to be single and facial expressions, but to show their shared humanistic feelings through complex contradictions. Initially, due to their different cultural backgrounds, the two had misunderstandings and conflicts. As the story unfolded, they jointly learned about the customs and customs on both sides of the canal and came into contact with living beings amidst the great changes of the times. The two gradually formed a deep friendship. There are many beautiful duets between the two in the play, which outline their journey from misunderstanding to mutual understanding.

Music integrated into the "Tongzhou Canal Boatmen's Chant"

The music of the play combines popular styles with Chinese style. The composer and music director Zhang Xiaozhen also integrated the regional music characteristics of different places along the canal. The singing of "Gong Shang Jiao Zheng Yu" by Yangzhou Jiaofang Si is delicate and graceful, and the integration of national musical instruments such as drum, pipa, sanxian and guzheng highlights the national characteristics. At the same time, the use of modern instruments such as Western instruments in the symphony band and guitars in the pop band makes the sound layer of "Going North" richer.

"Music is the carrier of emotion. There are both cheerful folk ditties and ditties as well as soulful guitar ballads. These music are not only closely connected with the plot, but also invisibly deepen the audience's understanding of the characters' emotions and the direction of the story. Resonance." Zhang Xiaozhen said that she hopes that the audience can be accompanied by music and immerse themselves in an era full of stories and emotions, and share the joys and sorrows with the characters in the play.

The play also quotes Beijing's intangible cultural heritage "Tongzhou Canal Boatmen's Chant", using the chant full of power and emotional concentration to take the audience back to the era of going upstream and struggling forward. To this end, Zhang Xiaozhen made a special trip to visit the inheritors of the boatman's chant before creating, learning from the inheritors the historical origins, artistic characteristics and cultural value of this folk art form, recreating the chant with innovative arrangement techniques, and Through high-precision recording and appropriate implantation, it is integrated into the play to show the tracker's tenacity and perseverance in the face of difficulties. Zhang Xiaozhen hopes that through the performance of the play, more audiences can understand the charm of the intangible cultural heritage boatman's chant up close and feel the historical richness and cultural depth behind the intangible cultural heritage.

As the first musical to be staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing Arts Center, "Going North" uses the Beijing Arts Center's surround immersive sound reinforcement system, which is a feast for the ears of the audience. The play will be staged again at the Century Theater from September 20th to 22nd.(Text: Beijing Daily reporter Han Xuan; Photography: reporter Fang Fei)