Forum held to train Chinese stage talent

To meet the need for talented stage performers, the second Stage Performance Creativity and Marketing Forum, a training program co-organized by the Ministry of Culture, China International Culture Association and China Oriental Performing Arts Group began on Friday in Beijing.

The five-day class has invited several famous producers and experts from both home and abroad to mentor 60 students from domestic theaters, art colleges or art industry institutions.

Through a series of lectures, case studies and seminars, foreign producers will share their experiences producing stage performances as well as managing theaters.

Among the foreign experts, producer Tony Stimac, whose representative works include Beauty and the Beast and Aida, returns to share his experiences with Chinese students for a second time.

Stimac is a name Chinese producers are very familiar with. As early as 2007, he helped introduce the Broadway musical 42nd Street to China. Over the past seven years, he has dedicated himself to introducing Western musicals to China while also promoting local Chinese productions abroad.

Monkey King, a co-production directed by Stimac, Broadway director Louis St. Louis and Chinese director Hu Xiaoqing that premiered in Beijing last year, is a successful example of how traditional Chinese culture can be incorporated into Broadway-styled musicals.

As for China's homegrown musicals, Stimac believes that while the country has no shortage of performers, the same can not be said for producers familiar with this type of performance. This is made doubly difficult as there are few places within the country for them to learn more about musicals.