| Source: Qianjiang Evening News 2007-4-9 |
Hangzhou kids forced by their parents to study English and art these years ¨C
Nowadays, foreigners¡¯ eyes shine as soon as the Chinese market is mentioned. They hustle and bustle, making unique moves in China frequently. The producers of Broadway musicals that have become more and more popular these years launched an ¡°interactive¡± maneuver to attract the eyes of Chinese audience by selecting some local children for the roles in the performance recently held in Hangzhou. New Line Cinema, the producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, even approached the author of Ghosts Blow out the Lamp, a novel that has just become popular on the Internet in China, in a more exaggerated move. Global resources have been integrated to such an extent that the miracle of The Departed might happen again.
Reported by Qianjiang Evening News
Every time David Copperfield performed magic in China, he invited several on-the-spot audiences to come onto the stage as props. This is no surprise to Chinese people. When the Broadway musical Cats toured to Shanghai and Beijing, the activity of selecting ¡°local cats¡± attracted a large crowed, but ¡°local cats¡± did not appear on the stage.
Therefore, when the news came that the Broadway musical Anna and the King will come to Hangzhou during the May Day holiday this year and 7 Hangzhou kids will be selected to perform on the stage and play main roles such as the king¡¯s children, people were stunned by this unprecedented act. The enrollment process starts today.
You Xinghua, who is in charge of this performance project, told the reporter, ¡°The production team will recruit 7 children aged between 5 and 11 to join the team and play the king¡¯s 7 children in the musical. The organizer will hold the ¡®Broadway and Me¡¯ Child Stars Selective Trial in the city. Teachers from US will be invited to the contest as judges and conduct the interview. After young performers have been chosen, the teachers will train them on English, dancing and performance with great care. They are expected to use English while performing on the stage.¡±
¡°The 7 Hangzhou kids playing princes and princesses will be on the stage for about an hour, accounting for nearly half of the performance time,¡± a spokesman of the production team told the reporter. ¡°In the musical, the king has a total of 10 children who will appear together in three main scenarios. The scenario in which Anna teaches the children to sing and the scenario of grand ceremony are quite long.¡±
This is a highly ¡°technical¡± job. So what are the requirements for playing the king¡¯s children? The reporter learned that the organizer requires that the performers should be 5 to 11 years old, active and confident. It would be the best if they can have a little understanding of English and can set aside their time to participate in the training held by Broadway production team every day from April 25th to the date of performance. The requirements on comprehensive qualities such as individual temperament, singing, dancing and language ability are quite high.
¡°The enrollment process will start today and end at noon on April 12th. During the preliminary selection on the evenings of April 12th and 13th, 80 persons will be chosen,¡± You Xinghua said. ¡°During the closed training from about April 25th to May 3rd, the American personnel will teach gait, games, songs, English and postures with great care and integrate them into the whole team from the beginning to the end. On May 2nd and 3rd, the musical will be completed; on May 4th, it will hit the stage.¡±
Asked whether he is confident about Hangzhou kids, Ke Chaoping, General Manager of Hangzhou Theater, said, ¡°Since so many children in Hangzhou have been studying English and art these years, they should have a huge potential. After so many years of study, how good are they? Can they give a good performance at a grand occasion? It¡¯s time to prove it.¡± This smacks of a pep talk.
Tu Chenxin
Reporter of this newspaper |
