"I thought well, no matter what kind of work I have today, I will find a way to push it off, wait on time at 7:30 pm, and watch the 'ramen' performance, because after today, it is not free!" 」 Zheng Yunlong's "Amway" at the event on the afternoon of October 23 caused a burst of laughter from the audience.
What was the content of the performance he so much recommended? Who is the "ramen" he refers to? This afternoon' Shanghai Grand Theatre's 2020-21 online performance season "Tour Station Zero" was unveiled. Originally, during the epidemic period, the Shanghai Grand Theatre specially cooperated with the Broadway on-demand network, the British theater network (stream.theatre), Hongyang International, the London Grand Theatre, the British National Opera and other domestic and international art institutions to produce an online performance activity called "Zero Stop" (Zero Stop). In the next year, the Shanghai Grand Theatre will work with broadway on-demand network and British drama on-demand network to broadcast exclusively on damai Youku platform to create a series of stage-based and "beyond the stage" online streaming media programs, so that stage art can enter a broader public vision in a younger and more diversified way.
Tonight, even Zheng Yunlong is excited by the world premiere of the solo concert of International Musical Theater Star Ramin Karimloo, affectionately known as "Ramen" by domestic music fans. It was accompanied by a special documentary film "On Broadway" around the stage art, which will also be the world premiere to show how blockbuster musicals such as "Cats", "The Lion King" and "Hamilton" were born. As Zheng Yunlong said, the show is only available for free for 24 hours tonight, and synchronizes the online viewing opportunities of musical theater fans around the world. In the future, "Tour Station Zero" will explore the long-term operation of the "membership system + single pay-per-view" model.
The ultimate "1 row and 1 seat" experience with 4K HD + stereo sound! Shanghai was born the first international top online performance brand produced by domestic theaters
"This is the first time in the 22 years since the establishment of the Shanghai Grand Theatre to hold an online performance season release" In the view of Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Grand Theatre, the significance of this "first time" is no less than any previous performance season. This is not only because of its specifications - from the West End of London, New York Broadway, the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera, the British National Ballet, the British National Opera and other international first-line performance centers and performing arts institutions of the high-level stage scene; but also because of its production mode and product form - as the first domestic theater to produce the international top online performance brand, it relies on Chinese and foreign theater and platform resources, produce a variety of forms of original programs, completely break the existing online performance test, will pass the online concert 2. Documentaries, on-demand and other forms reflect each other with the offline performance season of the theater.
On the evening of the 23rd, the "Tour Zero Station" program, the concert of musical theater star Lemin Callemro, was the first in the world. Lemin Callemrow, a musical theater star active on Broadway in New York and London's West End, has starred in classic plays such as "The Phantom of the Theatre" and "Les Misérables", which are widely loved by audiences around the world, especially in Asia. In this concert, he will use musicals, pop tracks and original songs as a guide to explore the artistic pursuit of stage artists under the influence of the epidemic. In the empty auditorium of the London Grand Theatre, he sang "When will we see each other again" with great emotion, looking forward to reuniting with the audience one day.
The subsequent documentary "On the Road" will initially form a theater culture near Broadway in the early 19th century, telling the story of the "blockbuster" of "Cats", "Lion King" and "Hamilton" in recent years. The documentary invites various star actors, directors, and creators on Broadway in New York to tell the story behind the Broadway Theater, trying to explore the artistic and commercial achievements of this mature, high-value performance gathering area, hoping to bring inspiration to the domestic performing arts industry. In particular, James Corden, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren have all joined. When they were about to finish shooting, Broadway in New York, which had been running for a hundred years, officially announced its temporary closure for the first time, and its post-editing was completed in the midst of the continuous "heating up" of the global epidemic, which was very difficult.
In the future, there will be a new generation of "Weber Girls" in the West End, Kelly Hope Fletcher. From Eponnie in Les Misérables, Veronica in Heathers to Winstie in The Addams Family, she will sing the courage, dreams and love of the musical "Treasure Girls" in the theater, and strike the soul into her heart. It is worth mentioning that the two concerts broadcast in the first season were recorded live on the stage of London's West End (London Grand Theatre), with film-level (4K) image presentation, original high-quality stereo sound, providing the audience with the ultimate experience of "1 row and 1 seat" perspective.
In the on-demand section, this season will be dominated by representatives of the world's top opera houses and ballet companies, taking the audience to directly attack the elegant art scene of many top theatres such as the Royal British Opera, the Royal Ballet, and the British National Ballet. With the vision of "Shanghai Grand Theatre Selection", it selects good plays and good works for Chinese audiences, so that elegant art can bring temperature and story, get closer to the lives of more people, and give more people, especially young people, the opportunity to fall in love with classic art categories such as opera and ballet. The first on-demand repertoire includes the Royal Ballet 'Alice in Wonderland', The Winter's Tale and Sleeping Beauty,' the British National Ballet's choreographed version of Giselle by Acu Ham, and the Royal Opera House opera La Traviata.
In addition to the display of international top performances and theater development, "Tour Station Zero" is also committed to making China's high-quality performing arts resources go out. The original documentary short film "China Has Drama" produced by the Grand Theatre will focus on the current situation of performing arts in the Yangtze River Delta and even the development of China's stage. The documentary selects different art disciplines, artists and art groups, starting from a new perspective of Chinese contemporary stage art workers in the changes in social development, especially during the rapid changes in the world situation during the epidemic period, to convey China's stage art and the creative status, artistic feelings and superb artistic ability of Chinese outstanding artists to the mainstream audience in the West. The first season of "China Has Drama" consists of 8 episodes, each episode is about 10 minutes, covering different art disciplines such as Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Folk Music, Yue Opera, Drama, Musical Theater, Modern Dance, etc., and invites a group of stage artists such as Shanghai Peking Opera House Meipai Yihong, dancer Jin Xing, and musical theater actor Zheng Yunlong to participate in the filming. It is worth mentioning that the documentary "China Has Drama" will be simultaneously released and broadcast overseas through "Tour Station Zero" and the cooperative online platform, becoming part of the "going out" of Chinese culture.
Emperor Chief: The cloud finally "stands" on the stage of the Shanghai Grand Theatre! The new model of "normalized" theater forced by the epidemic has begun to take shape
Online performances must not be a simple transplant offline. In the context of the Internet, whether it is the live recording of live performances or the presentation in front of and behind the scenes, from planning to filming to post-production, it is necessary to repackage and transcode with the aesthetic habits of contemporary online audiences. Fortunately, the domestic theaters that have experienced the baptism of the "epidemic" have taken the lead in realizing this, and at the moment when the epidemic prevention and control is normalized and offline performances have returned to 75% of the attendance rate, they still insist on continuing to develop exploration and innovation.
As early as half a year ago, the Shanghai Grand Theatre "spoiled" the idea of "Tour Station Zero". It was at a time when the global pandemic was in multiple outbreaks. The Shanghai Grand Theatre launched a special broadcast "With Light, There Is Drama" for 100 days. From the shooting method and presentation method, it has already shown an online transplant that is different from previous live performances.
On this basis, the launch of "Station Zero" marks a further step in the online exploration of the Shanghai Grand Theatre - not only to "introduce" high-quality overseas performances for Chinese audiences for the first time, but also to provide a platform for outstanding Chinese artists and art groups to "go global". The Grand Theatre hopes that in this newly created online space, the audience will enjoy the high-level stage scenes of international first-line performance centers and performing arts institutions such as london's West End, New York Broadway, Royal Ballet, Royal Opera, British National Ballet, and British National Opera through online programs; on the other hand, "Station Zero" will also rely on Chinese and foreign theater and platform resources to produce various forms of original programs to break the restrictions on theater seats and performance schedules The audience is invited to walk into the front and back of the shanghai grand theater to reflect the offline performance season of the theater. At the same time, "Station Zero" also means the possibility of going from 0 to 1, and it will use online performances as the touchstone of the Chinese market as the "future star" of the world stage and the "online front station" of Chinese artists on the international stage. For example, the last time the Royal Ballet toured Shanghai, Matthew Ball, the chief male star and nicknamed "Ball Brother" by domestic audiences, lamented that the regret of not being able to go before was compensated by online performances: "Finally 'stood on' the stage of the Shanghai Grand Theatre!" ”
Starting from today, the Shanghai Grand Theatre will launch the Tmall flagship store on the performance season limited early bird rights card, 78 yuan can get all the paid items of the season of the super value viewing rights, including musical theater star concert section, stage documentary section, "Shanghai Grand Theatre Preferred" repertoire section and other content, while giving away a 78 yuan worth of Shanghai Grand Theatre official website ticket coupon, which can be used to purchase designated offline performances. In the future, "Tour Station Zero" will further pay attention to the ecology of online performing arts at home and abroad, and provide richer and higher quality program content.
Author: Huang Qizhe
Picture: Ye Chenliang photographed on the spot, video materials and so on are provided by the organizers
Editor: Zhang Zhenxi