Why are Chinese audiences going for Korean musicals rather than Western shows?

As the lights dimmed in the Shanghai theatre, the string quartet struck up once more for the encore. Tina Zhang was fully drawn into the psychological thriller, but it was not until after the show that she found out that the musical was originally from South Korea. Zhang, 39, saw the official Chinese adaptation of Interview for the first time last year. “The logic was tight, the plot was well-structured and interwoven, and it was genuinely engaging,” she said. Over the past few years, a numbe...

By Vanessa Cai