Chinese audiences will be able to watch world renowned* musicals, including “Les Miserables,” “Cats,” and “The Phantom of the Opera,” in Mandarin* from next year thanks to a new Sino-British joint venture, China Musical Theater Company.

The Chinese version* of “Les Miserables,” the company’s first production, is expected to be staged in November 2008, and the company will start casting nationwide next month, said British producer and investor Cameron Mackintosh.

“Our first task in China is to find translators who can make the stories that we have already told in the West in English sound as real and true in Mandarin,” he said.

China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) and Cameron Mackintosh Limited signed a contract* in Beijing on Monday to establish the China Musical Theater Company.

It will produce Chinese versions of hits such as “Cats,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Miss Saigon,” “My Fair Lady” and “The Lion King,” over the next 10 years, as well as training local directors, writers, actors and theatrical technicians.

“We aim to promote the musical theater and boost the development of musical theater industry in China,” said CAEG general manager Zhang Yu.

He said the Chinese versions would try to maintain the original character of the shows, instead of demonstrating* “Chinese characteristics*.”

Mackintosh said he had brought an international cast to Shanghai in 2002, performing “Les Miserables” in English with Chinese subtitles*, and the huge success encouraged him that there is a future for musical theater in China.

“It was the first inkling* that this kind of musical storytelling was the kind of thing the Chinese would enjoy,” he said.

Mackintosh said the company would not skimp* in producing top-ranking musicals so the Chinese audience could enjoy themselves in the same way as their Western counterparts had, although they planned to attract audiences with ticket prices at an average 300 yuan (US$40).

(SD-Agencies)