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Children’s Theater performs Korean plays
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WITH the summer holidays fast approaching, so too are an abundance of children-friendly activities. Among them are two standout musicals at Shanghai Children’s Theater - “Yoohoo Takes You Around the World” and “Cats.”
“Yoohoo Takes You Around The World” is based on a Korean cartoon, “Yoohoo and Friends,” beloved by children around the world. The musical has attracted a lot of attention, with some children reportedly refusing to leave theaters after performances. Actors stay after the play in full costume to meet and greet their young audience, giving the children photo opportunities with their favorite characters.
One mother said, “I initially thought this play would be oriented for little kids but I was surprised to find the story line to be very engaging. The actors were also very professional and the performance was very interactive. It was great!”
The musical was altered for Shanghai audience, with a new multimedia backdrop to specially fit the circular stage unique to the Shanghai Children’s Theater.
“Interaction between the performance and the audience in children’s theater is one of its greatest strong suits. We aim to not only let the children enjoy the play but also make them feel like they are a part of the play. The circular stage helps with this,” said a spokesperson for the Shanghai Children’s Theater.
The show, which played June 22, has moved to Shenzhen but don’t despair because premiering on July 1 is a new musical, “Cats.” Not to be confused with the popular Broadway musical, this “Cats” is a Korean musical that has been hugely successful for 10 years, influencing an entire generation of Korean children.
There will be 13 performances in Shanghai, the result of a collaboration between Korean and Chinese theater. Written mostly by Koreans but performed by Chinese actors, it is a musical with beautifully choreographed dances and live jazz music for people of all ages to enjoy.
The story line is a mix between the fable Twelve Cats and the Wizard of Oz. The director of this play, Liu Ding, who helped the Koreans write the play, says he was inspired by cats on the street.
“Where I live, there are a lot of stray cats and I have always wondered what sort of interesting stories happen in their lives,” said Liu. “Even though they look like they lead a tough life, they still look very happy. Thus I wanted to write a story about how they achieved their dreams. The theater is a great place for children to learn what cannot be taught at school, and so I used cats as an analogy to teach children how everyone is searching for happiness but most often happiness is within ourselves.”
The musical depicts the story of a group of cats, each with dreams of their own. Through their journey to achieve their dreams, they ultimately find themselves. This musical aims to inspire its young audiences to find their own interests - a much needed message in China and Korea, where children work very hard to meet society’s demands.
The musical follows the original play very strictly. Every cat costume in the play was handmade in Korea to make the “stray cat” effect as realistic as possible.
An interesting twist to the musical is that it adapts itself according to the audience’s reactions in the previous performance so that the musical is constantly improving and no two performances are the same.
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