First edition of the Palais des Congrès in Paris, 1979: the manifestation of social contradictions
The theme of the 1979 version of "Star Fantasy" focuses on the contradictions of French society at that time, revolves around the phenomenon of violence and struggle in reality, and reflects the playwright's views and positions on politics, power, money, violence, terrorism, love, dreams and other themes.
Lyricist Pramondon said, "'Star Fantasy' is first and foremost about our fight back after the Belle Époque of the late '60s, and we want to show the dehumanization of the modern world. Zeljo Jean-Véger symbolizes Hitler, and Stella Spale is a certain sensual symbol of the Third Reich".
The main story cleverly mixes parts of literary works such as "West Side Story", "A Clockwork Orange", "Metropolis", "1984", "Sunset Boulevard", "Ziggy Stardust" and "Spider from Mars", and adds a new reality content9: in a futuristic and over-industrialized world in 2000, the surface of the earth seems to be reduced to rubble, and people can only live in underground capital cities.
In order to escape the unknown world ahead, everyone dreams of becoming a star and defending their "self" in the face of the violence of dictators or terrorists, but only the need for love is what matters most - this is the consensus of all authors and participants in this project.
It describes the world of the time based on immediate interests, the quest for power, the power of the media, and the threat of terror, and summarizes it as follows: the human image is always torn between the impulses of life and death, the desire for love and destruction.
The character of Zeljo Jean-Véger is a perfect example of this double struggle, a politician who secretly arranges terrorist attacks to boost his own popularity while lamenting his dream of becoming an artist while running for president with a cry of "Let us stop ruining ourselves for the Third World, because they will soon thank us with bombs, and we must first ensure the survival of the white people".
His rival, Master Marat, is set up as the head of a sect who ostensibly advocates a return to ecology and nature and is the object of reverence and worship, but in fact secretly organizes many suspicious acts of violence. In the play, Johnny Lockford's soul flies into space after his death, and a year later aliens come to Earth, advising poor residents that it is better to live for their identity than glory and power.
This idea of expecting creatures in outer space and the universe also implies some despair of reality, believing that it is difficult for human beings to solve their own contradictions from within, and it is difficult for the poor to confront the powerful in the end. This is why, as the beginning of French musicals, "Star Fantasy" is not only the power of the musical melody, but also the rearrangement many times.
Thanks to the concrete manifestation of this social contradiction, the work is considered visionary and has a futuristic beauty. In France, the musical theater environment of the 70s of the 20th century was almost completely blank, and the crew of the first version of "Star Fantasy" knew that they lacked experience, and American director Tom O'Horagan commissioned him to direct many successful rock musicals such as Broadway's "Hair" and "Jesus Christ Superstar".
O'Hergen brought most of the professional designers and staff active in the field of Broadway musical theater in the 50s and 80s of the 20th century, mainly costume designer Randy Barcelo, set designer Bill Stabile and stage lighting designer John McLean.
All three have very solid design skills, not only have experienced professional study and work in the United States, but also have a lot of experience in the production of musicals.
Due to the addition of the Broadway production team, the 1979 version is very smooth and complete, with a relatively strong modern texture in the way of expression, showing the face of a new city under TV media culture. This edition lasted only a month, with 33 performances and was described by critics as an "American" stage.
It is worth noting that the overall design team of the 1979 version of "Star Fantasy" is very complex, consisting of France, Canada, Quebec and the United States.
Due to the limitations of the era of general lack of communication, not only there are cultural differences between France and Quebec, but also many contradictions in character and aesthetics between the long-term professional and efficient business temperament of the American Broadway team and the French and Quebec personnel, so that this cooperation reflects many haste and disharmony.
Although this complex three-way composition led to slow progress and constant friction in the team's work, "Star Fantasy" thus has a relatively mature stage form, reflecting a variety of dramatic styles in artistic expression, which is different from the previous nature of song and dance performances.
1988-1989 Marigeny Theatre Edition: Emphasis on the importance of individual human emotions
The 1988 version shortened the story, and Europe generally entered the recovery and calming eighties, and the real questions raised by this work are not far away.
But the theme of social contradiction is clearly somewhat outdated, and audiences can no longer empathize with topics such as violent confrontation with autocracy, the loss of love and human rights in dark environments, and its universal identity has evolved from rock opera to cyberpunk opera. Therefore, the theme of this version is mainly about the human being and its emotions.
This change is first reflected in the weakening of some of the protagonists, and what they fight against is no longer so dark and powerful. The original Black Star leader Johnny is a rebellious marginalized youth who preaches the idea of violence against authoritarian totalitarianism, and even ends up assassinating the president, and still brings the story of rebellion on Earth to space after his death.
This version weakens his role, blurring his identity as an innocent but overwhelmed street fighter, who does not commit too violent acts of resistance, and is arrested after the death of his girlfriend Christa. Zeljo Jean-Véger's political views were no longer so extreme, and the important role of Master Marat was simply deleted.
The soft, dark scenes and jazzy saxophone backdrop confirm the playwright's vision that everyone is the protagonist of their own life.
Whether it is a violent terrorist, a celebrity or a café waiter, each character has very delicate and moving emotions, expressing the troubles of living in the world, and the audience can see themselves in it.
At the same time, the sci-fi content about the universe and alien civilizations in the previous version has also been deleted, and the whole drama ends in a song lamenting the indifferent world, which intuitively shows that whether it can solve the contradictions within human society is no longer the most concerned issue in this version.
It describes an apocalyptic or non-real virtual world, where each character is at the heart of his or her own story, as the real world has become with the advent of mass media and social networks, and where the individuality of the person is more respected.
Everyone once asked, like Mary Jane, "I didn't ask to be born, what am I going to do today?" Others will think, like Zeljo Jean Véger, "I wanted to be an artist" and "my current life is not the life I dreamed of".
This quest and desire for personal value weakens the intensity of social outlook. 1988's "Star Fantasy" underwent a major revision after a short period of precipitation, the plot and characters were slightly modified, and the stage design style was also greatly changed, showing more emphasis on concise modern characteristics.
This edition is made up of staff from France and Quebec, Canada. The professional and luxurious design team fully reflects the importance that the producers attach to the vision of this version of the stage: the lighting designer Jacques Ruvirolis, known as "one of the greatest lighting designers in France", won the Molière Award for Best Lighting Design.
Costume designer Juan Stepani is an Argentine Pop Movement artist who has lived in Paris for many years and joined the theatrical design industry, so he has extensive experience in fashion and theatrical costume design; Set designer Jean Haas has worked as a graphic designer for a long time, and since entering the theater industry, he has collaborated internationally with many artists and musicians, and has been nominated for the Molière Prize three times.
Not only that, this version also hired professional hair stylists and makeup artists from French companies and studios such as Givenchy to work as actors, reflecting the quality requirements of excellence, and finally achieved a touching and profound artistic effect.
At the same time, this version has less dramatic action and more conveys emotions through freehand atmosphere. Playwright Luc Pramondon suggested that such scenes could help people better understand the story.
Although the performance lasted for a short time, only lasting two years, this version was very successful overall, with former French President François Mitterrand as an avid audience and using it as a means of French cultural diplomacy for performances such as Britain's Prince Charles, winning many international acclaim. The works have also been performed in Moscow and St. Petersburg in France and Canada.
1993-2000 Mogador Theatre Edition: A Return to Simplicity and Entertainment
In 1992, due to the death of French composer Michel Berger, Quebec lyricist Luc Pramondon took greater control of the production of this version of "Star Fantasy", which was intended to serve as a springboard to attract British and American producers to introduce it to foreign countries.
Although the French participated, the team was almost entirely composed of Quebec members from Canada, and the corresponding stage design style was deeply influenced by Quebec culture, and it was a subversive and complete overturn on the basis of the first two editions.
The 1993 version moved even further away from the original deep theme, and the interaction of some characters began to show nonsensical roughness, showing a purely entertaining nature. Jugglers became the main force that ignited the atmosphere of the stage, and the intense scenes of battles, flames, TV eaten by shark devices, etc., made this version dubbed the "powerful muscle version" by the media.
In the script, several more relaxed characters add scenes to bring more humor to the audience. Mary Jane leaves the underworld in search of the sun on the ground, and Stella Spale also gives up the temptation of power and sets out again to find her immortal dream.
This is a new version that becomes more positive and sunny on the basis of the original. The stage uses all the possibilities offered by modern technology, and the set, while simpler, adds dizzying props, complemented by a large number of smoke grenades and colorful lights.
This profound transformation is closer to the traditional theatrical production model, that is, the power to maintain the rhythm of the drama. The media described it as similar to Mad Max, an unorthodox and somewhat deviant direction from the essence of the past. Although this version was partially questioned by critics because of its entertainment and crude presentation, it was relaxed and more varied on the original basis, and was warmly welcomed by the audience.
In order to cater to the revision, the character costumes were specially designed by the well-known French designer Philippe Guillotel, with a primitive tribal style with fantasy and decorative meaning (Figures 2-3) in strong contrast with the original urban and fantasy theme atmosphere, and added a lot of dynamic scenes to match the actors' dance movements.
The scene has also been increased in many places compared to the previous version, and great emphasis is placed on using the metaphor of landscaping to advance the plot, which is a height that has not been reached in previous versions. For the first time, the visual and dramatic expression of expression briefly suppressed musical interpretation, which also made this version controversial and widely regarded and marketable, becoming the longest-running version of the regular performance, which lasted until after 2000.
Due to the combination of popular mentality and fashion trends, as well as long-term resident performances, this version of "Star Fantasy" is most remembered and missed by audiences, with a total of 3.5 million viewers in its long-term performance, and was named the best musical of the year by the French Victoiresdela Musique Awards in 1994.