All of my productions are special. But I have to admit, they're particularly special when they're the first to be done in that country.
That was the case yesterday, when Hong Kong 3 Arts Musical Institute performed The Enchanted Bookshop Musical, making China my 20th country.
This musical theater school went all out. It seems they spared no expense on the technical elements.
The set was elaborate and colorful, with fully constructed pieces and lots of interesting places for the action to play out. The costumes were just as colorful and completely authentic to each of the characters.
I've always said one of my main goals in this play was peopling it with characters that are instantly recognizable from their costumes. I think this school achieved that and more.
Of course, it's funny because these photos make it clear that they added several characters not in my original script: Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood, and Captain Hook (the latter as a replacement for Long John Silver?). I think I even see an Aladdin in the photo above--a first, as far as I know
And that's okay. As I've stated many times before, I encourage theater companies to add whatever literary characters they love. Alice of Wonderland fame has been very popular, as have other fairy tale characters such as Cinderella.
But what I like most about these photos are the dynamic poses and lively expressions on the faces of the actors. They're having a ton of fun, and you can feel it.
And did I mention that they translated the dialogue and lyrics into Cantonese?
Great job, everyone! You done me proud.
And to paraphrase another one of my favorite fictional characters, I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
No comments:
Post a Comment