Direct from Broadway, the Tony® Award-nominated Soul of Shaolin
along with the original 30-member Broadway cast is coming to
Sevierville this Spring for a limited engagement.
Non-Stop
Creativity Entertainment Company, a subsidiary of the Eastern
Shanghai Cultural Film and Television Group, is bringing Soul of
Shaolin to the new Eastern Shanghai Theater that’s set to open on
the Parkway in late March.
Soul of
Shaolin is a Chinese martial arts show embedded within a touching
story of strength, courage and family. The show opened for a limited
engagement at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre on January 15, 2009 and
ran for 24 performances before heading out on a national tour. The
first-ever Chinese production on Broadway, Soul of Shaolin was
nominated for both a Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event
and Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.
The
Sevierville production will feature the original Broadway cast of
more than 30 Chinese nationals that are highly skilled in Chinese
martial arts, according to Non-Stop Creativity Entertainment Co.
President and CEO Lizhi Zhao, also executive producer of Sevierville’s
Cirque de Chine, a fusion of movement, music, acrobatics and
colorful costume.
“The
Eastern Shanghai Theater will feature state-of-the-art sound and
lighting and a spectacular 198-square foot LED backdrop,” noted
Zhao, a man who is passionately proud of his homeland and culture
and is excited at the opportunity to present more of his culture to
the area he now calls home.
“Our
current show, Cirque de Chine, at the Smoky Mountain Palace has been
very well received by the community and by tourists to the area. The
new show, which is very different from the acrobatic show at the
Smoky Mountain Palace, will offer Chinese martial arts, Chinese
history and a touching story of an orphan boy and a mother’s love,”
said Zhao.
The Soul
of Shaolin is set in historic times in China and opens with a mother
who, as she flees from war with her baby, falls into the hands of
gangsters. To fend off the gangsters she hides the boy and jumps off
a cliff. Before she can return her baby is found by monks from the
legendary Shaolin Temple. The baby is brought back to the temple and
raised among them. A martial-arts spectacular, the play fuses
action, drama and touching events.
The
Eastern Shanghai Theater will be located at 1304 Parkway in a
theater that was recently purchased by the entertainment
conglomerate Eastern Shanghai International Culture Film and
Television Company, a Chinese corporation with interests in
television, film and live entertainment.
