On the morning of August 20th, the director's exposition meeting and opening ceremony of the opera musical "Mazu" was held in Guangzhou. The relevant leaders of the Propaganda Department of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, and the main creators and cast members of "Mazu" attended the briefing meeting, and the main creators from Hong Kong also participated in the event through video conferencing. Yu Yong, chairman of Guangzhou Cantonese Theatre, said: "'Mazu' will be created by the original team of 'Lady Xian', and the theater will devote all its efforts to creating the play and striving to create another opera musical masterpiece." It is reported that the play will be officially performed in Guangzhou in mid-November this year.
Co-created by a number of famous artists in the Hong Kong film and television industry
The opera musical "Mazu" is produced by the Propaganda Department of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, with the Guangzhou Cantonese Opera House and co-organized by the Red Line Women's Art Center and Chunmei Studio. "Mazu" is another large-scale opera musical jointly created by artists from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao after "A Generation of Tianjiao" and "Lady Xian". The drama is jointly created by two former mayors of Guangzhou, Li Ziliu and Chen Jianhua, and specially invited a number of famous hong Kong film and television industry artists to co-create, famous director, screenwriter and actor Huang Baiming as the supervising producer, famous actor Mai Jia as the screenwriter, famous director Gao Zhisen as the general director, and famous lyricist Zheng Guojiang as the filler. The play also invited Zhang Lei, a famous young director in the mainland, as executive director, Lan Ling, a national first-class stage designer, as the styling and costume design, and Lu Chiyuan as the choreographer. In addition, music director and composer Zou Yuwei, percussion design Cao Jie, stage design Lin Guoming and other main creative staff are all outstanding creative talents of Guangzhou Cantonese Theatre. The play will be starred by Su Chunmei, a famous Cantonese opera performance artist, a descendant of red art and winner of the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award, and will be co-starred by Li Weixiao, an outstanding young scholar and martial arts student, and all the cast and crew of guangzhou Cantonese Opera Troupe.
Mazu is a folk belief that spreads in the coastal areas of China. Mazu culture originated in the Song Dynasty, became in the Yuan, flourished in the Ming, flourished in the Qing Dynasty, and prospered in modern times, and is a spiritual symbol and female representative that integrates traditional virtues such as selflessness, kindness, kindness, love, and heroism. The opera musical "Mazu" is a mythological story based on the Mazu culture of folk beliefs. The work invites the mythical "Mazu" to the altar and becomes a real and perceptible heroine, Lin Mo, and carries forward the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation in Mazu culture by depicting her spirit of helping the poor, curing the sick and saving the people, and sacrificing herself for the people.
At the exposition meeting, Li Ziliu, former mayor of Guangzhou and consultant of the opera musical creation base, introduced the Mazu culture from the perspective of historical origins, saying: "Mazu really has her own person in history, she is worthy of the praise of the people, is a 'goddess' in the hearts of the masses, and has deep cultural and historical roots. At the important time node of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the creation of "Mazu" is a very good theme, and I hope that in summarizing and absorbing the creative experience of "A Generation of Tianjiao" and "Lady Xian", "Mazu" will be built well, and the red school art will be carried forward through the works. ”
"Mazu culture is the Chinese culture that has spread all over the world." Chen Jianhua, former mayor of Guangzhou and consultant of the Xiqu Musical Theatre Creation Base, introduced the play from the perspective of ideological value and significance: "'Mazu' not only fits our patriotic spirit, Mazu, as one of the embodiments of China's excellent traditional culture, it tells the Chinese story to the world through the way of opera musical, reflecting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the Belt and Road Initiative." ”
Chen Xiaodan, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Guangzhou Municipal CPC Committee, placed high hopes on "Mazu" from the perspective of the construction of the humanistic bay area, and put forward requirements for the creation and rehearsal of the play from the perspective of creating artistic masterpieces in the bay area. Pi Jian, director of the Literature and Art Department of the Propaganda Department of the Guangzhou Municipal CPC Committee, congratulated the opening of "Mazu", saying that Mazu has changed from a human to a god in history, and "Mazu" is to transform the god back into a human being, focusing on the glorious face of human nature in this role.
"The selling point of 'Mazu' is to sell tissues and make the audience laugh and cry." Mai Jia, a screenwriter from Hong Kong, introduced that in addition to using the narrative method of the film, "Mazu" also uses the film's montage technique, the technique of stage drama, and then integrates with the beauty of opera, which will surely surprise everyone like "Lady Sin". "This play will be atmospheric, healthy and positive, and I hope to bring joy and emotion to the audience."
Gao Zhisen, the general director from Hong Kong, said: "The opera musical is very suitable for the theme of "Mazu", a big character and a big climate. Director Gao Zhisen introduced that "Mazu" is not simply acting or singing, but through the combination of opera performance and musical singing, they promote each other and push the audience's emotions up. In addition, the rhythm of the play is precise, bright and watertight, which will create a sense of cinema. In addition, director Gao Zhisen also said that "Mazu" will still respect the tradition and performance rules of opera, and present the unique high-level singing and doing of opera actors.
Su Chunmei, the star of "Mazu", said that she was honored to participate in the entire process of creating the work. "My mission is to play Mazu well, to interpret her great love and self-sacrificing personality well, and at the same time to spread the art of the red school." She said.
Dialogue -
"If the script doesn't work, the real gods will be difficult to save"
Nandu: What kind of story is "Mazu" telling?
Su Chunmei: "Mazu" tells a mythical story, saying that there is a little fairy in the heavenly court who is very curious, and she heard that the human world is the best cultivation dojo, because there is no ugliness in the heavenly court only beautiful, only good and no evil, and hell only evil and no good, only ugly and beautiful, and the human world is beautiful and ugly, good and evil, sad and happy, sweet and sour, bitter and spicy, very wonderful. Therefore, this fairy was reincarnated into the mortal world to practice the Fa and redeem the world, and because of her merit, the world worshipped her as a god, calling her Mazu Niangniang, also known as Tianhou Niangniang. Throughout the play, we are emphasizing a point, that is, it is better to ask God than to ask others, and it is better to ask others than to ask for themselves, that is to say, "they stand firmly, and others cannot be relied on." We want to lead people to goodness, and the whole play is promoting positive energy.
Nandu: What do you think is the difficulty of portraying the character of Mazu?
Su Chunmei: In fact, just now Teacher Mai Jia also said that because we are an atheist position, the difficulty is how to let the audience feel that she is a real historical figure, but not to let people feel that she is deified, the difficulty is indeed quite large. The difficulty is mainly in the screenwriter, in fact, we say that it is the basis of a play. After acting in "A Generation of Tianjiao" and "Lady Xian" to today's "Mazu", I feel very much that the essence of a drama is very important. If the script is good, whoever plays it will look good, and if the script is not good, the real gods and immortals will be difficult to save.
"The positioning of 'Mazu' is positive comedy"
Nandu: Is there any difference in artistic expression between "Mazu" and the previous "Lady Sin"?
Li Weixiao: The positioning of "Mazu" is light comedy or positive comedy, after all, Mazu is a god that the public thinks, of course, God is also a person, but if it is made into a farce, it is not too appropriate. This time the length will be longer, because it involves the three realms of heaven and earth, so it may be richer in performance form than "Lady Xian". However, this time the music, singing sections, and song cards are more Cantonese opera things, unlike "Lady Xian", which has a lot of new songs, so the traditional flavor will be relatively strong.
Nandu: What do you think of opera musicals?
Li Weixiao: Xiqu musical is a brand new kind of drama, a new form, and also an artistic expression that has emerged with the development of the times. It needs to be tolerated, criticized and given advice, and given a process of slowly maturing. I think what the masses want more is some of the plays that can make them very happy to enter the state of watching the performance, not only to appreciate the traditional arts, but also to relax and be happy. This may be the need of the people of the times, because everyone knows that in the real society, everyone has great work pressure and life pressure, and they all hope to be able to enjoy the works of art happily, hoping that the laughter will be a little more, bringing them a little more joy. As the screenwriter said, the story has many forms, depending on how to cut in, it can be used in many forms, especially the text language, emotional actions, in fact, it can also be interpreted in a comedic way, I think this is the meaning of the opera musical.
Written by: Nandu reporter Zhou Peiwen Intern Chen Yue Correspondent Wen Yao