Are you ready to be kicked in the face by an ancient Chinese warlord? Dennis Law, part-time Denver-based surgeon and part-time avant-garde producer, combines technology and tradition in “Terracotta Warriors 3-D Show,” a theatrical, high-tech musical billed as "something truly first in the world."
Written and produced by Law, the musical tells the tale of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to rule over unified China. Spectators wear 3-D glasses to take in the shooting arrows, swooping bats and other special effects produced on the screen behind them. (It's unclear if real life 3D objects on the stage, such as actors and props, become even more 3-D when wearing the glasses.) The production’s LED screen is on loan from the local government of Zhengzhou, where it is normally used to display messages to the masses.
At first, Law was worried that the bright lights, plastic glasses and roughly 45 actors dancing, fighting and performing acrobatics onstage “would give you a headache.”
“I was afraid that the brain could not simultaneously absorb [both the live action and the 3-D]", he said. But, show designers figured out a balance so the audience can take in both.
Playing at Dayin Theatre through November, the performance is billed as the first of its kind to combine 3-D and theatrics. All songs are performed in Chinese, and subtitled in English. Law, from Guangzhou, raised in Hong Kong and educated in America, says the production takes inspiration from Broadway and traditional Chinese opera.
Interested? Check our event listing for more details on performance time, location and book tickets today.
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