|
Will Beijing streets be buzzing with Broadway tunes?
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-19 05:29
Hong Kong actress and singer Karen Mok is to star in the Tony-winning
Broadway musical "Rent" (Jiwu Chuzu) when it tours Asia. This casting decision
is sure to bring in the crowds in Beijing and Shanghai, even if they are unsure
of this exotic performance genre.
Hong Kong actress and singer Karen Mok
performs in the Tony-winning Broadway musical "Rent" in Hong Kong on
December 13. [sohu] | "Rent" will open in
Beijing on December 30 at the Beizhan Theatre, and will run until January 5.
Unlike in Hong Kong, as well as in Singapore, Chinese mainland audiences have
not had much exposure to musical theatre, even though traditional folk opera is
similar.
A major obstacle for acceptance is the content, which often seems outlandish,
and besides, the word games in the lyrics do not come across well in
translation.
Take the plot of "Rent." How much do we know about New York's East Village
and its aspiring artists? Can we tell them apart from those in SoHo and
Greenwich Village, let alone Midtown Manhattan?
On top of that, one needs to have some background knowledge of Puccini's "La
Boheme" because "Rent" is a tribute to the opera and uses its storyline and
musical themes.
For a Broadway musical to truly generate a following in China, more needs to
be done than merely projecting a Chinese translation of the lyrics on to the
stage.
Hiring local talent is one hook, but the audience must be able to relate to
the story and have time to take in the music.
For an old favourite like "The Sound of Music" that was easy, but for
something as quintessentially American as "Rent" or "Chicago," it will be
harder.
The trick is to find common ground and parallels. "Chicago," which came to
Beijing a year ago on the strength of the film version, deals with celebrity
worship, a phenomenon very much in vogue in today's China.
The characters in "Rent" appear to have cousins in distant Beijing, a city
that is reportedly home to 150,000 "bei piao" (wanderers to the north), those
who are in the capital trying their luck in the hope of landing dream jobs in
the arts and entertainment.
The bohemian culture, running from 19th century Paris as personified in "La
Boheme," to 1989-1990 New York, when "Rent" takes place, and present-day
Beijing, has so many overlapping undercurrents that, if presented correctly,
could strike a chord with a Chinese audience.
Of course there is not much a touring company can do with a couple of shows
in each city or country. But for a sustained run, one needs ingenuity. The way
foreign films have become successful in China may shed some light on a possible
strategy.
In the early 1980s when foreign films were very popular they were invariably
dubbed into Chinese. Earlier in the 1930s, many Hollywood productions were
remade as local versions.
Around the time Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan" was shown in Shanghai
cinemas, two Chinese versions were also filmed.
In other words, this form of "xi yang jing" (Western foreign image) took
action to ease the Chinese audience into a position where they could fully
appreciate the show.
I'm not saying you have to change the locale of "Rent" from the East Village
to a Beijing street in order to gain acceptance here, but that certainly is one
technique that could be employed for long-running shows.
In essence, it is not much different from a multinational corporation
launching a product on the Chinese market. It has to be customized for the local
consumer, who craves an elusive ratio of familiarity to foreignness.
Now that the film version of "Rent" has been released, there's no way a
touring production can compare in star power or authenticity. Perhaps localizing
is the answer.
(China Daily 12/19/2005 page5)
|
