What makes Shanghai dialect a box office elixir? Emotional brand, freshness or celebrity internet celebrity Gua Ge | Shanghai dialect | elixir

Are Z generation audiences who are accustomed to watching musicals in new spaces for performing arts willing to pay for traditional comics entering commercial landmarks? What kind of market opportunities do trendy talk shows, musicals, and plays all talk about Shanghai dialect?

On stage, there are actors who speak Shanghai dialect endlessly, including those who have become famous and have been in the industry for decades, internet celebrity bloggers with millions of clicks, familiar faces that Shanghai people enjoy, fresh social figures who have just left school, and little girls who are still learning Shanghai dialect word by word.

Shanghai dialect is not only a local dialect of Shanghai, but also carries the echo of the city's era, cultural heritage, and historical memory. Nong, Ala, and Yi rang in my ears... The smoke and fire of the human world rose between the high-rise buildings in the city.

There are actually comical plays in commercial landmarks

There is a prominent cement door frame at the Raffles City Market on the North Bund, instantly bringing people's memories back to 20 or 30 years ago. Girls wearing Hanfu and qipao lined up to take photos and check in. Walking through the long market, every step is taken in time. Hot water bottles, enamel cups, old TV sets, and colorful posters form the background. There is no clear boundary between stores, and people who eat small Wonton are mixed with wordy faces. Halfway down the street, a ping pong table was set up under the eaves, with a net made of red bricks. Someone was really playing, and the ping pong ball landed on the table, as if it could evoke the chirping of insects and cicadas.

The first exclusive performance space of Shanghai Comedy Troupe is located deep in the Raffles City Market on the North Bund. The purple red neon lights illuminated the nearly two meter high actor poster. Starting from July, Shanghai Comic Theatre Troupe has once again teamed up with the City Market to launch a new brand "Fierce Joyful Theatre Troupe", creating a Shanghai style interactive experience comedy play "Welcome to Play", which will be performed in the B2 · D6 space of Raffles.

The last time a comedy appeared in Raffles was two years ago, and the group leader Ling Meifang remembered, "We launched an immersive short program called" In the Lane ". The actors were surrounded by the audience, and even the shop owners ran out to fight fiercely, creating an extraordinary atmosphere." At the end of last year, the theater troupe signed a residency agreement with the city market. "After the performance of 'In the Lane', we particularly enjoyed this venue. The market has rich elements of Shanghai style culture, and its interaction with the audience far surpasses traditional theaters."

Ling Meifang bluntly stated that the Shanghai Comic Theatre Troupe has always wanted to expand and extend its Shanghai language stage, "not waiting for audiences in the theater, but actively seeking them." As soon as the poster for the "Fierce Joyful Theatre Troupe" was released, the troupe received many inquiry calls, including individual guests and units inquiring about private theaters.

Before the premiere, Ling Meifang was watching the venue at Raffles on the North Bund when she encountered passersby stopping at a neon sign. "Before the consumers strolled to the new space sign, they looked at the actors' introductions, inquired about when to start the show, where to buy tickets, and how much the ticket price was, which gave us a lot of confidence," she said

Young audiences have high participation enthusiasm

The first resident play of the comedy troupe's new space, "Welcome to the Theater," is led by the quirky "director" of the Fierce Joy Theatre Troupe to bring the audience into the play. Through a new gameplay of "deduction+interaction," it explores current social hot topics. In the drama, three urban couples live a joyful and sorrowful life centered around "pregnancy and infertility" due to a bottle of beer with green tea added. In the second half, the director invited the audience to step onto the stage and explore the ending together with the actors.

The colorful nine grid installation extends all the way to the ceiling, and actors can rush out of the nine grid at any time. 154 bright yellow seats for eye-catching air lift. "We cut a few cuts from the original complete content of the comical play," said director Yu Jie of "Welcome to the Drama". There is a threshold for watching the performance, and the "director" first asks the audience if they understand Shanghai dialect and adjusts the proportion of dialects appropriately. "He also asks in Shanghainese if there are any viewers who don't understand at all. If someone raises their hand, the 'director' will joke. The previous question was in Shanghainese, so it seems you don't understand at all."

"After watching so many talk shows, open microphones, and cartoons, it is still comedy that suits my appetite the most." "Comedy that is more suitable for Wu Yue's baby's physique." "The actors are friendly, and the up close experience is exciting. It is recommended that the whole family watch together." Behind the positive reviews, Yu Jie revealed that inviting the audience to participate in the show will always face challenges. "In earlier years, the audience was introverted, and they were more accustomed to watching actors' brag '. Nowadays, young audiences have a lot of enthusiasm to participate, and in Shanghai dialect,' everything should be done well. 'They always want to fight with the actors, and will not be at their mercy."

Last week during his performance, Yu Jie met a young man who was "very considerate". "His task was to play the role of the door to the room. When the doorbell rang, he remained silent. The actor improvised and said, 'The doorbell is broken, we can only knock on the door.' The whole audience burst into laughter."

In addition to young people, Yu Jie observed that there were 20-30% middle-aged and elderly audience members in the new space. "They came under the name of the comedy troupe, thinking they would see traditional solo performances and Shanghai rap. Although the atmosphere in the new space was slower, they would not sit idly by and would also dance and sing with young people in the grand finale."

Ling Meifang regards "Welcome to the Drama" as an important part of the comedy competition for the Generation Z market. "Many potential audiences do not have the habit of entering the theater, and the new space in the mall can attract traffic." Welcome to the Drama "is based on the comedy troupe's play" Good Pregnancy 36 Strategies ". We have confidence in the effect of this mature play, but it is not just a move to complete it. Instead, it is changed to a play in the play, and the climax is completed by the audience and actors." The new space stage is renovated, and "the backstage scene switching and props movement are directly presented in the front desk, completely open to the audience, giving a feeling of revealing secrets."

In Shanghai dialect, talk shows suddenly exploded

At B1 Hubin Road Shopping Center, Comedy Union Box Country Shanghai Pavilion looks more like a coffee shop at first glance, with dopamine colored bars, round tables, and benches filling the front hall. On weekends, it feels like a fan gathering again, where everyone forms long lines to collect fans, stickers, commemorative T-shirts, and other accessories around the actors with tickets.

Following the flow of people, behind the curtain of the "coffee shop" is a 200 square meter performance hall. Temporary seats cannot stop the enthusiasm of the audience - the performance will take place at 3:30 pm, and someone will come to the front row to occupy a seat at 11 pm. This is Gua Ge's home ground. Among the 40 monthly performances at the Shanghai Pavilion, Gua Ge's Shanghai language talk show sells the fastest, with tickets available instantly.

12 years ago, Gua Ge debuted on a talk show, and his presence was left on stage at the 1933 Old Theater. "At that time, there were not as many viewers who liked to buy tickets to listen to people speak as there are now." In 2021, comedy co host Storm invited Gua Ge to make another appearance. "I don't really want to say that I was injured in a terrible performance environment. However, I watched a few talk shows and found them very interesting. Now that the audience understands, I am returning as a novice." At the beginning of my return, ticket sales were not as good as expected, and there was no phoenix rebirth as imagined. "Counterattack? Absolutely non-existent. We have encountered 5 actors on stage and 6 audience members off stage, and I am one of the 5 actors." Looking back, I can joke about my past predicament with a smile, and Gua Ge's confidence comes from the current box office success.

In January of this year, Gua Ge's Shanghai dialect performance video was uploaded online, with one million views on the same day. He talked about the old city walls of Shanghai and the subtle accent differences between Pudong and Puxi. The special talk show in Shanghai, named after the three digit number 310 of the Shanghai ID card, suddenly became popular during the Spring Festival. "No matter how many tickets are sold out, they will be sold out in a few seconds." The audience waved green support fans with Gua Ge's avatar, listening to him reminisce about Xiaochen Guang in Shanghai dialect, from ostentatious cycling and setting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve to insomnia on the eve of the spring outing.

Hu language talk shows account for 30% of Gua Ge's total performances. Despite being the most distinctive and appealing project, the market is in short supply, and Gua Ge still carefully controls the number of Hu language talk shows. "It's really not hunger marketing, 80% of the content is different between Hu language and Mandarin, and I have to think of new jokes repeatedly. I work during the day, polish new jokes at night, and perform on weekends."

Is it difficult to create and perform talk shows in Shanghai dialect? Gua Ge answered without hesitation, whether it was difficult or not. "Local dialects have advantages, and the memes in Mandarin may not be funny. In Shanghai dialect, the audience would laugh back and forth. However, translating Mandarin content 'directly' into Shanghai dialect is not enough. The two have different speaking rhythms and tones, so it is important to find authentic Shanghai slang and emotional points. For example, popular Shanghai TV dramas such as' Evil Debt 'and' Shanghai Family 'resonate well when spoken."

"Lingna Gua'er" creative performance secrets

Gua Ge knows the audience like a palm of his hand, and because there is a group photo session after the performance, he is named "Lingna Gua'er". "Non Shanghai audiences come from Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian. They study or work in Shanghai and are curious about the atmosphere of Shanghainese. They can understand 20% to 50% of the content. The audience's age range ranges from 60 to 70 years old to 05 years old, mainly concentrated between 25 and 45 years old. Some have watched it fifteen or sixteen times. My audience watches more skit dramas than talk shows, and they don't know much about what talk shows are. Some people have watched Shanghainese talk shows, but also want to watch Mandarin talk shows."

The 310 Shanghai dialect talk show gained popularity through word-of-mouth. New media such as Tiktok and Xiaohongshu have made Guage a box office upstart overnight. The netizen flew back from abroad and headed straight to the B1 shopping center on Hubin Road, "The Shanghai dialect talk show is novel and down-to-earth."

During the group photo, enthusiastic fans presented hand drawn pictures, throat candy, and pear paste, offering suggestions and sharing a sense of cultural identity. "When working hard in big cities, everyone is under a lot of pressure. Talking and laughing in Shanghai dialect makes it easier to let go of guard and gain positive emotional value." Gua Ge summarized the reasons why Shanghai talk shows are popular.

Yu Jie knows many Shanghai language bloggers, "Shanghai language self media bloggers are like a fish in water in Shanghai. After you sing, I appear. Everyone's original intention is very pure, and out of deep love for Shanghai dialect culture, they want to promote it. I admire them very much. The comedy troupe is also spontaneously doing live broadcasts and short videos, and fans are very strict with us. If actors do not speak Shanghai language, they will receive complaints."

From online short videos to offline performances, Gua Ge felt the audience's enthusiasm growing day by day. "At the beginning, there weren't many people watching the Shanghai language talk show, and we all relied on emotions to do it. Step by step, the situation is definitely different now than before."

Before settling down at the Hubin Road Shopping Center, Comedy Union Country performed at the Shanghai Grand World. Every time he walked into the gate of the big world, Gua Ge felt like he was fighting his senior from afar. "Famous comedians such as Wang Rugang and Mao Mengda have appeared on stage in the big world, and Shanghai opera is also performed here, which is very interesting."

When I was a child, I watched comics and Shanghai sitcoms such as "Uncle Lao Niang" and "Black Tea House". I was immersed in the stage genes that nurtured Gua Ge, "telling Shanghai stories in Shanghainese and gathering people who love Shanghai."

Shanghai dialect plays form their own microcosm

Since there are talk shows and movies in Shanghai, why not try Shanghai elements in foreign musicals?

After successfully completing the production of the Chinese version of "The Phantom of the Theater", Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group has set its sights on another challenging goal - the eponymous musical from the Shanghai language film "Love Myth" is scheduled to premiere in October.

"It's great to try speaking Shanghai dialect in the stage play 'Fanhua'. We will use Shanghai dialect in the musical 'Love Myth', but the specific scale still needs to be tried continuously. Director He Nian said, 'Most of the musicals on the market are imported and adapted plays. We want to create musicals that belong to Shanghai and represent Shanghai, with a Shanghai feel and flavor.'"

After completing the Shanghai dialect drama "Flowers" and the urban comedy "Baoxing Village" consecutively, producer Zhang Nan reinterpreted Shanghai in the musical "Love Myth". "Many scenes in the movie are very similar, even forming intertextual relationships. Two years later, we brought" Love Myth "onto the stage, making it enjoyable and challenging for the audience to watch."

The language barrier makes Shanghai language plays their own "microcosm", and audiences can occasionally see familiar names. Zhang Nan's "Baoxing Li" is jointly produced by Wenguang Performing Arts Group and Shanghai Comedy Troupe, and will be staged again during the National Day and New Year holidays. It is planned to tour Beijing next year.

"Baoxing Village" is created based on the story of Baoxing Village's old renovation and relocation. When the curtain opened, pavilions came into view. The enthusiasm and dedication of the owner of the popular Wonton shop, the contract spirit of the landlord and foreign tenants, the smart and hen pecked strategy, and the elegance and decency of the elderly in Shanghai... The small alleys were only a hundred meters long, and the brainy Shanghainese would decorate the "snail shells" beautifully, which carried the childhood memories of generations of Shanghainese.

The fully upgraded "Baoxing Li" has welcomed the joining of host Zhou Jin and actor Shu Yue. The former is Amy, the owner of a cake shop chain, while Shu Yue is her husband Xiao Baida. "Watching our play allows us to learn Shanghai slang, and it's also interesting to see the Jiangsu Zhejiang Shanghai dialect become a Shanghai version." Zhou Jin said, "People think that Shanghai people are smart and have a clear mind. How do they calculate when facing millions of yuan in demolition fees? The upgraded version of 'Baoxing Li' better reproduces what kind of people Shanghai people are."

Worried about finding new strength for the Shanghai dialect

Gua Ge's favorite Wang Rugang has retired, but he is still very busy. This year, he continues to lead the lead role in "Baoxing Li". In July, he participated in the Yangtze River Theater's summer vacation comedy solo parent-child performance, and in August, he assisted in the younger generation Xue Wenbin's comedy performance. After half a year, Wang Rugang went to his alma mater, Huangpu District Newspaper Primary School, to popularize the Shanghai dialect. "Some parents sent their children from Yangpu District and Jiading District to study. They used to live in Huangpu, but because they moved to other places, they still remember their hometown and have emotions similar to the character I played in 'Baoxing Village'."

While studying at Baotong Elementary School, Wang Rugang initiated a comedy performance called "Three Hairs Student Thoughts" by his classmates, and nearby companies also invited this group of elementary school students to perform. Now, he encourages alumni who are 60 years younger than him to pick up their pens, read more, write more, and speak more. "After valuing protection, historical buildings in every place become more and more beautiful. The same goes for language, and the most important aspect of language inheritance is the environment. When speaking Shanghai dialect, listen carefully, remember with heart, and speak boldly, and you will become more and more proficient. Learning three languages - Mandarin, Shanghai dialect, and foreign dialect - will make you not afraid to travel around the world."

Like Wang Rugang, Huawen has performed in Shanghai dialect for a lifetime. After winning all the national awards, she made a groundbreaking move by leading the Baoshan Shanghai Opera Troupe to change careers and rehearse the Shanghai dialect drama "Thunderstorm". At the terrace on the fifth floor of CITIC Pacific Plaza, the script of Thunderstorm, which was arranged as a corner of the garden of Zhou Mansion, was hosted by Hong Chunlei, the actor of Lu Dahai. Players' spontaneous clocking experience can be seen on such platforms as Xiaohongshu, Weibo and Tiktok.

Thanks to a series of promotional activities aimed at young people, the box office of "Thunderstorm" suddenly skyrocketed three days before its performance this year. Huawen has said more than once that the Shanghai opera "Thunderstorm" is like an introduction to Shanghai opera, "hoping to help the younger generation understand Shanghai dialect and guide their acceptance and love for Shanghai opera."

The 19th level Drama Director Professional Class at Shanghai Theatre Academy is the latest alliance of Huawen. A group of post-00s creators, led by their homeroom teacher Wu Wenchong, created a new play for Baoshan Shanghai Opera Troupe called "If I Were the Champion Lang". Wu Wenchong's computer retains 17 different versions of scripts. "Shanghai opera actors don't have any airs, they adjust their performance habits and accept the nonsensical ideas of these post-00s children."

Comedy memes, dances, and popular music are sandwiched between the melodies of Shanghai opera, weaving familiar performance codes for Generation Z. "Classical comic style" and "quality of life" have become the keywords of "If I were the top scorer". Hua Wen invited young people to watch "If I Were the Top Scholar". "These people are the children of my friends and have never watched Shanghai opera. They are particularly receptive to the imaginative creations of their peers and praise" If I Were the Top Scholar "for its fun. Such a play is truly interesting."

Flowing water does not compete for the first, what competes for is endless flow. In Shanghai, it is rare to see high-profile slogans and slogans. Creators continue the Shanghai language culture with solid works and performances, winning applause and praise. With laughter, they point to the future, always alive and vibrant.