Give My Regards to Shanghai
Phil Qiu had always wanted to see a Broadway musical. So last December he splurged on a premium ticket to "The Phantom of the Opera." Sitting in the 14th row, Mr. Qiu was moved to tears as the Phantom launched into the climactic solo, "The Music of the Night."
"It made me want to stand on stage," says Mr. Qiu. The 32-year-old writer returned to see the musical five more times at a theater a bit off Broadway -- in Shanghai.
Great White Way, meet the Great Wall. Hoping to reach the hearts and wallets of China's growing upper-middle class, Western producers are taking big musicals to the mainland. Earlier this year, "Phantom" brought in $7.9 million during a virtually sold-out, three-month run at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, a sprawling 10-story-high performing arts center. The American producers of "The Sound of Music" are negotiating a 100-city Chinese tour and bringing "West Side Story" to Beijing for the winter season. Plans are also in the works for a Chinese "Saturday Night Fever" and "42nd Street."
Shanghai audiences sang along with 'The Sound of Music' cast.
Transporting Broadway to Beijing creates challenges. When "Cats" hit the mainland -- with Chinese supertitles on an on-stage screen -- a third of the words of every song except "Memory" had to be cut so the translation would fit on the screen. A performance of "Les Misérables" was derailed for 20 minutes after a supertitle technician tripped, leaving the audience with no translation during a plot-heavy sequence. Another complication is that Chinese audiences often take flash photos during performances.
"It can be a little bit dangerous for Mistoffelees, when he does his fouettes" or ballet turns, says John Bowles, the lead cat in last year's Beijing production of "Cats."
Musicals are the latest form of Western entertainment to make inroads into China, where movies such as "The Interpreter" are now showing, and where more than 125 Starbucks cafés have been built in recent years. More theaters are being built to accommodate the musical productions, and new financing is coming from corporate underwriters who want to reach consumers able to afford tickets that average about $40 -- or about a third of the average monthly income in big Chinese cities.
Viola Yan, a 25-year old marketing executive in Shanghai, was happy to pay $46 to see "Phantom." She not only braved 45 minutes of freezing weather to get the autograph of star Brad Little -- his previous roles include the lead in a European tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar" -- she says she "nearly screamed" when she first spotted a poster advertising the production. After snagging a ticket, Ms. Yan says, "the next four months passed with sweet waiting."
The economics of putting on a musical in China differ somewhat from the Western model. In the U.S. and Britain, virtually all of the costs of a production are put up by private investors who expect a share of the proceeds, if there are any. In China, by contrast, a Western producer typically sells the rights to a Chinese partner for a fee that's tied to the length of the run. In some deals, the producer also takes a share of the ticket sales on top of that.
Bring in the Underwriters
These days, Chinese theaters are also getting funding from corporate sponsors who cover as much as 30% of a musical's expenses -- more than double the levels of just a few years ago. The Shanghai Grand, for example, brought in Artistry, a cosmetics brand owned by the U.S. firm Amway Corp., as the top sponsor of this year's $6 million "Phantom" in Shanghai. (The portion not covered by sponsors was picked up by the state-run theater). Artistry's logo appeared above the show's title on programs and posters. The makeup firm, which declined to disclose the cost of the sponsorship, also used the occasion to launch some new eye shadows and lip glosses named for the show's female lead, Christine.
While theater companies have been exporting to countries like Korea and Japan for years, they've been slower to crack China. In 1999, there was a production of "Beauty and the Beast" in Beijing, and in 2001, a live concert of Andrew Lloyd Webber's show tunes was staged in Beijing and Shanghai. But at the time, "It was like, 'Andrew Lloyd Webber who?" says Louise Ardagh, the Shanghai-based CEO of Frontiers Group China, which secures sponsors for Broadway shows on the mainland.
Because Chinese theater deals are new, they sometimes involve misunderstandings and financial problems. In at least one case, a producer familiar with the matter says, contracts were signed and the Chinese partners disappeared. "You've got to balance the potential of China with the difficulty of making it all happen," says Tim McFarlane, managing director of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Asian production subsidiary. It's unclear whether the shows are profitable, but producers say ticket sales are strong. "Les Misérables" brought in $1.5 million in three weeks at the Shanghai Grand in 2002. A year later -- in the middle of the SARS outbreak -- "Cats" took in $3 million, with 90% of tickets sold.
Reprise in Ningbo
The stage doors are opening more easily at least in part because producers are casting their shows with some familiar names. Colm Wilkinson, the original London Jean Valjean in "Les Misérables," for example, also headlined the 2002 Shanghai version. Last year, Jennifer Semrick, who played Maria in a 2000-2001 U.S. tour of "The Sound of Music," reprised her role in Ningbo, about 750 miles south of Beijing. ("Her heart-thrilling soprano voice surpassed any doubt," raved one Shanghai newspaper.)
Producers are also making a greater effort to tune into Chinese audiences. The Shanghai Grand is hoping to cast a new production of "Les Misérables" with Mandarin-speaking actors, instead of using Chinese supertitles. In one experimental translation of "Les Miz," a lyricist changed the line, "But the tigers come at night/With their voices soft as thunder," to "The tigers come at night/And the tiger pretends that he's a handsome boy" -- in the style of ancient Chinese poetry.
Still, audience-goers like Monica Xu say they'd prefer more cultural cues in current productions. Ms. Xu, a 25-year old economic researcher, paid about $50 to see "The Sound of Music" in Shanghai last year, but was confused by the relationships between the nuns. "The religious beliefs are different [in China]," says Ms. Xu. "We didn't know the meaning of what they were doing."
Yet for Ms. Semrick, the "Sound of Music" actress, it's hard to beat Chinese audiences. Not only do theatergoers sing along to "Edelweiss," they hold up glow-sticks in darkened theaters, says Ms. Semrick. "There were a couple of shows where we were like, 'Wow, it's like being in a baseball game!'"
百老汇问候上海
邱先生(Phil Qiu)一直盼著能看上一场百老汇(Broadway)音乐剧，所以在去年12月不惜花大价钱买了一张《歌剧魅影》(The Phantom of the Opera)的票。虽然坐在第十四排，主角“魅影”的经典独唱《夜之华章》(The Music of the Night)还是让他感动得流下了热泪。“我真想能自己站在舞台上，”他说。为此，这位32岁的作家把这场著名的音乐剧连看了六遍，但剧场离百老汇可有点远──在上海。
百老汇，走进了长城围裹的土地。为了能博得越来越壮大的中国中、上产阶层的欢心，让他们乐滋滋地掏出钱包，西方制作人正在把大型音乐剧一部一部地搬到中国大陆。今年年初，《歌剧魅影》在上海大剧院(Shanghai Grand Theatre)连演三个月，几乎场场爆满，赚得了790万美元。《音乐之声》(The Sound of Music)的美国制作人正在与中国有关机构协商，计划在中国举办一场百城巡演；还计划把《西区故事》(West Side Story)送上北京的冬季演出季。此外，在中国上演《周末狂热》(Saturday Night Fever)和《第42街》(42nd Street)的工作也正在紧张筹划之中。
将百老汇戏剧带到中国面临不少挑战。著名音乐剧《猫》(Cats)与中国大牌演员在国内同台登场的时候，除了《Memory》之外，所有歌曲的歌词都不得不砍掉三分之一，才能配上屏幕上的歌词翻译。而《悲惨世界》(Les Miserables)上演时，一位重要的技术人员不小心滑倒，让全场观众在没有文字翻译的情况下，在这场情节紧凑的音乐剧面前茫然了整整20分钟。另外一个难题就是中国观众常常在观看演出时用闪光灯配合照相。
“魔术猫密斯达弗利斯(Mistoffelees)做起单腿陀螺转(Fouettes)时，闪光灯骤然亮起对他来说可有点危险，”去年在北京担纲《猫》剧主角的约翰?鲍尔斯(John Bowles)说。
对正在上映《翻译风波》(The Interpreter)、已有超过125间星巴克(Starbucks)的中国来说，音乐剧是最新的西方娱乐形式。越来越多的戏院正在改建，以配合音乐剧的演出；承办演出的企业也不断拿出新的资金，希望通过演出接近那些能负担得起平均40美元票价的消费者。40美元意味著北京等大城市居民月平均工资的三分之一。
25岁的上海某营销公司高级职员颜小姐(Viola Yan)买到了一张价值46美元的《歌剧魅影》的入场券，为此欣喜异常。为了得到主演布拉德?里特尔(Brad Little)的亲笔签名，她不惜在寒风中苦等了45分钟。她说，第一眼看到这场戏的海报时，“惊喜得差点叫出声来”。好不容易买到一张票之后，颜小姐说，“接下来的四个月就是一场甜蜜的等待”。
将音乐剧搬上中国舞台的经济模式与西方模式多少有些不同。在英美等国家，往往由一些私人投资者承担所有的制作费用，期待著演出成功或分享票房收入。但在中国，制作人通常根据演出时间的长短，将演出权出售给中方合作伙伴。个别情况下，西方制作人还可以分享票房收入。
最近，中国的戏院也开始得到企业赞助商的资金支持，最多可达到演出费用的30%，与几年前相比增长了近一倍。比如说，上海大剧院今年上演600万美元《歌剧魅影》时，就以安利公司(Amway Corp.)的雅姿(Artistry)为首席赞助品牌，雅姿的标志赫然出现在节目单和海报的显著位置。安利公司还利用这次机会推出了以该剧女主人公克里斯汀(Christine)命名的几款眼影和唇彩。安利公司没有透露这次赞助的具体数目。没有赞助商提供资金的那部分费用由这家国有剧院自行承担。
这些年来，剧院运营公司一直在开拓韩国和日本等海外市场，但进军中国市场的动作不免有些缓慢。1999年，《美女与野兽》(Beauty and the Beast)在北京上演；2001年，安德烈?洛伊?韦伯(Andrew Lloyd Webber)的现场音乐会在北京和上海先后举办。但那时，先行咨询(Frontiers Group China)驻上海的首席执行长Louise Ardagh说，
“好像大家都在问‘谁是安德烈?洛伊?韦伯？’”先行咨询帮助百老汇戏剧在大陆上演寻找赞助商。
百老汇戏剧对中国剧院来说还是新生事物，双方的合作难免会遭遇误解和财务难题。一位熟悉情况的制作人说，至少有一次，合作协议已经签订，但中方合伙人突然就消失不见了。安德烈?洛伊?韦伯亚洲制作子公司的董事总经理蒂姆?麦克法兰(Tim McFarlane)说，“你不得不在中国市场的潜力和成功上演的难度之间权衡再三。”
这些演出是否盈利外界并不知晓，但制作人都说票房很可观。《悲惨世界》2002年在上海大剧院上演三周，就获得了150万美元的票房。一年后，非典型肺炎(SARS)肆虐期间，《猫》剧上演的满座率高达90%，票房收入300万美元。
舞台的大门至少比以前更容易打开了，部分原因是制作人邀请了中国观众熟悉的演员来演出。寇姆?威尔金森(Colm Wilkinson)──伦敦版《悲惨世界》中冉?阿让(Jean Valjean)的首演──参加2002年上海演出的消息就成为当时的轰动新闻。去年，詹妮弗?塞缪克(Jennifer Semrick)──2000-2001年《音乐之声》(The Sound of Music)美国巡演女主角玛丽亚(Maria)的扮演者──在宁波再次登场献艺。上海某报纸盛赞：“动人心弦的女高音打消了所有疑虑。”
制作方也在继续采取措施更加贴近中国观众。上海大剧院就希望新版《悲惨世界》能以普通话演唱，而不仅仅是吸纳中国大牌演员出演。《悲惨世界》的歌词就正在用中国古典诗歌文体进行尝试性的翻译。
不过，许小姐(Monica Xu)这样的观众就说，他们更喜欢目前这种配字幕更原汁原味的演出版本。25岁的许小姐是一位经济研究人员，去年花费大约50美元在上海观赏了《音乐之声》的演出。但她对剧中修女之间的关系感到迷惑不解。“（中国的）宗教信仰完全不同，”许小姐说，“我们看不懂她们在干什么。”
而对《音乐之声》的女主角塞缪克来说，要打动中国观众的心扉也很难。他们不但会和著《雪绒花》(Edelweiss)的曲子和她一起唱，还会在灯光黑暗的观众席上挥舞荧光棒。塞缪克说，有几场演出，演员们的感觉都是：喔，这简直就是棒球赛场！
(back)EU's Mandelson, China Trade Min To Discuss Textile Imports
PARIS (AP)--European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will meet with China's trade minister, Bo Xilai, in Paris on Thursday to discuss a sharp rise in Chinese textile imports.
Chinese textile exports to the E.U. and the U.S. have soared since a worldwide quota system expired Jan. 1.
At France's request, the E.U. last week opened an investigation into a surge that could see the bloc re-imposing quotas lifted at the start of this year.
Bo already has met this week with new U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman and French Foreign Trade Minister Francois Loos.
Asked what he planned to discuss with Bo apart from the textile issue, Mandelson replied: "When I meet with him I will only be discussing the textile issue." He didn't elaborate.
Portman said Wednesday that hard facts would decide Washington's next move against Chinese imports.
"All I can say is the data will tell the story, and has told the story," Portman said, noting that protections against a surge in imports were agreed upon when China joined the World Trade Organization.
"In certain sectors of textiles coming into the United States, we believe there has been up to a 1,000% increase," Portman said.
Bo has said he believes solutions can be found and that he expects the sharp rise in textile exports from China to the E.U. would begin to taper off by summer.
"We're doing what we can to prevent a drastic jump," he said after meeting Loos earlier this week, adding that the rate of growth of the exports already had slowed considerably in March and April.
The E.U. fears its textile industry is being harmed by the flood of cheaper products from China. The investigation concerns nine categories of clothing and textile products in which the E.U. says imports have risen by up to 534% since quotas were lifted on Jan. 1 under World Trade Organization rules.
欧盟贸易委员将与中国商务部长会晤
欧盟贸易委员曼德尔森(Peter Mandelson)定于周四与中国商务部长薄熙来在巴黎会面，以讨论有关中国对欧盟纺织品出口飙升事宜。
自从全球纺织品配额体系于今年1月1日终止以来，中国对欧盟和美国的纺织品出口不断激增。
应法国方面的要求，欧盟上周就中国对欧盟纺织品出口飙升事宜展开调查，此举可能导致欧盟重新对中国纺织品实施配额。
薄熙来本周已同新任美国贸易代表波特曼(Robert Portman)和法国外贸部长洛斯(Francois Loos)进行了会晤。
当被问及其与薄熙来的拟商讨内容时，曼德尔森表示，他将与薄熙来仅仅就纺织品问题进行磋商。曼德尔森未透露详细内容。
薄熙来此前曾表示，他预计到今年夏季，中国对欧盟纺织品出口的急剧增长势头将有所放缓。
