Another Opening, Another Show
While cultural export is again a priority in China’s new Five Year Development Plan, investment in venue construction is still more visible than investment in exportable cultural products. The latest high-profile foray is a joint venture between the Beijing Oriental Songlei Musical Development Company (of Butterflies and Love U Teresa fame) and the Dongcheng District Government of Beijing, which (like every district) 
wants to make itself a “Center of Culture.” The Beijing Oriental Songlei Theatre (under construction) is part of this plan. Founded in the year 1989, the parent Songlei Group of Companies is a vast conglomeration of industries dealing in real estate, commerce, education, property management, banking, finance, transportation, culture, as well as media and communications. Such conglomerates are increasingly the developers of new venues.
It will be a proscenium theater with 1200-1400 seats, smallish stage, not unlike Broadway theaters, and a pit that can accommodate about 16 players. Terrific location, just south of the Dongsishitiao subway station and directly across the street from the Ministry of Culture along the Second Ring Road. They plan to be a mostly rental house, though understand that during the early years they will have to pay to bring in a certain number of shows. The theater will also present Beijing Oriental Songlei Musical Development Company’s own musicals, including the aforementioned “Love U, Teresa” and the new magic-themed musical “The Joker’s Game.”
Their focus is musical theater and general all-ages entertainment, i.e. magic shows and that ilk; including both domestic and international productions. The rental pricing structure is still in development, but I’m guessing the aim is to be more affordable than places of comparable size such as the nearby Poly Theatre. This is definitely a for-profit venue.
The most unusual and interesting aspect of the project is not only the active involvement, but also the public acknowledgement of the continuing involvement of foreign management expertise. Chinese veteran cultural producers and officials Li Dun (Chairman), Jiang Haiyan (CEO) and Pan Yong (CEO, Beijing Oriental Songlei Theatre) are joined by Broadway veterans Tony Stimac and Don Franz as respectively Chief and Company Consultants. Dance specialist and recent Kennedy Center Fellow Alison Friedman serves as Director of Programming.
Contacted for his comments, Stimac waxed euphoric: “This is historic. To date there is not one theatre in China that a big musical can book for an open-ended run; this theatre will break that mold. On top of that, this is one of the first venues dedicated to musical theater. It really is a break through.” A grand opening Broadway gala review is slated for Oct. 28, 2011, with plans for a three-day theater-related conference the preceding week.