Zhang Chen, founder of Kaixin Mahua: If you want to attract young people into the theater, you can only rely on works

"How to attract it? Then the product must be good. Watching stage plays is spread by word of mouth, so you have to buy tickets. Therefore, the quality of the work must be tenable."

Zhang Chen, founder of Kaixin Ma Hua

, said that Kaixin Ma Hua's works have always been highly sought after in China's current stage plays. This is also the wish of founder Zhang Chen. He hopes to attract more and more young people into the theater."How to attract them? Then the product must be good. Watching stage plays is spread by word of mouth, so you have to buy tickets. Therefore, the quality of the work must be tenable."

In Longgang District, Shenzhen, the Kaixin Mahua South China Headquarters Production Center Base has become a cultural business card here. On November 11 this year, Kaixin Mahua's first original musical comedy "Journey to Xiha" incubated in Longgang District will meet the audience for the first time.

"Xi Ha's Travels" poster

"We are a company that runs comedy, so we also need comedy when making musicals. This is the tone of our brand." Zhang Chen, founder of Kaixin Mahua, said in an interview with reporters that the entire team has always had a dream in the stage field, which is to make musical comedy.

The reason why he chose to perform in Shenzhen is that Zhang Chen believes that Shenzhen, as a super-first-tier city in China, has a certain demand for cultural products."I personally especially like it here, whether it is government efficiency or a good business atmosphere. I think there is a new soil here."

What attracted Zhang Chen most to the story of "Journey to Western Kazakhstan" was the concept of "post-westward travel". Although there are countless films, television and stage plays with the theme of "Journey to the West" on the market, Zhang Chen is full of confidence in "Journey to the West"."This is not a deconstruction of" Journey to the West ". A more accurate understanding is the creation of people with the characters named Sun Wukong, Pig Bajie, Tang Priest, and then there are some original characters in it, called Huo Child and Sha Xiaomei. They tell the contemporary story after traveling to the West to learn from the West, which takes place in a scene called the Journey to the West theme amusement park. This is a completely new creative concept."

Yu

Chengqing, the creative and music director of "Xi Ha Travels", who created a photo of "Xi Ha Travels", has been in the industry for 30 years. As a famous musician, he has tried various musical "playing" methods, but has never set foot in the field of musical dramas. After meeting Zhang Chen, the two hit it off.

"He wants to use a particularly special way to commemorate the great event of his 30 years of debut. I think Kaixin Mahua's stage drama experience is very rich, and the combination of the two will be very interesting." Zhang Chen said with a smile.

Recalling the running-in between the two teams, Zhang Chen admitted that there had been many difficulties."One is in Beijing and the other is in Taiwan. The two sides are moving around each other. The working methods are not easy, but these difficulties can be overcome and are nothing special."

Compared with some film and television dramas and stage dramas that love to use celebrities to impress their presence, professional singers Sha Baoliang and Wu Mochou were invited to star in the first round of "Xi Ha's Travels".

Why was Sha Baoliang invited to play Sun Wukong? Zhang Chen used two words to describe each other-"spirituality". In his view, Sha Baoliang is particularly suitable for this role-on the one hand, Sun Wukong in the play is middle-aged, on the other hand, there are very few singers who can perform musicals nowadays. "He is very capable of singing and has once starred in Teacher San Bao's musical, so he is our first choice and the best choice."

This time, Wu Mochou played the original role of Sha Xiaomei in the play. "She is a student of Teacher Harlin (Yu Chengqing). Her voice is very obvious, her recognition is quite high, and she is also very strange." In Zhang Chen's view, the cooperation between the two parties is more skillful than skillful."At that time, when the script was written, we did not consider who the actors were. When Harlin told me whether the actress should consider Wu Mochou, I thought she had the ability and she was very willing to try such a role. Everything is the best arrangement."

Happy Mahua musical "Men"

is one of the most influential stage drama brands in China. Happy Mahua's box office results have always been excellent. The films "Charlotte Worry","Donkey Get Water" and "Shame Iron Fist" adapted through original dramas also delivered excellent answers.

As the founder of Kaixin Mahua, Zhang Chen insists on reaching out to a large audience on the front line for a long time. Talking about the current stage drama environment in China, he bluntly said that most of the audience came from large cities or central cities, mainly born in the 80s and 90s, with a high level of education, a strong need for culture, and a good way to distinguish the quality of the work.

"Our stage plays now attract one to two million young audiences a year, which is a meaningful thing for both Kaixin Mahua and the cultural market." Regarding how to attract more young people into the theater, Zhang Chen said that the key is to rely on the work."Stage plays are spread by word of mouth. You have to buy tickets. The quality of the work itself must be tenable and there is no other possibility."

In

addition, Zhang Chen also pointed out that the current market environment is mixed."Happy Mahua is a commercial performance that relies entirely on the box office to support revenue. However, some institutions will seize resources at the cost, such as theaters and actors, giving us a lot of trouble. Although such short-term behavior often leads to a flash in the pan, the constant emergence is still scary."

Under the wave of capital, another problem encountered by Kaixin Mahua is how to train actors. Zhang Chen has found the answer to this. He told reporters that the training of stage drama actors is a long process."Usually we recruit them to attend training classes, then participate in some small roles according to our abilities, and then cultivate them step by step to become protagonists., become stars. This process can take as little as a few years and as long as ten or eight years."

This kind of polishing has also improved the quality of Kaixin Mahua's works."Now no film and television company will conduct training courses. It takes several years to train actors and employ people directly. So there is no comparison with us." Zhang Chen said proudly.

Editor: Mary