Along with the latest gizmos and gadgets, China might soon export a Broadway show.
Earlier this month, Shanghai Heng Yuan Xiang Drama Development Company, a Chinese theatrical production firm, signed a memorandum of understanding with Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment to mount the first open-ended Chinese musical on Broadway. It is scheduled to begin performances in 2019.
The ambitious new musical, which is named Shimmer, shines on a spotlight on when Shanghai sheltered 20,000 Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution during the Second World War. Similar the popular Broadway musical Come From Away, recounting how a small town in Newfoundland welcomed thousands of stranded travelers after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Chinese show underscores the therapeutic power of human kindness during dark times.
