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The original Broadway musical "Fame" - about kids entering the famous High School for Performing Arts in New York - will be staged at Shanghai City Theater.

By Xu Wei
Dec. 10, 2009

MANY star-struck Chinese young people long to become famous overnight. The Broadway musical "Fame" has an inspiring message for young dreamers. Xu Wei reports.

The original Broadway musical "Fame" - about kids entering the famous High School for Performing Arts in New York - will be staged from December 23-January 3 at Shanghai City Theater.

The 1980 Oscar-winning film "Fame," a legendary high school movie, was the basis for the Broadway musical play and a recent movie remake called "Fame."

The story follows a talented group of dancers, singers, actors and musicians selected for the prestigious academy and has influenced generations of people who aspire to perform.

"Fame," the Broadway musical, has played to sold-out crowds and received standing ovations around the world.

It arrives in Shanghai in a tour of around 30 countries and regions that grossed more than US$300 million at the box office.

The story is about the ups and downs of gifted young high school students - all with different backgrounds, aspirations and problems - who are hand-picked to enter the highly competitive school.

They all want to be famous - "I want to live forever" is the theme song - but they learn, predictably, that fame is hard work and must be won by one song, one dance at a time.

Despite the success of "Fame" in both film and television, producer David De Silva embarked on a completely new stage version of the project, with composer Steve Margoshes and lyricist Jacques Levy. It would take him eight years to bring to completion.

The show has been widely praised.

Professor Sun Huizhu, vice president of Shanghai Theater Academy, says he was deeply impressed by the classic's musical scores when he first saw the show in the late 1980s.

"The lively and entertaining show is inspiring and meaningful for a young Chinese generation that dreams of stardom," Sun says.

The show will be performed in its original English version with Chinese subtitles.

 

Date: December 23-January 3, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai City Theater, 4889 Dushi Rd
Tickets: 80-980 yuan
Tel: 5415-8975, 5415-8976

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