In Shanghai, there’s a bustling area that comes alive at dusk. Known among theater enthusiasts as Huán Rénguǎng (环人广, loosely translating as “around People’s Square”), this area is home to a cluster of iconic theaters, including the Buick Drama Theatre in the Shanghai Grand Theatre, Star Space on the 7th floor of Shanghai Shimao Festival City, the historical Lyceum Theatre, and Shanghai Cultural Square. These venues aren’t just a draw for Shanghai residents, but also for musical theater lovers from all over China. Out-of-town fans have even coined a term, rù hù lián dǎ (入沪连打), which refers to watching several musical theater productions over the course of a single weekend trip to Shanghai. Typically, they hop on the earliest plane, train, bus or other form of transportation available after work on a Friday, arrive in Shanghai, and spend the entire weekend attending back-to-back performances. Of course, afterwards they document or post reviews of the shows they saw during their trip.
In fact, musical theater is getting so popular in Shanghai that theater fans have dubbed it the “Jerusalem” of musical theater in China. Indeed, the sheer volume of performances in Shanghai is astounding. 60% of the 9,960 musical theater performances that took place in China in 2023 were held in the city.
Shanghai’s theaters are many, and they are prolific. For example, Shanghai Cultural Square, which has been a key venue for musical theater since it was revitalized in 2011, hosted almost 20 different domestic and international productions in 2023 alone. Furthermore, with the rise of immersive theater, you can find as many as a dozen theaters, large and small, hidden inside a single commercial building, hosting multiple shows simultaneously in one evening. These smaller venues are often more affordable than larger theaters, and their intimate setting allows for closer interaction between the audience and performers, creating a collaborative atmosphere.
Shanghai’s current musical theater scene began taking shape in the 1990s. Starting in 2002, the Shanghai Grand Theatre staged world-renowned productions like Les Misérables, Cats, The Lion King, and Mamma Mia! One of its most impressive milestones was 100 performances of The Phantom of the Opera in 2005.
From 2020 to 2023, with international shows unable to enter the Chinese market due to the pandemic, domestic musical theater saw unexpected growth. Original Chinese productions rapidly emerged, and the industry evolved from importing foreign shows to producing Chinese adaptations, as well as creating more original plays. The re-opening of China’s borders to foreign performers last year has created a more vibrant theatrical environment, rather than simply displacing homegrown works and adaptions. For example, in 2023 a Chinese adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera made its debut in Shanghai on May 5, while the French musical Roméo et Juliette began its China tour on May 28. These days, if you want to book a ticket for a musical in Shanghai, you can choose between multiple languages, including French, German, English, and Chinese.
Whether in venues big or small, performed in Chinese or a foreign language, musical theater has found a thriving home in Shanghai, drawing in a growing number of enthusiasts. As the recent burst of media coverage attests, theater lovers from Shanghai and beyond are thoroughly enjoying the plethora of immersive performances the city currently has on offer.
Banner image via Xiaohongshu. Image shows cast member from Roméo et Juliette posing with Chinese fans.
