Soul of Shaolin

[doug maverick]

out of the system. guess it happened during the system crash. oh well.hopefully ill be able to write more.

[GeneChing]

It's right here: Soul of Shaolin - Shaolin Comes to Broadway by Douglas Ferguson (photos by Kelly Fung). It dropped off the front page and is currently on archive page 3, but it's still there.

Don't scare me like that.

[doug maverick]

i was searching for it by name and the only thing under my name was lee/gendary so i thought it got erased. oh sorry for the mix up, gene.

[GeneChing]

Since we just migrated the site to a new server, there's liable to be some broken links and funky search issues for a spell. Wait until the cyberdust settles and it should come up again.

[GeneChing]

I'm ready for that national U.S. tour now. I've got to find the one-armed monk!

"Soul of Shaolin" Nominated for Drama Desk Award
2009-05-02 14:15:28

"Soul of Shaolin," an inaugural "China on Broadway" production, was awarded a nomination for the Drama Desk Awards in the category of Unique Theatrical Experience.

The Drama Desk Award, created in 1955, is an award honoring shows produced on Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and for legitimate not-for-profit theaters.

Nominations for the 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards were announced recently in New York.

"Soul of Shaolin," staged at Broadway's Marquis Theatre this January, marked the first time a production from China has appeared on Broadway and been nominated for one of the most prestigious awards honoring theatrical events in New York.

It features 30 Chinese nationals who are highly skilled in Shaolin Kung Fu. The story is about a boy taken in by the legendary monks of the Shaolin temple and raised among them, and becomes an accomplished master of Shaolin Kung Fu and embarks on a spectacular journey of self-discovery.

The 54th Annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony will be held on May 17 at Lincoln Center's LaGuardia Concert Hall of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.

As a Drama Desk Awards nominee, "Soul of Shaolin" is scheduled to return in 2010 and start a national tour in the United States.

Over the past 50 years, the prestige of the Drama Desk Awards has helped launch the careers of many major stars and playwrights.

[GeneChing]

and it lost to Liza!?!

Tonys Retire Award for Special Event
Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF
Published: June 19, 2009

Once Liza Minnelli, right, has been given an award, can anyone else truly win it? In the case of the Tony Award for special theatrical event, the answer is an unequivocal no. The Tonys will no longer bestow an award in that category starting with the 2009-10 season, press representatives said in a news release. The decision was approved this week by the Tonys’ administration and management committees. The award, won most recently by Ms. Minnelli’s show “Liza’s at the Palace ...,” had become something of a grab bag: the other nominees for the 2008-9 season included the Will Ferrell show “You’re Welcome America. A Final Night With George W Bush”; the Russian clown show “Slava’s Snowshow”; and “Soul of Shaolin,” a martial-arts production. The award category was created in 2001 for a live theatrical production that is not a play or a musical.

[GeneChing]

Interesting insight in China/US theater relationships.

Give My Regards to Beijing: Five Questions for Robert Nederlander Jr.
September 15, 2009 Davi Napoleon

There are people who love to pack their bags and head out. Me, I’d rather vacation in my backyard. And when producers bring shows to me, I’m grateful.

During my formative years, I circled the globe with the help of Harvey Lichtenstein, who brought the world to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Since I moved to Michigan, I’ve depended on the University Musical Society (UMS), which has saved me innumerable schleps to London; I’ve enjoyed top Shakespeare companies and Simon McBurney’s remarkable Complicite in Ann Arbor. This season, UMS has booked my passage to Russia for the Maly Drama Theater of St. Petersburg’s Uncle Vanya.* I’ll be home by bedtime.

Thanks to the Nederlanders, whose theaters in Detroit present a variety of national tours, I’m also able to enjoy the best of Broadway without boarding a flight. I’ve always associated the Nederlander name with Broadway and Detroit, where the family began to build the theatrical empire David T. Nederlander founded in 1912 when he bought the Detroit Opera House.

Now the Nederlanders, who produce, co-produce, and book in their theaters, own nine houses on Broadway, three in London, and several in various parts of the United States.

Fortunately, Robert Nederlander Jr., president of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment (NWE), who acquired the Nederlander theaters in San Francisco, Bethesda, and Sarasota for off-Broadway as well as Broadway offerings, doesn’t share my aversion to travel. In 2000, he began exploring the possibility of taking mega musicals to China, and in 2005, NWE formed Nederlander New Century (NNC) with a Chinese partner, marking the first foreign joint venture the Chinese government allowed in its performing arts industry. Audiences throughout China and America are the beneficiaries.

In 2007, NNC brought 42nd Street to nine cities in China, and the next year, they brought a Chinese dance company to New York to perform The Dream of the Red Chamber. That was just the start of something new. I talked to Robert Nederlander Jr. about it.

DN: You toured Savion Glover’s tap dance show internationally. But when you started taking huge Broadway musicals to China, you took touring to a new level. What’s different and what’s the same about taking a Broadway hit to, say, Detroit and taking the same show to Beijing? Do you market a show the same way, for instance?

RN: There are several aspects to that. One relates to the technical challenges that we or any Western producer faces traveling about China. The audience is still relatively new outside of Shanghai and Beijing, so there’s a an educational process to exactly what Broadway is….It’s only recently that the concept of having to purchase tickets as a single ticket buyer has developed in many markets. You acquire tickets through friends or through your workplace as opposed to buying them as an individual, and changing buying habits is one of the challenges for any Western company.

It’s not an easy environment to do business in. It just takes time. You have significant cultural differences in how business is undertaken, and there’s a language barrier. English is taught in the schools, and it’s widespread. With that said, this certainly isn’t universal, and any show that comes in has superscript text translation that most theaters are capable of supporting.

You learn that without a great interpreter, you’ll have trouble in whatever you do. I remember early on I was conducting a negotiation, and it was an interpreter I hadn’t worked with before. I don’t remember the exact nature of the point that was being negotiated, but I recall saying I needed to consult an attorney regarding it. After a long pause, the response I received was something to the effect, ‘Well go ahead, you can try.’ I thought that was a puzzling response, so I asked the interpreter. ‘You said you were going to explore suing him.’

You want to catch those mistakes early. You just gotta be flexible and you gotta be prepared to take your lumps.

There’s also the language of our business. We have particular terminology and having great interpreters who understand the vernacular [is essential to creating] an effective bridge between a local technical team and our technical team. You’re locked into a schedule and being able to load in and out is essential. The more time it takes to set up a show, the fewer shows you’re able to perform whenever you tour across anywhere. In the United States, there are certainly regional differences in how shows are presented and marketed, and having a local partner with a strong familiarity with local conditions is fundamental, too.

DN: How do you develop those partnerships?

RN: I’ve probably hosted between 50 and 100 cultural delegations to China. Over time and through those visits, you find as you would anywhere groups or individuals with common interests. You seek out those who share the same goals, and it’s a win-win arrangement. Like any solid partnership, it takes time to mature, and a lot of patience.

DN: You brought a bit of China back to Broadway. How did you become involved in The Dream of the Red Chamber and Soul of Shaolin? Can you tell us a little about those shows?

RN: This began as a mutual interest between ourselves and the different Chinese partners that we have. There’s a genuine interest in China and Chinese culture here in the United States. [People want to understand China and make connections.] What better way to bridge that gap than through cultural performances?

DN: It seems to this casual onlooker that you were born to Broadway, even if you’re taking Broadway half way around the world. But you didn’t study theater or arts management, did you? Your University of Michigan degrees are in economics and computer science, then law, and you practiced law for a while. I gather you also enjoy football. Still, you’ve become part of and expanded the family business. How do you blend your interests?

RN: I practiced law for several years here in New York City. Then I thought there were some interesting opportunities working in the family business and taking advantage of my education and legal skill set. I use it quite often. Everything we do is contract based. What a contract means is a bit different in China than here, and my legal background allows me to be a more effective negotiator.

DN: I bet I missed something important. Please answer a question I didn’t think to ask.

RN: I’m asked quite a bit ‘Why China?’ and perhaps today there’s an obvious answer. It’s one of the fastest growing economies in the world with tremendous opportunities. It wasn’t as obvious ten years ago when I started this. I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to the opportunity back then.

We’ve had a tremendous response to 42nd Street and Aida. We have Fame, which will open at the end of the year. We co-produced a Chinese language version of Fame last year with Beijing Central Academy of Drama [but] there’s a preference for authenticity in China and having Western actors performing the show in English is something people are willing to pay the premium necessary to support the high cost of touring.

Aside from the distance, I always enjoy going there.

[GeneChing]

Soul was preceded by Shaolin in the Wind and Wheel of Life.

And now for Shaolin kung fu - the musical
2009-10-16

Performers, mostly athletes trained at the Shaolin Temple, practice meditation during the "Soul of Shaolin" show.

KUNG fu meets music, dance and extravagant stage effects in what may be China's first martial arts musical. Wang Jie reports. Said to be the first theatrical combination of Shaolin kung fu, musical theater and dance, the martial arts musical spectacle, "Soul of Shaolin," will run from October 29 to 31 at the Shanghai Theater Academy.

The show was performed 24 times on Broadway in January and nominated for a Tony Award.

The 90-minute extravaganza is set in ancient China and tells the story of Hui Guang, a baby separated from his mother.

Found and raised by monks in the legendary Shaolin Temple in Henan Province, the precocious Hui is trained in the ways of kung fu.

He becomes a kung fu master, undertakes a journey of self-discovery and eventually is reunited with his mother.

"Fusing a special scenario into the traditional Shaolin kung fu is a way to elevate its image, otherwise kung fu is always about fighting or showing off," says Ye Jianqiu, the show's marketing manager.

The show took five years in preparation and was well received on Broadway early this year, he says.

The performance encompasses Chinese boxing, sword fighting and combat with other ancient weapons, like the whip.

The highlight comes when two martial artists are fighting on 20, two-meter-high platforms.

"Sometimes the on-site visual impact is amazing," says Xue Baojun, executive director of the show. "You can't imagine the audience's excitement.

The show's 30 Chinese actors are mostly athletes trained in Shaolin.

But turning martial artists into performers was difficult.

"At the very start, they could only fight instead of performing on stage," Xue says. "But the 'Soul of Shaolin' is a martial arts spectacle with a story and vivid characters. Kung fu athletes need to express inner feelings, like agony and joy through kung fu movements."

For example, Hui demonstrates "drunken boxing" to express his inner conflicts.

"Kung fu is an emotional release that allows the actors to 'speak'," Xue says.

Apart from training athletes in basic acting, Xue also focused on the music and stage design.

So why did it lose the Tony Award? "It was because of our music which wasn't impressive enough, and we didn't have big names," Xue says. "Just imagine the public enthusiasm if Jet Li played the main role?"

Xue cites "Les Miserables," a Tony Award winner in 1987 (best musical, best score and other honors), a drama that has been performed for years.

"'Les Miserables' adjusts from time to time to cater to audience's taste. Today it's a masterpiece with good box office sales.

"We also need to polish 'Soul of Shaolin' in its music and stage design, and that takes a lot of money. But we are still confident we can build it into a Chinese masterpiece," he says.

Their experience on Broadway was an education.

"You can't imagine how keen they (Westerners) are on every small detail," says Xue. "The props and sets are perfect. We really need to learn from their attitude."

However, Xue also admits Westerners seem more interested in "Soul of Shaolin" than Chinese.

"Perhaps Chinese people are too familiar with Shaolin kung fu," Xue says. "But I'm sure that if they watch the show, they will find it's totally different from films or TV series about martial arts."

The popularity of Shaolin kung fu also stems from its tradition that stresses virtue and goodness of heart, trains both temperament and body.

Says Xue: "That's the real charisma behind Shaolin kung fu."



Date: October 29-31, 7:30pm
Address: 630 Huashan Rd
Tickets: 180-380 yuan
Tel: 962-388, 6248-5600

[GeneChing]

I know some people in that neighborhood...

Eastern stars shine in Sevierville
* Laura Bower, news@knoxvillebiz.com
* Posted January 3, 2010 at midnight

SEVIERVILLE - Chinese acrobats are jumping through hoops to attract Smoky Mountain tourists to their production and promote Sino-American relations, and are generating more than $1 million in annual revenue in the process.

A quiet influx of Chinese residents in Sevier County is causing a cultural shift in the entertainment community. Cirque de Chine performers at Governors Crossing call East Tennessee home for nine months out of the year. Lizhi Zhao, president of the Shanghai Lichuang Entertainment Co., oversees operations at the Smoky Mountain Palace Theater as well as at another venue in Branson, Mo. It is Zhao's vision to raise awareness about Chinese arts and heritage and to facilitate a cultural exchange between China and America.

Branson and Sevier County may seem unlikely locations to build foreign relations with business overtones, but the Chinese acrobats and soon-to-arrive Shaolin warrior monks may change that perception.

With 10 years of experience in Branson and 25 years in Shanghai, Zhao was looking to expand operations when he first visited Sevier County in 2003. Four years later he purchased the Smoky Mountain Palace Theater and invested $9.5 million to launch Cirque de Chine in 2007. Since then, Zhao has put an additional $4 million into developing a first-rate production that is unlike anything else in the area.

Some 50 performers, ranging in age from 14 to over 30, plus their coaches, chefs, drivers and translators, set up residence in nearby condominiums for the season. They come primarily from remote villages in rural western Chongqing, one of China's four provincial-level municipalities. The municipality of Chongqing has a registered population of more than 31 million. Its boundaries reach much ****her into the hinterland than those of the other three provincial municipalities: Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

The feeling is mutual

Cirque de Chine actually is composed of three different performing troupes: the traditional Chinese acrobats, the Jungjo Drums all-girl ensemble, featured at the Beijing Summer Olympics, and the flying motorcyclists. Most of the performers speak dialects of Cantonese or Mandarin, but they have some difficulty understanding each other. None of them speaks English. Their lives here are structured: three to four hours of practice a day with nightly performances plus matinees on Tuesday and Saturday. But that's nothing compared to the rigorous training these disciplined young people experienced in China.

Tao Zilin and Jiao Lurong, the "panda girls" as they are affectionately referred to within the company, are 14 years old. They have been training and performing together for 10 years. Like Olympic athletes, the children were identified early and sent to elite acrobatic schools, where they honed their craft eight hours a day. Although they are more like sisters than co-workers, both playful girls consider Cirque de Chine their job. They've been to McDonald's and Walmart and Dollywood, but the troupe is their life.

In the off-season, Tao and Jiao will have just enough time to taste some home-cooked dumplings before hitting the road to travel around China to perform. Their outside contact in Sevierville is limited due to time constraints, but they are warm and smiling, eager to engage the audience before and after each performance.

Jim Callicott, media and public relations manager for Smoky Mountain Palace Theater, said the community loves the Cirque de Chine performers. He said the one-of-a-kind production has become a theater of destination primarily by word of mouth. There are meet-and-greets every Monday at area hotels, and the popular drum girls make local appearances at events like the recent grand opening of the Thai Thani restaurant. Sevier County residents repeatedly see the show, according to Callicott, who notes that attendance is up despite the lackluster economy.

In fact, Zhao says Cirque de Chine's revenue has increased each of the past three years - from $390,000 in 2007 to $910,000 in 2008 and $1.2 million in 2009. He expects the company to break even in its fourth year, grossing $2 million. Attendance dropped off slightly during the holiday season, but Zhao isn't discouraged. In fact, he recently acquired the theater that formerly housed the Great China Acrobats on Sevier's Parkway and will open a new show there this spring.

Zhao believes a silver lining of the recession is that he can make additional investments. He purchased the Parkway property from Sevier County Bank for less than $1 million. He has big hopes for the highly visible venue, which will introduce Soul of Shaolin to the area in March.

Soul of Shaolin, a Tony Award-winning show, is the first production from the Peoples Republic of China to appear on Broadway. The production refers to Shaolin Temple, a 1,500-year-old Buddhist monastery in the Henan Province closely associated with martial arts.

The Soul of Shaolin performers are warrior monks who perform choreographed martial arts. These practicing Buddhist monks will live in separate housing from the Cirque de Chine performers and will have their own support staff. Consequently, the seasonal Chinese population in Pigeon Forge will continue to expand.

Cultural exchange

Wayne Williams retired to Sevierville 12 years ago from Maryland where he was a regional manager for the national Trailways bus system. Now he's a part-time cashier at Walmart and one of Cirque de Chine's biggest fans. Williams has seen the Cirque de Chine performance at least 70 times this season and loves everything about it. The commitment of the youngsters, their smiles and work ethic amazes Williams, he said, explaining that he looks forward to seeing the show three to four nights a week.

Sevier County residents receive a discount off the performances' regular $29.95 ticket price, but Williams said he would pay the full price to see the performers.

And the feeling is mutual, according to Grace Zhao, marketing specialist and translator for Cirque de Chine. She said Williams remembers the birthdays of the performers and brings cards and flowers. He has become an honored grandfather figure to the acrobats, who don't need to speak English to communicate through hugs. Grace Zhao, no relation to Lizhi Zhao, described East Tennesseans as warm and accepting and said the experience has been positive for the performers, many of whom are traveling outside China for the first time.

Chen Zue plays one of the butterfly lovers in an acrobatic ballet sequence of Cirque to Chine. She does 1,000 pushups a day to stay in shape for her physically demanding role in the show. During the performance, she is suspended from the ceiling by flowing streamers that swing her out over the audience. At one point in the sequence, Chen gracefully lifts her male partner, who also is intertwined in the fabric, creating the need for the upper body strength.

In her limited free time, Chen likes to shop, making forays to Tanger Outlet, West Town Mall and Sunrise Chinese Market in West Knoxville. Calvin Klein jeans cost three times as much in China as they do here, according to Chen. She and the other troupe members also purchase laptops, MP3 players and other gadgets to take back to China.

The Cirque de Chine performers eat the occasional pizza or cheeseburger at local restaurants, but they prefer Asian noodles prepared by their resident chef. Most performers must adhere to specific weight restrictions in order to contort their bodies and create the complicated human pyramids that are part of the show. The hoop divers and springboard acrobats are captivating in motion. Funnel cakes and other fattening treats are not on the menu. In fact, the athletic Chinese visitors expressed amazement at Sevier County's portly tourist population.

Like their American counterparts, the Chinese teenagers like to go to the movies. "Transformers" was a big hit. Excursions are chaperoned, and the younger troupe members are only permitted to venture out in groups of three or more. The company also shows films with Chinese subtitles in the Smoky Mountain Palace Theater for the performers during their off time. The kids talk on the phone or make Internet videos and make calls to their parents almost daily. They shoot basketball and pool and play soccer in the parking lot before performances. Homesickness is held at bay by a fierce commitment to perfection.

Backstage before the show, the mood is one of focus and discipline. Despite their young age, the acrobats are not prone to horseplay. There's no need for supervision as they prepare to go on stage. The performers apply their own makeup, look after their costumes and clean up their dressing rooms. They take turns emptying the trash. There's even a note above the light switch, written in Chinese characters, to remind the last person out to turn off the light.

Amanda Marr, marketing director for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce, said the troupe's economic impact has been significant. It's a Las Vegas-caliber show at an affordable price point, she explained. Marr promotes Cirque de Chine to travel writers on media blitzes because its something unique among the area's country, gospel, bluegrass and comedy shows. Its a $175 show for $30 a ticket, she said. Primary competitors are the Dixie Stampede, the Comedy Barn and the Black Bear Jamboree.

[GeneChing]

continued from previous page

Living in harmony

The cultural impact is significant as well, according to Marr. Cirque de Chine has performed at Rotary luncheons and regularly participates in Sevierville's Winterfest and Bloomin BBQ & Bluegrass Festival, although barbecue is off-limits because of the troupe's strict training diet. The company has worked hard to raise awareness and visibility through community involvement.

Cirque de Chine successfully completed its first annual Adopted Chinese Children's Reunion in July 2009, bringing 1,000 visitors to the area from around the country. For the American families, the experience was invaluable. The adopted Chinese children learned about their heritage and Chinese culture and were able to meet other families and interact with other Chinese children.

In August, the Shanghai Federation of Literacy and Art Circles designated the Smoky Mountain Palace Theater as its official U.S. office and as a Chinese cultural exchange center through which a number of acclaimed American artists will be selected to go to China to perform. Sevierville beat out New York City and Washington, D.C., for the coveted designation.

Lizhi Zhao continues to think big as he looks to the future. In addition to Cirque de Chine and Soul of Shaolin, he hopes to open a Chinese restaurant in Sevierville to further enhance the overall experience for visitors. For the performers, he's planning an activity center and additional condominiums.

"It is my deep impression that Americans are friendly," he said through a translator. "The people of Sevierville are compatible and allow us to live in harmony."

Laura Bower is a freelance contributor to the News Sentinel.

[GeneChing]

Three-night run.

Experience the Soul of Shaolin in Shanghai
2010-02-08 09:59:13 - The acclaimed theatre production Soul of Shaolin is coming to Shanghai next month.

Excitement is growing among theatre-goers in Shanghai over the return of Soul of Shaolin.

Fresh from a highly-acclaimed spell on Broadway, the show will be back in China for a three-night run at the Shanghai City Theatre next month.

Soul of Shaolin features 30 performers skilled in the art of Shaolin kung fu and tells the story of Hui Guang, an abandoned
child who is raised by the legendary monks and grows up to be martial arts master.

The show debuted at New York's Marquis Theatre in January 2009 as part of the China on Broadway series of productions.

It received rave reviews from many American critics, with the New York Post describing the show as "a dazzling display of skill", while the Associated Press called it "astonishing and amazing".

According to the show's executive director Xue Weijun: "The story of Shaolin is timeless and appeals to all audiences, young and old."

People booking accommodation in Shanghai (www.asiarooms.com/china/shanghai.html) may not want to miss the latest run of Soul of Shaolin, which will take place from March 12th to 14th.

Ticket prices range from 100 yuan (£9.30) to 300 yuan and the performance gets underway at 19:30 local time each night.

[GeneChing]

Chinese artists seek global influence in producing dramas, musicals
English.news.cn 2010-05-17 01:46:30
by Xinhua writers Li Huizi, Wang Pan

GUANGZHOU, May 16 (Xinhua) - Deng Jun's dream is to make the well-known Chinese scroll painting "Along the River during Qingming Festival" alive on the international stage of performing arts.

The scroll painting, which had been done by the Northern Song (960-1127) painter Zhang Zeduan, offers glimpses of the institutions, economy, culture and customs in the Song capital, Bianjing, the most prosperous metropolis in the world then.

Deng, general manager of Guangdong Southern Cultural Development Co. Ltd, is planning to bring his company's dance performance based on the painting to Canada.

The dance troupe is currently touring China, and will give performances on the Canadian stage in July next year.

"The dance has been targeting international audience from the very beginning," Deng told Xinhua.

Analysts say the global performing arts market has great potentials.

Toby Simkin, vice president and executive producer of the U.S. Broadway-based Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, told a forum in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, that the profitable market is worthy of big investment.

A veteran Broadway producer, Simkin has produced, managed or marketed over 150 productions over the past two decades, including various Tony Award winning shows.

With the expansion of the cultural industry reform, China' s state-run art troupes and performing companies, including that of Deng's, have gradually abandoned the "iron rice bowl" concept and become participants of market competitions.

They set eyes on the international arena and choreographed an increasing number of Chinese dramas, acrobatics, ballet and musicals to target international audience and earn more profits through overseas box office.

Domestic performing companies struck 25 deals with overseas stage performance agents at a week-long trade fair of performing arts in Guangzhou that ended Sunday, with contracts involving more than 100 million yuan (14.7 million U.S. dollars), organizers say.

The deals include introducing the Chinese original musical "Butterfly Lovers" to Europe and U.S., a traditional opera costume show to Australia, the Cantonese opera "Red Boat," or "Hua Yue Ying," to Qatar, a puppet show to Germany, Kungfu drama "The Soul of Shaolin" and acrobatic show "Journey to the West" to Europe.

Zhang Ning, art director of a cultural and media company in east China's Shandong Province, will lead a troupe to give the traditional Chinese opera costume show in Australia.

"We've considered overseas tours when we were choreographing the show, so we have chosen costumes as the theme because there will be no language barrier," said Zhang.

He said they had conducted thorough investigations on overseas viewers and their viewing habits for seven years before the show was introduced overseas. "This process was very tough," he said.

"China will not export low-quality cultural products. The export channel for Chinese arts must be improved so that they could compete in the global market," he said.

GLOBAL INTEREST IN CHINA STORY

Many domestic performing companies believe stage performances featuring Chinese ethnic minorities are popular with overseas audience.

Prof. Gerhard Feltl, president of Vienna-based Wiener Stadthalle Ltd, a major art performance company of Austria and organizer of the Vienna Art Festival, said Shaolin Kungfu and Chinese acrobatics are welcomed by European audiences.

However, Feltl said, "It was much easier ten years ago (to promote Chinese art performances in Europe) since everything was new." He said as there are now so many Chinese shows and due to expansion of globalization and progress in telecommunication technologies, performances staged in Europe should have" unique selling points."

"What is the difference from the other shows? That is the crucial point. I think in the future Chinese productions must focus on that," he said, adding productions staged overseas should be "diversified."

He is currently visiting China to see "what they can add to his business," as there are big opportunities in China. His Vienna-based company headquarters attracts 1.2 million visitors annually, including big names.

"Soul of Shaolin" will tour Europe and stage 100 shows because Feltl struck a deal with its Chinese producer, China Heaven Creation, at the Guangzhou performance fair. He said interesting Chinese stories and mythology are selling points.

He recommended that European companies hoping to enter the Chinese market should cooperate with a Chinese company which is familiar with the market and "knows all, both the written and unwritten rules."

Broadway's Simkin said his company is trying to make western audiences knowing little about China understand Chinese shows. His business consulting company, based in Shanghai and set up six years ago, is helping Chinese companies to stage successful shows in the West and help western producers who want to bring their shows to China. "I' m a bridge between the two and trying to assist the cultural and audience differences."

Last year, Simkin brought "Soul of Shaolin" to Broadway and he received Tony nomination for that show. He also brought "Dream of Red Mansion" of Shanghai Ballet to New York' s Lincoln Center last year. The ballet show was a huge success.

Currently, Simkin is working on a show that will be "very exiting and possibly would be China' s first musical on Broadway."

"We want China's first big show in America to be something that is so strong and so good and open a ground that people would love it. We want to pick the right show and develop the right way."

(Xinhua writers Wang Lili in Beijing and Lai Shaofen in Guangzhou also contributed to the story)

From Broadway to Europe!

[GeneChing]

There's a vid if you follow the link.

"Soul of Shaolin" brings Chinese Kung Fu to Sevierville stage
6:55 PM, Nov 18, 2010

In Zhengzhou City Henan Province of what is now the People's Republic of China sits Shaolin Temple where for centuries, people have been learning Shaolin Kung Fu. It's was the inspiration for the show Soul of Shaolin which debuted on Broadway in 2009.

"Shaolin Temple is very famous and known for it's Chinese Kung-Fu and martial arts," says Han Yan, who does Marketing for the production. "Every year lots of people, boys and girls, go to Shaolin Temple to practice."

Soul of Shaolin was nominated for two prestigious awards, a Tony and a Drama Desk award.

"When we did the show in Broadway, it was so popular. Sometimes people would buy the standing ticket to watch the show."

Soul of Shaolin follows the hero, Hui Guang, a child who is seprated from his mother. As a baby, he is left at Shaolin Temple during wartime. Hui Guang is raised by monks (who thought the baby was an orphan) and taught Shaolin Kung Fu. Hui Guang's mother leaves part of a jade necklace with the baby and keeps the other half. The play focuses on the hero growing up and the mother trying to find him.

"It's a very touching story between an orphan boy and his mother," says Han Yan.

Thirty cast members make up the cast. Most of them were chosen for the play from Shaolin Temple and all of them starred on Broadway.

The youngest, 11-year-old Wang Sen, has been practicing Chinese Kung-Fu since he was 5. He plays the hero as a young boy.

"I practiced at Shaolin Temple," he tells us through a interpretor. "One day the director of Soul of Shaolin came to the Temple and selected me and I'm here."

While small in size, Wang Sen is a dynamo on the stage. With his parents and siblings still in China, the 11 year old has become the group's baby brother.

"They treat me like a younger brother. I feel very happy to be with them."

In his off-time, Wang Sen likes to enjoy things that most 11- year-olds enjoy.

"I like playing football games. My team mates and I also play video games."

Stepping into the role of the hero as a young man is 23-year-old Yu Fei. Like many of the other cast members, he was chosen by the director from Shaolin Temple.

"I started practicing Chinese Kung Fu when I was very young so I'm really enthusiastic about it," he tell us through a translator. "I like both New York Broadway and East Tennessee. Both of the places are fantastic and the audiences from both places are very enthusiastic and friendly to us."

Twenty-three year old Wang Yazhi is one of only two female cast members.

"I studied Chinese opera for more than 10 years," she says.

During her leisure time, she practices Chinse Kung Fu and works on her English.

"At first when I started to act with these actors, it was a little bit hard, I hurt a little bit physically," she tell us through a translator. "Now, I feel better and I feel the audiences like the show very much so I feel happy."

The cast of Soul of Shaolin sticks to a strict routineevery day.

"I get up at 6:40 every morning for exercise," says Yu Fei. "From 6:30 to 7:50 a.m. we will run in our neighborhood. After 7:50 a.m., the whole morning we will be at home. At 3 O'clock each afternoon, we start training again and from 3 to 5 every afternoon and then we have dinner and start preparing the night show from 7:15 p.m."

All three cast members say they love being in East Tennessee but admit it's hard to be so far away from family.

"Of course sometimes I'm homesick," says Wang Yazhi. "But I feel very happy to be working with my team members, my colleagues, my coach and our manager. We are just like a family."

Soul of Shaolin runs Monday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at The Eastern Shanghai Theater in Sevierville. For more information visit www.easternshanghaitheater.com or call (877) 453-1188.

[sha0lin1]

We visited them in May. One of my Masters brothers is the head coach for the team. It is interesting that some of the original cast are still there after this troup toured around. It is sad though that they keep such a strict control over the group. They might like East Tennessee but they don't get out very much to see it. We tried to take them out to for a foray into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park on their day off, but their manager called a last minute cast meeting and they were unable to go. It was sad to see the look in their eyes as we left them, you could tell they really wanted to go.

[Chief_Suicide]

http://www.smokymountainpalace.com/

and

http://easternshanghaitheater.com/

Both of these are down by the Smoky mountains. I was hoping to see them.. maybe this year.