Musicals coming to Shanghai in record number

[Photo provided to China Daily]

An unprecedented number of musicals will be shown in Shanghai this year. Besides Broadway shows on international tour, there will also be Chinese adaptations and new productions.

SAIC Shanghai Culture Square recently announced its performance plan for the year 2017. Eighty percent of the shows will be musicals, says Fei Yuanhong, artistic director of the theater.

"The popularity of musicals has been gaining in Shanghai, and now private enterprises have begun to invest in musical productions. We are grateful they want to present the shows in our theater," he says.

He attributes the burgeoning market for musicals to "a wide range of factors", but he says it doesn't mean that every year will be equally successful.

Broadway shows Wicked and Westside Story will be premiered in SAIC Shanghai Culture Square, in April and November respectively. Also musicals adapted from movies, such as Ghost, Sister Act, The Producers and The Bodyguard will be presented in the theater this year.

SAIC Shanghai Culture Square will also be producing a gala concert of French musicals. Although no actors or program have been announced, the performances have been scheduled on Sept 22-24.

Among the Chinese musical productions to be staged at the theater will be My Bucket List, adapted from the 2007 American film The Bucket List.

Chinese musical actor Liu Lingfei will play the leading role in My Bucket List, as well as in Jekyll and Hyde, which will be staged at the Shanghai Grand Theater July 28-Aug 31.

CC Live will be producing the Chinese edition of Jekyll and Hyde. The company has been involved in the production of Chinese editions of Broadway shows such as Cats and Mamma Mia. American theater director David Swan, who has been active in the South Korean musical scene, will be directing Jekyll and Hyde in Chinese.

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