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Arts & Culture
Arts & Culture
UPDATED: September 13, 2011 NO. 37 SEPTEMBER 15, 2011
Taking the Stage
China's musical theater market has yet to take shape for a homegrown repertoire to expand
By ZHOU XIAOYAN
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Li Suyou (COURTESY OF LI SUYOU)

Original production

Musical theater business insiders hold different ideas on the best course to foster the popularity of musicals in China.

Li Dun, a famous producer who produced original musicals including Butterflies and Love U Teresa, said emphasizing Chinese elements will help musicals to prosper in China.

Li Dun and his Butterflies are considered trailblazers for China-produced musicals. The musical, which is based on a classic Chinese love tragedy between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, was staged in more than 20 cities in South Korea, Europe, the United States and Canada. The musical also won the special prize at the International Musical Festival in South Korea.

Li Dun's latest work Love U Teresa, is now being performed in major cities across China. Teng was a household name on the Chinese mainland in the 1980s. Her sweet voice and songs are still recognizable throughout East Asia today.

"Broadway musicals entertain audiences while London's are more dramatic. Chinese musicals will find their own place in between the two styles," Li Dun said.

Li Dun advocated original production also because "the investment in buying the reproduction rights for an overseas musical and staging a Chinese version, like in the case of Mama Mia!, can fund production of several homegrown musicals."

The production and operation costs of the Chinese version of Mama Mia!, estimated at 70 million yuan ($11 million), is nearly three times that of Butterflies.

"Introducting too many foreign musicals will stifle development of original musicals in China," Li Dun said.

But Zhang Yu and Li Suyou believe through staging overseas productions and Chinese-version reproductions, a real interest in musicals will be cultivated and professionals will learn about international production standards.

Li Suyou, for instance, said he had learned a lot from failures in staging original musicals with authentic flavors in the past decades.

"The Chinese reproduction of Mama Mia! this time demonstrates vividly the standard procedure of musical production and trains lots of professionals while offering the Chinese a precious opportunity to enjoy an authentic musical, " he said.

Li learned that the involvement of big state-owned enterprises ensured sufficient funds and high-quality production. Two of the three investors for the Chinese-version Mama Mia! are state-owned enterprises.

"It's feasible to cultivate viewers' interests in musicals through inviting government investments into reproduction of foreign classics," said Li.

With their government background, these enterprises are able to invest more in luxury vision production, rent theaters at bargain prices and launch large-scale promotions, he said.

Presenting happy, joyful productions is the first principle to provide successful musicals in China. "Most Chinese people are not familiar with musicals, and they go to the theaters to enjoy the joyful atmosphere it brings," Li said.

But few homegrown musicals have been profitable in the past three decades. Jin Fuzai, a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, was cautious about large-scale productions of original musicals in China due to a still-developing industry chain.

"The nature of artistic creation requires large investments and entails high risks for musical production, " said Jin. "Even in Broadway or the West End where the industry is mature, original productions have a very low percentage of success, about 20 percent or less."

Low-cost production on a small scale will remain the dominant form of musical development in China, said Shen Zhenhe, Vice President of the China Society for Musical Studies.

"Original productions are different from introduced ones. They can't be arranged or planned, and largely rely on the artistic inspirations of composers or producers . That's why we will continue to introduce foreign musicals while helping the domestic repertoire of successful homegrown musicals grow," Shen said.

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