The popularity of foreign productions has resulted in an influx of investments in China's theater scene, which has in turn helped local production houses to generate their own original content. photos provided to china daily

While foreign musicals have enjoyed immense success in major Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, the state of China’s own musical theater industry is, in stark contrast, stuck in a primitive state, according to Richard Fei, vice manager of Shanghai Culture Square.

He attributed this to the fact that the notion of visiting the theater is still considered a luxury to many people in China. Furthermore, he noted that arts and culture have yet to become a priority among the vast majority of Chinese people, with most of them preferring to spend on matters such as education, healthcare and owning a piece of real estate.

According to Fei, no more than 5 percent of Chinese productions achieve financial success. As a result, Shanghai Culture Square and other production companies have naturally been cautious and even reluctant at times to produce their own musical shows. This in turn results in theater workers in China lacking vital experience in producing quality content.

Fei said that one of the main problems is the fact that the composer has never been at the core of the creative process for a made-in-China musical.