1 "Cats"

"Cats" is a stunning masterpiece by British composer Andrew "Lloyd" Webber. The play unparalleledly won seven Tony awards on Broadway in 1983. Award, and won all the theater awards in London and New York. The play was once awarded the title of "Musical of the Century". Since its premiere in London in 1981, it has been performed in the United States, Japan, France, Germany and other countries. It has caused an unprecedented sensation. It is often hard to get a ticket. It is still the most popular play today. The highest-grossing musical on Broadway in New York and London. The classic love song "Memory" originated from this play has long been known to every household and can be regarded as an immortal song in the history of musicals

2 "Phantom of the Opera"

Andrew Loy Andrew Lloyd Webber is a famous British musical composer. In 1994, Weber ranked first on the list of the 100 most influential people in American theater compiled by Theater Weekly magazine. At any given time, at least a dozen of his touring troupes are performing Weber's musicals in major cities in the United States, Britain, and around the world.

The "Requiem" he wrote for his father and his "Variations" were combined to create the best-selling album, and the subsequent "Premiere Collection" album went triple platinum. (That is, sales exceed 60 million units). The pop single "Requiem", sung by Weber's second wife Sarah Brightman, entered the UK top 10 charts. In 1996, he composed the anthem "Friends of Life" for the Barcelona Olympic Games. Weber was one of the greatest musicians to rewrite musical theater history.

Attachment: Weber's classic musicals: "Cats", "Evita", "Phantom of the Opera"

Plot summary:

"Phantom of the Opera", Phantom of the Opera, Weber's classic work, the first of the four major musicals, is regarded as the representative of musicals. Adapted from the novel "Le Fantom De L'opera" by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was not actually a very famous novel at the time, but in the 1920s it became the darling of silent films and early horror films. Even in China, before liberation, there was a "Midnight Song" adapted from this book, which shows its great influence. It was originally a terrible story, but Weber wrote Phantom into a knowledgeable and soulful architect, composer, and magician. His tragedy was that he fell in love with the beautiful Christine. Compared with previous directors, Weber's Phantom is passionate, evil, talented and dedicated, living in another dark world.

In the musical, Christine is deeply in love with Raoul, but is also attracted to the talented Phantom and the darkness and mystery he represents. Such a gorgeous and exciting love affair may be the fantasy of all women. Under the ancient Paris Opera House, there is an unknown number of feet of ground, a boat on the dark water, and a mysterious man in a black cloak and white mask standing on the bow. Fear and desire, exciting and romantic.

The song "Phantom of the Opera". Sarah Brightman's treble and Crawford's gorgeous alto are perfectly combined. The singer is passionate and the listener is in shock, creating an eerie and tense atmosphere. The other song is the male solo "the music of the night", which is also very classic. Crawford uses a low and slow voice to slowly talk about the psychological changes during love, tenderness, delicateness, and sad expectations.

3 "Les Miserables"

The classic musical "Les Misérables" is adapted from Hugo's literary masterpiece of the same name. The originator of the musical "Les Miserables" is the Frenchman Alain Bob Leigh and Michel Schoenberg were both avid fans of musicals. In 1971, the two watched Weber's musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" in New York and came up with the idea of ??creating an epic-style musical. The two drew considerable inspiration from Weber's classic musicals "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Evita", making it both epic and magnificent, yet also full of pop culture essence. In 1978, Bobley and Schoenberg "miraculously" completed this magnificent project in Paris.

In the autumn of 1980, the two-hour musical "Les Miserables" premiered at the Paris Arena. Incredibly, it was shoehorned in between a boxing show and a circus act, and ended in its sixteenth week. While lamenting, Mackintosh, the famous British show producer who had successfully packaged "Cats" on the musical stage, found Bobley and Schoenberg and determined to move "Les Misérables" to the "Sing and Dance Capital of the World" —Broadway. The three hit it off immediately, and six years later, the repackaged "Les Misérables" landed on Broadway and officially entered the international stage.

As a large-scale musical, "Les Miserables" employs a total of 421 actors and 1,633 employees behind the scenes. The reason why the play has been running for 16 consecutive years is not only the timeless, real and touching story and theme, but also the professionalism of the actors, the moving music and the changing scenes.

For example, on the eve of the war, the protagonist Jean Valjean prays to God to bless his adopted daughter Cosette and her lover Marius sings a solo "Let me die, let him live". The sincerity of his expression and the beauty of the melody are unforgettable; , the director of "Les Misérables" used a large turntable for the first time to vividly present the "trenches" piled up by revolutionary youths and Parisian citizens, plus the passionate military music and the gunpowder-filled sounds of gunfire and explosions. , making the audience feel as if they are actually there, achieving a shocking experience that is more real than a movie.

4 "Miss Saigon"

A musical similar to the story of "Madame Butterfly" produced in 1989. The story takes place during the Vietnam War and tells the love story of an American soldier and an infatuated Vietnamese dancer.

Composer Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyricist Alain Boublil got the idea after seeing a photo. The photo showed a Vietnamese girl about to board a plane from Ho Chi Minh City to the United States to meet her father, a former soldier in Vietnam, whom she had never met. The girl's mother held her hand, knowing that once she was gone she would never see her again. Schonberg and Boublil felt that the mother's silence and the girl's tears represented the lives of people in love destroyed by war.