Lifestyle |
What to Expect from the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in 2018 | |
The theater’s performances for this year revealed | |
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The nameplate of the Parent-child Micro-theater is unveiled at the press conference by Jiang Tao (left) and Xuan Zhenxing on April 18. (COURTESY PHOTO) Broadway musicals Kinky Boots and Chicago, and the Chinese version of universal musical hit Mamma Mia! will be run this year at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, according to a press conference on April 18 revealing the center’s plans for performances in the 12 months. “Since opening to the public in November 2015, the center has been keen to develop itself into a diverse theater with a focus on musicals,” said Jiang Tao, Vice President of the center. Last year, 828 shows were performed at the center, with the number expected to surpass 850 this year. Of this total over 200 will be musicals. In addition to musicals, Marco Polo, an opera produced by the Silk Road International League of Theaters, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by the UK’s National Theater, and British choreographer and dancer Mathew Bourne’s Cinderella will be staged among others as part of the center’s neoclassical international performance series. The second Laoshe International Drama Festival, jointly hosted with the Beijing-based performing arts company Beiyan, will be held from September to October. The festival, launched last year, is designed to commemorate Beijing-born playwright Laoshe, also known as Shu Qingchun (1899-1966). Laoshe Going to the Fair, based on six short novels and essays by the writer produced by Beiyan, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre’s Hu Xueyan, My Dear about a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) businessman and Ordinary World by Shaanxi People’s Art Theatre, a play adapted from Chinese writer Lu Yao’s (1949-92) novel of the same name, will all be shown during the festival. “Combining traditional culture and contemporary performing arts, the festival is set to develop into a competitive drama brand,” said Lin Libin, Vice President of Beiyan. Fifteen children’s dramas from eight countries will be brought to the theater by The A.S.K., a Shanghai-based company dedicated to introducing top dramas from abroad to Chinese parents and their children, including You and Me and the Space Between from Australia, and What Happened to the Crocodile from Russia. The A.S.K. Parent-child Micro-theater was established at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center during the event. “Hopefully taking their children to Tianqiao to see a performance on the weekend will become a way for Beijing mothers to spend time with their children,” said Xuan Zhenxing, operation director of The A.S.K. “Our goal is to enable Beijing’s children to enjoy dramas from around the globe without having to go abroad,” Xuan added. Copyedited by Laurence Coulton Comments to jijing@bjreview.com
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