Old Japanese musical being revived in China with tour

When Zhao Yongbin began to study musicals as a major at the Beijing-based Central Academy of Drama in 1995, he did not know what musicals were.

For the 30 students in Zhao's class, which was the first one to major in musicals in the country, musicals were a new art form.

In 1996, along with his classmates, Zhao had his first experience of performing in a musical, the Chinese version of The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man, one of the most popular musicals of Japan's Shiki Theatre Company.