Bird’s Nest Hatches
‘Avatar’-like Musical
The musical fantasy “The Attraction,” billed as a “Chinese version of ‘Avatar,’” debuted Sept. 21 at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing, the main venue for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Since the Games ended, the stadium’s operators have had a hard time attracting suitable events to fill the massive stadium, though it remains a potent tourist attraction. China Daily goes so far as to call it a “holy place.”
The musical has been specially designed for the Bird’s Nest. Described as a “romantic, time travel love story with high-tech sound, lighting and three-dimensional effects” by director and noted Chinese filmmaker Lu Chuan, “The Attraction” melds music, dance, illusion and acrobatics.
The stage and the surrounding 7,000 seats have been configured as a “box” within the stadium.
The production team gathered experts from overseas to contribute to the show’s exotic appeal. Guillaume Duflot of the French entertainment group ECA2 is the technical director, and Oscar-winner Emi Wada, who has worked with Akira Kurosawa and in Hollywood, is the costume designer.
There will be 16 performances this fall, after which the production will be revamped with improvements in accordance with responses from the audience. Regular performances will start in the spring, with more than 200 scheduled over the next three years.
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