Original: There is a phoenix laiyi
In 1964, the American Disney Company adapted the children's novel "Mary Poppins" into a song and dance fantasy film, which won 13 Oscar nominations and 5 awards that year. Since then, countless stage musicals based on this film have been countless.
In 2019, this American musical finally came to Iran. Director Soleimani adapted the musical into an Iranian-style stage play and began to be released at the Vahdat Hall in the capital Tehran for two months at the end of October. The citizens of Tehran were also very enthusiastic, almost full.
This is not the first Western musical to be staged in Tehran. Prior to this, director Sulaimani directed three Western musicals such as "Les Misérables", "Orphans of the Mist" and "The Sound of Music", which received good responses. This inspired Sulaimani to continue adapting Western classic musicals. However, his behavior has also been criticized by some conservative intellectuals, who believe that in Iran's long history, there are so many stories worth telling, why should he introduce Western musicals one after another with great fanfare! For this criticism, Sulaimani explained that iran does not have the art of musical theater, so he hopes to accumulate certain experience by adapting Western classic musicals and cultivate a group of Iranian people who like this art form. Sulaimani said that in the process of adapting Western musicals, he paid great attention to localization, such as costumes, lines, etc., and made some minor changes, on the one hand, to meet the requirements of Iranian Sharia law, on the other hand, to take care of the appreciation and taste of the Iranian people. He revealed that after "Happy People", he will also adapt another Western musical. After that, he plans to use the historical story of Iran to produce an authentic Iranian musical. Sulaimani is very optimistic about the Iranian musical theater market. He decided that he would adapt and produce more excellent musicals in the form of large productions, hiring more professional orchestras, and inviting well-known actors to participate.
As for talking about copyright with Disney and the United States, Sulaimani did not want to go into detail. Because it's political, it's about U.S. sanctions. He only mentioned that in order to obtain the copyright license of Disney Company, he asked a friend in the United States to help him negotiate and obtained the relevant original materials.
A Tehran citizen who came to watch the musical said that she had seen the Disney company's movie of the same name a long time ago and liked it very much. So when she heard that the Iranian director had adapted the film into a musical, she was very much looking forward to it, and persuaded her family to come to the theater and enjoy the performance.
In the half an hour before the performance, actors large and small were actively involved in rehearsals. In Iran, such a carefully rehearsed musical is not expensive. Regular seats cost less than $5, and the best seats cost less than $13, making it affordable for most citizens. Some actors revealed that participating in performances does not make a lot of money, but they like to perform, but they can also bring happiness to themselves, but also to bring happiness to the audience, especially in the case of such a sluggish economy, which is very meaningful. Therefore, making money is not the most important thing in life.
