The point of view at the center of the script is different. It believes that literary factors are the only eternal factors; Dramatic literature is enough to constitute a complete work of art; Other factors besides the script in the play are only secondary. Although the theoretical study of musical plays also emphasizes the study of scripts, it requires that scripts should not be above other dramatic elements, and other elements should not be placed in an embarrassing position of distribution. Of course, as a whole drama, the artistic elements in the musical appear in chronological order in the process of musical creation, and the script, as the basis of a drama, was first established, thus forming the pre-existing structure on which other artistic elements in the musical depend. Therefore, the script is not only one of the musical elements, but also a dramatic element with special significance. It is absolutely inevitable to emphasize the script research in music theory.
1, the "cornerstone" position of scripts in musicals.
First, the conflict contained in the musical script is the soul to attract the audience. Only by building a perfect framework, providing gripping drama clues, weaving complete stories and creating fierce drama conflicts can a work really arouse the audience's * * * and win their love.
Second, the script is the most important carrier of a musical, and other elements of the play are based on it. The music, dance and song of a musical work are all displayed in turn on the basis of the development of the plot. This puts a very high demand on the script: if there is no good story and the audience's heart can't be captured from the beginning, then even if the music is beautiful, the dance is moving, the singing is excellent and the dance is beautiful, it can't be well presented on the stage.
Third, the musical script is the most painstaking part of the whole work. From the initial conception to the final draft, the script is always in constant adjustment and revision. Not only the playwright should adjust the plot at any time according to the rehearsal or even the performance, but also the director and composer are very concerned about the changes of the script. Only after the music, dance and other elements of the musical are finally determined can the playwright arrange the script as a whole, and at the same time take care of the order of the lyrics and the needs of the actual performance.
Fourth, the script is an important means of shaping characters and explaining plots, which is irreplaceable by music and dance. In a play with limited time, the script plays a "heavy responsibility", explaining the plot, the relationship between characters and the development of the play as comprehensively as possible, and providing clear story clues for the audience. At the same time, the quality of the script is directly related to whether it can create a full and vivid artistic image that can be remembered by the audience.
2, the creation of the script
At present, the biggest problem of China's original musicals is said to be the market problem, but we think it is the work problem to a greater extent. The primary reason for the low quality of works is that China's creators don't know much about music aesthetics, music creation methods, music rhythm and music style. Most of them are exposed to Weber's musicals, and now there are French musicals, thinking that that is the whole of musicals. In fact, "Book Musical" is very oriental, and many people think it will be unbearable and even fall asleep. But judging from the unique creative method and aesthetic taste of musicals, it is here that we cherish the professional wisdom we need most. Without a book, how can there be tears, joy, pain and innocent feelings from the bottom of my heart? Without books, how can it be meaningful, heavy, eternal, classic, immortal and miraculous to repeat the years? In the early days, script creation has always been the biggest challenge in the whole creative process. If music and dance are not suitable, you can start all over again, but as a script of "a drama", it must be basically in place before other work has been carried out, and even later changes will be aimed at repairing details. This requires playwrights to have strong creative skills, otherwise it will be difficult for their plays to stand out among a wide range of popular themes, and eventually they will be taken by directors and become the blueprint for music arrangement.
Looking at the successful works of musical script creation, a good script should have the following main characteristics: HZGK$
First, an excellent musical script is different from the ordinary drama script, which requires the screenwriter to be very familiar with the narrative methods and fusion techniques of song and dance, otherwise it is likely to become a musical script. 8(R
The creation of musical scripts should not only be based on the method and structure of singing and dancing, but also the aesthetic image formed in the playwright's mind must be full of singing and dancing. The unfolding of the story and the arrangement of the times are bound to adapt to the internal rhythm and laws of music and dance performances. As Zhang Xu, director of the Musical Department of Beijing Dance Academy, said, "Traditional drama is basically based on thinking and resolving the emotional entanglements and contradictions between people and things, realizing the drama task and achieving the drama purpose. On the basis of following the above-mentioned dramatic principles, musicals almost completely give up the core expression of traditional drama "line recitation", take music as the matrix of dramatic expression, and produce stage performance techniques and aesthetic concepts according to the requirements of dramatic theme expression. It can be said that musical is a rational, free and all-round integration of all means and forms of stage performance, which can effectively reflect the spirit of the work. It can show the fullness and tension of drama in three-dimensional space and bear the purpose and significance of drama in multi-dimensional space. Traditional drama is to make a simple story as complicated and conflicting as possible, and to diversify the theme as much as possible, so as to realize the speculative drama task. Musical drama is an art that simplifies the conceptualization of complex plot stories as much as possible, frees up more space and time, takes music as the main body, supplemented by dance and other artistic expressions, endows the audience with complex plot, characters' emotions and drama conflicts, and pursues formal expression. Coupled with the development of science and technology, musicals have become complex and alternative dramas that are completely open, free, democratic, simple in story and diverse in expression. " (Description of Wen Shuo Creative Musical and Dance for Me If You Love Me, Hunan Electronic Audio-Visual Publishing House, 2005)
Second, the potential of musicals-music, lyrics, dance, art and lighting are all used to tell stories. Where is the story? Have you done everything to the extreme?
Musical is a drama, not a series of stories. Music and songs are the lines of this play, and dance is the action of this play. We cannot position ourselves as a musical, not a musical. Generally speaking, singing and dancing must be "organically" combined with stories, which is the first. The song and dance presentation of any musical work must have a dramatic reason, and it should be naturally integrated into the plot and organically integrated into the story: where dance is needed to promote the plot, actors can kick their thighs, and where songs are needed to portray the character, actors can sing with their mouths open, otherwise it is melodramatic and artificial.
Hello, Dolly is a classic musical in which director David Maric put thornton wilder's The Matchmaker on the musical stage in 1954. Matchmaker is a more traditional simulation work. The story happened in new york at the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century. At the turn of the century, new york is inextricably linked with musicals. The comic color and romantic atmosphere in the story make people laugh, and at the same time, it has been popularized in reality. Its profound connotation and adaptation provide great convenience for the dance and music design plot to board the music stage. It has almost all the elements that a musical needs, and these are all available but not available. Hello, Dolly has many outstanding creative techniques. The unique opening attracted the audience deeply In the past, musicals always started with a dialogue or narration before entering the performance. But Hello Dolly takes an unexpected approach. It has no dialogue, and the performance directly led by music and dance is refreshing. As the curtain of the stage rises, a group of dancers appear in the center of the stage, showing the shape of New Year cards. When they sang "Call Dolly", the whole stage came alive like a movie freeze. This opening also shows the style of the play: elegance and atmosphere at the turn of the century.
Third, the presentation of the story-script; What's the plot? What about the role? How are times? Where is the location? How are the basic elements in the first point arranged to promote the plot, tell stories, introduce characters and explain the time and space background? The narrative elements of musicals (script, lyrics, music, dance, beauty) must be close to our story, our role and the historical situation we designed, so that the works can be euphemistic, smooth, meaningful, fresh, implicit and romantic. If we want to imitate, draw lessons from and imitate other successful works, we should seriously study the methods and skills of other famous plays from a higher angle, rather than simply imitating other people's works.
As the core concept of music stage creation, "integration" is different from other stage thinking and has its unique artistic significance and aesthetic value. "Three-dimensional drama" is a variety of elements to develop musicals based on drama. Once there are too many kitsch elements in our creative thinking and unnatural songs and dances imposed on others, there will be disharmony. This will not only fail to realize the original aesthetic value of the musical, but also hinder the aesthetic process of the musical because of the sudden switch between dramatic situations and narrative elements with great differences, thus affecting the audience's investment in the specified situation and even leading to the audience's misunderstanding of the unique artistic aesthetic interest of the musical.
The King and I was written by Hammerstein Jr. and Rogers in 195 1 year. It is said that the creation of the play originated from their wives. After reading gertrude lawrence's novel Anna and the King of Siam on 1944, they recommended this magical work to their husbands. Based on a true story, this musical tells the story between the King of Siam (ancient Thailand) and his tutor from the West. Through the complex cultural and psychological conflicts between people from two different countries, profound themes such as cultural differences between the East and the West and women's status are reflected.
In this play, little Hammerstein and Rogers have many themes to play: civilization and barbarism, autocracy and democracy, kings and civilians, legendary love between East and West, and so on. This exotic musical caused a sensation as soon as it was staged, and the number of consecutive performances after its premiere reached 1246. Ubelina, who played the king well at the premiere, played the king 4625 times because of her excellent performance. The King and I also won four Tony Awards, including the best musical, with 1952. New york Daily Mirror commented in 195 1: "It sets a new and higher standard for the music stage." According to the Houston Chronicle (1998), "The King and I embody the essence of musicals, and combine drama, music, dance and stage decoration perfectly to lead the audience to an unforgettable trip."
Fourth, although the theme of a good script is diverse, there must be a clear theme "concept" running through the whole play, whether classical or modern, at home or abroad. In this way, all songs and dances will have a theme to rely on, forming a trend to drive them forward. Otherwise, songs and dances will be scattered all over the floor like pearls, and the narrative task of songs and dances cannot be completed. When the "concept" matches the theme, almost all problems can find wonderful solutions.
"Cats" is an exhibition about cats and cats, which has no deeper significance except the cat exhibition.
Fiddler on the Roof is about the continuation of life and culture. The cycle of life and death, sunset and sunrise are all closely related to this theme. KK`FBb
Chicago is a subversion of the Covenant. In that era, all social standards and values were "anything will do", so it was a great pleasure.
Fifth, what are the comparisons? Where is the contrast? Is the tension out? Is it a colorful and meticulous boutique or a dazzling cauldron?
Only contrast can produce tension. The birth of every musical should design some contrast techniques with dramatic tension. When Weber created the musical "Jesus Superstar", he skillfully led mobike, who paid tribute to the rock star in Britain at that time, to his enthusiasm for Jesus. Compared with Jacky Cheung's so-called musical Snow Wolf Lake and Sambo's musical Jinsha, Mamma Mia handled it much better. The play uses ABBA's songs to sing throughout the play, but at the end, don't forget to tell the audience that what you saw was a concert.
We have set up many poetic contrast techniques in the script "Love Me, Dance for Me". I believe the audience will feel endless aftertaste and touching sigh after enjoying the film. For example, the reason why we strengthen the paragraphs in "Butterfly Lovers" is because:
1) This movie is about the backstage story of four young people who devote themselves to the music art, so the backstage efforts of this group of people must be transformed into a "front desk" for the audience to see and move us! Therefore, all the enthusiasm and efforts will not be in vain. "
2) The main line of this movie is the story of a beautiful girl who is terminally ill and suffers from congenital rickets, and finally her health is damaged and she dies. The corresponding story in the play is Liang Shanbo Zhu Yingtai, with the focus on "becoming a butterfly".
Pulling out the keys of "the death of the body" and "the immortality of the spirit" is compared with Zhu Yingtai in the play-the death of the body becomes the immortality of the butterfly, and the green outside the play-the death of the body is the eternal spread of works of art. Through this comparison, we emphasize the image of becoming a butterfly, perfection, blessing, freedom and transcendence, rather than the death of the body and the struggle against fate. The two motifs are too shallow and are foreigners. China's culture is profound. The reason why there are fairy tales like Butterfly Lovers is because we know that we can achieve "spiritual immortality" from "physical death". In our script, Qingqing's body was deliberately prevented from appearing at the funeral. It is for this reason that butterflies are allowed to fly out of the sky from the theater (Qingqing's second hometown) and fly back to Munizhai (Qingqing's first hometown) because it emphasizes "spiritual detachment". Because of this, the design of the ending picture-the foreground is inside the theater and the background is blue sky and white clouds-is meaningful, not just a visual trick. In a word, what we want to emphasize is that life is like a play, and drama is like life, and the stage and the stage of life are an inseparable whole.
Sixth, we should also analyze the details, levels, structure and sincerity? Do you pay attention to details? Is there a clear hierarchy? Is there a rigorous and complete structure? Is it sincere to produce, or is it deep pockets?
Musical is a needlework, which requires not only meticulous skills, but also the close cooperation of the team-not only division of labor, but also cooperation. Screenwriters and songwriters jointly find out where songs can be inserted from the script, and coordinate which drama elements are spoken by lines, which drama elements are expressed by songs, what style, which role to use, how much to speak, whether it is explicit or implicit; Then cooperate with the composition, set the emotional atmosphere, rhythm and mood of a role, a situation or the overall pattern, work separately, and then go back to integrate and coordinate with each other and brainstorm. Every song and dance style should give a strong dramatic reason.
Our creative team of "Love Me, Dance for Me" set the time point as "the eve of Qingqing's graduation" when designing the passage of Qingqing's audition in the theater, so students in dance schools such as Qingqing, Lanlan and Xiao Li began to face the problem of finding jobs. At the same time, we also made an "imaginary" "Broadway in China" by using visual effects, which is the city in the movie (not pointing out Beijing and Shanghai, but alluding to a big commercial city). This is a specific area where commercial theaters gather, and there are many large and small theaters and nightclubs. Every night, there will be various performances, including China acrobatics, traditional operas, modern operas, revolutionary model operas and so on. We didn't particularly emphasize all this in the script, but the creative team knew about it, and then asked the director to put this fantasy behind the plot through the lens, which is called "writing without writing" in literature. We didn't describe a word, but the audience can vaguely "feel" the magic of the theater. Without this grand "background", the efforts of Qingqing and others to seek death would be meaningless.
We also played a pun to make Pippen's office into a strange shape (such as triangle, oval, etc.). ), overlooking the lights of Broadway in China, and then the whole office is purple! We even give an example here, which is the example of the famous Broadway producer David merrick. His office is oval, and then all red, big red! The red desk, the red chair, the red sofa and the red curtains are all red. His Broadway is outside the window. How about we make Pippen's office purple? Of course, the walls should be covered with posters of Pippen's plays.
3, classic case analysis}
Little Hammerstein can be a model to break the traditional rules. He advocated the creative idea of breaking the old and creating the new, and nearly 40 years of creative practice provided valuable experience for many playwrights. For example, at the premiere of "Oklahoma", when the curtain opened, what the audience saw was not the traditional almost uniform appearance: some beautiful women danced in groups to set off the protagonist's appearance and singing. Starting with a peasant woman working, at the same time, a tenor outside the stage directly put "Ah! What a beautiful morning! This beautiful song is dedicated to the audience. This simple and natural opening not only saves time for the rolling of the plot, but also gives people a novel feeling. Although it seems not difficult now, it has jumped out of the formulaic and conceptual model that has lasted for decades.
The classic position of Heaven and Earth on Broadway is determined by many aspects, among which the famous Bench Play has contributed greatly to the establishment of the position of the play, and the play has also become a rare work in the creation of musical scripts, which needs to be appreciated and evaluated separately. The "bench play" refers to the love scene between the hero-Billy and the female worker Julie (the two are sitting on the bench under the flower tree, which is called "bench play"-"bench play"). Little Hammerstein combined background music, lines and songs into this 20-minute joke. The whole "bench play" consists of singing lines (not awkward opera "recitation", but "melody" with perfect combination of words and sounds), poetic but unpretentious dialogue, and the most famous love song duet of little Hammerstein. This young couple in Ming Che deliberately twisted and twisted, singing to each other: "If I love you, what will I do ..." "... but that's" if "-if I love you". Musical drama developed from the beginning to "bench play", and the development of dialogue and songs reached the highest level of harmony. That is to say, from a modern perspective, the artistic achievements of the whole "bench play" are still unparalleled.
This "bench play" combines the love dialogue of two people with different attitudes towards life and discusses the meaning of love. When Billy first met Julie, a hardworking and simple factory worker, he couldn't help sighing: "You are a strange woman, Julie Jordan", and this white line also reflected Billy's wild personality. In the whole development line of "Bench Play", Billy's personality is fully displayed, which is in line with Billy's attitude towards life before this "Play" (the ambiguous relationship with Mrs. Muling, the owner of Trojan Horse Casino). In fact, his love for Julie is more direct, bold, firm and even a bit ridiculous. But Julie, a simple workshop girl, showed some expectation and shyness about love. In the face of admirers who are completely different from her outlook on life, her love seems to become so dreamy, hazy and uncertain (for example, she sings "One day soon, you will leave in a hurry"). When two people with different ideas face the same question "love", there is a subtle conflict that seems beautiful and sweet, but actually contradictory. Question-and-answer communication leads to an uncertain factor "If I love you? "。
But in the whole play, this scene does not simply stay in how uncertain love will become if he or she leaves the other half one day, but pays more attention to the deep relationship of love-the continuation of love spirit. No matter what status or background, people will hold on to this treasure in the face of true love. As long as there is love in their hearts, you are "not lonely" (this is the end of the whole drama, which alludes to the results of the second half of the drama and extends the theme at the same time).
From this point of view, this "bench play" has played a role in the development of the whole drama-"inheritance" and folded the development process and position of "turn" before "combination" (the end of the drama).
The "bench play" can be said to be a portrayal of the excellent cooperation between little Hammerstein and Rogers. Corresponding to the 20-minute duet between the hero and heroine is a stack of dozens of pages of paper. In order to achieve the situation that dialogue can enter songs in real time, Rogers spent a lot of energy to adjust the melody of these "dialogue songs" to conform to the natural tone and the cadence of lines. Little Hammerstein also spent a lot of time to make the dialogue between them gradually poetic and beautiful, and unconsciously brought into poetic rhythm, and then reached the critical point of drama, so that Rogers' melody could be transferred into the tension of drama, and the protagonist began to sing. Such efforts can be said to eliminate the most critical point of the music theater for many viewers who don't appreciate it-the song is stuck here, which has nothing to do with the plot. Unfortunately, this aesthetic process is invisible in the film version, and only exists in the video materials of some live variety shows on black and white TV. [Source: Rogers and Hammerstein]
In addition to the classic bench play, the monologue of the climax play before the end of the first act is also worth analyzing and recalling. This seven-minute solo not only shows Rogers' creative talent, but also is a pioneering work for little Hamstein, a screenwriter and choreographer. Never before has a play used such a long expression, and a person stood in the middle of the stage and sang solo. When Billy faced his daughter, this "monologue" showed his anxiety full of expectation and fear of rejection to the fullest. The profundity of the theme and the technique of cooperating with the stage performance make up for the lack of lyrics and the unprecedented verbosity that brings the audience boredom.
The seven-minute "monologue" should not only show Billy's joy as a new father, but also fully express his responsibility to his family and his reflection on past crimes. It can be said that this is another milestone in the development of musical arrangement and narrative techniques in the script. According to the tradition of western drama script center, theater center theory has revolutionary and subversive significance. Several major works in the history of oriental drama, such as "Dance Theory" in India and "Biography of Charm and Flowers" in Japan, all focus on performance. As a kind of theater art, musical is comprehensive, which implies the potential possibility of denying the supremacy of script. It assumes that the artistic elements in drama cannot be independent, and the lack of transcendental independence means that drama elements can only be interdependent and exist as a part of the whole. Just as every part of an actor's body is not his own and must serve the drama, all the dramatic elements of a musical are not his own, and only when they are embodied in and integrated with the drama can they have perfect meaning.
The point of view at the center of the script is different. It believes that literary factors are the only eternal factors; Dramatic literature is enough to constitute a complete work of art; Other factors besides the script in the play are only secondary. Although the theoretical study of musical plays also emphasizes the study of scripts, it requires that scripts should not be above other dramatic elements, and other elements should not be placed in an embarrassing position of distribution. Of course, as a whole drama, the artistic elements in the musical appear in chronological order in the process of musical creation, and the script, as the basis of a drama, was first established, thus forming the pre-existing structure on which other artistic elements in the musical depend. Therefore, the script is not only one of the musical elements, but also a dramatic element with special significance. It is absolutely inevitable to emphasize the script research in music theory.
1, the "cornerstone" position of scripts in musicals.
First, the conflict contained in the musical script is the soul to attract the audience. Only by building a perfect framework, providing gripping drama clues, weaving complete stories and creating fierce drama conflicts can a work really arouse the audience's * * * and win their love.
Second, the script is the most important carrier of a musical, and other elements of the play are based on it. The music, dance and song of a musical work are all displayed in turn on the basis of the development of the plot. This puts a very high demand on the script: if there is no good story and the audience's heart can't be captured from the beginning, then even if the music is beautiful, the dance is moving, the singing is excellent and the dance is beautiful, it can't be well presented on the stage.
Third, the musical script is the most painstaking part of the whole work. From the initial conception to the final draft, the script is always in constant adjustment and revision. Not only the playwright should adjust the plot at any time according to the rehearsal or even the performance, but also the director and composer are very concerned about the changes of the script. Only after the music, dance and other elements of the musical are finally determined can the playwright arrange the script as a whole, and at the same time take care of the order of the lyrics and the needs of the actual performance.
Fourth, the script is an important means of shaping characters and explaining plots, which is irreplaceable by music and dance. In a play with limited time, the script plays a "heavy responsibility", explaining the plot, the relationship between characters and the development of the play as comprehensively as possible, and providing clear story clues for the audience. At the same time, the quality of the script is directly related to whether it can create a full and vivid artistic image that can be remembered by the audience.
2, the creation of the script
At present, the biggest problem of China's original musicals is said to be the market problem, but we think it is the work problem to a greater extent. The primary reason for the low quality of works is that China's creators don't know much about music aesthetics, music creation methods, music rhythm and music style. Most of them are exposed to Weber's musicals, and now there are French musicals, thinking that that is the whole of musicals. In fact, "Book Musical" is very oriental, and many people think it will be unbearable and even fall asleep. But judging from the unique creative method and aesthetic taste of musicals, it is here that we cherish the professional wisdom we need most. Without a book, how can there be tears, joy, pain and innocent feelings from the bottom of my heart? Without books, how can it be meaningful, heavy, eternal, classic, immortal and miraculous to repeat the years? In the early days, script creation has always been the biggest challenge in the whole creative process. If music and dance are not suitable, you can start all over again, but as a script of "a drama", it must be basically in place before other work has been carried out, and even later changes will be aimed at repairing details. This requires playwrights to have strong creative skills, otherwise it will be difficult for their plays to stand out among a wide range of popular themes, and eventually they will be taken by directors and become the blueprint for music arrangement.
!
Looking at the successful works of musical script creation, a good script should have the following main characteristics: HZGK$
First, an excellent musical script is different from the ordinary drama script, which requires the screenwriter to be very familiar with the narrative methods and fusion techniques of song and dance, otherwise it is likely to become a musical script. 8(
The creation of musical scripts should not only be based on the method and structure of singing and dancing, but also the aesthetic image formed in the playwright's mind must be full of singing and dancing. The unfolding of the story and the arrangement of the times are bound to adapt to the internal rhythm and laws of music and dance performances. As Zhang Xu, director of the Musical Department of Beijing Dance Academy, said, "Traditional drama is basically based on thinking and resolving the emotional entanglements and contradictions between people and things, realizing the drama task and achieving the drama purpose. On the basis of following the above-mentioned dramatic principles, musicals almost completely give up the core expression of traditional drama "line recitation", take music as the matrix of dramatic expression, and produce stage performance techniques and aesthetic concepts according to the requirements of dramatic theme expression. It can be said that musical is a rational, free and all-round integration of all means and forms of stage performance, which can effectively reflect the spirit of the work. It can show the fullness and tension of drama in three-dimensional space and bear the purpose and significance of drama in multi-dimensional space. Traditional drama is to make a simple story as complicated and conflicting as possible, and to diversify the theme as much as possible, so as to realize the speculative drama task. Musical drama is an art that simplifies the conceptualization of complex plot stories as much as possible, frees up more space and time, takes music as the main body, supplemented by dance and other artistic expressions, endows the audience with complex plot, characters' emotions and drama conflicts, and pursues formal expression. Coupled with the development of science and technology, musicals have become complex and alternative dramas that are completely open, free, democratic, simple in story and diverse in expression. " Description of the albums "Wenshuo Creative Musical" and "Dance for me if you love me", Hunan Electronic Audio-visual Publishing House, 2005) J.