As Broadway weathers a tough winter season, legit growth in China remains on the upswing -- even if the economy has slowed things down a bit.
Despite the general mood of fiscal uncertainty, Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, which has in recent years made a major push in both producing and presenting Broadway fare in China, is forging ahead with plans that include a Rialto-sized theater in Beijing, a Mandarin-language tour of "Fame" and a return run of hit "Aida."
"I suspect in a better economy we would have proceeded at a quicker pace, but there's still support for these efforts," says Nederlander Worldwide prexy
Bob Nederlander Jr.
The building boom in China has created a network of sophisticated performing arts complexes all over the nation, and those new venues, Nederlander says, are going to need product.
"We're looking for the right producing partners who are interested in China, and in bringing Chinese entertainment here and Broadway entertainment there," he says. (The first Chinese offering produced on the Rialto, shepherded by Nederlander Worldwide, was "Soul of Shaolin," which played a three-week limited run at the Marquis last month.)
There's less concern of a danger of too much supply in the Chinese legit market.
"China is unique in terms of potential," Nederlander says. "You're literally starting from zero."
'Spring' hops the globe
Tony-winning tuner "Spring Awakening" may have nodded off for good on Broadway, where the show shuttered Jan. 18. But it's rapidly expanding overseas.
The show just opened in London to exuberant reviews, making a West End transfer of the Lyric Hammersmith production increasingly likely. The show is gearing up for 18 international productions -- including stagings in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea and Australia -- in 14 languages.
Meanwhile, the Stateside national tour also is proving a success, despite concerns that the show's edgy subject matter of teens confronting sex and death might not attract the same support in red states as it did in liberal Gotham.
Producer
Ira Pittelman attributes the lack of controversy to the marketing decision to be as open as possible about the show's content, so that auds know what they're getting into before they buy tickets.
And the tuner's high profile online, cultivated to tap into its youthful target demo, helps boost familiarity with "Spring" not just for potential audience members but also for young thesps aspiring to be in the show someday.
Many of the Brit kids who auditioned for the London staging, for instance, knew what creatives were looking for, thanks to the Internet. "Almost all of them had seen our stuff online," Pittelman says.
Pittelman and "Spring" producing partner
Tom Hulce have other projects on their plate as well, including an oldies-infused bio-tuner about the Temptations.
The producers recently closed a deal for the theatrical rights to the music and life story of the famed Motown group, whose civil rights-era tale would be told using their hits, a la the perennially popular "Jersey Boys."
No creative team or timeline has yet been set for the project.
Stepping it up on B'way
When the Hitchcock spoof "The 39 Steps" moved to its third Broadway theater last month, a lot of industry watchers wondered if a small-scale show with generally modest B.O. was worth it.
To the producers, though, the slapstick spy comedy has the makings of an international draw akin to a musical like "Mamma Mia!"
"It has a wide appeal in general, but even more importantly, it appeals to people who don't have English as a first language," says
Roy Gabay, general manager of the physical comedy-driven show.
When producers noticed the play was beginning to cultivate tourist and walk-up business, they decided to keep the relatively cheap, four-person production on the boards.
"This is such a physical piece, and it's very reasonably priced," says producer
Harriet Newman Leve, also a producer of Off Broadway long-runner "Stomp."
Gabay estimates that if sales at the Helen Hayes Theater remain on par with those at its prior venue, the Cort, the smaller Hayes would be sold out 80% of the time.
"I think we're really going to capture more of the tourists," Leve says. "Even in this economy, this show will do well."
Contact Gordon Cox at
gordon.cox@variety.com