What's on

The Grand Mansion Gate

When: Dec 31 and Jan 1, 8 pm

Where: Shenzhen Poly Theater

It has been 18 years since Chinese director and script writer Guo Baochang created The Grand Mansion Gate, a 72-episode TV drama based on the story of his adoptive father.

It tells of the Bai family in Beijing through one of the most politically tumultuous periods of modern Chinese history, from the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) until World War II. The story has been adapted as a Peking Opera of the same name.

In the TV drama, the focus is on Bai Jingqi, a rebellious and ambitious young man. He carries the hopes of his family, which runs a traditional Chinese medicine shop in Beijing.

The drama version was created by the National Theater of China. It premiered at the National Center for the Performing Arts in 2013.

The Murder of Hanging Garden

When: Jan 1-11 and 14-18, 7:30 pm; Jan 11, 12, 18 and 19, 2:30 pm

Where: Beijing Citycomb Theater

Directed by the avant-garde theater director Meng Jinghui, the six-scene musical has all the characteristics expected in a Meng work: abstract settings, bizarre costumes, a ridiculous story, exaggerated actions and absurd anecdotes told by the performers between scenes.

The story starts with the rumor that the real estate magnate Mr. Wang has been murdered. His wife offers the villa, Hanging Garden, as a reward for information leading to the murderer's arrest. The reward is so enticing that three people confess to the murder.

At the same time the director explores love, friendship and father-children relationships in three independent storylines linked by a common desire for wealth and fame.

Tripula

When: Jan 2-12, time varies

Where: Hangzhou Grand Theater

Tripula tells of a static balloon experience.

Two scientists have discovered a new mode of travel and expose a group of passengers to their idea. The balloon travels through space, close to the limits of reality, allowing people to go to places that until now nobody suspected existed. The trip promises to be gentle and poetic, but setbacks arise that force passengers to join the crew.

The Farres Bros and Co transform a hot-air balloon into an unforgettable theatrical experience.

Lang Lang Piano Music Gala

When: Jan 3, 7:30 pm

Where: Sichuan Gymnasium, Chengdu

Lang Lang is one of the nation's biggest classical music stars. The 36-year-old, who was born in Shenyang, Liaoning province, first began playing piano at the age of 3 and it only took him two years before he won first place at the Shenyang Piano Competition and performed his first public recital.

He now plays to sold-out houses around the world and has become a role model for millions of young Chinese learning classical music.

Spring Awakening

When: Jan 10-18, 7:30 pm; Jan 11, 12 and 18, 2 pm

Where: Shanghai Culture Square

Spring Awakening, the 2006 emotionally powerful, sexually frank and Tony-winning musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, has been staged around the world and is heading to China. The staging is directed and choreographed by Spencer Liff, who choreographed the acclaimed 2015 Broadway revival of Spring Awakening.

Liff directs and choreographs with an entirely Chinese cast which speaks in Chinese and sings in English.

The musical is a modern landmark in the theater of the United States; an explicit tale of 19th century German teenagers coming to grips with their sexuality, both straight and gay.

Sater's lyrics and book deals head-on with such controversial topics as abortion and suicide.

February

When: Jan 15-22, 7:30 pm

Where: National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing

February is based on novelist Rou Shi's 1929 novel, and tells the tragic love triangle story between primary schoolteacher Xiao Jianqiu, his lover Tao Lan and widow Wen Sao.

Created by the National Center for the Performing Arts, the play plunges the audience into the bedlam of the May Fourth Movement, a patriotic campaign launched in 1919 by young Chinese to fight imperialism and feudalism.

Xiao is sent to the countryside, where his courtship of Wen sparks the lurid disapproval of the townspeople.

The melodrama champions New China while walking a tightrope between schmaltz and political allegory.

Duan Jin

When: March 11-15, 7:30 pm

Where: Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center

Duan Jin tells the story of how three brothers with different personalities run a business together on the Wangfujing Street in Beijing with mixed love and hate, the rise and fall of interests during the early period of the last century.

Screenwriter Zou Jingzhi is best at describing the typical old Beijing story. Three well-known Chinese actors－Zhang Guoli, Wang Gang and Zhang Tielin－play the lead roles in this play.

Come From Away

When: April 23 and 24, 7:30 pm

Where: Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center

Come From Away is a breathtaking musical written by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein and produced by Tony-nominated director Christopher Ashley.

It is set in the week following the Sept 11 attacks and tells the true story of what transpired when 38 planes were ordered to land unexpectedly in the small town of Gander in Newfoundland, Canada, as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon.

The characters in the musical are based on real Gander residents, as well as some of the 7,000 stranded travelers they housed and fed.