music and Dance will Be Staged of a Genuine Broadway Musical Classic the 42nd Street
Chinese audience is familiar with word “Broadway”. They have also viewed many musicals. But what on earth are real Broadway musicals? Few common audience can give a clear definition. But in this September a grand show tour of The 42nd Street, presented by Troika Entertainment and Broadway Asia Entertainment a genuine Broadway musical in New York, USA staged by the Beijing Nederlander New Century International Theatre Management Co., Ltd., will reach Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Beijing. This China tour of genuine Broadway musicals is sponsored by the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation. It is not only the first large scale tour of Broadway musicals in China but also a good opportunity for Chinese audience to have a true understanding and feeling about genuine American Broadway musicals. The 42nd Street is a musical born in Broadway. It has made the brilliant record of being staged for 3,486 times in succession. It won twice the Tony Award, a famous American drama award. The content of the musical is also a vivid textbook for Chinese audience to learn about the production of a musical behind the scenes.
“The 42nd Street” is symbolic for Broadway. The Street runs across the Broadway area in Manhattan, New York. It is a street with the Broadway business features. And the theatres in Broadway standing where the Street passes also are representative of the Broadway cultural style. The Street is also one featuring the lifestyle of New York youth so that it is now a miniature of the social life in New York, USA. The musical The 42nd Street comes from a Hollywood musical film of the same name shot in 1930s. It tells a story happened when the young men on the 42nd Street took part in the cast selection of Broadway musicals. An obscure girl showed her talent in the cast selection and performance of a musical and came to fame overnight because of an occasional chance. It is a musical that truly reveals the stories behind the scenes in Broadway. The musical made great success in its preliminary show in The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in July, 1980. It was staged for 3,486 times in succession. The musical also won the Best Musical and the Best Choreography of the Tony Award that year. The songs such as Lullaby of Broadway, Shuffle Off to Buffalo, Young and Healthy, The 42nd Street, the theme song, and also You’re Going Out There a Nobody, But You’ve Got to Come Back a Star!, an old song from the film all become classics of Broadway musicals. In 2001, the musical was remade according to the operation rules of Broadway classical musicals to adapt to the aesthetic demand of the people of the present times. The performance of the new version at Ford Center for Performing Arts in New York at the time won the Best Revival of a Musical and the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical of the Tony Award that year. The musical is the market-proven most profitable one in Broadway. Moreover, according to the operation rules of Broadway, it is also staged in tours in various cities in America and also all around the world. It brings the audience everywhere the Broadway style and wins the applause of local audience.
Although Chinese audience knows Broadway for a long time, few of them have really viewed a genuine Broadway musical. In the past people only knew Broadway musicals through The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Lion King and Notre Dame de Paris. However, these are not genuine Broadway musicals in a large sense but musicals introduced into Broadway after their successes in London West and Disney Theatre in Los Angeles, USA. However, The 42nd Street to be stage in the China tour is a genuinely Broadway-produced musical classic. The musical has obvious Broadway features: The story is developed with songs and dances. There are more and richer dances in it than those musicals in London West, in which songs dominate. The story of the musical is closer to the life of modern Americans. It is full of the youthful passion of the young people in America. At the same time, the gorgeous colors brought by luxurious scenes and costumes of the musical also embody the typical “show” feature of Broadway musicals. It is a joyful musical of the show of youthful people.
Many people know that “Broadway musical” is an industry of much particular feature in the entertainment industry in the USA. In recent years, many ambitious people endeavored to bring it in China. The introduction of musicals such as The Phantom of the Opera and Lion King represents the delectable achievements in this respect. However, it is truly a wonderful attempt that the Broadway China Ventures, jointly established by Beijing Time New Century Entertainment Co., Ltd. and Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, LLC., started to introduce genuine American Broadway musicals in China in a planned manner and stage large scale tours. This initiative will play a positive role in promoting the development of musicals and the industrialized management of the entertainment industry in China and giving the Chinese audience an opportunity to truly know about the Broadway musical industry which has significant influence on international performance market.
Chen Jixin, president of the Beijing Nederlander New Century International Theatre Management Co., Ltd., is a domestic performance operation and management professional with rich experience. She has extensive influence due to her success in managing the three tenor concert on the square of the Forbidden City in Beijing. When speaking of this enormous cooperation project, she said, “Musicals are high grade entertainment programs that the people all around the world love. And a long term plan must be in place for the Chinese audience to truly and fully know about musicals. The Nederlander New Century will promote the development of the musical industry in China through the phased introduction of genuine Broadway musicals. As there are successful experience in Broadway in the operation of musicals that fits the laws of art and commerce for us to borrow from, it is an inevitable path for the development of musicals in China to introduce Broadway musicals and establish a regular channel for the performance of musicals in China. Only to develop our own musical industry by borrowing from the successful experience and operation mode of others can bring prospect and hope to the development of musicals in China.” Chen Jixin hopes that, through the operation of the Nederlander New Century Performance Season, a path can be opened for the Chinese musical performance market to get in line with international practices so as to allow more Chinese audience to enjoy this fashionable artistic form.