Kindred spirits: Phantom of the Opera musical finds fans among Chinas younger generation

Philip Godawa, resident director of the Chinese tour, said China’s deep theatrical tradition had helped cultivate the practise of theatre-going. And the younger generation’s interest in Western culture added to his confidence about the future of musicals in China.

“From my perception, I should imagine 80 per cent of the audience is under the age of 35,” the veteran performer and director said.

“As it’s normally the elderly people who come to the theatre in the West, it’s great to see so many young people in the theatre and getting so involved.

“It really gave me an impression that some young people know the music though it’s the first time they hear the music.”

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Liu Jing, a 32-year-old MBA student in Beijing, needed no encouragement to buy a ticket for her favourite show, spending 1,380 yuan (HK$1,661) for one of the best seats in the house last month.

“I fell in love with the show when I first heard the music on the radio in high school,” Liu said. “I had to go, given it’s its first time in Beijing. We don’t know when it will come again.”

Based on a 1911 French novel, the musical revolves around the phantom, a mysterious masked musical genius who haunts an opera house, and his obsessive love for a beautiful soprano. The musical premiered in London in 1986 and on Broadway in 1988, and continues to play in both London and New York today.

The Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre, the show’s Chinese presenter, spent 90 million yuan staging a one-month run of shows in Guangzhou in September and the three-month series in Beijing. Tian Yuan, the centre’s general manager, said this was just the start of a broader push to expand theatre performances in the capital.

The centre, which was designed specifically for live musical productions, has four theatres, including one that can seat 1,600 people.

Promoting culture dovetails with national efforts to shift the economy away from its traditional dependence on investment to generate growth.

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According to a recent report by Daolue Centre for Culture Industry Research, musical theatre ticket revenue grew nearly 29 per cent year on year in the first half of the year to 93.7 million yuan. A total of 521,000 visits were made to the theatres in the six months, up 37 per cent from a year earlier.

Phantom took in 47 million yuan in Guangzhou, the highest-grossing show since the Guangzhou Opera House opened in 2010. And tickets for the first two weeks of the Beijing leg sold out in October, according to mainland media.

Tian, who has promoted Putonghua versions of popular Western musicals including Mamma Mia! and Cats, said she planned to produce a Chinese version of Phantom to reach a bigger audience, but the dearth of all-round performers was a major obstacle. That also explained the failure to create home-grown productions.

To help remedy that shortfall, many Chinese staff, including musicians, have been hired for the Beijing shows to expose local professionals to Western productions.

Until China grew its own expertise, Tian said, high-quality foreign productions would be a door to open the market.

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