Astronomer musical shows friendship among the stars

The new Chinese musical Sidereus, which tells the story of the friendship between astronomers Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), premiered in Shanghai on Aug 13.

Adapted from a South Korean musical of the same name that was created by Kim Dong-yeon, the first round of performances of the Chinese version, ran until Sunday at Theater Above in Shanghai.

The Korean musical premiered in 2019 and was nominated for best musical production of 2020 in the country. The Chinese edition is the seventh musical production by Shanghai Culture Square, and marks the second collaboration between Kim and the Shanghai company.

"This is one of the first musical productions in China about scientists," says Fei Yuanhong, deputy general manager of Shanghai Culture Square. "This is a beautiful theater production, with great music and a well-designed stage that evokes rich imagination about outer space."

Fei adds that, "what touched me the most was the vivid portrayal of the two scientists. Their discoveries are important for human civilization. The musical presents them as vivid people with real emotions, so we decided to introduce it as a new type of musical show".