{"id":2293,"date":"2015-06-10T11:45:24","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T11:45:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsquareproductions.com\/?p=2293"},"modified":"2017-11-29T13:02:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T18:02:15","slug":"chinese-investors-star-on-broadway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsquareproductions.com\/?p=2293","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Investors Star on Broadway"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">  <\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Chinese backers are behind three of the hottest plays on Broadway as part of a broader push to expand musical theater inside China<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Who\u2019s the latest behind-the-scenes investor on Broadway? China.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><!--more-->Three of the hottest musicals on Broadway have Chinese backers as China starts expanding live theatrical entertainment at home and looks to New York for expertise.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">China Media Capital, a state-backed private-equity fund, has invested in the production company behind Tony-nominated \u201cHand to God\u201d and \u201cSomething Rotten!\u201d Beijing-based China Broadway Entertainment is a backer of \u201cAn American in Paris,\u201d which is nominated for 12 Tonys.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThis is the first season that Chinese companies are investing on Broadway,\u201d said Simone Genatt, chairman of Broadway Asia, a New York-based production and licensing entertainment company primarily focused on Asia<br \/>\n. \u201cThey\u2019ve been doing Broadway musicals in mainland China for the last decade, but this is the first time China is here in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The New York investments are part of a broader push to expand musical theater inside China. Big Broadway shows such as \u201cCats\u201d and \u201cThe Sound of Music\u201d have been touring China for years. In a next step,\u201cCats\u201d and \u201cMamma Mia\u201d have been translated into Chinese. Over the past several years, the government has built over 25 new theaters for live musical productions, each with 1,200 to 1,800-seat capacities throughout the country.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Chinese companies say they\u2019re hoping to leverage their stakes in Broadway shows to gain expertise in U.S. productions, bring shows to China and eventually develop more original Chinese-produced musicals.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Shanghai-based CMC last year invested in Kevin McCollum\u2019s Broadway Global Ventures (BGV), which produced\u00a0<a class=\"icon none\" style=\"color: #0080c3;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/review-of-hand-to-god-a-handful-of-lust-1428518410\" target=\"_self\">\u201cHand to God\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and<a class=\"icon none\" style=\"color: #0080c3;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/something-rotten-review-throw-out-your-shakespeare-1429749002\" target=\"_self\">\u00a0\u201cSomething Rotten!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0Mr. McCollum, a veteran producer whose credits include \u201cAvenue Q\u201d and \u201cRent,\u201d declined to reveal the size of the investment but said CMC can help his company expand its productions to China, which he said is ripe for consuming and creating theater.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey\u2019re ready,\u201d Mr. McCollum says. \u201cThis is source material that might work well there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Eventually, Mr. McCollum says he hopes to create original musical theater using artists and writers from the U.S. and China. The idea would be to create musicals that \u201care a fusion of both cultures\u201d and \u201ccould be performed both here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cKevin is very good at making original shows, an ability that we deem as vital,\u201d said Clark Xu, managing director of CMC. \u201cBecause at the end of the day, we want to make our own original shows.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">CMC\u2019s investment is designed to benefit its portfolio companies, including Seven Ages Production, a musical-production company based in Beijing that adapted Mr. McCollum\u2019s \u201cAvenue Q\u201d into a Chinese version that began touring nationwide in 2014.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">CMC is also an investor in Shanghai\u2019s new Dream Center, a large entertainment complex with five theaters, including one dedicated to musicals, that is slated to open as early as 2017. The theater will be able to draw on both Mr. McCollum\u2019s productions as well as its own original productions in the future, Mr. Xu said. CMC is also learning ticketing and theater management from Mr. McCollum\u2019s team, and making sure it is able to hold world-class musicals in the future.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Until now, Chinese investors have preferred classic musicals with wholesome stories. \u201cSomething Rotten!\u201d\u2014a somewhat ribald love letter to musical theater and Shakespeare\u2014and the provocative \u201cHand to God\u201d are more audacious offerings, but have drawn no objections from CMC. \u201cThe shows were born from the western soil and the content caters to the local audiences,\u201d said Mr. Xu. \u201cWe don\u2019t interfere with the show\u2019s creation and we respect the decisions by the creation team.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That may change if the shows travel to China. All scripts need to be submitted to censors for approval. \u201cWe hope the shows will tour in China, and we will definitely make suggestions on this matter then,\u201d Mr. Xu said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Mr. McCullom says the edgy \u201cAvenue Q\u201d wasn\u2019t changed for China, but in general, tweaking a show to make it work in a new venue is common. \u201cYou have to have partners in the local market to have success in that market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"icon none\" style=\"color: #0080c3;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/an-american-in-paris-review-not-since-robbins-1428946537\" target=\"_self\">\u201cAn American in Paris\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is the first investment by China Broadway Entertainment, a Beijing-based live-entertainment production company. The company, created last year to invest in Broadway and produce shows in China, was founded by Broadway Asia and two Chinese producers: Ivy Zhong, former managing director of Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. Ltd., a leading independent Chinese film-production company, and Sean Hsu, chairman of China Digital Culture, an entertainment company based in Beijing. CBE invested \u201cseveral hundred thousand dollars\u201d in the musical and plans to back future U.S. shows.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAn American in Paris\u201d is expected to go to China as early as 2018, first as a tour throughout Asia, then as a local-language version, Ms. Genatt said. CBE is also planning an immersive production of \u201cPeter Pan\u201d to tour some cities in China with Randy Weiner, the producer of \u201cSleep No More.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Don Frantz, the veteran producer of Broadway\u2019s \u201cBeauty and The Beast\u201d and \u201cThe Lion King,\u201d says he started getting calls from Chinese investors as soon as the Tony nominations were announced in April this year. Mr. Frantz, creative director of Town Square Productions, is actively involved with local producers in theatrical production in China, including a Mandarin-production of \u201cInto the Woods.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cChinese investors are passionate about the Broadway world,\u201d Mr. Frantz said. Mr. Frantz already helped facilitate a Chinese investment in his own off-Broadway production. Zhang Chen, founder of Mahua FunAge Production Co. Ltd., a leading Chinese comedy troupe, decided to invest in \u201cDisenchanted!\u201d after attending a reading in New York in 2013. Produced by Mr. Frantz, the musical is about princesses for adults.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cMy instinct says that this is an interesting show with good market potential,\u201d Mr. Zhang said. He said he invested \u201ca very small portion\u201d of the total budget of the show to \u201ctest the water\u201d of the industry. Mr. Zhang set up a new company, Musical Theater China, in New York last year and is planning on spending more. \u201cI will definitely increase my investment in Broadway musicals,\u201d he said. \u201cIf the show is never going to come to be in China, it can just stay outside the country as a pure financial investment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"articleTagLine\" style=\"font-style: italic; text-align: justify;\">\u2014By Lilian Lin and Stefanie Cohen from The Wall Street Journal<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> end248_() <\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chinese backers are behind three of the hottest plays on Broadway as part of a broader push to expand musical theater inside China Who\u2019s the latest behind-the-scenes investor on Broadway? 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