1 the Musical Theatre Encounter

The Musical Theatre Encounter: Chinese Consumption of a Western Form of Entertainment Xiao Lu Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship Goldsmiths, University of London Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), 2020 1 Declaration I (Xiao Lu) hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. 12th November 2019 2 Acknowledgments I would like to thanks all those who spent time sharing their knowledge, experiences and inspirations during my PhD research. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Michael Hitchcock. His expertise, patience and humour always inspire me to do the best I could. Without his guidance and encouragement, I could not have completed this thesis. I also would like to thank my second supervisor Gerald Lidstone for his continuous support and guidance. Secondly, I would like to thank my tutors and colleagues in Goldsmiths who gave me generous support for my research. I am grateful to Gareth Stanton who has provided inspiration through interaction and feedback while working with him in the Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies. I also thank my upgrade examiners, Carla Figueira and Robert Gordon, who gave me valuable feedback on my thesis at a critical stage. Finally, I would like to thank my parents who always give me unconditional love, support and freedom. My close friends keep me going through the tough bits and give me endless energy to help me concentrate on the research. I also thank my research participants from China. Without their helps, it would not be possible to complete this thesis. This thesis is especially in memory of my grandfather Mr. HOU Kai who passed away when I was doing my PhD research in the UK. He was a good teacher and always guided me to stay hungry for knowledge. 3 Abstract The genre of western musical theatre resembles the collaborative style of traditional Chinese theatre, and this has led to its increasing popularity among Chinese audiences. A growing number of Chinese emerging middle-class consumers demonstrate their economic and cultural capacities for cultural consumption, and thus they have become significant consumers of western musical theatre since the twenty-first century. The aim of this thesis is to study the behaviour and consumption patterns of Chinese audiences attending musical theatre performances. The study has found that 69% of Chinese respondents are willing to watch a musical theatre production with a British or American origin. Participation in digital platforms stimulates Chinese audiences to co-create meanings and experiences with musical theatre, and Chinese engagement with online communities demonstrates their behaviour as fans, and as theatre-goers who value the memory of a particular performance. This thesis recommends a collaborative strategy for audience engagement between theatre producers, arts marketing professionals, and Chinese cultural policy-makers. Theatre producers could create musical theatre productions by appropriating theatrical content and new technologies to deliver hybrid experiences for a broader audience; arts marketing professionals could make the most of social media tools to enhance the audiences’ digital engagement. Furthermore, marketing should be directed effectively to foster a confident and active audience for long-term musical theatre attendance. The government policies should highlight the role of arts education through online and offline platforms and deepen the autonomy of arts and cultural organisations to import and stage musical theatre productions in China. This thesis offers an insight that Chinese audiences’ experiences are a key feature showing how musical theatre becomes a popular entertainment choice. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................3 Abstract.........................................................................................................................................4 List of Figures...............................................................................................................................9 Glossary ......................................................................................................................................10 PRC’s RMB Converted to British Pound ................................................................................11 Preface.........................................................................................................................................12 Chapter 1: Musical Theatre in China ......................................................................................15 1.1 The art form context ..........................................................................................................18 1.1.1 Musical Theatre across cultures .................................................................................21 1.2 The policy context .............................................................................................................30 1.2.1 Cultural Policy on the performing arts .......................................................................33 1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................................36 1.4 Structure of the Thesis .......................................................................................................37 Chapter 2 Chinese patterns of cultural consumption.............................................................43 2.1 Consumer culture theory ...................................................................................................43 2.1.1 Social class .................................................................................................................49 2.1.2 Online communities ...................................................................................................50 2.1.3 Experiences ................................................................................................................54 2.2 Patterns of cultural consumption .......................................................................................56 2.3 Arrival of cultural consumption in China ..........................................................................61 2.4 Chinese emerging cultural consumers ...............................................................................70 5 Chapter 3 Marketing musical theatre to Chinese audiences .................................................75 3.1 Understanding Chinese audiences .....................................................................................75 3.2 The conceptual development of arts marketing.................................................................80 3.3 Arts marketing towards an audience focus ........................................................................86 3.4 Audience experience and engagement ..............................................................................89 3.5 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................92 Chapter 4 Research Setting: Beijing ........................................................................................94 4.1 Beijing as a world city .......................................................................................................94 4.2 Navigating creative and cultural districts in Beijing .........................................................98 4.3 Theatre venues and spaces in Beijing ..............................................................................100 Chapter 5 Methodology and data collection..........................................................................109 5.1 Qualitative versus quantitative ........................................................................................109 5.2 Research methods ............................................................................................................114 5.2.1 Focus group ..............................................................................................................115 5.2.2 Online Questionnaire ...............................................................................................117 5.2.3 Case studies ..............................................................................................................118 5.2.4 Netnography .............................................................................................................120 5.3 Sampling and data collection...........................................................................................122 5.4 Ethical considerations ......................................................................................................133 5.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................137 Chapter 6: Framing Chinese audience views on musical theatre .......................................138 6.1 Audience views on art forms ...........................................................................................139 6.1.1 Audience understanding of musical theatre .............................................................139 6 6.1.2 Audience understanding of traditional Chinese theatre ...........................................143

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