2024-01-28 23:54:00
“Don Giovanni”, “Rock Mozart” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” follow one after another
Shanghai audiences fall in love with French musicals
The good news for Shanghai musical theater audiences is that a number of classic French original musicals are coming one after another. From January 25th to February 8th, the original French musical “Don Juan” opened for 17 consecutive performances at the Shanghai Cultural Plaza. After “Don Giovanni”, there are also “Rock Mozart” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
“Mozart on Rock” came to Shanghai for 24 consecutive performances in 2018, and the performances were all sold out. It returned in 2019 and its popularity has not diminished. “Notre Dame de Paris” also came to Shanghai in 2019 and 2020. As soon as the news came out that the two original dramas would come to Shanghai again this year, many musical theater fans were ready to grab tickets for a second or third time. What is the unique charm of French musicals?
“Singing from beginning to end” with strong emotions
“Don Juan” screenwriter and composer Felix Gray told reporters that one of the most obvious features of French musicals in form is “singing from beginning to end.” Compared with German musicals’ pursuit of plot coherence and theme profundity, French musicals seem to care more about whether the songs are good or not.
Looking back at the pioneering French musical “Estique” which premiered in 1979, “singing” is placed in a very important position. In this production, the actors sing on stage with hand-held microphones, which is a bit of a show, not like watching a musical, but more like a rock concert. “The French like to create different things.” Nicolas Talal, producer of the musical “Don Juan” said, “The emphasis on ‘singing’ allows French musicals to have strong emotional expression from beginning to end. For some people, this kind of emotional expression is even a bit ‘over the top’, but it is such a strong and full emotional expression that makes French musicals so sensual and free-flowing.”
Why do Chinese audiences like French musicals? Fei Yuanhong, deputy general manager of Shanghai Cultural Plaza, said that most French musicals are in line with Chinese aesthetics because of their freehand feel and creative concepts centered on poetry and song, which are incompatible with the aesthetic taste that the Chinese people have inherited through opera for thousands of years. Conspiring together. “When Chinese audiences enjoy French musicals, they don’t care about whether there is a missing piece of the narrative, whether the stage design is too abstract, or whether a certain actor’s performance is ‘out of character’. There are some blank spaces, some jumps, and some gaps. Li, I can completely understand it, and I can feel it more.”
Give classics a modern expression
After the unprecedented success of the French musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, which was born in 1998, a large number of French musicals adapted from literary masterpieces or historical figures and events came into being. “Don Juan”, which premiered in 2004, is one of them. . Screenwriter Felix Gray made a bold change: making Don Juan fall in love as punishment for Don Juan.
This is the first time that Gian Marco Sciarati, who plays Don Juan, has come to Shanghai to perform a musical. He himself did not expect to meet so many enthusiastic fans in Shanghai. In the first half, Ji’an had to play a libertine, but in the second half, he met Maria and began to learn and experience love like a child.
Felix Gray put aside the presentation of the character “Don Juan” in previous works, gave the story a more modern understanding, and created a flesh-and-blood Don Juan with a distinctive personality. There are a lot of catchy melodies of golden songs in the play, and it is revealed from the lines that Don Juan does not care about the so-called life, death and tomorrow, and only focuses on the real and tangible life at the moment. What kind of person did Don Juan fall in love with? French musical actor Laticia Carrère, who came to Shanghai to perform for the first time, said: “Maria is full of modern female characteristics. She is an artist, very independent and avant-garde. I am very lucky to follow this role. , presenting a pure love to the audience, even if the story has a sad ending.”
French musical actor Laurent Ban plays the role of Don Carlos in “Don Juan”. In the past 10 years or so, he has come to China with different works and also held a solo concert in Shanghai. The Chinese audience affectionately called him “Old Flight”. Laurent Ban still remembers that in 2018, “Mozart on Rock” came to Shanghai for the first time and performed for 24 consecutive performances. At the end of the curtain call, the audience sang “Live to the Limit” in French in the audience. In 2019, “Rock Mozart” came to Shanghai again, and Laurent Ban sang the Chinese folk song “Jasmine” in Chinese.
Michelangelo Leconte, a French musical actor known as “Xiaomi” by Chinese audiences, said that French musicals are good at creating stars. Often before the musical premieres, the song is spread through the release of records, and the market is won through the appeal of the star. After old friends such as “Old Flight” and “Xiaomi”, new French musical stars such as Ji’an have gained fans in Shanghai through new works. (Reporter Wu Tong)
(Editors: Yan Yuan, Xuan Zhaoqiang)
Share so more people can see it
#Shanghai #audiences #fall #love #French #musicals #classic #French #performances #coming