The market is growing

The Broadway China Network has signed a strategic investment and cooperation contract with Ticketmaster, the world's leading ticketing company, making the latter its sole ticket agency.

Experts forecast that the establishment of the Broadway China Network will have a major impact on local Chinese performance agents and ticket agencies and speed up the maturation of China's performing market.

"The Broadway brand is very hot to China," said Simone Genatt, one of the creators of Broadway Asia Entertainment (BAE), a company that produces and presents programs in Asia. "There are a lot of theaters going up across the mainland of China."

Thomas Viertel, CEO of BAE, acknowledged that China is the most important Asian market for his company.

To cultivate more local musical professionals and create more original shows by Chinese musicians, BAE is holding discussion with some Chinese cities to establish musical training schools. It has decided to use graduates of these schools to play roles in the Chinese version of The Wizard of Oz.

Currently, BAE is consulting with some well-known Chinese entertainment companies on developing original musicals. Shanghai is the second city in which BAE has set up an office in the world.

According to Viertel, the tour of The Sound of Music in China in 2004 was a great success. "The profit was considerable and we attracted a much younger audience in China than in New York," he continued.

It was the previous box office successes of Broadway shows in China that prompted the Nederlander Co. to seek a Chinese partner and carry out a long-term development plan in the country.

According to President Nederlander, so far only a limited number of Broadway shows have been staged in China, but the market there is growing and it needs international experience in musical production and theater management. "That is what we are good at, and we hope to set up a standard touring performance mode in China, " he said.

Chen Jixin, President of the Beijing Time New Century Entertainment, said it is urgent for China to import advanced theater management and operating experience. "Our cooperation will not only bring about a new commercial way of running theaters but also huge business opportunities to many domestic theaters," she said.

Regarding whether Broadway musicals, with their Western cultural background, will be accepted by the Chinese audience, Wang Luoyong, the first Chinese mainland singer on Broadway and one of the leading actors of Miss Saigon, believes the key is the choice of theme. "The stories must touch the string of hearts of the Chinese audience," he explained.

"Like traditional Chinese operas, musicals are closer to the audience and easily arouse a common feeling among the audience, unlike Western operas, which the ordinary Chinese audience feel very far from and find it is difficult to get used to," Wang added.

With the opening up of China, musicals will be welcomed by the Chinese audience, but the waiting time may be very long, according to Zheng Dongtian, one of the leading film directors in China and a professor at the Beijing Film Academy.

"It takes time. We known that many foreigners like to watch Peking operas, but if Peking operas were performed abroad every day, foreign audience would not get used to them easily. The situation is the same for Western musicals in China," Zheng said.