Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Fantine |
Chinese Les MiserablesSo... I googled all over the place and the little info I found said that the Chinese production premieres in 2007. I was wondering if this info is correct? And if it is, in which town will it be? I read somewhere that they didn't want to make that public yet, but maybe someone knows...Has there never been any kind of a Chinese production? I remember seeing some pictures... But maybe those were Japanese.. 
Another question (though I strongly doubt that the answer will be 'yes'): are there any recordings with a Chinese cast? (or sound clips circkling the internet?) |
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| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
There's never been an actual Chinese production. The North American tour toured in Asia in the summer of '01, and there are a handful of pics from that on lesmis.cafemusain.com
There will be a Chinese production next spring, though. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
02. |
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| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
I stand corrected, then. | ||||||||
| suzie_chan |
My god...my only hope is that they won't make a disaster, like they did with Cats -_- | ||||||||
| Fantine |
Aww I'm sure they won't. | ||||||||
| olly |
Hmm... I'm surprised China hasn't attempted a production of it so far... | ||||||||
| Orestes Fasting |
Will the little Cosette logo be replaced by a guy in a red vest and a tricolor sash standing in front of a line of tanks?
</tasteless> |
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| olly |
HAHAHA!! Ah, that made me laugh. |
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| smokeyspotlight |
That was funny!!! Very good! Well done!!! Hmmmm! |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Seriously though, I'm surprised the Chinese government isn't censoring this. Cats is one thing, but Les Mis is overtly political and the parallels are quite clear. There's even a section in Les Mis�rables: History in the Making about the 1989 casts hearing the news right before they went onstage, and how much that affected their performances. Curious indeed that of all the musicals that could've hit China, LM was the one that made it. | ||||||||
| The Very Angry Woman |
Have you watched the Omnibus special on when the US tour went there? The local musicians addressed that, too. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
Where have you been? |
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| olly |
You do realise that I was joking; hence the "..." here and there |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
No, I don't. I had no idea ellipses were supposed convey irony or humor. Perhaps you are that unique. |
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| olly |
I didn't know that being unique was to use sarcasm. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
No, I haven't. *pokes link* Is there a video at the link that I'm missing? |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
No, there isn't. I know it used to be floating around online, but that was in 2002 when I first saw it. Haven't seen it since. Some people on both sides of the pond have it on VHS, including myself, but unfortunately I'm not capable of putting it online. |
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| suzie_chan |
Well, our government didn't censor Les Mis. When they started playing it in 1989, Poland was still a comunist country (although the system was coming to the end). |
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| Colle |
If I remember right, most, many, if not all the students in Les Mis were soicalist and/or communist so I could see why the Chinese government would not censor it. | ||||||||
| Orestes Fasting |
There are arguments for and against, I think. The communist movement in France was undeveloped and unpopular until five to ten years after our barricade boys kicked the bucket, and in all their long speeches, none of them expressed communist opinions about labor. On the other hand, said movement did develop in that same time period from 1830 to 1848, the student revolutionaries were often closely tied to the working-class revolutionaries, and ol' Vic liked to toss in elements of 1848 at will--if they can go around waving red flags in 1832, anachronistic communist sympathies are the least of their worries. So it's a possibility but not a certainty. Les Mis was a very popular book under the Soviet Union, however, because it could be construed as having a socialist message, and the same is probably true for China, I'm not sure. So yes, now I actually think about it instead of cracking jokes, the Chinese government could be of the opinion that possibly-socialist students getting massacred in an insurrection represents heroic martyrdom, while democratic students getting massacred in an insurrection is necessary to keep the country stable. ...but still, you'd think the irony would have occurred to them. |
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| rauolzhou |
hi , i am chinese and i know that the novel LM enjoys a great popularity in china because of the universal theme.
besides, there have been audition for it already. actually, i even went to one of it. but unfortunately my vocal abilty is limited to impress them. there is going to be a chinese production in Oct 2007. but now as far as the cast is concerned, there are problems. there are no real musical performers in china , most people who went to the audition can just sing rather than act. and the way they sing is too operatic. well, facelessly speaking, i think i can act though my vocal ablity couldn't meet the need of the major role in the musical. and for our chinese prospective, the translated lyrics is not attractive enough. "do you hear people sing" sounds like our national song. as someone who love LM, i hope it could be a hit. but what i see really makes me a little worried. as for cats. i don't think there is any chinese production in mainland china. |
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| Fantine |
Ooh exiting  In which town will Les Mis be? And how long will it be running?
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| rauolzhou |
it is said to be in shanghai. as for the running time, it is hard to say. of course i hope it is as long as it could be.
but since there is no continuous running show in china yet. the longest run is the POTO TOUR which last three months. maybe have a year for LM is possible. |
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| Fantine |
I hope so..... | ||||||||
| windbelle |
I'm from China too, and yeah, there's no Chinese production of Cats. We only got the world tour production in English. And as far as I know, there's only a Chinese production of sound of music several years ago for a short run.
Les miz Chinese production would be a big event to fill the blank, I believe. But the due date seems to have been put off to late next year or even later, probably due to problems concerning actors and translation, as raoulzhou said. True, in China there's little base of musical actors for now. I'm not worried about the censoring somehow. As I understand, the government has been long praising the novel for its critical spirits, and the students insurrection is considered as a heroic revolution rather than rebellion. Since the government has always liked the socialist-like revolution, I see no reason for them to forbid the musical prodution. Besides, we've already got a Les miz in Beijing Opera version. It's weird to me though. |
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| Pounce |
I talked to a Chinese student who was in China during Tiananmen Square and he said to me, and I could tell that he believed it and was sincere, that no one died in Tiananmen Square when the Chinese government broke up the protest. Of course that was before the internet took off in big way as a common form on communication. Chinese students in the US got the news but it was suppressed for those in China. Unfortunately, China polices the internet looking for unacceptable keywords. But I agree that Les Miz could be spun in China as a sort of socialist revolution since communism emphasizes the concept of "the people". |
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| Fantine |
Really? I'm definitely going to Beijing! 
Anyway... Would it be odd for a reddish-blonde girl with a white skin and freckles to perform in the China production of Les Mis?
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| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
AFAIK, "Beijing Opera" refers more to genre than location-it's not the same as referring to, say, La Scala or the Met. | ||||||||
| Fantine |
Teehee okay
Then where does it play? |
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| Mademoiselle Lanoire |
http://community.livejournal.com/lesmiz/304910.html | ||||||||
| windbelle |
They put on the 'show' in Beijing first, and then to Shanghai for several performances. It's even broadcast on TV but unfortunately I didn't catch it. I've seen some pictures and reviews and I think it's a bit weird somehow. You know, Beijing Opera is a purely traditional Chinese performing art, with very unique singing style. |