BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Annemieke van Dam, a Dutch musical actress, has recently won the hearts of Chinese audience with her portrayal of Mrs. Danvers in the German-language musical "Rebecca," at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.
The musical has been staged in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou for nearly a month. Musical lovers have been sharing videos of Annemieke singing the musical's theme song online, with comments like "The melody's so beautiful and keeps ringing in my mind."
Annemieke was thrilled by the passion and warmth of the Chinese audience.
"It's an honor that people, who don't understand our language and have very different cultures, are interested in our pieces, and they understand the emotions so well," said Annemieke in an interview with Xinhua.
Annemieke said that she has received many letters from fans in China, who shared with her their understanding of the characters and how these characters helped them through difficult times in life.
"What better way than music? Countries working together is an amazing opportunity to find unity just through communication of the heart from person to person," she said.
John Owen-Jones, an award-winning Welsh musical performer, has been holding live concerts in China this year, featuring songs from the classic musicals in which he has performed.
"I've always wanted to come to China. To get the opportunity to work with local theatrical technicians and performers was a gift," John said.
"The Chinese audiences are fervent and passionate, and they really are embracing a lot of Western musicals," he said.
In August, he gave the Chinese audience a special version of the song "The Phantom of the Opera" at a concert, incorporating Chinese folk instruments such as pipa and erhu, and singing with a Chinese singer.
"Great music can cross boundaries and music is an international language," he said.
In recent years, China's musical market has developed rapidly, with the scale of its audience expanding and great growth potential ahead.
According to the 2024 China Musical Market Annual Report, from January to October this year, there were 13,600 musical performances in China, up 5.5 percent year on year. The box office reached 1.4 billion yuan (about 194.78 million U.S. dollars), up 26.7 percent year on year, and the number of audience was 5.82 million, up 4.6 percent year on year.
"I first started to watch musicals in 2019 when my aunt took me to watch 'Mozart L'Opera Rock' in Shanghai. I love musicals because I can totally immerse myself in it, which involves acting, singing and dancing," said 19-year-old musical lover, Ma Yihan, adding that her favorites this year are "Rebecca" and "Elisabeth."
From January to October this year, 42 original musicals were introduced to the musical market in China. Classics such as "The Phantom of the Opera," "Mozart L'Opera Rock," "Notre Dame de Paris" have been staged in China. A total of 225 Chinese musicals were also staged.
According to Huang Kai, director of the Musical Department at Beijing Dance Academy, introducing these original musicals has helped nurture musical talent in China. "Scriptwriters, directors, composers and performers all need to study and learn from these classics. The introduction of these musical classics also motivates us to create musicals of our own," he said. ■