(1) Music (melody, vocal music)
From the English title of the musical, Musical, we can see that music is one of its most important elements. It is "made up of music" "Comedy (Musical Comedy) and Musical Play (Musical Play) are simplified from the two nouns" [2] (P.62), and its part of speech has also been transformed from the original adjective into a noun, becoming a reference to this form of performance. Opera, from the perspective of its title composition, also has a heavy musical component, and its basic elements of "singing, chanting, doing and beating" are also based on music. Although both use music as their main means of expression, the differences between them are extremely clear.
Drama music is stylized music. Specifically: 1. Opera usually selects tunes or tunes according to the emotional type of the characters, such as a piece of Erhuang Adagio, which can be sung by different people in one play, or even appear in different plays, but other The emotions expressed by the characters must all be the same. Therefore, we will feel that the opera music is familiar and similar. 2. Opera music has distinct regional characteristics. The principle of "according to words" determines its strong dependence on dialects. Therefore, we can quickly judge the type of opera from opera music. 3. For opera singing, "the sound is based on words, and the tone is based on emotion" [3] (P.228). The highest aesthetic effect of opera vocal music is charm. In addition, the rhythm of the opera is also relatively slow.
The music of musicals has diverse characteristics. Its musical language and style change with the characters and music style of the work, and the songs in different repertoire are never the same. In music creation, the tradition of grand opera and operetta is inherited and integrated to make the music image more complete, such as chorus, multi-part chorus, etc., and at the same time, it integrates black music, country music, modern rock, pop music, etc., with a dynamic rhythm Varied and modern. Many of the songs in the musical also participated in popular song "charts" and achieved outstanding results and became widely circulated. For example, "Memory" in Weber's "Cats" and "Don't cry for me, Agentina" in "Evita (Mrs. Peron)" have become classics.
(2) Dance (movement, performance)
Both opera and musicals use dance movements as a means of performance.
Drama is based on Eastern freehand aesthetics and belongs to the expressionistic dramatic performance system. Generally, "stylized movements" are used to express, and the focus is on showing the inner activities of the characters through external movements. The stage space becomes more of the psychological space of the characters. "Those who enjoy music are the movements of their hearts." (Warring States Period, Gongsun Nizi: "Le Ji"). “The actor knows that he is just an actor, and his purpose is just to use his art to touch people”[1](P.102). Mr. Chen Duo's new book "Aesthetics of Opera" further elaborates on the connotation of singing and dancing in opera based on Wang Guowei's summary of "telling stories with song and dance". He summarized opera as "Dancing and singing, moving people with emotion, the intention is the main shape, and the beauty is the win." The performance program is the specific embodiment of "Dancing and singing". The essence of "Dancing and singing" lies in "no sound, no singing, no movement." "Dance" means chanting is also a song, and movements such as crying, laughing, exclamation, and coughing are also accompanied by percussion music and become part of the song; every movement is a dance, such as moving like a dragon, standing like a pine, lying like a bow, and sitting like a bow. Like a bell, moving like the wind. [4] Stylization is an important principle of opera aesthetics, and it is also the main artistic means that allows Chinese opera to shine uniquely on the world theater stage.
The musical is based on the principles of experiential drama aesthetics, advocating a realist style in performance, showing the external actions after the transformation of inner actions, and more showing the characters' face-to-face actions and counter-actions. In theory This is attributed to "action is the realization of will" [5] (P.245), which emphasizes the "realization" of the inner will. It pays attention to the relaxed and natural movements of the actors on the stage, and is as close to the life prototype as possible, so it is realistic and life-oriented. It pays attention to the actor's true experience of the character's personality and emotions in character creation, requiring actors to enter the character's specific living environment and inner world, "reproduce" life according to the character's specific personality and emotional characteristics, and express the character as authentically and credible as possible [ 6](P.364). The dances in the musical are broadly based on Bona, and the types are quite rich, including jazz, ballet, tap, rock, modern, pop, folk and performance dance, etc. For example, "Fiddler on the Roof", which reflects Jewish life, mostly uses Jewish folk dances, "West Side Story" has a jazz dance style, and "Singin' in the Rain" uses tap dance to express the excitement of the hero, bringing a strong visual impact to the audience. and sensory stimulation and pleasure.
Drama is one of the most proud chapters of Chinese traditional culture, a treasure of human culture and art with a strong oriental flavor, and one of the most brilliant dramatic achievements of world culture. However, the actual situation of traditional opera in contemporary China is not so optimistic. It can even be described as "struggled on the verge of death."
Although our country has made great efforts to save the art of opera, and after the founding of New China, it has experienced the reform of "model operas" and other repertoires, but until now, this problem has not been well solved, so that the artistic charm of opera It can only be fully utilized when acting in traditional dramas and costume dramas, but it seems a bit at a loss when acting in modern-themed dramas. Faced with the massive loss of audiences and the current situation that opera troupes are struggling to maintain, some researchers reluctantly call opera a "sunset art." Correspondingly, musicals are booming like the rising sun in the West, and are recognized as "sunrise arts." Many classic plays are still at their peak despite being performed thousands of times and lasting for decades, continuing to create a dual balance between art and business. Miracle. For example, "Cats", which we are familiar with, lasted for 16 years after its Broadway premiere in 1982, with a box office revenue of US$1.6 billion; "Les Misérables" lasted for 11 years, with a box office revenue of US$1.2 billion; "Song" "The Ghost of the Theater" lasted for 9 years and grossed $1 billion at the box office; "Miss Saigon" lasted for 6 years and grossed $977 million at the box office. In addition, we are very familiar with "Singin' in the Rain", "The Sound of Music", "The King and I", "My Fair Lady" and so on. They are all musicals that were adapted to the screen after being very successful in the theater and won multiple Oscars. These almost unbelievable statistics illustrate just how popular musicals are with audiences in the West. What is puzzling is that after comparing the characteristics of Western musicals, we are surprised to see that opera and musicals are surprisingly consistent in their comprehensive components and comprehensive forms! Chinese dramatist Wang Guowei once brilliantly summarized the comprehensive characteristics of traditional opera as "telling stories with song and dance." But isn't the same true for musicals? Indeed, musicals and dramas have so many similarities in their overall characteristics that we have many concerns when summarizing the characteristics of musicals. It is precisely because of this that some experts and scholars at home and abroad believe that opera is Chinese musicals and musicals are Western operas (of course, whether this judgment is accurate is still debatable). So, why are there such strong contrasts between these two very similar musical dramas in terms of Chinese and Western audiences?
Following this idea, this article intends to start from an ontological perspective, stand on the basis of equal dialogue, conduct a comparative analysis of the aesthetic differences between European and American musicals and Chinese operas, and try to explore the possibility of integrating Chinese and Western dramas and prospects.
A comprehensive review of the comparative development history of Chinese drama can be seen that the integration and integration of Eastern and Western philosophies and cultural spirits have opened up new horizons for the comparative study of Chinese drama. As early as 1904, Wang Guowei "made an incisive discussion of the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western tragedies from an aesthetic perspective" in his "Review of A Dream of Red Mansions". [1] (P.102) In the 1920s, Yu Shangyuan also wrote In his "Evaluation of Old Drama", he insightfully pointed out the fundamental difference in drama concepts between Eastern drama and Western drama [1] (P.107). It should be said that they all used the method of comparative drama to explore Chinese opera, but the term "comparative drama" did not exist at that time. It was not until the popularity of comparative literature in the 1980s that comparative drama was gradually established as a new subject, attracting the attention of many scholars.
There are two representative views in the study of comparative drama: "cultural evolution view" and "cultural relativity view". Scholars with a view of cultural evolution believe that Western drama is complex and full, has a strict structure, and has precise pitch and temperament in music, while Chinese opera has a straight-line bead-like structure and single-melody linear thinking, and in music it is It is a small piece of music with its free aggregation form, fuzzy and elastic pitch and rhythm, etc. Therefore, it is believed that Western drama is more advanced than Chinese opera; scholars who hold a cultural relativity view believe that various ethnic dramas have chosen different styles because of their specific values ??and aesthetics. cultural styles, so there is no comparability. I think the two have a basis for comparability, that is, similarities and differences in literary and artistic phenomena. Phenomena and things that are simply the same or completely different have no comparative value, and there is no "comparability" at all. Only artistic phenomena that have both similarities and differences can have comparable value. There are similarities but differences between opera and musicals, and there are similarities among differences. Therefore, it is of great significance to conduct comparative research on them. However, it should be pointed out that the purpose of comparison is not to distinguish between superior and inferior, but to compare the artistic characteristics of the two objects on the premise of equal dialogue between the East and the West, and to learn from each other and learn from each other based on the characteristics of the nation and the special laws of development. Drawing on strengths and holding this objective attitude, comparative research becomes possible.
On the premise that Chinese opera and European and American musicals are comparable, I will first make a brief comparison between the two from three aspects: music, dance and stage equipment.
(