'Spin': Chinese musicals take center stage

“Chinese audiences are hard to please,” says Zhong Yanle, and she should know. Zhong Yanle, the leading actress of the musical "Spin," is not exaggerating either.

Since the musical "Les Misérables" made its China tour in 2001, Chinese audience showed great enthusiasm towards Western musicals, continuing to show support for "Cats," "Lion King," "AIDA" and "The Phantom of the Opera." However, when local theaters attempted to stage homegrown musicals, the local reaction was tempered at best. With almost a decade under its belt, the Chinese musical industry has failed to produce a hit.

As someone who has been singing in Western musical theaters for more than a decade -- her credits include "Lavender Girl" (Edinburgh Festival), "The King and I" and "Avenue Q" (West End) -- Zhong Yanle has her own explanation as to Chinese audiences’ lukewarm response towards local productions.

“I think it’s quite normal," Yanle says. "It’s not that we don’t have talent, the young actors, actresses I worked with in the musical 'Spin,' all have great voices.”

“However,” she continues. “Musicals have a long history the West, while our local productions are still at the infant stage. What we don’t have are experienced producers, directors and composers. You can’t blame the audience for not giving their heartfelt support to our own work, which seems immature after audiences have sampled the best of Western musicals.”

Working for change

Although the concept of a homegrown Chinese musical hasn’t wooed local audiences yet, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre (SDAC) is working to develop the local scene through localization of Western productions.

In 2006 SDAC co-produced Broadway musical “I Love You” with Broadway Asia, a breakthrough effort localizing Broadway musicals. It was the first Broadway musical performed by a local cast where lyrics are adapted into Chinese, and won critical acclamation after touring Shanghai, Beijing and New York. This year, in co-operation the Finish ACE-Production, SDAC introduced Finnish musical comedy “Spin,” another international collaboration featuring musical talents from home and abroad, starring Zhong Yanle.

I wouldn’t say localizing successful Western musicals is the solution to produce Chinese musicals, I still hope in the future we can have a bona fide local musical production. But I do think this, localizing a Western production, is a great start and help get more support from the local audiences.— Zhong Yanle, musical actress

“I have been waiting for a good role in a good local musical play to come back [to China].” Zhong Yanle says. “And ‘Spin’ definitely is interesting enough to get me on board.”

Off key

However, even an adapted Western musical can have problem. Sitting in the audience at a preview of the show at SDAC, it was clear the show was catering to the tastes of young people’s with a plot focusing on the entertainment business and modern themes -- not necessarily the quality of the music itself.

The songs sounded forced with Chinese lyrics.

Zhong Yanle confirmed our doubts. “[The clash between the words and music] is inevitable because the original notes and lyrics are composed and written to achieve the best result in another language,” she explains. “While adapting the original lyrics into Chinese, sometimes don’t go well with the music. I had a hard time adjusting myself singing in Chinese at the beginning of rehearsal. ”

The local musical diva is still confident about the show though. “I wouldn’t say localizing successful Western musicals is the solution to produce Chinese musicals, I still hope in the future we can have a bona fide local musical production. But I do think this, localizing a Western production, is a great start and help get more support from the local audiences.”

Synopsis of Spin: Daniel Jackson, a journalist, reveals a conspiracy behind the deaths of the stars like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and John Lennon. They were eliminated because they turned youth against the establishment. The journalist starts his crusade to save a popular pop star Chantal de Milo as well as his own honor and reputation.