On August 23, the Shanghai Grand Theatre announced the new performance season for 2021-22, with the theme of "China is Having Drama", with a special "Debut Premiere" unit, peking opera symphony, Chinese music, dance poetry, drama, musical and other new works, which will meet the Shanghai audience for the first time on the stage of the Shanghai Grand Theatre. In the new season, the Shanghai Grand Theatre plans to create Chinese versions of the musical "Zheng Youth" and the musical "Brothers Karamazov".
In the "Debut" unit, two Peking Opera symphonies and Chinese music works are praised for the beauty of Chinese culture. On October 18th, the large-scale original Peking Opera Symphony Suite "Beijing Grand Canal", jointly produced by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and the Beijing Opera House, led the Shanghai audience to approach the past and present lives of the Millennium Grand Canal. In 2021, the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra commissioned musician Tan Dun to create and perform the epic masterpiece of national orchestral music, "Dunhuang Ode to Mercy – A Audible Silk Road", so that the spirit of Dunhuang art can be dialogued with the audience of this era from ancient times to the present. The dance poetry drama "Only This Green" invites Zhou Liya and Han Zhen to join hands as co-choreographers and directors to "dialogue" with the talented painter Xi Meng of the Northern Song Dynasty to reproduce the fantasy color of the peak of green landscape painting. The stage dramas "Thunderstorm" and "After Thunderstorm" present Cao Yu's classic work "Thunderstorm" and his daughter Wan Fang's "Thunderstorm After" in one day and night. In October, this drama work and the stage play "Love Letter" starring Zhou Tao will appear together in the Yanghua Drama Season of the Shanghai Grand Theatre.
Exchanges between the Chinese stage and the world's performing arts colleagues have not stopped due to the epidemic. Chinese original musical "Human Disqualification" invited American Broadway star composer Frank Wildhorn and British stage designer Leslie Tefers to join, presenting Chinese musicals to international standards. In 2019, the original musical "Matilda" in London's West End caused a sensation in the Chinese musical theater market, and after three years, the Chinese version of the musical "Matilda" will be actively debuted in anticipation. In addition to continuing to introduce the world's latest and best online performing arts repertoire and documentaries, the new season of "Tour Station Zero" of the Shanghai Grand Theatre will try to launch the "Online Immersive Drama" project for the first time. Among them, the second season of the Shanghai Grand Theatre's self-made original short film "China Has Drama" will focus on hip-hop street dance, immersive drama, comedy talk show, two-dimensional culture and other fields, explore in-depth interpretation of young audiences, and imagine the future development goals of the performing arts industry.
Following the independent production of the contemporary Kunqu opera "Six Memories of Floating Life", "Grand Theatre Production" is poised for development in 2022. In the new season, the Shanghai Grand Theatre plans to create two plays: the musical "Positive Youth" and the musical "Brothers Karamazov" Chinese version. Through the revolutionary path of several women, "Positive Youth" focuses on the connection between small people and the fate of the country in the big era. The Chinese version of the musical "Brothers Karamazov" uses the way of musical theater to extract the essence of the original work and dig deep into human nature.
Based on the positioning of high-grade comprehensive theaters and continuing the tradition of opera as the opening performance, the 2021-22 performance season of Shanghai Grand Theatre invited Xu Zhong, president of Shanghai Opera House, together with famous soprano singer He Hui, to perform "Country Knight" and "Clown", and from September 3 to 5, the duo will present a world-class opera feast for Shanghai audiences. In the music section, there will also be two large-scale concert performances, the Verdi & Wagner Opera Collection Concert and the Symphony Concert of the Light of France. The "One Man Classical" series, curated by the Shanghai Grand Theatre, will bring three high-quality performances: the MedeYang Viola Recital Concert, the Guo Xiang Trumpet Concert, and the Yin Cunmo Piano Recital Concert. On the occasion of the Chinese New Year, violinist Wang Zhijiong will also bring a "Fun New Year Concert" with the Times Ensemble.
In the new performance season, more dance, drama and opera works with traditional background colors, fashion temperament and youthful atmosphere are all in hand. On September 19th and 20th, dance lovers cannot miss the high-reputation dance drama "The Grand Hotel", which gathers star dancers such as Li Xing and Xie Xin; the ballet "The Nutcracker", which is performed by Shanghai Ballet and "one session and one meeting" every Christmas, will be re-debuted this year, and will meet the audience of the Grand Theater again with a new multimedia stage production.
From August 27 to 29, the original children's light and shadow music theater "Ring Ring" Adventures, inspired by Wagner's music and co-created by Chinese and Dutch artists, will be staged; from November 5 to 7, the drama "Crush on Peach Blossom Garden" created and directed by Lai Shengchuan and starring stars will be staged; from November 24 to 28, the first part of the large-scale original musical "The Pretender" adapted from the TV series of the same name will be staged; from November 6 to 14, the "New National Style" musical "New National Style" musical "The Pretender" will be staged; from November 6 to 14, the "New National Style" musical "New National Style" will be staged The Southern Tang Dynasty" and the drama "Pillow Man" produced by Gulou West from December 1 to 5 will bring continuous excitement to theater lovers. The original large-scale Shanghai opera "Chen Yi in Shanghai" and the classic Shanghai opera "Thunderstorm" brought by Shanghai Shanghai Theatre present a fresh face of traditional art in the fusion of red genes and modern texts.
Starting from the 2021-22 performance season, the visual VI system of the Shanghai Grand Theatre has been newly upgraded: the crown-like white curved roof bends to the sky, and the simple and smooth geometric shape not only outlines the architectural concept of "between heaven and earth", but also expresses the concept of "open art palace".
August 27 marks the 23rd anniversary of the Shanghai Grand Theatre. From the 23rd to the 27th, the Grand Theatre will continue to launch a series of activities for the Academy Celebration Week: on the afternoon of August 24, the "See the Classics, See the Fate, See Yourself" Shanghai Grand Theatre Yanghua Drama Performance Season Liantai Drama "Thunderstorm" and "After the Thunderstorm" sharing meeting live broadcast activities, will invite "Thunderstorm" literary editor, "Thunderstorm After" screenwriter Wan Fang, actors Liu Kaiwei, Tong Ruimin, He Saifei, Kong Wei, Xu Deliang, Zhang Heqin, Shi Wanchuan, Luo Yongjuan, etc. gathered together to conduct online exchanges with the audience on the contemporary interpretation of classic texts; from the 23rd to the 27th, During the performance of the Shanghai opera "Chen Yi in Shanghai", the audience can taste the "Literary and Art Canteen" red classic special package - "Four-Star Moon Starry Sky Package" at the Wangxing Sky Restaurant on the eighth floor; on the evening of the 27th, the "Into the Grand Theater" theater celebration live broadcast will take the small theater where the Grand Theater has made a new appearance as the stage, and the anchor will lead the audience to go deep into the "hidden space" of the theater in front of the camera; starting from August 23, the Tmall flagship store of the Grand Theater will open the pre-sale of "Shoes with Drama Shoes", which will officially start online sales on September 20. Audiences will also see the "true face" of the shoe in the live broadcast room of the Grand Theatre on August 27.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Li Junna Text Editor: Li Junna Photo Editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: Zhuge Yi