The Yuju Opera Hua Mulan has made the name Mulan universally known all over China, and an animated Mulan by Disney brought the ancient Chinese girl to the whole world. Now the modern music drama Hua Mulan regarded by the Ministry of Culture as one of the key plays to be staged in 2004 will be presented in China's leading Poly Theatre in Beijing on August 28-29.
Combing senior and young artists, the opera boasts the best lineup of China Opera and Dance Drama Theatre. Xu Peidong, the vice president of the theatre, takes charge of supervising the play while Dr. Wang Xiaoying, vice president of the National Theatre Company of China and an international renowned scholar in drama and directing, will direct the play. Meanwhile, the play gathers the most experienced and the most avant-garde composers and playwrights. Hao Weiya, the youngest artist with a doctorate in composing in the Central Music Conservatory, is the composer of the musical. Qiu Yupu, a 72-year-old senior artist from the theatre and the 28-year-old vigorous lyrics writer Yu Jiang from CCTV are the two playwrights . Such a galaxy of stars from different generations brings all the factors needed for a successful musical and and create a modern adaptation of a traditional theme.
The play has been regarded as a major cultural event in 2004 by the Ministry of Culture with the successful trial performances in February praised by the Vice Minister of Culture, Chen Xiaoguang. Acclaimed lyrics writer, Qiao Yu also said the play was one of the very few domestic musicals that had commercial value, while also attaining high artistic achievement.
Mulan has been under the spotlight since even before its trial performance as the theatre advertised in the major local and national media for qualified performers. "Mulans" and her lovers from all over the country came to Beijing to vie for the position, treading the same bumpy roads as Mulan did hundreds of years ago. Artists from national artistic troupes in Beijing, including some of the most renowned performers in China, also took part in the contest, competing with young and fledging performers on the same stage. At last, the young singer Wang Yan won in the contest.
The show seized the attention of the media from its second trial performance. On the third day, not a single seat in the theatre was unoccupied and two performance contracts had been signed. Leading state media like CCTV, China News Service, Guangming Daily and others, all covered the event and pinned high hopes on the play. It was widely agreed that Mulan was the best musical in China and was capable of being enlisted among the ten performing plays held in the National Grand Theatre.
Musicals, as imported theatre, need to be innovative in order to captivate Chinese audiences. As the Yuju Opera and Disney editions have made Hu Mulan a brand rather than just a story. The pivotal problem for this musical was how to be original. As a result, this Mulan is full of creative staging. For instance, director Wang Xiaoying, has arranged for two performers to interpret the role of Mulan on the same stage, respectively demonstrating the two aspects of Mulan's character: strong, intrepid and integrated on the one hand; gentle, soft and sweet on the other. Wang, as a noted director deeply influenced by western operas, endeavors to incorporate the most avant-garde opera notions with a traditional subject matter. The composer Hao Weiya also pursues a combination of plural styles and embraces both pop and classical music. His only aim is to bring the finest music to the audience, whether it is bel canto or pop singing. Aiming at commercial success as well as an artistic masterpiece, the play marches on beyond the boundary of the imagination of the audience.
(CRI.com August 25, 2004)
