Onegin's Demon premieres at Shanghai Culture Square

The Russian musical production Onegin's Demon had its premiere at Shanghai Culture Square on Jan 4.

Created by the LDM Theater of St. Petersburg, the show, which was adapted from Russian poet Aleksandr Pushkin (1799-1837)'s masterpiece Eugene Onegin, will have eight shows in Shanghai till Jan 9.

The production was presented in Beijing, Shenzhen of Guangdong province, Hangzhou of Zhejiang province, and Nanjing of Jiangsu province, before arriving in Shanghai for the final leg of its China tour.

"I was shocked to find that musicals are so popular in China, and we have more enthusiastic fans on social media for the Russian musical here in China than in Russia," Ivan Ozhogin, who plays the title character Onegin, said at the news conference for the show on Jan 4.

Onegin's Demon is the fourth production of the New Year Season at Shanghai Culture Square. The season will feature seven productions from six countries.

According to Fei Yuanhong, the deputy general manager of the theater, audiences in Shanghai are familiar with the Russian classic as the theater adaptation, ballet and opera had all been shown in the city before.