Prior to watching Marco Polo The Musical, I have a slight idea as to who Marco Polo is - a Venetian merchant that became a historical figure due to his daring attempt to navigate the seas and find better routes towards better international trade. Since Rustigielo's version of Marco Polo's biography has become the subject of controversy among historians, opportunities to speculate on what could have happened came about. This must have been the reason behind the concept behind Marco Polo The Musical - that young Marco Polo might have been motivated with intense inspiration to improve his status in life due to an affair that sparked up between him and one of Kublai Khan's daughters that remained nameless in historical accounts. News Flash: History is ALWAYS subject to getting questioned and doubted.This explained best why some Korean period dramas end up looking more interesting and intriguing than "historical accounts". This is also why fan fiction proliferated online - some writers knew that there must have been a better version to any story narrated whether on the silver screen or at the boob tube. You may not totally grasp what really is it about the story that doesn't seem right but you knew there must have been a juicier, meatier account to the things that just transpired. And going back to Marco Polo, could there be really a reason why some of Kublai Khan's relatives or family members remained nameless throughout history? If you're nerdy enough to bother about Asian history, you know real well that the Mongolians' hold on China didn't last very long. Chinese dynasties returned and tried rewriting history ... well at least they tried. Another pointer worth mentioning whenever writers exercise their creative freedom in writing historical fiction is the conundrum once raised among critics that didn't like the historical deviations that occurred in the film "Elizabeth". Were the Elizabeth movies historically accurate to begin with? No. Does that make the performance of Cate Blanchett bad? Of course not. This is the same observation I noticed about Marco Polo The Musical. The fictional characters may have outnumbered the actual historical figures portrayed in the musical but it never turned out to be a bad thing for the musical as a coherent whole. From Marco Polo to Princess Kogajin to Lord Tegan, you know that beneath the glossy veneer is a courtroom intrigue that just waited to explode until that climactic scene where the Mongolian princess eventually had to decide between following her heart and keeping the peace by balancing the powers-that-be. between the territories. It's tough but some sacrifices had to be made. Don't worry. I won't post spoilers here knowing that there is still subsequent performances worth looking forward to. No news as of yet as to when the next stop be after the world premier held last February 8, 2014 at the Meralco Theater, Ortigas, Pasig City, Philippines. I had fun watching the play and chances are you would enjoy watching it too. To keep yourself posted with the latest updates about Marco Polo The Musical, might as well check out their official website here. Thanks for reading.
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Jing DalaganI've been blogging for as long as I could remember. But I made it a career as of late as a home-based writer. It is something I find comfort in doing. Archives
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