Xu Zheng and He Nian talk about "containing Shanghai content". The musical "Love Myth" premiered in October in the movie | Shanghai | Love Myth
At the end of 2021, the Shanghai language film "Love Myth" won 260 million yuan at the box office by virtue of its authentic Shanghai flavor, and won many film awards such as the Golden Rooster Award Best Writer Award. One out of every 12 Shanghainese watches "Love Myth". On August 11th, Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group announced that the eponymous musical, adapted from the script of "Love Myth" written and directed by Shao Yihui, will debut as the opening play of the 9th Shanghai International Comedy Festival in the "Performing Arts World 2023" in early October. On October 1st, after completing its official preview at the Lingang Performing Arts Center, the drama will have its first round of six performances at the Shanghai Cultural Square from October 5th to 8th. It is also planned to depart from Shanghai and travel to more cities to convey the cultural charm of Shanghai to audiences across the country.
"In terms of urban culture and film and television works, we are too lacking in such themes - weaving together the simple, life oriented, and stream of consciousness of daily life. There are no major plots, no particularly dramatic conflicts, and only a few words reveal a sense of smoke and fire. Behind the calm emotions, there is a feeling of indifference. It is precisely this" rare "that prompts the" old white "Xu Zheng in the movie to once again take on the responsibility of producer, fully participating in the production, scheduling, actor selection, technical synthesis, rehearsals, and other processes of the musical" Love Myth ".".
"The West End and Broadway have turned many classic movies into stage plays, and the adaptations of" Youth Pie "and" Beautiful Woman "have given me a small ambition. We can also diversify our IP. When He Nian suggested that we could do musicals, I was full of imagination. It is different from ordinary musicals, with jazz style, tango, tap dance..." Xu Zheng hopes that the musicals "Love Myth" can become a landmark experience in the Shanghai cultural and tourism industry. "When tourists come to Shanghai, they come and check in to watch musicals."
"The urban stories depicted in movies are also stories around the audience. Its mature views on love and the world resonate strongly with the audience. This is also the driving force behind our adaptation of this film IP into a musical." Ma Chencheng, President of Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group, the producer, said, "In recent years, Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group has launched a successful series of all Shanghai language stage plays called" Flowers ". The musical" Love Myth "is also a stage work that tells the story of Shanghai, and we hope it can attract audiences from all over the country to come to Shanghai and understand the story of Shanghai in the language of the musical."
Zhang Nan, the producer of the musical "Love Myth", said, "The plot of the movie is slowly advancing, like a small fire slowly simmering a pot of high soup. The audience lifts the pot and watches it one by one, leaving an endless aftertaste. We will bring this delicious Shanghai story to the stage of the musical, which will be very interesting but also challenging."
The story background of the musical "Love Myth" will still be based on the subtle emotional relationships between modern Shanghai people, weaving observations of Shanghai with mature creative abilities into a light and light urban story, grasping the unique essence and spirit of the city.
"Wild cats also compete for leftover food." "Who do you say is a wild cat?" "Who do you say is leftover food?"... In the movie "Myth of Love", whenever Xu Zheng, Ma Yili, and Wu Yue start to "fight", the cinema bursts with heartfelt laughter. Can a musical with the same name guarantee the distinctive features of "Shanghai dialogue"? Director He Nian candidly said, "We want to create a different musical, using Shanghai dialect and Mandarin, but we have to keep trying the specific scale. We will also add some different dances to the play, breaking the structure of the musical's visuals and using dance to narrate."
After the establishment of the group on July 22nd, the creators finely divided whether the dialogue was in Mandarin or Shanghai. In terms of tone and emotional expression, all actors strive to perform in standard Shanghai dialect. Every day, the compulsory course in the rehearsal hall is the "Shanghai dialect pronunciation" section. In terms of dance and music, the creation is also based on fitting Shanghai's temperament and showcasing urban diversity, striving to highly restore the tone of Shanghai's regional culture.
"Old Bai" actor Zong Juntao revealed that the production team is trying to rehearse in all Shanghai languages, "constantly adjusting the proportion. If we express ourselves in Shanghai, it will cause information loss for audiences from other places, so we will switch to Mandarin." Some of the actors were born and raised in Shanghai, while others graduated from local universities such as Shanghai Conservatory of Music and lived in Shanghai for a long time. Shanghai singer Huang Ling, who was specially invited to join, has frequently appeared on the stage of plays and musicals in recent years; Director Wang Hao is a familiar singer and songwriter for Shanghai audiences. Jiang Qianru, Ding Zhenying, and other outstanding contestants from the first season of the Oriental TV's full industry chain musical culture promotion program "Love City" all played major roles in the drama. The musical "Love Myth" is a special performance of this year's "Love City Youth Season", and the outstanding new generation actors in the program will also have the opportunity to appear on the stage of "Love Myth".
Composer Peng Fei created nearly 20 songs for "Love Myth". The original musical "ceiling lineup" consists of music director Wei Shiquan, national first-class stage designer Sang Qi, and first-class lighting designer Xing Xin from the China National Theatre.
The musical "Love Myth" is authorized by Matt Film Co., Ltd. and Beijing 88 Culture Development Co., Ltd., produced by Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Chenzi Culture Investment Development Co., Ltd., and jointly produced by Shanghai Huangpu Culture Tourism Group Co., Ltd. and Beijing 88 Culture. In the next month or so, musicals will be incubated and completed in Lingang. As a key drama of the performance IP series around Dishui Lake, "Love Myth" will help create an image of "international harbor, world runway". After the Chinese version of "The Phantom of the Theater", Shanghai Construction Real Estate and Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts Group have once again teamed up to present the musical "Love Myth". "By working together and moving towards each other, we believe that through craftsmanship, Shanghai will add a new cultural calling card," said Ma Chencheng. The urban theme in Shanghai is a rare type of original drama, which is highly sought after by Generation Z and has enormous market value and potential, as evidenced by the phenomenal stage play "Fanhua". As the first urban light comedy musical, "Love Myth" is expected to continue the ripple effect of the movie version's popularity and continue to ignite a wave of Shanghai culture.
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