Zheng Yunlong's "Going to Drink" premieres, "Goddess of Art" reappears, and Shanghai Grand Theatre adds a 400 square meter hall | Mural | Zheng Yunlong
On August 27, 2023, the Shanghai Grand Theatre celebrated its 25th anniversary of opening. The special exhibition "Ding Shaoguang and the Goddess of Art" will open at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and the large mural "Goddess of Art" has been placed in the lobby. 25 years ago, Le Shengli, the first general manager of Shanghai Grand Theatre, and Qian Shijin, the artistic director, witnessed the settlement of "Goddess of Art" here. Their wish at that time was for Shanghai to have a "new" theater with advanced equipment, market concepts and service quality, and a history, which would grow into its ideal shape 25 years later.
"For the past 25 years, the Shanghai Grand Theatre has always maintained vitality because it has been constantly updating itself from hardware to program content." Zhang Xiaoding, the general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, told the Liberation Daily Shangguan News reporter that the Grand Theatre is expected to open four new public spaces this autumn, adding nearly 400 square meters of activity area. After the release of the program list for the 2023-24 performance season to the media, Shanghai premieres such as the original Li Bai themed musical "Going to Drink" starring Zheng Yunlong have been added.
From 3 hours of watching a play to 12 hours of living
At 5:30 pm, workers were installing lines on the west side of the Grand Theater in 1998. Designer Gu Yan pushed open the north window and looked out. The Grand Theater Square saw elderly people walking dogs, white-collar workers rushing to work on the subway, and tourists taking photos in front of performance posters. On the upper right corner of the window is a huge display screen, scrolling through program videos.
Seeing the window open, the passersby on the square walked curiously and looked inside, "Is this also the Shanghai Grand Theatre?" "Is it still being renovated? When will it open?"
The west side of the Shanghai Grand Theatre will expand inward with four new public spaces, including a caf é, cultural and creative store, art education classroom, audience reception hall, etc., featuring bright yellow signs, relaxing green and blue walls, tables and chairs, and a flowing LED screen ceiling. The area covers nearly 400 square meters.
When the Shanghai Grand Theatre was established in 1998, the location of the four public spaces on the west side was a water feature fountain; In 2013, during the major renovation of the Grand Theatre, the water features were changed to green belts. This year, with the upgrade of the ticketing center, the green belt has quietly been renovated: the top green belt is equipped with prominent bright yellow space signs; A row of bright skylights opened in the middle green belt, as Zhang Xiaoding put it, "there is light, there is drama"; The storage space hidden under the green belt is fully opened to the public.
The green 1998 LOUNGE is connected to the ticketing center, with additional stairs and tables for audience rest and lectures. Adjacent to the blue space of the middle and small theaters, one can taste the light food and coffee produced by the large theater in the future.
"Originally, the audience stayed at the Grand Theater for 3 hours to watch a play, but in the future, it may become 12 hours. They can buy cultural and creative products, listen to master's classes, participate in stage tours, bring their children to the parent-child reading corner, have a meal, have a cup of coffee or tea." Zhang Xiaoding is committed to using more space to exchange for the audience's freedom to choose to enter the theater, "to play comfortably, chat, or do whatever they want."
Knocking out the grandeur of a spacious and bright hall
Located at the landmark of Shanghai People's Square, the Shanghai Grand Theatre welcomes visitors from all directions with the most open and open attitude, which has been a consistent style since its opening 25 years ago.
As the first theater in New China to be designed through international bidding, Shanghai Grand Theatre has created many firsts, such as glass curtain walls and a structure with a 6075 ton steel roof overhanging 28 meters. What the audience didn't know was that in order to strive for excellence, no less than six or seven places were knocked down and rebuilt at that time.
"The spacious and bright atmosphere of the grand theater today is what was' knocked out '. In 1998, during the construction phase of the theater, adjustments were made continuously, and the stairs on both sides retreated, replacing common colors with black and white tones to enhance the calm atmosphere of the theater. Le Shengli recalled that in 1998, there was not a large enough wall in the design of the theater to accommodate large murals, and at that time, the blank wall in the center of the hall was only enough to accommodate one-third of the' Goddess of Art '.". The grand theater knocked down the second floor corridor that ran across the wall, leaving enough space for the painter Ding Shaoguang. Ding Shaoguang was deeply moved and said, "I will definitely paint the best work."
The "Goddess of Art", measuring 7.4 meters in length and 4.4 meters in width, was born from this. In the painting, a woman raises her arms in front of her and looks up, while another woman embraces a string instrument. Clusters of white magnolias grow beside them. The audience stepped into the grand theater, and "Goddess of Art" rushed towards them. The huge painting brought an overwhelming momentum, making it difficult for people to take their eyes off.
Starting from exploring artist circles
"In November 1994, violin master Yitzhak Parman first came to China and could only hold a concert in the auditorium. We emptied the office and used it as a resting room for Parman and conductor Zubin Meta. Temporary soundboards were added above the stage to facilitate sound amplification, and the music pool was filled to expand the stage area. Despite the concert being quite sensational, Parman bluntly stated, 'Shanghai has the best audience in the world and the worst theater in the world.' Qian Shijin, who has been operating performance projects for decades, will never forget these 'painful' memories. 'In May 1993, the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra visited Shanghai. The most difficult thing for us is that Shanghai did not have a suitable venue.'" A theater or concert hall. After multiple discussions without any results, the performance was arranged at the Shanghai Sports Center, citing the reason of 'too many people hoping to attend the concert'. "
In 1994, the Shanghai Grand Theatre had already laid its first stake. A former city leader said to Parman, "We are building a new theater, and once it is completed, we will definitely invite you to perform again."
In August 2002, Perlman returned to Shanghai and held three consecutive concerts at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, with a 15 minute round of applause at the closing ceremony. Parman was very satisfied with the performance in Shanghai and said, "I want to tell my friends to go to Shanghai!"
Over twenty years have passed, and the Shanghai Grand Theatre has become the preferred venue for Chinese and foreign artists to perform in Shanghai. "Introducing and producing plays, expanding the circle of artist friends, the Grand Theatre has gained increasing control, stemming from 25 years of accumulation. The theater troupes and production teams are willing to make the Grand Theatre the preferred stage in Shanghai, and as long as the play is good, it will quickly establish its brand. Artists jokingly say that the roof of the Grand Theatre is like a treasure trove. The first traditional cultural themed musical" Going to Drink "by the China Oriental Performing Arts Group Music Theatre Troupe, including Zheng Yunlong, has gathered a first-class domestic creative team.". Since the beginning of the drama preparation, the Shanghai Grand Theatre has closely tracked the progress of "Going to Drink", coordinated the schedule, and after several rounds of back and forth, the 2023-24 performance season has finally been finalized. Zhang Xiaoding is full of confidence, "'Going to Drink' is our 'hidden menu', and there are still many popular actors and projects waiting in line for release."
