Feature: Casablanca tries to strike chord of nostalgia

The musical adaptation of Casablanca that had its world premiere here from April 8 to 12 tried to spark Chinese people's nostalgia for the romantic, black- and-white world of half a century ago.

"Dim lights in Paris and Lurid sunsets in North Africa, along with yesterday's love, turn out intoxicating and serene..." The words in the brochure set the scene before the curtains open, preparing the audience to feel nostalgic emotions.

Li Huilin, a lawyer, said she came because of the film with the same name. Wang Zhongyi, vice-president of the magazine "People's China," said before it started that he hoped the play had the charm of the film.

Producer/director/choreographer John Clifford did not disappoint the audience. The gray setting, black-and-white costumes, well known song "As Time Goes By," lifelike properties including a plane, car, piano and champagne bottle, and even the way Rick uses a cigarette lighter, show Clifford's salute to the film.

When Sam, wearing silver clothes, plays "As Time Goes By" on the silver piano for the first time, Ilsa and Rick, both in white, are immersed in a white spotlight. The audience is also quiet, as if they are recalling the movie, and Sam's sonorous singing really resounds.

Besides the visual and aural memories, the montage-like scene transitions are also reminiscent of the movie, with the music or songs feeling a little dilatory.

Dong Lei, who said she was born in a family of drama, expressed her dissatisfaction with the long time during the scene transitions.

"They still moved them by hand, while it's rather usual that it 's automatic overseas," she said.

A man named Zhang, who works for a TV station, also said the music arrangement lacked fluency.

On the other hand, replacing the plot development, facial expressions and dialogue of the movie, dance and music become the main means of expression -- ballet, flamenco, Indian dance, Whirling Dervishes and the theme "As Time Goes By."

"Memory In Paris" is one of the only two colored scenes. The Eiffel Tower, pillars, benches, the city on the background curtain, and colored costumes of characters are gorgeous in the colored lights.

Ilsa, Rumanian Simona Noja, and Rick, Italian Giuseppe Picone, dance a pas de deux here. In the evening, the city turns purple and stars twinkle, along with their dance, which depicts their magnificent romance in the plain black-and-white main tone.

"Dance is different from anguage, but it becomes a kind of universal language. It can be understood by both Americans and Chinese," she said.

However, this kind of expression makes the "musical drama" a little vague. "It's not a dance drama, a musical or a stage play. It's a new type of drama," said Clifford.

In fact, no matter what this Casablanca should be classified and how it is related to the classic movie, it is difficult to guess the Chinese audience's taste for it.

"Chinese people have no common memory of the movie, as it hasn't been screened publicly in China and watching it is only the action of an individual. It may trigger nostalgia among the western audience, but it's a brand-new thing to Chinese audience," he said.