Growing chorus of approval for musicals in China

Annemieke van Dam, a Dutch musical actress, recently won the hearts of Chinese audiences with her portrayal of Mrs Danvers in the German-language musical Rebecca, at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.

The musical was staged in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, for nearly a month. Musical lovers have been sharing videos of Van Dam singing the musical's theme song online, with comments such as "the melody's so beautiful and keeps ringing in my mind".

Van Dam was happy feeling the passion and warmth of the Chinese audience.

"It's an honor that people, who don't understand our language and have different cultures, are interested in our pieces, and they understand the emotions so well," she says.

She has received many letters from fans in China, she adds, who shared with her their understanding of the characters and how these characters helped them through difficult times in life.

"What better way than music? Countries working together is an amazing opportunity to find unity just through communication of the heart from person to person," she says.

John Owen-Jones, an award-winning Welsh musical performer, has been holding live concerts in China this year, featuring songs from the classic musicals in which he has performed.

"I've always wanted to come to China. To get the opportunity to work with local theatrical technicians and performers was a gift," Owen-Jones says. "The Chinese audiences are fervent and passionate, and they really are embracing a lot of Western musicals."

In August, he gave the Chinese audience a special version of the song, The Phantom of the Opera, at a concert, incorporating Chinese folk instruments, such as pipa and erhu, and singing with a Chinese singer.

"Great music can cross boundaries and music is an international language," he says.

In recent years, China's musical market has developed rapidly, with the scale of its audience expanding and great growth potential ahead.

According to the 2024 China Musical Market Annual Report, from January to October, there were 13,600 musical performances in China, up 5.5 percent year-on-year. The box office reached 1.4 billion yuan ($194.78 million), up 26.7 percent year-on-year, and the audience numbers were 5.82 million, up 4.6 percent year-on-year.

"I first started to watch musicals in 2019 when my aunt took me to watch Mozart L'Opera Rock in Shanghai. I love musicals because I can totally immerse myself in it, which involves acting, singing and dancing," says 19-year-old musical lover, Ma Yihan, adding that her favorites this year are Rebecca and Elisabeth.

From January to October, 42 original musicals were introduced to the musical market in China. Classics such as The Phantom of the Opera, Mozart L'Opera Rock, Notre Dame de Paris have been staged in China. A total of 225 Chinese musicals were also staged.

According to Huang Kai, director of the Musical Department at Beijing Dance Academy, introducing these original musicals has helped nurture musical talent in China.

"Scriptwriters, directors, composers and performers all need to study and learn from these classics. The introduction of these musical classics also motivates us to create musicals of our own," he says.

Xinhua