Shopping mall theaters bring vibrancy

Star Theaters, located at the Eastern Suburb Memory park in Chengdu, has opened three theaters in the cultural park. LYU GUOYING/FOR CHINA DAILY

In 2022, the company opened its second performance space in the commercial area of Land Port City in Changying, eastern Beijing.

The average capacity at the two performance spaces, each having four theaters, is around 200 seats. Live performances are staged almost every week from Friday to Sunday.

The company has diversified its musical programs to also cater to patrons who have never attended a classical music performance.

Concerts have featured musical works adapted from popular movie soundtracks, such as compositions by Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi for the anime director Hayao Miyazaki.

On Saturday, a new performance space will be launched at the Wukesong Wanda Plaza, after months of trial runs. Song said the venue is much bigger than the other two, with a capacity of 500 seats. Dramas, musicals and classical music concerts will be staged there.

The two performance spaces in Sanlitun and Changying have also staged dramas and contemporary music shows such as pop and rock to appeal to broader audiences.

"When people go to shopping malls to enjoy a live performance, they expect to have an experience beyond what they can get from traditional theaters," said Wen Juan, general manager of productions and theater at Mahua Fun Age, a leading Chinese comedy production company.

"At the same time, shopping malls have become more than just places to shop — they're a lifestyle."

The company, known as Kaixin Mahua in Chinese, was founded in 2003 and soon gained a large fan base with its popular theater productions of comedies such as Goodbye Mr Loser and The Count of Wulong Mountain.

Mahua Fun Age has never stopped exploring new business opportunities, Wen said.

In August 2020, it opened its first performance venue in a commercial building at Shanghai Nanxiang Incity Mega, the city's largest single-structure shopping mall located in Jiading district.

So far, the company has opened more than 40 performance venues in commercial areas at home and abroad, and staged performances in over 120 Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and Chengdu, Sichuan province.