It should belong to opera. 19 originated from an opera genre in Britain at the end of the year, and it is a drama form combining dialogue and singing.
Cats is the representative work of Andrew Lloyd Webber, a British composer. On 1983, it won seven Tony Awards on Broadway and all drama awards in new york and London. The play was awarded the title of "Musical of the Century". Since 198 1 premiered in London, it has performed in the United States, Japan, France, Germany and other countries, causing unprecedented sensation, and it is often hard to get a ticket. It is still the best-selling musical in new york, Broadway and London. The classic love song "M emory" originated from the play has long been a household name, and it can be called an immortal song in the history of musical.
Appreciation of Musical Cat
Musical drama is a comprehensive aesthetic stage consumption art. This course takes cats as the carrier, and enables students to approach musical drama and understand musical drama through four aspects: drama element, dance element, music element and dance beauty element.
The Status of Musical Cat
Cat is the most successful work in today's world music drama. It premiered at the New London Theatre on May 198 1 2002, and continued to perform at the same theatre on May 1 1 2002. It is the longest-running musical in London and Broadway, and won seven Tony awards including 1983 Best Musical Award. Memory, a song in the play, has become a music classic. In 2003, the musical Cat was staged in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and the Shanghai Grand Theatre, which caused a strong sensation. So why is the musical Cat so shocking and invincible? Today, let's walk into Broadway and enjoy the charm of cats.
Second, the musical "Cat" plot introduction (dramatic elements)
The story of Cats is simple: the cats in Jericho hold a party every year, and the cats will choose a cat to ascend to heaven at this annual grand party. We know that cats have nine lives and can be reborn after ascending to heaven. As a result, all kinds of cats appeared one after another, expressing themselves heartily and telling their stories with songs and dances, hoping to be selected. Finally, the once radiant but now extremely untidy "charming cat" touched all the cats present with a song "Memories" and became a cat that can ascend to heaven.
"Charming cat" is the most important role in the whole play. She was the most beautiful cat house when she was young. She is tired of the cat family life, wandering outside, but she has tasted the cruelty of the world. When she returned to the cat's house, she had become an unkempt and ugly old cat. The cat didn't want to accept the tramp who betrayed the cat family, and the whole cat family was very hostile to her. She calmed the hostility of all cats with a song "Memories" and aroused people's deep sympathy and pity for her.
Old Deuteronomy Old Dutroniemi-Leader Cat "Leader Cat" is the leader of cats. He is very old, and he is full of poems and books, full of wisdom and experience. In the whole tribe, he is highly respected and most respected and loved. Usually it rarely appears in the cat's house, and the daily affairs are handled by the young "hero cat". But at the annual dance, the leader cat will definitely come, because only he is qualified to choose the reborn cat.
Victoria Victoria-The pure white cat's pure white color reflects her innocence, and her simple instinct makes her willing to help the weak. She shyly reached out to the "charming cat" who wanted to return to the cat family, but was stopped by other cats.
Rum Tug Tugger Ruotengtag-"Rock Cat" and "Rock Cat" are rock stars and playboys among cats. His songs are also arrogant rock music. "Rock Cat" is a tall, strong and explosive adult male cat with great male charm. He danced wildly in the spotlight and enjoyed the crazy infatuation of the female cats.
Cat Jemima: She is the smallest cat among cats. She is kind-hearted and compassionate. When Jiaomao sang Memories, it first resonated with her, and sang Jiaomao's melody with sweet and bright voice, which made all cats show touching expressions. There are nanny cats, theater cats, rich cats, criminal cats, charming cats, hero cats, superman cats and magic cats. This group of various, different and anthropomorphic cats constitutes the world of cats. At the ball, they all showed their skills, sang, danced or played, and staged a thrilling "tragicomedy on earth", telling the theme of love and tolerance.
Fourth, the dance elements in Musical Cat
The dance in Cat is quite excellent. In order to convey the plot, directors do not hesitate to use a large number of dance scenes to express the different characteristics and personalities of cats. There are light and lively tap dance, dignified and gorgeous ballet, dynamic jazz dance and modern dance, which makes the whole play full of unrestrained style and vitality.
Beautiful dancing and difficult movements make us realize a kind of pure and flawless beauty. -embodies the white cat's childlike heart.
Nanny cat: Nanny cat is a nanny among cats. She usually looks lazy during the day and sleeps all day, but at night she is very busy because she has to train mice to knit sweaters and worry about cockroaches losing their jobs. So she came with her cockroach scout. ...
Lighthearted and lively tap dancing embodies the humorous personality characteristics of nanny cats. She is very friendly. She is always busy, doing some charity work for the cat family. So everyone likes her very much.
Jellick's ball is grand and passionate, and the modern dance led by the rock cat is full of movement, which also highlights his wild personality. No wonder the female cats are so obsessed with him.
Fifth, the musical elements in the musical Cat.
Like dancing, the music of Cat is very moving. The whole play lasts nearly three hours, and * * * consists of 23 songs. In addition to the dance music with different dance scenes, the theme song "Memory", which appeared four times before and after, is an inexhaustible golden song. It has spread all over the world and become a contemporary classic song. It has been recorded more than 600 times and won many awards. Now Memory has been closely linked with Cat, which has become the symbol of the play.
It is said that director Noen was not satisfied with the songs in the play until near the premiere date. He felt that the climax of the whole musical was not strong enough. Nunn said to Weber: What we need in the play is your emotional venting. Weber told Director Noon not to get his hopes up. When Webber came home that night, he spent the whole night writing a song. The next morning, Weber played his creation that night for Noen on the piano in the rehearsal room. After hearing this, Nunn said to the people next to him, "I ask you to remember the current date and time. Because what you are listening to now is the next legendary song. "
When the cats were immersed in the joy of the public party, the charming cat came to the sidelines and the cats avoided her. In the moonlight, the lonely and charming cat recalled the happy time when she was young and beautiful.
Memories (1) Do you feel finished writing this song? What kind of mood did the charming cat express when she first sang memories? Music expresses loneliness, helplessness and desolation. )
What do you think is the difference between a person who betrayed her relatives when she was most attractive and brilliant, and when she was old and faded, she returned to her family in such an ugly appearance? Especially when everyone was immersed in the excitement of gathering, her sudden appearance broke the warm atmosphere at that time. What kind of attitude will cats treat her? Our heroine must be very complicated, lonely, helpless and desolate.
The leader cat reached out to her sympathetically, but she didn't see it and left quietly.
The leader cat told the cats that the meaning of happiness is not only now, but also things that can't be forgotten in the past. In the moonlight, Jemima, the youngest cat in the Jericho cat family, sang Memories, and all the cats showed touching expressions, showing sympathy and forgiveness.
Memories (2) The same melody At this time, the singer's identity has changed. Please listen carefully and compare two "memories give you different feelings". The artistic conception of music is harmonious, warm and happy. ) From the moment when all the cats stood up at last, they expressed their yearning for a happy life, a bright future and hope for happiness.
(Song: Memories)
Memories (3) The tolerance and sympathy of the cats aroused her confidence in life. The charming cat summoned up the courage to sing memories again and extended a longing hand to everyone. She sadly recalled the past, prayed for the indifference and understanding of her relatives, and looked forward to a new life;
If you touch me, you will understand what happiness is. This is the climax of the whole play, and the music has been turned twice, which is very imposing.
The same melody, the change of singer's identity, the change of mode and tonality, and the contrast of strength bring us different feelings.
Sixth, stage art
According to reports, in Broadway musicals, the vast majority of productions do not hesitate to invest huge sums of money, and use modern technical means such as sound, light and electricity to create a fantastic stage appearance with strong audio-visual impact.
First of all, the most prominent feature of Cat is the makeup of the characters. There are 36 cats in the play. In order to show the different status and personality characteristics of cats, their makeup is varied, varied, unique and vivid. We saw some cats ahead. Let's show a set of pictures. What will you name these cats?
Stage effect, in the previous dance and music clips, has felt the role of stage effect in plot expression and characterization, and in the section "Towards Nine Days", the stage effect reached its peak. Victoria, the pure white cat, first expressed sympathy for this charming cat, but Jerry's cat finally forgave her and accepted her back to the family. The leader cat chose the charming cat that was reborn this year. The cat put her on the road to cloud nine!
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Seven, the plot summary
With everyone's blessing, this charming cat ascended the ninth heaven and gained a new life. After enjoying this musical, the world of cats is a concentrated human society. So, what does this story inspire you? What is the last action of the leader cat to send a spell to the sky, and what does it mean? -a broad mind of love and tolerance. The final operation is the perfect combination of dance theme movements and drama. The story of "cat" is a modern fable. The world is cold, human feelings are warm and cold, and everything is available.
Summarize the concept and characteristics of musical.
Musical drama is a comprehensive stage performance art with drama as the cornerstone, music as the soul, dance as the important form of expression, and the integration of stage art. In a musical work, drama, music and dance are usually not so distinct, but complement each other. At most, the focus of each part is different. In most musicals, singing, dancing and dialogue are used alternately.
In today's stage art, I'm afraid few forms of drama are as energetic as musicals. Compared with operas and ballets, modernist musicals, represented by Cats, use a lot of pop music elements in music and dance creation, and put appreciation first. Make the drama performance more popular, popular and modern. This is probably one of the main reasons why musicals have sprung up in many stage arts and are widely welcomed by the audience. Musical drama has become the most successful stage performance art in the world today. At last year's Seven Arts Festival, the original musical "Five Girls" based on Jiashan Tian Ge won the Wenhua Award of the Ministry of Culture, which has a strong flavor of Jiangnan water town. We will introduce it to you later.
Music is the soul of musical, and drama is the foundation of musical.