Hitting the right note with children

Liu Jian said he could not remember how many times he's found himself crying during a show on seeing the audiences having a great time. "Sometimes it seems the air in the theater is filled with so much happiness that it brings tears to my eyes," Liu said.

Geng Wei is a businessman who attended the Beijing show with his 7-year-old son. He recalled: "I danced with my son in front of the stage, which was a lot of fun! I'll definitely recommend the show to my friends."

Besides happiness, Beatlemania-like enthusiasm also ran high in the theater where the festival's recent Beijing shows were staged.

As Hippe Gasten, the festival's regulars, played games with their instruments and jumped up and down onstage, a gaggle of children, rushed to the front, some clinging to the stage's edge, some capering wildly or others simply swinging their little bodies to the fun, energetic tunes.

Winning over both children and parents is no mean feat, which the couple attributed to their quality-oriented production standards, covering every detail from band selection, lyric translation, and stage production.