From the West End to the Far East End

The imminent arrival of the timeless west-end musical Cats in Beijing this September, coupled with an interview in Beijingkids’ June/July edition containing the lines ‘readers want storylines they can identify with, and which reflect their own cultural experience’ got me thinking. As much as Cats is a classic piece, it’s hardly tailored to the Asian cultural experience, and as such I’ve been thinking about some culturally conditioned west end faves. Here is my top 5 (with their original titles in brackets):

1)      Phantom of the Peking Opera (Phantom of the Opera)

2)      Okinawa! (Oklahoma!)

3)      East Side Story (West Side Story)

4)      Xiangqi 象棋 (Chess)

5)      Seventy Concubines for One Emperor (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers)

Although honourable mentions go to The Huqin 胡琴 on the roof (The fiddler on the roof), The Pirates of Po Toi 蒲台羣島 (Pirates of Penzance), The Emperor and I  (The King and I ) and My Fair Tai-Tai (My fair lady), but there are many more I’m sure.