how much room is there for the development of China musicals? In 1998, Steven Santan, the predecessor of American musicals, hit the nail on the head when he commented on the decline of Broadway musicals. "Now there are two kinds of performances on Broadway-reruns of old plays and big productions like The Lion King. The latter audience can only watch it once a year at any cost, but this kind of play is just a stage version of the film. It seems that there is nothing for musicals to do now ... "Santan is soberly aware that with the rapid development of film and television industry at the end of the century and the sturm und drang of computer technology, the pattern of the international performing arts market is also undergoing revolutionary changes. High-tech entertainment means such as electronic games, online movies and multimedia theaters are rapidly replacing traditional performing arts. People's enthusiasm for watching theater performances is gradually decreasing, and they are no longer regarded as the mainstream representative of the development of entertainment culture. As a result, musicals, together with other traditional stage dramas, have suffered an unprecedented impact. For China musicals, I think it is also necessary to reflect on the current domestic performance market, editing conditions and public demand. Just from the perspective of public demand, how interested are China audiences in watching live commercial performances? We can see a thing or two from the persistently depressed movie box office and concert revenue in China. The popularity of TV, computer, VCD and DVD has enabled ordinary residents to enjoy all kinds of performances without leaving home. Such an economical means of viewing dwarfs those marketing strategies in Shang Yan. On the other hand, as a product of European and American entertainment culture, musicals spread in China, which is bound to conflict with local culture. Although some cultural differences can be bridged when some "super-cultural" plays are staged, from the perspective of the long-term development requirements of musicals, the thinking gap caused by cultural differences will influence the audience's attitude towards this form of song and dance performance for a long time, and even dampen their confidence in watching. If China wants to create a musical with its own cultural characteristics, it is bound to work hard on cultural transplantation and transformation. However, at present, the original musicals staged in China are mostly in the form, and some works even leave a bad impression of imitation and plagiarism. Under the dual pressure of weakening market competitiveness and reducing public demand, musicals have been compressed into an extremely narrow development space, and it is even more difficult to step into the ranks of elegant art. Musical music was introduced to China in 198s. As an exotic product in the field of drama art, it has taken root and sprouted in the cultural soil of China. China wants to develop musicals, and this goal is naturally understandable. However, it is too optimistic to assume that Shang Yan, a musical, has made great achievements in China just because of its superficial prosperity. The author thinks that there are two predictable results in the development of China musicals. First, the original musical has absorbed the performance experience and cultural nourishment of China traditional drama in its creation and arrangement, and gradually developed into a comprehensive performance form based on local culture; Second, China musicals break the performance mode of European and American classic plays and lead the future development trend with the performance concept of pioneering experiments. Nevertheless, it is difficult for musicals to be carried forward in China as predicted by some people. It will only become a branch of many performing arts categories and continue its life in a limited development space. In fact, the real obstacle to the development of China musicals comes from the market. If the current performing arts market is not effectively reformed, even the best artistic varieties will be stifled. All kinds of facts show that the bustling scene of musicals in China is not completely true. When we look at the future of musicals in China, we only hope that what we are facing is not a void. Source: Xinhuanet