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Fame and fortune heading to China
By Bonnie Cao |
January 5, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
"FAME" is coming to China.
The Broadway musical about students aspiring to stardom is being customized by its American producer for a Chinese audience, with a Chinese cast speaking, singing and presumably dreaming in Mandarin.
The show had a trial run of 16 performances in December with students from China's Central Academy of Drama, and will now be developed for commercial performances with professional singers.
"Fame" is part of an ambitious plan by promoters to expand into China's entertainment market, even as ticket sales at home slump.
As the United States struggles with recession, shows like the revival of the musical "Gypsy" on Broadway are closing early. But in China, producers are going ahead with plans for up to nine Broadway-style shows in 2009.
"We certainly have a very upbeat outlook on the market," said Bob Nederlander, president and CEO of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, one of three major Broadway theater owners and the producer of "Fame." "The financial crisis is an unexpected phenomenon, but we presented 'Aida' just a few weeks ago in Beijing to a sold-out theater."
China opened its entertainment industry to foreign investment in 2005, the year Nederlander launched its China venture with a local partner.
Nederlander plans as many as four shows in China in 2009, including an encore of "Aida." Its first show was "42nd Street" in 2007.
Another New York producer, Broadway Asia Entertainment, plans up to five shows, among them "The Sound of Music" and "Annie." Broadway Asia has put on 12 shows in China over the past five years, and its tours have expanded from two cities to more than 20.
European promoters also have come to China. British impresario Cameron Mackintosh brought "Les Miserables" in 2002. And "Mamma Mia!", based on the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, toured China last year.
The Broadway musical about students aspiring to stardom is being customized by its American producer for a Chinese audience, with a Chinese cast speaking, singing and presumably dreaming in Mandarin.
The show had a trial run of 16 performances in December with students from China's Central Academy of Drama, and will now be developed for commercial performances with professional singers.
"Fame" is part of an ambitious plan by promoters to expand into China's entertainment market, even as ticket sales at home slump.
As the United States struggles with recession, shows like the revival of the musical "Gypsy" on Broadway are closing early. But in China, producers are going ahead with plans for up to nine Broadway-style shows in 2009.
"We certainly have a very upbeat outlook on the market," said Bob Nederlander, president and CEO of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, one of three major Broadway theater owners and the producer of "Fame." "The financial crisis is an unexpected phenomenon, but we presented 'Aida' just a few weeks ago in Beijing to a sold-out theater."
China opened its entertainment industry to foreign investment in 2005, the year Nederlander launched its China venture with a local partner.
Nederlander plans as many as four shows in China in 2009, including an encore of "Aida." Its first show was "42nd Street" in 2007.
Another New York producer, Broadway Asia Entertainment, plans up to five shows, among them "The Sound of Music" and "Annie." Broadway Asia has put on 12 shows in China over the past five years, and its tours have expanded from two cities to more than 20.
European promoters also have come to China. British impresario Cameron Mackintosh brought "Les Miserables" in 2002. And "Mamma Mia!", based on the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, toured China last year.
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