Nederlander to Bring Broadway to China
There’s no business like show business and it’s time for China to know. Next week, Nederlander, a major Broadway theater owner, will give new meaning to “off-Broadway.” The company will join forces with China-based company Beijing Time New Century Entertainment to create Nederlander New Century, a new theater company that will present tours of Broadway shows throughout China, as reported by the New York Times Wednesday. There had been talk in Shanghai over the last few years of building a Broadway-like theater district near the foreigner-friendly area Xintiandi, however details of the plan are sparse. Beijing has hosted short runs of Broadway shows including “The Sound of Music” and “Beauty and the Beast” and Shanghai ran a 13-week production of the Lion King last year. According to the Times story, “The King and I,” “42nd Street” and “Mamma Mia” are scheduled to come to China in the coming months. And it’s good timing for “Mamma Mia” because ABBA is so hot right now in the mainland. Nederlander operates a number of Broadway shows that could potentially hit China in the near future. For instance, the Chinese could be lining up to see “Zu Jun,” a musical about a group of 20-something Bohemians living in Alphabet City during the AIDS crisis of the early 90s. Or perhaps another Nederlander production titled “Fa Jiao,” the story of a fat girl in 1962 Baltimore who realizes her dream of appearing on a daily television dance show. Surely, both stories will resonate with an audience full of Chinese people.
•NYT: Broadway Shows in China