Seasons to relish

Das Land des Lachelns by Franz Lehar was created in 1929 as one of the first Western theater works to depict a protagonist from China.

"The music has a lot in common with the pentatonic scale in traditional Chinese music," says Shi Yijie, the tenor who will play the leading role. "More importantly, it makes a positive impression of a Chinese intellectual as most Chinese characters depicted previously in Western arts were derogatory."

A series of acclaimed productions from Chinese theater and music will be revived and highlighted at the upcoming spring season at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center. The theater announced on Feb 15 the plan for its 2021/22 performance season, which consists of 73 performances of 49 productions. The Royal Consort of Tang, a Peking Opera production created in 2001, will be presented on March 11 and 12 to mark the opening of the new season.

The Royal Consort of Tang was based on a Peking Opera repertoire by maestro Mei Lanfang in the 1920s. It was co-created by seven theater companies from different parts of China and featured leading Peking Opera artists of the time, with Mei Baojiu, the son of Mei Lanfang, playing the main character. The production of more than 300 performers has achieved massive success across China since its premiere.

"The original production was too expensive and had many heavy props that were difficult to manage on tour shows," says Li Jun, one of the leading actors of the 2001 production.

Li will again take up the leading male character in the new edition, which will focus on storytelling while highlighting some of the best known scenes and arias.