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A case of 'Phantom' fever
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-16 08:48
 When Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical masterpiece "The Phantom of the
Opera" kicks off on Saturday night, it may be the biggest - but will also
probably be the last big - bet the Shanghai Grand Theater makes in the guessing
game of what Broadway musical to import next.
The gamble on "Phantom" is
a 50-million-yuan (US$6 million) wager that involves a three-month exclusive
occupation of the main theater for the show and the drilling of more than 90
holes in the ceiling to install a 500-kilogram chandelier. During the most
breathtaking scene in the musical, the chandelier will fall above the heads of
the audience onto the stage.
To break even on its bet, the Shanghai Grand
Theater needs to sell nearly 180,000 tickets for the total 96 performances,
which means it has to attract more than 1 percent of Shanghai's
population.
The organizers are tense but optimistic. Their courage and
confidence may derive from the past several hit shows they have put
on.
As the first to begin importing Western musicals, the Shanghai Grand
Theater staged 21 performances of "Les Miserables" in 2002. This appetizer to
test the musical tastes of Shanghai theatergoers cost the organizers 10 million
yuan.
Even the unfortunate timing of the staging of "Cats" the following
year - it coincided with the SARS outbreak - still didn't stop the theater
making a profit of three million yuan. Then "The Sound of Music" last spring
returned a profit of nearly five million yuan.
The sizes of the audiences
for the three musicals was 100 percent of total capacity, 80 percent and 99
percent respectively. The improving level of income has led the Shanghai Grand
Theater into more grand spending spree on another blockbuster
musical.
"We have kind of nurtured a market for musicals in Shanghai,"
says Qian Shijin, deputy manager of Shanghai Grand Theater, proudly. "Musical is
a baby of the market economy. As one of China's most commercially minded cities,
Shanghai's audiences love these trendy, well-known and big-budget musicals. And
most of our audiences pay for themselves, unlike many of their Beijing
counterparts who have tickets sent to them."
Qian admits that the Shanghai
Grand Theater has received tremendous criticism.
"Some said performing
musicals at the Shanghai Grand Theater is kind of degrading," Qian says. "But
musicals are more acceptable to modern audiences and the audience is our
god."
Truly, it seems that a love of musicals has swept the city and
raised the level of desire for this modern art form to fever pitch. Beginning in
2002, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and the Shanghai Theater Academy have
even introduced a new major in their courses for musicals despite the fact that
China has few excellent original musicals or a loyal audience for
them.
Since "Miss Saigon" cannot be imported due to its sensitive
storyline, the fever for gigantic musicals in Shanghai will reach a final climax
with this production of "Phantom" because of its huge budget, complicated sets
and dazzling special effects.
"Next year we will shift our plan to bring
in some new, smaller-budget works like 'Mamma Mia,' 'Mumbai Dreams' and 'Lion
King' which are now under negotiation," says Qian.
He reveals that there
is a plan to either renovate the Majestic Theater into a musical theater or to
build a completely new one.
"We have just begun our journey on the road
to producing our own musicals," says Qian. "We have to imitate this Western art
form first, then create one that is our own. Importing comes first, then we will
'localize' the musicals.
"Several foreign companies over the past couple
of years have discussed with me to create Chinese versions of these musicals.
However, it's not easy since it requires a lot of work to re-create them. But
these sit-down productions with Chinese actors can tour around China and present
more performances. Our ultimate goal is to export outstanding original Chinese
musicals to Broadway some day."
He adds that the theater has gained
something more valuable than money in its collaborations with Western musical
professionals.
Wu Zhihua, technical manager of the Shanghai Grand
Theater, admits his fear when working on "Les Miserables."
"We were
almost ignorant of musicals and there are many problems since we had different
standards such as different voltages," says Wu. "'Phantom' is the most
complicated of all, but we feel much better and more steady this
time.
"I've learned from them that a performance is much more than just
putting on a show - it's a project. They prepare a full range of blueprints,
reports and schedules and strictly follow them. The production of 'Phantom'
involved more than 10 blueprints and it's more like a large-scale engineering
project."
That "Phantom" will be a triumph may be predictable because, as
assistant director Rainer Fried explains: "It's exactly the same production as
the one in London's West End and on Broadway. Nothing less."
Well, how
about after "Phantom," after the (hopefully) fantastic climax? What will feed
the growing appetite among Chinese for spectacular musicals in the
future?
"These musical giants did introduce this art form to China but they
cannot represent the full view of musicals," says Jin Fuzai, director of the
musical department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. "Many small-budget
musicals such as 'Mamma Mia' are very popular on Broadway. In addition, the
Shanghai Grand Theater is built for opera and ballet - it's too big for musicals
which require seating for audiences of 1,000 to 1,500 and need specialized
technological facilities."
Jin introduces his 70 students to a study of
musicals by getting them to put on excerpts from Broadway productions. The
students will stage highlights from some well-known Western musicals in a
concert to be presented on Christmas Eve at the Lyceum Theater.
"Today,
we have neither a professional Chinese musical theater nor good original
scripts," says Jin. "In the 1980s, there used to be some 20 original Chinese
musicals but they eventually failed due to a lack of audience and professional
casts to perform them."
Jin says his students will have the opportunity
to put on 15 performances next year. In the drama venue of the Lyceum Theater on
Christmas Eve, the shows will include one original creation adapted from a
popular Chinese cartoon series.
"I estimate that in three to five years
the making of original Chinese musicals will become mature and they will be
culturally influential," he says. "Shanghai's open mind and cultural atmosphere
are right for creating musicals. I hope the major we have introduced will
educate more musical directors, producers and composers - as well as performers
- in the future."
It seems we have good wishes for the art form of
musicals and promises for the future. So let's hope that "The Phantom of the
Opera" will bring to life the phantom of the Chinese musical.
"The Phantom of the Opera"
Date: December 18-March 12,
2005, 7:15pm
Address: 300 People's Ave
Tickets: 100-2,000 yuan
Tel:
6372-8701, 6372-8702
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