A series of 12 top Broadway musical hits, including The King and I and The Wizard of Oz, will tour 20 major Chinese cities over the next three years.

The ambitious stage serial, set to cultivate hundreds of thousands of musical fans in China, will start with Rodger's and Hammerstein's The King and I, which will preview in Shenzhen and premiere in Shanghai in November 2006.

Thomas Viertel, CEO of Broadway Asia Entertainment, said many of these musicals appeal to families.

"I believe parents will bring their children to the theatre, as it will be a good way for their education," Viertel said. "According to my experience, a person will become a theatregoer if he was taken to the theatre as a child."

Following The King and I, the crew of the award-winning tap-dance musical, 42nd Street will arrive, to be followed by Andrew Lloyd Weber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, SpongeBob SquarePants Live based on Nickelodeon's acclaimed cartoon, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, Hairspray and Brooklyn.

The Sound of Music, which toured China two years ago, will return to give the series its grand finale.

This series of Broadway musicals marks the beginning of long-term cooperation between Broadway Asia Entertainment and Beijing Oriental Broadway International Theatre Management Company.

The latter, founded in March, is a joint venture between Beijing Time New Century Entertainment and Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, LLC. It is the first to be established since China's Ministry of Culture issued its Revised Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Shows last September, allowing foreign investment in China's entertainment industry.

"We are focusing our efforts on building long-term relationships with strategic partners throughout China," said Viertel, adding that the company is "committed to long-term collaboration."

For instance, Broadway Asia Entertainment will assist in translating some classical Broadway productions into Chinese and cast Chinese performers. The first one will be I Love You, to be staged in collaboration with Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre.

Now in its 12th year on Broadway, I Love You takes a look at dating, romance and marriage.

Broadway Asia Entertainment will also be involved in creating original Chinese-language musicals.

In order to turn Broadway shows into Chinese productions, the company will open Broadway Musical Theatre Academies in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai, where leading Broadway producers, directors, choreographers and performers will be invited to teach budding Chinese performers.

The first academy is scheduled to open in Shenzhen, as rehearsals of The King and I take place in this city in Guangdong Province. The academy's graduates will then join the cast of The Wizard of Oz.

"In my five trips to China in the past two years, I met a lot of talented Chinese who are potential musical performers. I believe the academy will offer them thorough training in singing, dancing and acting," he said.

Asked whether he was aware of the many unsuccessful attempts in China to stage musicals since the mid-1980s, Viertel said that those Chinese artists failed because they didn't have enough knowledge of how to make a musical.

"It is a long and complex process to produce a successful musical. Telling a story seems like an easy thing, but to tell a story with music, singing and acting is not easy," he said. "Even if we start work on an original Chinese musical tomorrow, I don't believe it will come out in just a few years.

"Before a new production hits Broadway, we need to find a good story, the right director, choreographer and performers, then rehearse, listen to critics, revise it several times, and then perform it in other cities and off Broadway," he said.

He cited the examples of The Producers, which took two-and-a-half years to prepare, and the five years of work required to prepare Hairspray.

Broadway Asia Entertainment is a new company established by Broadway Asia, along with the Viertel/Routh/Baruch/Frankel Group the Broadway Tony Award winning production and management team, according to Simone Genatt, chairman of Broadway Asia, who made the announcement last Thursday.

Founded by Simone Genatt and Marc Routh, Broadway Asia Company is a management, production, licensing and consultation company focusing on performing arts projects between the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Genatt said that Broadway Asia Entertainment would focus on the rapid expansion of China's cultural industry through partnerships with local government, artists, entrepreneurs and businesses.

According to Viertel, creation of the Broadway Asia Entertainment is based on the successful China tour of The Sound of Music produced by Broadway Asia in 2004.

He said China's show business is not yet mature, but "we have seen that entertainment is booming.

"To some extent, because of the growth of China's economy, people can afford to go to more shows, and their demand for cultural events has grown. So we believe that the interest in musicals is growing in China," said Viertel.

(China Daily June 6, 2006)