Challenges of a Broadway breakthrough in China
There's no business like show business, and these days, that's even true in China, but Broadway musicals are leaving some Chinese audiences puzzled.
"Avenue Q" is an American musical about New Yorkers, but at performances in Beijing the songs and dialogue are in Chinese.
"It's a big challenge -- mainly because I'm so old and stupid that I can't learn the beautiful language," director Joseph Graves told CBS News' Seth Doane.
Graves said language is not the only hurdle. "There is a relatively sophisticated audience in Beijing and Shanghai. But as we get out to the other cities a lot of the folks don't know what musical theater is -- often don't know what a play is."
He also noted that it's difficult to translate American musicals into Chinese because they still have to rhyme, and the cultural issues China faces are different than ones faced in America.
"For instance, one of the musical numbers in 'Avenue Q' was 'Everybody Is A Little Bit Racist,' and racism in the sense that we would have experienced in America doesn't really exist here. So we have changed it into 'Everybody Is A Little Bit Provincial' -- like people from Dongbei talk too loud, people from Guangzhou -- you got to watch your money with them -- the kind of things that Chinese people joke about among each other," Graves said.
Censorship is also an issue. Shows have to be approved by a censor in every city.
"You must approach them with a gun and bomb," Graves joked. "No, I've been to two of them, actually gone into the office and sat down. They are regular business-looking people, and you know they bring you a cup of coffee and sit down and say, 'How can we solve this problem.'"
Lead actor of "Avenue Q," Kane Lui, pointed out that satirical content can also confuse older audiences who often don't know what to expect when they come to the show. Some struggles exist "because people still think it's very serious. So we're trying to make it funny, to make it a comedy. So there is distance between those two places."
On the upside, Graves said that Chinese audiences come to "Avenue Q" without any preconceived notions, which he said is exciting because he is watching an entire industry form.
"In a country with 1.4 billion people -- we have three theater schools where maybe a few thousand people go a year -- so most of the artists haven't had a chance to even know I'm an artist yet," he said.
"At this time, Chinese people, they are getting more and more money, but they will need very good cultural content," said Yang Jiamen, the CEO of Seven Ages, the production company responsible for bringing "Avenue Q" to China.
Despite the hurdles, Jiamen said she sees a business opportunity. And she plans on using China's movie industry, which tripled sales at the box office in the last four years, as a role model.
And she may end up exporting some Chinese musicals too.