Chinese pop heading to Broadway with a jukebox musical

He says that to get the US audience to understand the musical, their creative team had to fully understand it first.

Artistic director Eric Schaeffer says: "The sources and inspiration for this musical come from China. The interpretation and development come from America. The goal is to create a new kind of musical theater experience that will be entirely universal."

Lee says he has a bigger dream for his work taking the Broadway stage.

"I hope this collaboration can bring more advanced technologies, greater talent from Broadway to China."

He says musicals have a long history in the West, but the integration of Chinese songs with the performance format of a musical is something rare and new to Chinese audiences.

"I hope the production of this show can help Chinese musical production teams accumulate more experience, and eventually they will help develop more original Chinese musicals," Lee says.

The team has not yet decided which songs to use in the show. "We are still trying and exploring, finding the best songs to integrate into the musical which would best interpret my music on the stage."

China Broadway Entertainment brought Chinese audiences the musical The Secret adapted from Chinese pop star Jay Chou's work last December. It's currently enjoying a successful run in China.

On Dec 12, the Tony-winning Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, will stage a reading of Road to Heaven. Afterward it will be translated back into Chinese for a world premiere in Shanghai in 2018.