One of Broadway's most famous musicals, 42nd Street, is tapping into town. The acclaimed production launches its one-week season in Beijing next Tuesday. It is the winner of two Tony Awards in 1981 and 2001, and the second longest-running Broadway musical production of all time.

The high-spirited musical is all about the love of theater, making it a must-see for anyone keen on the spectacle of a live stage experience. It features dazzling sequences of tap dancing, Broadway pizzazz and a good dose of 1930s nostalgia culture.

The story following a humble and nave young chorus girl named Peggy Sawyer, who becomes an overnight sensation. It tells a typical American dream-come-true story. Director Paul Gregory Nelson is confident the tale will not be lost on Chinese audiences. Whatever messages the play contains, above all it is an all-singing, all-dancing celebration of life, set to the time-enduring theme of making it in the glitzy yet fickle world of show business.

This is the first production Nederlander New Century has brought to China. The musical comes hot on the heels of the successful season of Mama Mia in China this summer. For the last five years, international theater companies have been honing their sights on the increasingly outward-looking audiences here, and some big-name musicals have debuted in the theaters of Beijing and Shanghai. Since 2002, these have included Notre-Dame de Paris from France, and Les Miserables, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera from London's West End.

Nov 13-18, Beijing Exhibition Theater. 135, Xizhimen Wai Street, Xicheng District. 80-1280 yuan. 6831-6677.

(China Daily 11/07/2007 page12)