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Based in 2004, CAEG has two subsidiaries, China Performing Arts Company (CPAA) and China Worldwide Exhibition Company (CIEA). In 2021, the group turned a part of the Bauhinia Tradition Group, a state-owned cultural enterprise that was based in Hong Kong that very same yr with a joint headquarters in Shenzhen.
Finest recognized for organising the China pavilion on the Venice Biennale artwork exhibition within the 2000s, CAEG now presents greater than 5,000 performances, exhibitions and cultural actions yearly, such because the opera Marco Polo and musicals like San Xing Dui and, most lately, I Am What I Am.
Many of those productions are staged in theatres that CAEG immediately manages, such because the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre, Daning Theatre in Shanghai and Guangzhou Opera Home.
Musicals are comparatively new within the [China] market, however they’re engaging to the system, they usually’re doing fairly effectively
Whereas CAEG started working 20 years in the past below the steering of “ranging from China and going international” – which could indicate that the group’s pursuits lie squarely in selling Chinese language tradition – CAEG has additionally led the cost in bringing Western musicals to China, given the rising marketplace for musicals within the nation.
“In mainland China, there are a number of musical followers, together with followers of Broadway, French and Chinese language musicals,” says Wang Lu, normal supervisor of China Performing Arts Company.
It’s a part of the explanation the group has introduced Chinese language variations of musicals reminiscent of Mamma Mia! and Cats to mainland China. However with The Sound of Music, Wang and Simone Genatt, co-founder of Broadway Asia, opted for the English model due to its attract of being an authentic Broadway manufacturing.
“The unique Broadway musical could be very engaging to the viewers right here,” says Genatt, who has labored with CAEG for over 20 years.
“It’s a tremendously gifted artistic staff, and I feel that for us, on either side, we have been actually targeted presently on that.
“Hong Kong has been closed to English-language musicals for a very long time [because of Covid-19] – that is the primary one which’s coming again after a few years.” A Broadway model of the musical was staged within the metropolis in 2005.
And not using a venue in Hong Kong, CAEG needed to lease Xiqu. Nevertheless it was an applicable match contemplating the manufacturing is in step with the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority’s plan to have performing arts venues that appealed to vacationers.
The Sound of Music was chosen for its extensive attraction.
“The Sound of Music is a very timeless work – it simply celebrated its sixty fifth anniversary,” Wang says. “It’s thought of appropriate for all ages, and is suitable for households.”
The manufacturing tells the story of a younger Austrian girl, Maria Rainer, who turns into the governess of Captain von Trapp’s seven kids. As she teaches the youngsters methods to sing, together with the now-classic songs “Do-Re-Mi” and “My Favorite Issues”; their lives are perpetually remodeled.
In Hong Kong and internationally, the performances are led by Natalie Duncan as Maria, Corey Greenan as Von Trapp and Lauren Kidwell as Mom Abbess.
The musical’s Hong Kong run contains 64 performances, up from the unique 40, due to its success in mainland China, the place it ran for 17 weeks in cities together with Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
Wang and Genatt word that whereas the marketplace for musicals in each Hong Kong and mainland China is rising – there was discuss of bringing over the musical variations of Amélie and Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing facility – variations between the 2 stay.
Hong Kong is a really subtle market, Genatt says. “Musicals have been occurring right here for a very long time – it’s a developed ecosystem.”
China, she says, emerged extra lately. “Up to now 20 years, they constructed over 100 massive performing arts venues. It’s quickly rising from that perspective. However Hong Kong has a number of the vital tenets of enterprise and operations which might be key to a business run of a theatre [show].
“It’s a very well functioning metropolis – its tickets, its advertising, its infrastructure. That’s vital, as a result of it positively is forward,” she says.
“China has its conventional arts, its circuses, its operas, issues that operate extremely effectively. Musicals are comparatively new out there, however they’re engaging to the system, they usually’re doing fairly effectively.”
Wang provides: “We present in additional cities within the mainland Chinese language market, however in Hong Kong, we present for extra weeks. Each are good, however it’s completely different.”
Whereas the longest run of The Sound of Music on the mainland for a single metropolis was about 5 weeks – usually it runs for 2 to a few – in Hong Kong it’s eight weeks.
“The Hong Kong viewers’s appreciation is excessive,” says Wang. “First, they actually respect the sort of high-quality efficiency, and their efficiency viewing habits are additionally excellent.
“Total, the marketplace for musicals is simply rising.”
The Sound of Music, Grand Theatre, Xiqu Centre, 88 Austin Highway, Tsim Sha Tsui. Till June 9. Tickets obtainable at The Sound of Music Web site.
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