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Broadway musicals to entertain domestic audience |
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| Source: China Daily 2007-4-13 |
China's theatre-goers might have more opportunities to see not only home-grown musicals but Broadway productions, following the establishment of Beijing Oriental Broadway International Theatre Management Company late last month in Beijing.
It is believed to be the first joint-venture in the show business industry since China's Ministry of Culture issued Revised Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Shows last September, allowing foreign investment into China's show business industry.
Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, LLC and Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co Ltd jointly founded the company to bring China more Broadway productions and to help China create more of its own musicals.
Show business is booming in China. Over the past few years, theatre-goers in Beijing and Shanghai have had the chance to listen to some great singers and sample what are arguably some of the best theatrical productions in the world. However, working behind the scenes at the cultural festivals are the performing arts managers and agents, who are enjoying success and lamenting at the same time on the fact that China's show business sector is so immature.
In modern China, performing arts did not really become commercial until the early 1990s when a fledgling market economy began to take shape. Prior to that, performing artists and even their managers were reluctant to talk about making money from their theatrical productions.
The drive to build a market economy has spurred extensive reform not only in industrial sectors but also within performing arts management.
By 1997, when the Ministry of Culture issued a decree to regulate show business in China, more than 80 per cent of the country's performing arts shows were staged to make a profit.
From early 2002, the Ministry of Culture started to expound on its series of moves to build a sound cultural market system and to create a good market environment for cultural development.
These included attracting much-needed investment from the private sector and international businesses, with the money to be pumped into cultural enterprises, and allowing private businesses to manage cultural industries, which for decades have been State-monopolized.
Chen Jixin, CEO and founder of Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co Ltd is one of the pioneers who worked in the State-owned performing arts industry since 1974.
Wanting to collaborate with experienced foreign companies, Chen left the State-owned China National Culture & Arts Co Ltd, where she organized the Three Tenors Concert at the Forbidden City in June 2001, and founded the Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co Ltd in 2003.
"To a common theatre-goer, it seems that China's show business industry is flourishing. But insiders know very well that China's show business industry is short of professional show managers and presenters," she told China Daily.
Now the Ministry of Culture has revised the regulations for commercial performances, which could help develop a healthier market. But Chen said they still had a lot to learn about management and producing.
Robert Nederlander, CEO and president of Nederlander Entertainment World, is confident about the partnership with Chen's company.
"Before we formally announced the formation of the joint-venture, Nederlander did careful market research in China for four years. The results prove that China has great potential in the show and entertainment business but badly needs international companies' rich experience in producing and managing. And I am confident it is what Nederlander is good at," Robert Nederlander told China Daily.
Starting with a single theatre in 1912, the Nederlander family has grown, over three generations, to become an owner of more than 25 theatres throughout North America and England.
It is one of the top theatre owners on Broadway and one of the pre-eminent names worldwide in live entertainment. Nederlander's extensive range of expertise covers the entire spectrum of live entertainment, including theatre management, operations, scheduling, concert and theatrical production, marketing, ticketing and sponsorship.
However, not everybody is confident about the new com-pany's success, considering China's audience for Western musicals is not big.
Broadway has become a global brand name, signifying the pinnacle of live entertainment, not only because it has good theatre management but also talented producers, actors and technical staff.
No matter how hard it is, the Beijing Oriental Broadway International Theatre Management Company plans to bring the "King and I," "Sound of Music" and "Westside Story" to China at the end of this year.
Chen also revealed they planned to open 11 theatres in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou in the first year and increase the number to 23 over the next five years.
URL: http://english.people.com.cn/200604/13/eng20060413_258096.html |
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