CAAPA Member News: Puy du Fou's SAGA, City of Light, grand opening on September 26
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Certified by Guinness World Records as
SAGA City of Light, "the largest immersive theater in the performance area"
Theater
，created by Puy du Fou, a French tourism giant and a global leader in historical and cultural performances
Puy du Fou meticulously crafted and opened grandly on
9
Month
26
Day.
The opening ceremony
special host Lin Dongfu and Puy du Fou Asia
Board of Directors
Co-Chair
Ms. Anne Zhao
served as.
French Ambassador to China
H.E Bertrand LORTHOLARY, Puy du Fou Group Chairman Nicolas de VILLIERS, Chairman of Shanghai Xuhui Urban Renewal Investment and Development Co., Ltd. Wang Yile, Puy du Fou Group CEO Olivier STREBELLE, Puy du Fou Asia CEO Geoffroy LADET, and Puy du Fou Asia Board of Directors Co-Chair Anne Zhao jointly conducted the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Puy du Fou Asia CEO Geoffroy LADET said in his speech that from the project's entry and transformation to today's grand opening, it took a full 1450 days. As Puy du Fou Asia's first show, known for creating large-scale performance theme parks, Puy du Fou will continue to take root in China for art and friendship. In the following speech, Nicolas de VILLIERS, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Puy du Fou Group in France, first expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the guests. At the same time, completing the SAGA City of Light project in China, a country with a long and splendid culture, is like realizing his childhood dream, and he feels deeply excited. H.E Bertrand LORTHOLARY, French Ambassador to China, said that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, and also the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism. The opening of SAGA City of Light is an important achievement of Puy du Fou's development projects in China, marking a major step forward in the Puy du Fou Group's development in Asia, and will bring audiences an excellent French experience integrating live performances, leisure and entertainment, and stage arts. He believes that both Chinese and foreign tourists will love this project. The grand opening of SAGA City of Light features a completely renewed plot, top-notch scenes with a "cinematic" feel, a unique immersive experience with one-shot viewing, and the ultimate presentation of Haipai retro aesthetics. This new season's visual feast invites you to a brand-new "city" play.
Puy du Fou SAGA City of Light A Witness to Sino-French Cultural Exchange
At the opening parade of the 2024 Shanghai Tourism Festival held not long ago, a "SAGA City of Light" float left a deep impression on the citizens. The five actors on the float during the parade were all from the plot, with the male and female protagonists, Jeming and Nicole, along with a martial arts master and a captain, taking to the float to bring joy and happiness to the citizens. It is worth mentioning that the "SAGA City of Light" also drove into Xuhui District on the opening day of SAGA City of Light, arriving at the front gate of the SAGA City of Light theater to celebrate the grand opening of the theater. As the most anticipated project during this year's Shanghai Tourism Festival, the stunning arrival of the "SAGA City of Light" float also heralds the arrival of a new Shanghai cultural and tourism landmark.
SAGA City of Light is Puy du Fou's first large-scale project in China and its debut in Asia. Puy du Fou is the only global brand of large-scale theme parks that is 100% committed to restoring historical scenes and traditional culture. Founded in France in 1977, after more than 40 years of development and expansion, Puy du Fou's global business now covers Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and other countries, and has won dozens of world's best rankings and international awards, and has been repeatedly rated as "the world's best theme park".
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Puy du Fou chose Shanghai for its Asian debut because it values the connection between Shanghai, China and France. It is said that film was born in Paris, France in 1895 and arrived in China the following year, with its first stop being Shanghai. At that time, Shanghai was the largest film market in China. It can be said that in terms of film, Shanghai and Paris have a deep connection. Therefore, SAGA City of Light can also be seen as a tribute from Puy du Fou in France to Shanghai. This not only marks the successful establishment of a long-term platform for Sino-French cultural exchange, but also a feat that transcends culture and time, a wonderful story of in-depth cooperation between Chinese and French performing arts talents, and one of the concrete manifestations of telling the "stories of the two countries" between China and France.
Puy du Fou SAGA City of Light A Participant in Shanghai's Urban Renewal
For this "tribute", Puy du Fou invested heavily. Located in the West Pavilion of the Shanghai Grand Convention Center (88 Caobao Road) in Xuhui District, Shanghai, SAGA City of Light was meticulously crafted by Puy du Fou over four years at a cost of more than 670 million yuan. More than 100 actors, a large-scale scene of 12,000 square meters, and a main storyline will immerse you in the plot and into the "city", bringing surprises to the audience.
SAGA City of Light uses leading technology to realistically reproduce Haipai culture, creating scenes and stories through cinematic aesthetics and world-class stage design. The "cinematic theater" means that the core language of the entire theater is expressed and built using a "film" system, so there will be many concepts throughout the theater that incorporate cinematic language and audiovisual elements. Therefore, the arrival of SAGA City of Light not only adds another building with classic Art Deco architectural style to Shanghai, but also brings a new artistic concept to Shanghai, the film city of China. This is also a kind of "urban renewal".
In order to allow such advanced artistic expression methods to fully adapt to Chinese culture and take root in Shanghai as soon as possible, Puy du Fou has also adopted a series of localization measures. The SAGA City of Light project brings together top cultural and artistic creators from France and China. Among them, 80% of the project team are Chinese. In terms of history and research, historians and experts in Haipai culture have been specially invited to the team. In addition, Puy du Fou's top priority in Shanghai is to pay special attention to inheriting and showcasing local history and culture. Therefore, the City of Light project launched in Shanghai can not only present and disseminate the inclusive Haipai culture to world tourists, but also show Chinese tourists the possibility of Chinese stories being told to the world.
Puy du Fou SAGA City of Light A Steadfast Upholder of Brand Innovation
To continuously enhance the immersive viewing experience and audience engagement, Puy du Fou spared no expense in upgrading the scenes and refreshing the plot. It can be said that the biggest surprise of SAGA City of Light is its constant innovation, maintaining the brand's continuous vitality.
SAGA City of Light's ability to refresh its script is quite astonishing. After a new round of upgrades, the plot and scenes of SAGA City of Light have been further enriched. The entire plot is logically clear, fast-paced, highly dramatic, and full of story, while incorporating many ingenious ideas. In the Haipai-style theater, light song and dance hide hidden dangers; the joyous stage instantly transforms into a place of fierce fighting. The male protagonist obtains a mysterious half-map of the "City of Light," further advancing the plot; on the train where the audience follows the guidance to find the "City of Light," actors locked in the "time gap" in the carriage ask: "Who are you?"...After more than an hour of traversing different scenes, we finally arrive at the moment when the mystery of the "City of Light" is revealed. A melodious sound of music rises, and the protagonists, Jeming and Nike, reunite under a full moon surrounded by flowers, interpreting the "love and eternity" symbolized by the "City of Light." It is reported that in the future, the script of SAGA City of Light will be continuously refreshed regularly, and storylines under different themes can be continuously iterated. Each play is a complete and vivid movie, allowing the audience to feel a fresh wave of novelty each time.
In addition to software upgrades to the script, Puy du Fou also spared no expense in terms of hardware. It is reported that SAGA City of Light currently has 1400 types of props totaling over 26000 pieces, 1334 lamps, 327 speakers, over 300 custom-made costumes, and is equipped with a number of large-scale "top-level" plot scenes in a world-class exquisite setting, including an 88-meter-long ship cabin and an 82-meter-long train cabin. This time, multiple grand Chinese-style scenes have also been added. Putting on a red cloak, let's walk into the "city," travel through the corridors of time, explore the past, experience joys and sorrows, and face love and hatred.
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