Mamma Mia! Hits Chinese Stages

By ZHOU XIAOYAN

Mamma Mia!Hits Chinese Stages

By ZHOU XIAOYAN

The Chinese version of Broadway’s musical sensation set to run for six months

EXCELLENT SINGERS: Major actresses of the Chinese version of Mamma Mia! perform at a press conference in Beijing in June

The Chinese version ofMamma Mia!,one of the most popular musicals in the world, has come to China, to demonstrate the charm of the musical to Chinese citizens in three major cities in 2011.

The musical will be staged in Shanghai from July 8 to August 5, Beijing from August 12 to October 20 and Guangzhou from October 28 to November 24, bringing the joy of the musical to China with more than 200 performances.

The Chinese version will be staged in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as well as Singapore in the next three to five years after its six-month tour in mainland cities of China.

Popular musical

Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based on the songs of the band ABBA, is a musical that holds the record for the most performances in the world, with a total box of fi ce of more than $1.6 billion. It has been performed in 24 cities around the globe in 13 languages and attracted audiences of more than 42 million.

After the tragedy on September 11,2001, the musical industry was deeply affected and in great depression, and no musical lasted for more than a week. ThenMamma Mia!stepped on stage, with its catchy songs, humorous style and positive attitude toward life, and immediately caused a sensation.

The story takes place on a romantic Greek island. One day, a young girl named Sophie is about to get married. She lived with her mother Donna and never knew who her father was. In order to fi nd him and realize the dream of being walked down the aisle by her own father, she sent letters to three of her mother’s former boyfriends. Those three men all accepted the invitation and came to the wedding. In the next 24 hours,great changes take place in Sophie’s life and family. The whole musical is full of the 22 classic songs of the band ABBA, delivering joy and a positive attitude about life to every audience.

Mamma Mia!tells a story of love between mother and daughter, romantic love and people’s lives and careers. There is humorous dialogue as well as a moving plot that may bring audience to tears, coupled with superb production values. It’s suitable for all the family to enjoy.

Special features

On June 2, 2010, China Arts and Entertainment Group signed a contract with the producer and copyright owner ofMamma Mia!and after a year’s careful preparation, the musical is now on show at the Shanghai Grand Theater, the first leg of its six months Chinese mainland performance tour.

The Chinese version successfully retains the original fl avor of the classic musical with international highest-level stage equipment and the best local actors. Also,many Chinese factors have been added to make the show a more pleasurable experience for local audiences.

“Technologically speaking,Mamma Mia!has been far more difficult than any other musicals of similar scale in China,”said Liao Weihan, technical director of the Chinese version. “Although it only has two acts, there are 25 scene changes. On average,the scene changes every five to eight minutes. The hotel on the Greek island, which weighs 200 kg, will be dragged on to and off stage 10 times.”

In order to retain the original flavor of the classic musical, the technical team executes each detail to international standard.

Essential stage equipment has been imported from Australia; the stage curtain specially ordered from Britain; the costumes of actors are produced in France; the light and audio equipment is provided by South Korea. Chinese audiences are in for a Broadway-level visual and auditory experience.

“The stage cost more than 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) to build, and it took 100 technicians from China, Britain and South Korea a week to complete,” said Liao.

“From what I saw in the rehearsal, the stage design and costumes of the actors are almost the same as the original version that I saw in New York. The atmosphere is very close to that as well,” said Dai Zhongwei,who has participated in creating many original musicals.

No matter what country it is per-formed in and in what language,Mamma Mia!always uses the best local stage musical actors. The Chinese version is not an exception.

The main characters of the musical were carefully selected after half-a-year’s consideration.

The heroine Donna, which is the most important role, is played by Tian Shui,an actress from the Shanghai Drama Art Center. She is the laureate of the White Magnolia Award for her outstanding performance, and the Cao Yu Drama Award.Years of accumulated acting experience made her the most suitable candidate for Donna. Her audition for the part won her the selective director’s praise.

More than 1,000 young women competed for the part of Sophie. In the end,Zhang Fangyu, a girl from Taiwan, won the part as all members of the direction team thought she had a clear and bright voice and sweet appearance, quite in accordance with the role.

“Before watching it, I highly doubted this version. But after watching the first half of the show, I’m totally impressed by their performance,” said Ye Zi, a student of Shanghai Conservatory of Music majoring in music, after watching one of nine preview shows in Shanghai.

The Chinese element is another highlight of the musical. For instance, on the night before the wedding, eight friends of Sophie’s fiancé come to make fun of the couple. They have to attract her attention as much as possible.

“This scene has 14 different versions around the world,” said Leah Sue Morland,dance director of the musical. “No matter in what country, we will ask actors to perform the most characteristic local dances, such as fl amenco in Spain.”

“In China, there will be traditionalyanggeand ethnic dances such as in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Also, they add voices as Bruce Lee in scenes to add more humor to the musical,” said Morland.

In Shanghai, some lines were spoken in local dialect, bringing immediate applause and laughter from audiences.

SWEET DAUGHTER:Zhang Fangyu,the actress in the role of Sophie,meets the media in Beijing in June

FIRST SHOW: The English-language version of Mamma Mia! being rehearsed for its debut in China on July 5, 2007