LivingaBroadwayDreaminChina

1、Living a Broadway Dream in China still remember the feeling of stand-ing on a stage for the first time, sing- ing and dancing, when I was six,”said Shadow, the stage name of musical performer Zhang Aojia. “I felt so thrilled and happy. It was at that time I decided this was what I wanted to do for m

2、y whole life.” Shadow has been called China s musical queen. As the heroine of the Chinese version of Mama Mia!, she has impressed audiences with her professional interpretation of the musicals leading role Donna. On August 12, the Chinese version of Mama Mia!, the smash hit musical based on songs f

3、rom the band ABBA, started a new round of 80 performances in Beijing after ending its 32 performance run in Shanghai, where it had a box office total of 16 million yuan ($2,504,000). After the Beijing tour, Mama Mia! will move to Guangzhou from October 28 to November 24, bringing the joy of the musi

4、cal to China with more than 200 performances. The musical holds the record in terms of performances in the world, with a total box office of more than $1.6 billion. It has been performed in 24 cities around the globe in 13 languages and attracted audiences of more than 42 million. The Chinese versio

5、n is the 14th edition of the hit musical. Shadow is the youngest actress to play the role of Donna. “ I had a special connection with this mu sical,” said Shadow.“ Early in 2003 when I was a student of musical stage performance, I played the role of Sophie, Donna s daughter, when we gave a performan

6、ce in the school. She dreamed of performing it in her native language when she participated in the launching ceremony of the 2006 English version of Mama Mia! in China. Now dream has come true and Shadow said she still finds it amazing that she is part of this great musical. Broadway s Chinese girl

7、Shadow s success was not just a series of coincidences, but is the result of her longterm persistence. She was born in Shanghai, and after graduating from Shanghai International Studies University, she went to the United States to study drama at the University of California, Berkley. On a Christmas

8、Eve in New York in 1999, she saw her very first musical, Babes in Arms. Shadow was shocked by the direct, exaggerating and enthusiastic performance genre and realized that its the same as what she had dreamed of doing when she was six singing and dancing on a large stage. That night changed Shadow s

9、 life forever. She transferred to the Chicago College of Performing Arts because they have one of the top 10 musical performance theater majors in America. After graduation in 2003, Shadow continued her love and determination in the industry. She was later called “ Broadway s Chinese girl” because o

10、f her Asian face. “We usually say being a musical stage performer is a blue-collar job, ”said Shadow. “ Unless you have a deep love and dedication to what you are doing and are willing to sacrifice your youth, passion and talent for it, you could choose to sell hamburgers as that may make you richer

11、.” One night in 2004, Shadow received a phone call from her teacher and now musical producer Li Suyou. “Come back! The spring of Chinas musical is approaching,” said Li. With her musical dream and 13 boxes of luggage, Shadow flew back to her hometown. Realizing dreams at home In 2005, Shadow took th

12、e lead in the large-scale homegrown musical The Gold Sand, which became a box office success. In 2006, she set up her own performance studio in Beijing s 798 Art District, giving free performances every weekend to let more Chinese know what musical performance is. In 2009, when the musical theater m

13、arket was in depression, she continued her perseverance and acted in the homegrown musical I Dreamed a Dream, a 90-minute solo show. While singing and dancing for one and a half hours all by oneself may sound daunting to others, for Shadow, its a thrilling experience. “I like it! The bigger the stag

14、e, the better, because every actor or actress wants to conquer the stage on their own. This time, I really fulfilled this dream. The chance is rare because it is even rare for an actress to perform alone in a musical, either on Broadway or off Broadway.” The story of I Dreamed a Dream was based on S

15、hadow s personal experiences, telling a young actress dream, pursuits, struggles, sorrows and persistence. In Shadow -msin9u0te show the audience is treated to a feast of 18 Broadways m well-loved musical pieces, including Over the Rainbow, All That Jazz, Don t Cry for Me Argentina and Memory in bot

16、h English and Chinese. As part of the Seventh Beijing International Theater and Dance Festival, I Dreamed a Dream was staged at the Capital Theater from November 12-14, 2010, before touring major cities including Wuhan, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Zhengzhou. Shadow has been a guest lecturer at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts since 2005. She has published several albums, collecting classic songs of musicals, and some essay collections. She is also a TV hostess. But she never forgets her dream lies in