Show time in Shanghai

A new Chinese-language production of hit Broadway and West End musical Beauty and the Beast has just opened at the Walt Disney Grand Theatre, Zhang Kun reports.

Major production companies and established artists from Broadway and the West End have announced they will be collaborating on a slew of musical coproduction projects in China.

A new production of Beauty and the Beast in Chinese premiered at the Walt Disney Grand Theatre in Shanghai on June 14, led by the creative team behind the original Broadway show, including playwright Linda Woolverton, director Rob Roth and set designer Stanley Meyer.

The production follows The Lion King as the resident show at the Walt Disney Grand Theatre, part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. While it wasn't revealed how many shows were planned for the Chinese production of Beauty and the Beast, its predecessor The Lion King ran for 500 shows before it closed in October 2017.

"This is the best version of the show," said Rob Roth, who was nominated for a Tony Award as best director for Beauty and the Beast in 1994, which marked his Broadway debut. Roth has since worked on more than 20 different versions of the musical in several different languages.