Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black鈥檚 one-act song cycle Tell Me On a Sunday will receive its Chinese-language premiere in a new touring production slated to begin next year, according to Lloyd Webber鈥檚 Really Useful Group.
The solo musical was originally written as the story of a young woman who moves from London to New York in search of love. The new Chinese-language production will reflect modern Chinese culture, telling the story of a woman who moves from rural China to Shanghai.
Tour dates for the production have not been announced.
Tell Me On a Sunday is the first project in a partnership forged between Really Useful Group (Lloyd Webber鈥檚 producing and licensing company) and China鈥檚 Shanghai Media Group Live, which aims to expand Lloyd Webber鈥檚 musical catalog within the Chinese market.
Plans are also underway to develop and produce new musicals that draw on Chinese heritage and literature, as well as culturally sensitive adaptations of existing works.
Also announced is the creation of the SMG Arts Education Center, which will offer musical theatre training courses in singing, dancing, and acting, as well as a sponsorship program for local technical professionals, in order to foster interest in the musical theatre genre across China.
Tell Me On a Sunday was written for British musical theatre actor Marti Webb in 1979, and was later recorded as an album and BBC-TV television special. Tell Me On a Sunday became the first half of Song & Dance, mounted at London鈥檚 Palace Theatre in 1982, also starring Webb. A heavily rewritten Broadway production was mounted in 1985 with Bernadette Peters, who won a Tony for her performance.
Song titles include 鈥淭ake That Look Off Your Face,鈥� 鈥淐ome Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes,鈥� 鈥淭ell Me On a Sunday,鈥� and 鈥淟et Me Finish,鈥� among others.
