Local theater celebrates 10th anniversary

Video by Wang Haolan

The Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center Theater, one of Shenzhen’s cultural landmarks, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

The Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center Theater. Photos courtesy of the theater unless otherwise stated

Officially put into use on Sept. 28, 2014, the theater has brought many wonderful performances to the city over the past decade, becoming a magnet for audiences of all ages both in Shenzhen and from neighboring cities. Some of the recent hits staged at the theater include the West End musicals “Mamma Mia!” and “Cats.

A ceremony was held at the theater on Friday to mark this milestone.

While the journey of the Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center Theater began 10 years ago, the story of its operator, ACOrange Group, traces back seven years prior to the theater’s opening.

Initially a ticket distributor, the Shenzhen-based company gradually expand its business to encompass theater operation and management, original theatrical work production, and the introduction of foreign theatrical productions to the Chinese market. Operating the theater marked a huge leap in the company’s development trajectory.

Jiang Kuan, president of ACOrange Group, delivers a speech at a ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center Theater.

“The live performance market in Shenzhen has grown in leaps and bounds over the past 10 years, and it has been an honour for our theater to be both a witness to and a participant in its growth,” said Jiang Kuan, president of ACOrange Group, at the ceremony.

From 2014 to 2024, the Nanshan Culture and Sports Center Theater has welcomed more than 1,000 artists and artist groups. The more than 4,000 performances they staged have attracted over 10 million theatergoer visits.

Leveraging its experience in theater operation and management summarized from running the Shenzhen theater, ACOrange Group has duplicated its success in several Chinese cities. Currently, the company runs a total of 45 theaters across China, establishing itself as a leading theater operator in the country.

Guests pose for a photo at the ceremony.

Taking advantage of ACOrange Group’s presence in all links of the live performance industry chain, the Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center Theater has launched several cultural activity series and a theatrical production incubator. These endeavors, represented by its weekend children’s theater, “Little Orange Castle”, which has hosted over 800 parent-child performances to date, have greatly enriched local residents’ cultural life.

The theater has also actively engaged in urban cultural service development by participating in the organization of local art festivals, music festivals, and theater festivals, contributing to the government’s cultural projects for public benefit.

“As a cultural enterprise rooted in Shenzhen, ACOrange Group has made innovation part of our culture. In the future, we will continue to grow in tandem with Shenzhen and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, bringing more excellent performances to further enhance the area’s cultural scene,” said Jiang, adding that highlighted upcoming performances include the original Chinese musical “Infernal Affairs” and the French musical “Le rouge et le noir - L'Opéra Rock.”

The director and main cast of the musical “Cats” at the press conference.

The ceremony also included a press conference for the new China tour of “Cats,” at which the West End classic’s director and main cast took questions from the media. Lucy May Barker, who stars Grizabella, performed live the musical’s most iconic song “Memory.” Brought to Chinese audiences by ACOrange Musicals, the musical leg of ACOrange Group, the debut show of “Cats” in Shenzhen on the same evening also marked the debut of its new China tour.

A promotional photo of “Cats” from the production’s 2022 International Tour. Photo by Alessandro Pinna

Following 16 shows in Shenzhen through Oct. 24, “Cats” will tour to eight other Chinese cities including Zhuhai, Xi’an, Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai.