Apparently, China's huge market offers enormous opportunities for Western-style musicals regardless of the language barrier, the country's seemingly underdeveloped facilities and operating systems. It's said that the number of musicals performed in China and their audiences are both on the rise annually.
   Commercial success have been made through a non-stop line-up of musical tours in recent years, such as "Mamma Mia", "Cats", as well as "The King and I", "42nd Street" (both shows were rehearsed and debuted in Shenzhen) and a Chinese version of "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." presented by Gotham-based Broadway Asia Entertainment.
   The Broadway Asia Entertainment (BAE) was created in 2005 by bringing together Broadway Asia Company and the Baruch/Frankel/Routh/Viertel Group. As the world's leading producer behind great shows like "Hairspray", "The Producer" and "Sweeney Todd", BAE exclusively represents the Rodgers & Hammerstein Theater Library in the whole Asia. Ambitiously, BAE has established a five-year plan to present two English-language Broadway tours, one Chinese-language tour, and a family show in China every year.
   Yet it was BAE's successful Asian tour of the beloved classic, "The Sound of Music", in 2004 that made the company realize that the Asian market had a huge crush on Western theater.
   Since the movie is well-known by millions of Chinese audiences, and favorite songs such as "Do-Re-Mi" and "Edelweiss" have been passed on from one generation to another, "Broadway's most popular musical" boasts of an even stronger appeal in China.
   As a result, only after a few months' break has BAE returned to China again with the latest tour of "The Sound of Music", promising original score and dance, costume and stage design. Kicking off in Chengdu in early April, the musical has toured in several Chinese cities and will be delighting audiences in Guangzhou and Shenzhen this month.
   Composed by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the 6-time Tony Award-winning "The Sound of Music" debuted on Broadway in 1959, and so far, more than 2,000 performances have been staged worldwide. It tells the enchanting story of Maria, a spirited young novice, who leaves the abbey to become a governess for Captain Von Trapp's seven unruly children. Endearing herself to the motherless kids and warming the heart of their stern widowed father, Maria discovers that the power of music and the magic of love may be all she needs. Rather touching.

Watch "The Sound of Music" in Shenzhen at the Shenzhen Grand Theater (for tickets,
0755 8981 2344/8251 4095) from July 17 to 23, and later in Guangzhou at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (for tickets, 020 8776 8099/ 8776 8660) from July 26 to 31.