Chinese inspired Broadway style performance to premier in Beijing

Stage show set to dispel China cliches and boost nation's reputation around the world, Yang Cheng and Zhang Shiyi report.

Cross-culture commentators share a view that Westerners find the 5,000-year-old Chinese culture hard to understand and that misunderstandings have escalated year by year.

No stage performances have been as well received in Beijing as the Moulin rouge or Mama Mia and the hits have lured tourists to visit the places where the shows were set. But to date, no popular blockbuster about Chinese history has ever been attempted in the entertainment and performance sector.

A Western-packaged Chinese history-inspired stage play is set change this and dispel commentators' clichs.

Terracotta Warriors 3D, produced by Law Brothers Chinese Performing Arts International, is due to hit Beijing in early September. The producers believe that this could be the first time in history that a true 3D theatrical show is mounted.

The show will use the world's first 3D LED screen as a background, cutting-edge 3D technology and savvy knowledge of Western tastes to try and fairly represent both cultures.

"Everything we put on the stage is authentically Chinese - it has a kind of special packaging to interpret the history and culture that makes it more appealing for international audiences," said Dennis Law, president and CEO of Sight, Sound & Action and Law Brothers Chinese Performing Arts International. Law added, "I do not believe anyone has ever combined hi-definition cinema with an action-packed live-action theater."

Commentators agreed the company was in a good position to fill the void for a Chinese culture-inspired show for foreign audiences and those with a thirst for Chinese culture.

The Law Brothers has its own content, troupe, theatre and brings its own unique experience and profile.

Aim

The 67-year-old CEO is a retired surgeon who lives in Denver, Colorado.

He started out in the field of entertainment by producing the Warriors of Virtue, which highlighted the five elements of Chinese virutes "ren, yi, li, zhi, xin", or benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trust. MGM, Warner Brothers and Columbia Artists distributed the $35 million family feature film worldwide in 1996.

Law's other productions include action musicals - Heaven & Earth, Senses, Heartbeat, Tang Concubines, Phoenixia, Heartbeat Hawaii and Monkey King, which won him and his firm a number of laurels at home and abroad.

Terracotta Warriors was performed 219 times in leading theaters in Canada and the US since 2004, in preparation for the 3D LED version to be premiered in Beijing.

All of Law's productions are based on China's rich culture, virtues, philosophy and history, as he aims to boost these topics and the nation's reputation around the world, he said.

"Generally speaking, Westerners hold deep misunderstandings of Chinese people and my aim is to rebuild their respect for the Chinese," he said.

Law said many Chinese immigrants overseas have a lack of knowledge of their home country and ancestors as they left or their family left China many years ago. These people need a better understanding of Chinese culture for their own moral, personality building, because they have been immersed in and have acquired Western values and cultures, he said.

"For me, I am an example to this myself. When I was a one year old, I left Guangzhou for Hong Kong and then my family migrated to the US," he said.

Law said after a performance of Terracotta Warriors in Vancouver, a young man came over to him and excitedly said: "I am a Canadian-born Chinese but can speak no Chinese at all. I have asked myself for years whether I am Chinese or Canadian?' After watching your company's performance, something suddenly clicked. I am Chinese and proud to be Chinese."

Law said he has tried to help people regain their roots for years.

He admitted his shows have not yet brought in any profit. He claimed that was never his "goal anyway" because touring cultural exchange shows in North America is always an absurdly expensive proposition.

Terracotta Warriors has received the best audience response among all his productions so far.

"I've never firmly targeted commercial returns, as I think this often results in low quality, low profile and low taste productions," he said.

Law said his "soul and blood" were "injected" into his productions in order to ensure that Chinese art and culture can be properly communicated.

Law's parents are retired business people and helped Law and his brothers, who were also doctors, set up a foundation to channel their shared and profound love of Chinese culture.

Law said Terracotta Warriors 3D would run from September to November, and then restart after the Spring Festival for the next two years at the Da Yin Theater located in Beijing's central business district.

Law has another show in the pipeline - Ode to Nature, which highlights traditional Chinese philosophy and the natural forces of nature, - metal, wood, water, fire and earth.

Contact the writers at yangcheng@chinadaily.com.cn and zhangshiyi@chinadaily.com.cn