Productions to remember

Seventy-five years ago, on May 27, the People's Liberation Army, led by the Communist Party of China, took over Shanghai among the cheers and applause of people lining along the streets.

The day has been remembered as Shanghai Liberation Day which is celebrated every year. This year Shanghai Media Group (SMG) Live kicked off the showcase of 40 music and theater productions for the occasion in a two month period through July.

"Shanghai is the birthplace of the Communist Party of China. The city witnessed the magnificent practice of Chinese revolution, reform and development through the past decades," says Yu Rongjun, deputy director of SMG Live. In the past few years, the city's music and theater scene has created with several high-quality new productions featuring the Chinese revolution, which won critical acclaim and audiences' applause.

One of the most popular productions, The Eternal Wave, is a dance drama shown by the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe, based on the true story of an underground Communist telegrapher who worked in the shadows against opposing forces and was later murdered on the eve of Shanghai's liberation.

The Eternal Wave has enjoyed great popularity with audiences. Since its premiere in 2018, the show has toured more than 50 cities all over China, presenting altogether 614 performances, according to Wang Yan, head of the company.

"We have kept revising and improving the production, promoting it to the wider public," she says. The latest effort was a movie edition of the show, which was projected at the Majestic Theatre in Shanghai on May 27. It will go on to be shown in cinemas across the nation, while the company will present a new round of live performances of the show at Majestic Theatre from Jun 26 to Jul 1.

"We hope lovers of the theater production will find new perspectives to appreciate the dance in the movie, and moviegoers could be intrigued in attending the live performance too," she says.

In the past few years lots of dancers in the company have taken on different paths of life, says Wang Jiajun, the lead dancer who acts as the hero of the show. Some left the stage to become teachers and some had children, he says. The movie "recorded these dancers in their prime youth and most beautiful performance," he says. "It's a gift for us dancers as well as audiences, and meanwhile it is a tribute to the city's revolutionary history."