The musical Butterflies was a big hit during its 10-day premiere run in Beijing in September and the show now hopes to continue wowing audiences across China as it embarks on a nationwide tour.

With an investment of 50 million yuan, or $6.7 million, the highest for a musical in China to date, it has been 10 years in the making.

The show is based on one of the best-known folk tales in China, about the beautiful but tragic love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, a young couple who were eventually separated by an arranged marriage for Zhu. Liang missed Zhu so much and he died of a broken heart. On the day of her arranged wedding, the distraught girl committed suicide. It is said that the couple met again in the spirit world and changed into two free butterflies.

The mythology has been adapted in various art forms, and now it has entered the realms of the musical.

However, maintaining the romantic nature of the love story, Butterflies has audacious creations in its plot. Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai appear in the play as members of a group of butterfly-people, who long to break a curse that deprives them of their human form.

The musical is set in the World Terminus. Young maiden Zhu Yingtai has to sacrifice herself to help these butterfly-people realize their dream of becoming human. And so she is forced to marry a man she doesn't even know. Then an uninvited guest intrudes. He claims to be Liang Shanbo and wants to take Zhu away. Suddenly everything becomes chaotic-someone gets drunk, someone goes crazy, someone gets cursed and someone dies. On the eve of Zhu's wedding, everything happens on one terrible night.

An ancient tale with a modern twist, graceful and fluent musical melody, poetic and psychedelic stage language, the musical is full of post-modern feeling, which is a fresh experience for Chinese theatergoers.

Quality production

The high-profile spectacle has an elite creation team that includes hailed Chinese musician San Bao and well-known Chinese playwright Guan Shan. It also has a shining overseas production team that comprises General Director Gilles Maheau, Director Wayne Fowkes, Lighting Director Alain Lortie and Choreographer Dazza Charles, who previously won acclaim together for their work on the world renowned musical Notre Dame Cathedral. It is the first time that an original Chinese musical has used a foreign production team.

What's more, the musical has, for the first time, hired world-class "script doctors" to polish its script, which has totally broken away from the traditional style of script writing. Creation and modification were done in a sophisticated way with accurate industrialized production. The creative move is bound to have a far-reaching effect on the development of China's young musical industry.

In order to ensure the quality, experts from all over the world were invited to train the actors and actresses, who were selected from thousands of hopefuls and had undergone two years of intensive training. All these young performers come from a professional musical troupe specially founded by the investor of the musical, the first of its kind in China. Most of the members of the troupe are prizewinners at various music and dancing competitions both at home and abroad. They are thought to be the hope of the musical industry of China.

"I never expected that we would have such good musical performers in China. They are wonderful both at singing and dancing," said a Chinese audience member who watched the premiere.

East-West collision

Although the joint efforts of domestic and foreign experts have greatly elevated the quality of the work, it has also brought about the conflict between two different cultures.

For Chinese artists, the theme of the story and music is the most important, rather than the commercial effect.

"To be frank, I care more about what kind of content and thought my music wants to express in the musical. I hope audiences can feel and experience something that is closely associated with our real life," said San Bao, Musical Director of the play.