musicals coming? The "Return and Reshape - 2023 Theater Performance Market Consumption Observation" recently released by the China Performance Industry Association, Beacon Professional Edition, and Poly Ticketing shows that musicals play an increasingly important role in the performance market. Judging from the age distribution of the audience, 72% of theater performance audiences are between 18 and 34 years old, and musicals have the highest proportion of audiences under 25 years old, reaching 40%. According to statistics, audiences who watch four or more musicals in a year have the fastest growth rate, with their proportion increasing from 5% in 2019 to 7% in 2023.
The musical "Rouge Button" was recently performed at the Shanghai Cultural Plaza. (Photo courtesy of Shanghai Cultural Plaza)
Spring is in full bloom, but there are also “storms” in the market. Industry insiders pointed out that there are still industry difficulties such as uneven box office success, reliance on star power, fragmented promotion, and declining consumption power. How can local original musicals move from the "Spring of Hope" to the "Summer of Prosperity"? "Musicals are living, evolving works. Just like babies, they have their own emotions and cry and fuss. The creators must teach the baby to talk, crawl, and walk, and in the process discover the 'little baby' 'Personality." American musical director and choreographer Zoe Marconi believes that creating new works requires collaboration and synchronization among all parties, and the creators should have a more open attitude. "Some people insist on putting their own ideas into the play, and the result is that the work is too heavy to breathe. Therefore, creators must be good at listening to the voices of all parties, discovering the inspiration emerging from others, seizing them, and using Good them."
Only by telling Chinese stories well can musicals take root in this hot land.
At present, the Chinese musical market is generally in a relatively benign and healthy state. At the 2024 China (Tianjin) Performance Fair held recently, the top 10 annual box office lists of the musical market were newly released, including the Chinese version of "Phantom of the Opera", the original French musical "Romeo and Juliet", and the original English musical "Phantom of the Opera Continued" Works include: "Love Is Forever", Chinese version of "Fan Letters", French musical version of the concert "Les Misérables", original musical "Unqualified", original musical "The Drink", London West End original musical "Matil" "Da", the original musical "The Sin Hunt", the original musical "Hamlet", etc. are impressively listed. The return of original dramas has given a boost to the market, and local originals have also shown strong vitality in terms of quantity and quality.
Market demand is booming, new dramas are in short supply, and quality varies. How to further improve the quality of local original musicals? "The script is the cornerstone of musicals. It is the most basic and original appeal of the audience. In the 1960s, people could sit patiently in the theater for three hours and listen to the actors telling stories slowly; but now if musicals are few If the story cannot be told clearly in ten minutes, the audience will be bored and distracted, take out their mobile phones or simply find an excuse to leave. "In Zoe Marconi's view, the core of the play is "storytelling." "Creating a musical is a process of constantly developing the interest of the story. Starting from the script, we need a lot of listening and a lot of reading to ensure that the entire plot is coherent and consistent, and that the actors have the ability to present it."
uses Chinese Only by using language to tell Chinese stories can musicals take root in China. "Genetically speaking, musicals cannot be completely regarded as 'imported'." Fei Yuanhong, deputy general manager of Shanghai Cultural Plaza, believes that operas and musicals integrate singing, dancing and performance, forming a unique beauty of comprehensive art. "Looking back at China, our operas do not have separate singing, dancing and speaking, but are presented on the stage in a unique oriental way. In fact, China is a 'big country of musicals' with a long history."
star brings hot spots , but good works are the foundation for market prosperity
With the popularity of variety shows, a group of musical stars have "broken out of the circle" and become the "golden signatures" of their works due to their popularity; at the same time, many film and television actors have also crossed over "Admission", with the help of traffic, becomes the "box office responsibility" of the play. As a result, "fan-oriented" musicals gradually emerged.At the performance of a certain musical, the reporter saw dozens of front-row audience members holding binoculars and staring at only one actor to "appreciate" the performance. Indeed, the flow of celebrities has added attention to the stage. Some directors even shouted that "Chinese musicals should have 20 more Zheng Yunlong and 50 Ayunga." However, industry insiders remind that if the star effect is pursued blindly, the creators may lose their reputation in the long run. Due to the sensitive judgment of the market, it will be difficult for producers to control the quality of dramas.
In accordance with the mature overseas production process, the creative team needs to discuss all aspects of the musical in the early stage, and the director, choreographer, costume design and other departments will negotiate to find a solution. "We first create the script and revise it over and over again; then we arrange the music and make constant adjustments; then we select the actors and repeatedly screen them until we find the most suitable one." Zoe Marconi admitted that he had encountered immature people The Chinese team started rehearsals in a hurry just because they found a certain star to participate in the show, without even preparing the script or music. "There was no good communication between the composer and screenwriter, and between the songwriters, and the director did not control the specific issues. Instead, he urged the team to present everything on the stage. It was only after the stage that the problem was discovered. The cost of re-production was too high. It’s expensive.”
Celebrity traffic may bring hot sales in the short term, but in the long run, good works are still the foundation for market prosperity. In recent years, newcomers and new works have continued to emerge, injecting fresh blood into the development of the industry and accumulating solid creative strength for Chinese musicals. As the first original musical incubation project in China, the "Chinese Original Musical Incubation Plan" was launched in 2019. After six years of development, it has grown into an original incubation platform with rich and complete resources and scientific and complete mechanisms. In the past six years, the "Incubation Program" has received a total of 488 original submissions from 717 people, and has incubated more than ten original musical works; there are also many outstanding young creators starting from the "Incubation Program" and taking the step to enter the market. the first step. Among them, original musicals such as "The Empress of the Southern Tang Dynasty", "The Sign of Life and Death", "Sorry, I Forgot", "Inaccessible" and "The South Wall Project" have been commercially produced and have received enthusiastic responses from audiences across the country. They continue to expand their territory. Explore the unique aesthetic expression of Chinese musicals.
Source: Wen Wei Po
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