Shanghai Grand Theater and the renowned producer Cameron Mackintosh unveiled a plan yesterday to co-produce Chinese versions of Western musicals.

They aim to present at least four internationally famous musicals for extended runs featuring Chinese performers, musicians and technical staff in the first 10 years of their collaboration.

Le Shengyi, president of Shanghai Grand Theater, said the first would be Les Miserables in 2007.

"We will be selecting and training the first group of professional musical performers in China," Le said, adding that Shanghai will build a special theater for the musicals. The location has not been selected.

"We will develop a local musical-theater industry that will become part of the fabric of international theater," Le said. "Our ultimate goal is to create the Chinese musical, and this is the first step."

Qian Shijin, the theater's artistic director, said Chinese productions will translate into lower ticket prices by avoiding the huge costs of importing international touring companies.

Mackintosh said the development of Chinese-language versions of Western musicals has long been his aim.

His company presented the first full-scale production of a Western musical in Shanghai when it staged Les Miserables in 2002. "When I first visited China in the late 1980s, I was bowled over by the talent I saw at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music," Mackintosh said.

(Shanghai Daily May 19, 2005)