On October 15th, Majestic Theatre will celebrate its 80th birthday, the performing arts space will be extended to a new stage, and theme activities such as drama sharing sessions, artist discussions, interactive courses, and historical architecture theme exhibitions will open a new way to celebrate the 80th anniversary. From December 30, 2021 to January 2, 2022, the suspense comedy "Low IQ Crime" adapted from Zijin Chen's mystery novel of the same name will open a new season, and the 100 residencies of the dance drama "The Eternal Electric Wave" will continue to be performed.
When it was first built in 1941, the Majestic Theater was hailed as "the first in Asia" and "the most advanced art cinema in the Far East". After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang made a comeback here, and plays such as "Thorny Tiger", "Si Fan" and "Broken Bridge" were staged one after another, and the audience was like a tide. In the early days of liberation, the ballet master Ulanova performed a classic play in Maggie, which was a sensation. In 1989, The Majestic Theater was included in the first batch of cultural relics protection buildings in Shanghai. In the spring of 2016, the Majestic Theatre reopened after five years of renovation and was operated by Shanghai Performing Arts Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group.
On October 15th, the STAGE+ Café on the second floor of the theater will officially open on the 80th birthday of the Majestic Theatre. As a cultural brand of majestic theater theater space, STAGE+ takes coffee as the touchpoint, extends the stage beyond the stage, and uses THE STAGE+ Art Salon as the carrier to create a richer and three-dimensional performing arts space for artists and extend a more interesting and diverse communication tentacle for the theater culture.
On October 17th, STAGE+ Art Salon will usher in the first event - the suspense comedy "Low IQ Crime" sharing session. Mystery novel writer ZiJin Chen, director Yu Jie, and screenwriter Xia Heng talked about the creative journey and shared the funny things of the crew. From October to November, Zhang Jun, the "Prince of Kunqu Opera", Gao Bowen, a commentator, Zhu Jiejing and Wang Jiajun, the stars of the dance drama "The Eternal Wave", will successively enter the STAGE+ Art Salon. In November, Maggie Theatre's interactive experiential art course launched in collaboration with Art Time will also meet audiences at the STAGE+ Art Salon. The first course takes "ART DECO in Shanghai" as the theme, based on Maggie, and tells the fusion of ART DECO and Shanghai culture.
The Majestic Theatre is also constantly exploring the new story of this classic building. Artist Zhu Junjie celebrated Maggie's birthday with the "Tell the City" public welfare art project, using the lyrics of "Moon Over Miami" as the content, painting the swimming figures of Bushi whales and Chinese white dolphins on the glass windows of the Maggie Theater.
Looking back at history and reading architecture, Majestic Theatre and Shanghai Library jointly planned the "Traces of The Sea - The Theme Exhibition of the 80th Anniversary of Majestic Theater", which cuts from the anecdotes of the beginning of the construction of the Majestic Theater, the red pulse after the founding of New China, the Chinese and foreign classics after the reform and opening up, and the inheritance and innovation after the renovation, showing the panoramic panorama of the Majestic Theater and the masterpieces of famous artists. A theater exploration game tailored for young audiences, taking everyone into the old times in role play and experiencing the historical story of 80 years.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Li Junna Text Editor: Li Junna Photo Editor: Shao Jing
Source: Author: Zhuge Yi