A hotbed for musicals in China

Shanghai Culture Square has been the primary venue for musical productions in the city for the past eight years, presenting not only Broadway shows but also musicals from all over the world. The theater has since 2012 been presenting special showcases of original Chinese musical productions every spring.

"We have witnessed the evolution and development of Chinese musicals," says Fei Yuanhong, artistic director of the theater.

"At the beginning, my colleagues and I had to work really hard to look for musicals in Chinese, but in recent years we had to turn down more production requests because there were too many for us to take on."

Although many more Chinese musicals are being produced, Fei and other industry insiders point out that there is still much room for improvement. For instance, Fei says, there has yet to be an original Chinese musical with long-standing tours and performances.

An incubation project started by Shanghai Culture Square in January, which is the first of its kind in China, aims to improve the standards of Chinese musicals. The project invites playwrights and composers to submit creations that have never been produced before. Five works will be selected to enter the incubation process and the deadline for submissions is March 31.