CITY GUIDE >Culture and Events
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CITY GUIDE >Culture and Events
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Old school performance has audience on its feet
By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-07 10:17 Taylor McKessie also said "thank you" in Shanghai dialect, making the audience burst into laughter. And in Ms. Darbus' winter musical named Juliet and Romeo, the couple even escape to Shanghai. But all these nice local touches did not work immediately to arouse the crowd.For a show bursting with such intense and passionate American energy, the audience maintained their traditional Chinese reticence and manners most of the time. In the opening third of the two-hour show, most theatergoers just swayed to the music. But by the end of the show, the audience was hooked and standing in their seats, thanks to a dramatic finale. A surprise kiss between Troy and Gabriella that was not featured in the film raised the roof, and in the heat of the moment the cast suddenly rushed into the audience, sang and danced among them. The exciting move opened the audience to the melody and rhythms. One teenage member of the audience, who was dressed like Kelsi, one of the show's characters, stood up with her companion, and those around them, and everybody. In the melody of We're All in This Together, the audience finally mingled with the actors. Regrettably, the language barrier meant most of the Chinese audience couldn't sing along. And it was tiring for non-English speakers to switch between the subtitles and the central stage. The show will play in Shanghai Grand Theater until July 19.
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