CRI听力:Future of Original Chinese Musicals Promising: Broadway Insiders

Future of Original Chinese Musicals Promising: Broadway Insiders 

Four theaters for staging musicals will open in downtown Beijing this October. They are located in Tianqiao Art District and close to the Chinese National Ballet and several crosstalk studios.

It is the latest sign that musicals are gaining in popularity in China's first-tier cities. In the latest round of its mainland tour, the Mandarin version of Mamma Mia pocketed 200 million yuan, with some 400 performances staged. Also, The Phantom of the Opera drew more than 100-thousand people and took in 60 million yuan in two months.

Now, an increasing number of Chinese producers are trying to tap the robust domestic market for musicals and they are not satisfied with just buying Broadway shows – they want to do something original.

Zhang Yu is the president and general manager of the state-run China Arts and Entertainment Group. His company will run the four theaters at the Tianqiao Art District.

He says it is the right time for some original productions.

"As long as the market needs this, then all depends on how hard you will work on it. If we do nothing in the coming 20 years, I can guarantee you China won't have original musicals by then."

His company did not buy any Broadways last year and focused on two original productions. Zhang says they intended to use the two low-budget shows to test whether the market is ready for original works. According to him, original Chinese musicals are not in the experimental phase anymore.

In fact, some Broadway producers have already realized the growth of the Chinese market and the potential of original works on the global stage.

Robert Nederlander Jr., President and CEO of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, is one of them.

His family has run Broadway theaters and shows for three generations and his company recently brought a Spanish version of Broadway classic RENT to Cuba in coincide with the rapprochement of the US and Cuba.

"It is vibrant. It continues to grow rapidly. It is a market that we are very excited about. We are going to continue to collaborate both in bringing great shows to China and take Chinese shows to the United States."

Nederlander says in the first several years of collaboration with his Chinese partners in Shanghai, they had to explain what Broadway is to half of the audience, but things have changed a lot.

When it comes to original productions, he suggests Chinese producers examine the key to the success of Broadway: great stories.

"We want people to say it is a great show, not a great Chinese show. They are seeing it because it is tremendous entertainment that happens to coming from China and telling the Chinese story. That is the recipe for success."

That is exactly what Chinese producers are doing now. As China Arts and Entertainment Group Chief Zhang Yu points out, they see producing the Mandarin version of Broadway classics as part of the learning curve and they are not in a rush to emphasize the Chinese identity too soon.

"It makes no sense if somebody claims he will grow 'Chinese pears' if he has never tasted a pear at all."

Zhang says a successful project, no matter if it is from Broadway or from China, will help to nurture the young Chinese musical market, as well as its audience and talent.

"A successful work is capable to double the audience number, double the market share and double the production capacity."

For CRI, I'm Su Yi in New York.