The Cantonese version of the musical is about to land in Guangzhou
Injecting vitality into “The Young Lion” with a new perspective
Zhang Suqin, all-media reporter from Guangzhou Daily
The accompanying picture shows the rehearsal scene.
Photography: Su Junjie, all-media reporter of Guangzhou Daily
From May 9th to 14th, as a special presentation to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the Guangzhou Grand Theater, the Cantonese version of the musical “Lion” will be performed at the Guangzhou Grand Theater for 7 consecutive performances. The Cantonese version of the musical “Lion” continues the exciting content and high reputation of the Mandarin version, and is jointly created by outstanding artists and creators from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.
On April 30, the Cantonese version of “The Young Lion” opened to the media in Guangzhou, allowing everyone to experience the different “The Young Lion”. The main creators and starring actors of the show said, “The Cantonese version is very different from the Mandarin version in terms of arrangement. We have taken a different path, and the audience can look forward to it. We hope that the audience can see a better version than the Hong Kong premiere version.” An improved performance.
In-depth cooperation among the literary and art circles in the Greater Bay Area
We welcome more outstanding creators in front of and behind the scenes
The Mandarin version of the musical “Lion” premiered in Guangzhou in January this year and received rave reviews. The play was launched in Cantonese this spring and premiered at the Grand Theater of the Hong Kong Cultural Center in March at the invitation of the 52nd Hong Kong Arts Festival, arousing strong resonance from the audience.
The Cantonese version of the musical “Lion” gathers the outstanding literary and artistic forces of the Greater Bay Area and welcomes more outstanding main creators to join, integrating new perspectives into the creation and injecting vitality into it. Gao Shizhang and Shum Weizhong, the “golden partners” in the musical theater industry, have joined forces again to serve as composers, arrangers, music directors and lyrics; Zhang Feifan, the famous musical screenwriter, will write the adaptation; Xian Zhendong, the famous stage director, will serve as the director; with more than ten years of experience in editing and creation, Zhang Yueying serves as the co-director & choreographer of this round of the Greater Bay Area tour; Zhu Baiqian, who has rich performance and creative experience, serves as the executive director… Many artists participated in the creation, and specially invited the provincial intangible cultural inheritor of Guangdong Lion Dance, “Zhao Jiashi” “The fifth generation successor Zhao Weibin serves as the lion awakening instructor.
In terms of starring, the 31st Hong Kong Drama Awards “Best Actor (Tragedy/Drama)”, musical actor Zheng Junchi and young actor Chen Keming jointly played the role of A Juan; the 23rd Hong Kong Drama Awards Best Actor (Comedy/Farce) winner Zhu Baiqian and powerful musical actor Xu Le co-played the role of Salty Fish Qiang; famous stage actor Kitty Chen played the role of A-Zhen; outstanding young actor Qin Yifan played Juan Ran…A group of outstanding actors jointly presented the passionate dream chasing story. trip.
“This musical is jointly created by outstanding artists and performance and production teams from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. From creation to front and backstage, it is an in-depth cooperation in the Greater Bay Area.” Producer of the Cantonese version of the musical “The Young Lion”, Chen Rui, deputy general manager of Guangzhou Grand Theater said.
There are also passionate stories in the audience
The actor learned lion dance for the first time and tried his best
The musical “The Lion Boy” tells the story of an ordinary young man who went through ups and downs to learn skills from a teacher, dance the lion’s head, and participate in the lion dance competition. The ordinary left-behind boy Ajuan has been frail and sick since childhood and has been fascinated by lion dance. One day he met a girl with the same name as him. The girl’s enthusiasm for lion dance opened the door to his dream, allowing him to listen to his inner voice, form a lion team with his two friends, and join the hidden world of dance. Under the tutelage of lion master Xian Yuqiang, the four masters and apprentices worked hard day and night, and marched boldly towards the goal of the “National Lion Awakening Competition”. But when the day of the lion awakening competition approaches, Ajuan encounters misfortune in his family… Will he give up the dream he has been chasing and work hard to make a living, or will he desperately jump up with the lion head, shoulder to shoulder with his teammates, and work hard for his ambition? war?
Zheng Junchi and Chen Keming played Ajuan in the Cantonese version. “Ajuan has great enthusiasm for lion awakening. In the process of pursuing his dream, he met many friends and encountered many difficulties, but in the end he persisted and realized his dream.” Dream. This is a very passionate story,” Zheng Junchi said.
“I’m very happy to come to Guangzhou and meet the audience. The Cantonese version premiered in Hong Kong in March and the response was very good. I hope our enthusiasm on stage can infect the audience in Guangzhou and more audiences in the future.” Zheng Junchi said frankly that this time the Cantonese version version is a challenge, “I have never been exposed to lion dance before, and it is my first time to learn lion dance. It is really not easy. Our team is very professional and has arranged many teachers to teach us. We also tried our best to learn it. I hope we can learn it.” The spirit of Lion Dance is carried forward. The Lion Dance in the play combines three art forms: dance, martial arts, and puppetry. It must be similar in appearance but also in spirit. I am honored to participate in the creation of such a representative musical in the Greater Bay Area, and I hope it will. Go to all of China and the world, let more audiences see it.
Chen Keming, who played A-Juan in the Mandarin version, will continue to play A-Juan in the Cantonese version. He admitted that starring in the Cantonese version is still a big challenge for him. “The whole arrangement of the Cantonese version is very different from the Mandarin version, and the whole feeling of acting is also different. I feel that they are two kinds of thinking. But I grew up in Guangdong, so the Cantonese version will make me feel more familiar.
Audiences like: The ultimate romance is sincerity, this team is very sincere!
“This team is very sincere. They treat the musical, their cherished Lingnan culture, and the audience with all their heart. The ultimate romance is sincerity.” After the Cantonese version of “The Young Lion” premiered in Hong Kong, some viewers commented on social media Such a message.
“I think audiences who have watched the Mandarin version or those who have not watched the Mandarin version can go to the theater and watch it, because the feeling will be very different.” Executive Director of the play Zhu Baiqian said, “The Cantonese version has great advantages in stage design, language, and choreography. It’s different from the Mandarin version in every aspect. We took a different path. “For example, how does Ajuan perform on the stage when she gets on the high stakes and then competes with others? “We have to protect the safety of the actors and have an effect, so we use some imagery that the audience can understand, but it is also a different expression.” Zhu Baiqian said.
The whole play slowly unfolds under the fusion of music, dance and lion dance. The storyline is twists and turns, soul-stirring, the lines are full of laughter and inspiring, and nearly 20 original songs combine multiple music styles, including traditional drum music, pop music, rock music, etc. , lyrical tunes, local operas, folk songs, flamenco and other musical elements all add to the excitement of the lion and ignite the flames of young people’s dreams.
Zhu Baiqian said that the play uses music to promote the development of the plot and stir up emotions. At the same time, a large number of Cantonese idioms are used in the lyrics and lines to show the strong Lingnan style. A live band composed of keyboards, guitars, basses, drums, percussion, violins, cellos, flutes and other instruments plays highly infectious music, bringing both auditory and visual enjoyment to the audience.
In terms of choreography, there has also been a great improvement. Zhang Yueying, co-director and choreographer of the play, said, “I think in musicals, in addition to making the visuals beautiful, the dance also has to consider how to promote the plot, so the choreography also has its own logical line. For example, in In the second half of the song “City Wandering”, we used many elements to express Ajuan’s different mood after coming to the big city, from being full of hope at the beginning to encountering setbacks.”
“When making the Cantonese version, we hope to be more relatable to audiences in the Greater Bay Area. We hope that the audience can see the characters, see the drama, and gain something,” said Zhang Yueying.