This group of students, lawyers, teachers, and financiers sing a musical together, Shanghai Song ③ | 16 to 61 years old

Watching musicals in Shanghai has an undeniable scenery - the audience.

Every time classic musicals such as "Notre Dame Cathedral", "Romeo and Juliet", and "Rock Mozart" are performed in Shanghai, they always hear a chorus in the audience when they return. Whether in English, French, or German, they cannot defeat the Shanghai audience. One cannot help but ask: Does the average audience in Shanghai know several foreign languages and have a foundation in vocal music?

The answer to this question was found in the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir. Every Wednesday night, members come from all directions, passing through Shanghai during the evening rush hour and arriving at the rehearsal hall. There are also members from cities around Shanghai who commute back and forth to Shanghai every week for just two hours of rehearsal. The exhaustion of the body, as soon as I sing, I forget, everyone's eyes are shining.

Every Wednesday evening, the rehearsal of the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir

Surprisingly, in the two years since its establishment, there has been a significant difference in the number of members who have joined this choir: the youngest is 16 years old and still a student; The oldest is 61 years old and has retired. They also have different professions, including doctors, lawyers, teachers, and financial professionals. They formed a sample of Shanghai musical audience, showing the individuality and commonality of this group.

"Their commonality lies in their considerable appreciation and musical literacy. Every rehearsal, I am always pleasantly surprised by everyone's acceptance, responsiveness, and plasticity towards new works." Chorus conductor Liu Wei said that in this group of Shanghai musical "ticket enthusiasts," she saw a pure love for musicals and also saw the most solid foundation for the development of Chinese musicals.

The Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir participated in the selection concert of Sanbao Musical repertoire, titled "The End of the World"

When many different voices interweave into the same sound

Wang Zhuang, with curly hair and a black dress, is 61 years old and the oldest member of the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir. The members call her "Zhuang Jie". Singing musicals with young members, Sister Zhuang never felt a "generation gap": "Before retirement, I was also a white-collar worker, working as a manager in a foreign company. I had similar experiences and shared common interests with them."

Zhuang Jie was born in Heilongjiang and studied in Europe in the 1990s. Her first musical she encountered was Weber's "Phantom of the Theater". In 2000, she returned to China with her husband and settled in Shanghai, working as a manager in a foreign company.

At the beginning of the new century, Shanghai became a window for world classic original musicals to enter China. In 2002, the first Western classic musical "Les Mis é rables" was staged in Shanghai. Subsequently, classic musicals such as "The Phantom of the Theater", "Notre Dame Cathedral", "Mamma Mia!", "Romeo and Juliet" and others came to Shanghai one after another. During that period, Sister Zhuang watched live performances of "The Cat", "The Lion King", and "The Little Prince".

61 year old Wang Zhuang

Ten years ago, during a brief stay in the United States, Sister Zhuang joined the East Providence Chorus in Rhode Island. In that choir composed entirely of white people, she is the only Asian face. Although the Dong Pu Wei Dun Si Choir is an amateur civic choir, it has a high standard and has its own music season. Every spring, summer, autumn, and winter, it holds choir concerts with different themes and publicly sells tickets for performances in theaters. She has sung excerpts from the musical "Miss Saigon" in the choir.

After returning to Shanghai, Sister Zhuang had not found a suitable place to sing for a long time. Until two years ago, she saw the news of recruiting members for the Shanghai Musical Choir and immediately registered, and impressed the judges with a song from the Broadway musical "Carousel" called "If I Loved You".

In Sister Zhuang's retirement life, singing musicals is the most serious thing. In addition to rehearsing at Shanghai Cultural Square every Wednesday, she also takes one-on-one musical lessons, participates in choir workshops, and hones her vocal skills. Sister Zhuang's relentless pursuit of professionalism has infected many young members of the team.

Before taking the stage, members of the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir were in the lounge

Chen Zhuguang, a member of the post-90s generation, is a doctor at Xinhua Hospital. Xinhua Hospital is one of the hospitals with the largest outpatient volume in Shanghai. For Chen Zhuguang, singing a musical is like a glass of wine between fast-paced lifestyles, making it difficult for him to relax.

"After 1985," said Wu Xiani, a financial expert, "joining a choir gives you a sense of belonging to the same kind. Everyone is of different ages and industries, but the most important thing in choir is to listen to each other and cooperate with each other. The most fulfilling thing is when so many different voices are intertwined, like one person's voice."

Before taking the stage, members of the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir were in the lounge

This September, Wang Zhuang, Chen Zhuguang, Wu Xiani, and members of the choir put on suits and formal attire and stepped onto the stage of Shanghai Cultural Square. They performed 8 original golden songs of the Three Treasures original musical with singers Tan Weiwei, Liu Yan, Xu Yao, and the Jin Haiyin Orchestra, led by composer Three Treasures. Chen Zhuguang said, "It's like this city and this theater helped me realize a dream."

One after another, let Chinese musicals continue to be sung

The selection concert of Sanbao musical repertoire "The End of the World" was originally scheduled to be performed in Shanghai in 2021, but it was postponed twice midway, causing twists and turns. Before the performance, composer Sanbao planned to rehearse with the Shanghai Musical Chorus for two days, a total of 12 hours. On the first day, he rehearsed for three and a half hours at noon, and Sanbao said to everyone: no need to rehearse.

At that moment, Wu Xiani, who was originally nervous, breathed a sigh of relief. Wu Xiani has been saving up her annual leave this year, only rehearsing diligently for the first three days of the performance. "This is my first time on this stage, I must give it my all."

Composer Sanbao provided rehearsals for the Shanghai Cultural Square for the choir

For this concert, the choir practiced for three extra weekends, each song meticulously crafted. The difference between musicals and other types of songs is that in addition to singing well, they also need to be able to perform, shape characters with their voices, and convey emotions in specified contexts.

Before the performance, when Sanbao was rehearsing for the musical choir, the focus was also on how to express emotions. "He introduced us to the background of the story and talked about the inner activities of the characters. He said that although it was a choir, each of us was a character in the play," said Wu Xiani.

Rehearsal of "The End of the World"

Since the opening of Shanghai Cultural Square, Chen Zhuguang has watched numerous Chinese and foreign musicals here. Works in different languages and styles have opened up a vast world for him. Once, the choir rehearsed a musical with lyrics in ten languages.

In the past two years, Chen Zhuguang has watched an increasing number of original Chinese musicals. Director Xu Jun's "Orphan of the Zhao Family" was "browsed" three or four times, and the choir also competed for copyright by rehearsing an excerpt from "Orphan of the Zhao Family" titled "Radiance of Life".

At the "End of the World" concert, Chen Zhuguang's favorite tracks were "The Night Is Still Long" from the musical "Steel Qin" and "One Day" from the musical "Sands". "This is a story about Chinese people themselves, their emotions, which resonate more with me than Western classics. I believe that in the future, more and more Chinese musicals' golden songs will be sung."

Rehearsal of "The End of the World"

The day before the performance, the choir made their debut on stage, rehearsing with the band and singer. The first song was an excerpt from the musical "Butterfly" titled "The End of the World.". During rehearsal, Liu Wei sitting in the audience couldn't help but pick up her phone to shoot. She felt goosebumps all over when she heard the voice of the choir coming out. "Collaborating with professional bands and singers, their singing is very dynamic and infectious."

After singing "The End of the World", Wang Zhuang, who was standing in the choir, glanced at San Bao on the podium and saw tears shining from the corners of his eyes. Wang Zhuang used to sing more foreign songs, but the melodies of Sanbao and the lyrics of Guanshan were all stories of ordinary Chinese people, which made her heart beat faster and tears welled up in her eyes. "I really want to keep singing these good works, and I hope that one day, the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir can also have its own performance season and sell tickets for performances."

Rehearsal of "The End of the World"

Both professionals and amateurs can find their own stage

In the view of Zheng Tianran, the manager of the Art Education Department of the Cultural Square and the founder of the Musical Chorus, establishing a musical choir in Shanghai is a natural thing. "Whether in terms of the number of musical performances, the number of talents on stage and behind the scenes, or the degree of marketization, Shanghai is undoubtedly the capital of Chinese musical theater. Here, there is the best group of musical theater audiences in China. This enthusiastic and professional audience is the driving force for the development of the musical theater industry."

There have been many "seed players" in the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Choir. 24-year-old Zhang Zhizhi is a lawyer who participated in the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Singing Competition this year and was shortlisted in the top 20 after competing with numerous professional contestants on the same stage. After singing an excerpt from "Hamilton," the judge said to her on the spot, "Do you consider changing careers? You may become an excellent musical actress." She replied, "No, I will definitely become an excellent lawyer, but I will also sing the musical."

Shanghai Musical Chorus Rehearsal Live

Since 2019, 28 professional musical actors have emerged from the musical singing competition, including many amateur singing enthusiasts, such as Xu Zihan, a graduate of Fudan University and Johns Hopkins University. After returning to his home country, Xu Zihan stood at a crossroads in his life: entering a well-known pharmaceutical company as a top overseas scholar, or starting from scratch and becoming a musical actor. Despite the opposition of her family, Xu Zihan chose the more difficult path, and now she has appeared in many musicals.

On today's stage, the boundary between professional and amateur is becoming increasingly blurred, and more and more non professional actors can shine on stage. Zheng Tianran said, "Some people are determined to switch careers, while others know they won't become professional actors in their lifetime, but still crave the stage. Whether singing or performing, they need both talent and life experience. Professional and amateur are not the only criteria for distinguishing between good and bad. They can all find their own stage in this city."

Group photo before going on stage

"Everyone is an artist," said German artist Joseph Bois. To become an excellent musical performer at the tip of the pyramid, one needs to have a talent of one in a hundred and practice day after day. But every person who loves life, possesses creativity and imagination, has the possibility of becoming an artist. Life is already a stage, waiting for everyone to create.

After the performance of "The End of the World", a "post-2000" audience member was shocked by the overwhelming voices of the band and choir, and wrote a message: "I dream of joining the Shanghai Cultural Square Musical Chorus. I will definitely come and take the exam when I graduate!"