Maria and the Von Trapp children sing “Do-Re-Mi” in a scene from The Sound of Music, co-presented in Hong Kong by the China Arts and Entertainment Group, a Chinese state-owned company. - Photo: The Sound of Music
HONG KONG (South China Morning Post): It has been more than four years since Hong Kong staged a Broadway musical. The last was The Lion King in December 2019. The drought ended this month with the return of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic The Sound of Music.
Directed by three-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, and led by an all-Broadway creative team, the production opened at the Xiqu Centre in the West Kowloon Cultural District on April 16 and runs until June 9.
The show, produced by Broadway International and Broadway Asia, is being co-presented this year by the China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), China’s only state-owned cultural enterprise that stages productions worldwide.
Founded in 2004, CAEG has two subsidiaries, China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) and China International Exhibition Agency (CIEA). In 2021, the group became part of the Bauhinia Culture Group, a state-owned cultural enterprise that was founded in Hong Kong that same year with a joint headquarters in Shenzhen.
Natalie Duncan, as Maria, sings in a scene from The Sound of Music. - Photo: The Sound of Music
Best known for organising the China pavilion at the Venice Biennale art exhibition in the 2000s, CAEG now presents more than 5,000 performances, exhibitions and cultural activities every year, such as the opera Marco Polo and musicals like San Xing Dui and, most recently, I Am What I Am.
Many of these productions are staged in theatres that CAEG directly manages, such as the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre, Daning Theatre in Shanghai and Guangzhou Opera House.
Musicals are relatively new in the [China] market, but they’re attractive to the system, and they’re doing quite well
* Wang Lu, general manager of China Performing Arts Agency
While CAEG began operating 20 years ago under the guidance of “starting from China and going global” – which might imply that the group’s interests lie squarely in promoting Chinese culture – CAEG has also led the charge in bringing Western musicals to China, given the growing market for musicals in the country.
“In mainland China, there are a lot of musical fans, including fans of Broadway, French and Chinese musicals,” says Wang Lu, general manager of China Performing Arts Agency.
A scene from The Sound of Music, which tells the story of a young Austrian woman named Maria who becomes governess to Captain von Trapp’s seven children. - Photo: The Sound of Music
It is part of the reason the group has brought Chinese versions of musicals such as Mamma Mia! and Cats to mainland China. But with The Sound of Music, Wang and Simone Genatt, co-founder of Broadway Asia, opted for the English version because of its allure of being an original Broadway production.
“The original Broadway musical is very attractive to the audience here,” says Genatt, who has worked with CAEG for over 20 years.
“It is a tremendously talented creative team, and I think that for us, on both sides, we were really focused at this time on that.
“Hong Kong has been closed to English-language musicals for a long time [because of Covid-19] – this is the first one that’s coming back after many years.” A Broadway version of the musical was staged in the city in 2005.
The Sound of Music is the first Broadway production to be put on at the Xiqu Centre, a step towards expanding its offerings from Chinese opera and original Hong Kong productions to Broadway musicals for domestic and international audiences, Genatt says.
Without a venue in Hong Kong, CAEG had to rent Xiqu. But it was an appropriate fit considering the production is in line with the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority’s plan to have performing arts venues that appealed to tourists.
The Sound of Music was chosen for its wide appeal.
The Von Trapp children sing So Long, Farewell for party guests in a scene from the musical. - Photo: The Sound of Music
“The Sound of Music is a particularly timeless work – it just celebrated its 65th anniversary,” Wang says. “It is considered suitable for all ages, and is appropriate for families.”
The production tells the story of a young Austrian woman, Maria Rainer, who becomes the governess of Captain von Trapp’s seven children. As she teaches the children how to sing, including the now-classic songs “Do-Re-Mi” and “My Favourite Things”; their lives are forever transformed.
In Hong Kong and internationally, the performances are led by Natalie Duncan as Maria, Corey Greenan as Von Trapp and Lauren Kidwell as Mother Abbess.
The musical’s Hong Kong run comprises 64 performances, up from the original 40, because of its success in mainland China, where it ran for 17 weeks in cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
Wang and Genatt note that while the market for musicals in both Hong Kong and mainland China is growing – there has been talk of bringing over the musical versions of Amélie and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – differences between the two remain.
Hong Kong is a very sophisticated market, Genatt says. “Musicals have been happening here for a long time – it’s a developed ecosystem.”
China, she says, emerged more recently. “In the past 20 years, they built over 100 large performing arts venues. It is rapidly growing from that point of view. But Hong Kong has a lot of the important tenets of business and operations that are key to a commercial run of a theatre [show].
Maria and the Von Trapp children sing Do-Re-Mi in a scene from The Sound of Music. - Photo: The Sound of Music
“It is a really well functioning city – its tickets, its marketing, its infrastructure. That’s important, because it definitely is ahead,” she says.
“China has its traditional arts, its circuses, its operas, things that function incredibly well. Musicals are relatively new in the market, but they’re attractive to the system, and they’re doing quite well.”
Wang adds: “We show in more cities in the mainland Chinese market, but in Hong Kong, we show for more weeks. Both are good, but it’s different.”
While the longest run of The Sound of Music on the mainland for a single city was about five weeks – typically it runs for two to three – in Hong Kong it is eight weeks.
“The Hong Kong audience’s appreciation is high,” says Wang. “First, they really appreciate this type of high-quality performance, and their performance viewing habits are also very good.
“Overall, the market for musicals is only growing.”
The Sound of Music, Grand Theatre, Xiqu Centre, 88 Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Until June 9. Tickets available at The Sound of Music Website. - SCMP
