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World of performing arts

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World of performing arts
News and reviews of the performing arts – ballet, contemporary dance, opera, theatre, musicals and more – in and around Hong Kong and beyond.
Channing Tatum (centre) throws fake money after announcing plans to bring the “Magic Mike Live” show to New York in October 2026. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Channing Tatum

Chiselled abs and sex positivity: Magic Mike Live to heat up New York

Featuring ripped male dancers, the stage spin-off of Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike film franchise is a ‘dance spectacular with a sexy twist’.

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Chinese culture

World’s first Chinese rosewood cello stars in Hong Kong exhibition

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Singaporean musician living with OCD uses toy pianos to tell her story

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong composer’s unusual journey from finance to writing Cantonese musicals

Lora Chow’s musical Dr Clown will feature at the coming Fringe Festival in Hong Kong. We look at her eclectic career path, driven by passion.

Composer Lora Chow, at the Fringe Club. 13JAN26 SCMP / Jonathan Wong
Classical music

The new generation of talented leaders taking centre stage at Royal Opera House

Hrusa takes over from Antonio Pappano, Royal Opera’s music director for 22 years; Scappucci is first principal guest conductor in 30 years.

Icons and Influencers

Q&A | High barre: a chat with dancer Roberto Bolle ahead of Caravaggio in Hong Kong

Bolle discusses how dance became his life as he prepares to bring Caravaggio to the Hong Kong Arts Festival in March.

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South Korea

Frozen, Spirited Away among shows lighting up Seoul’s theatre stages in 2026

Broadway imports Hell’s Kitchen and Lempicka, novel adaptation Arang and musical Six also among the South Korean capital’s highlights.

Mone Kamishiraishi performs in a production of the Japanese musical “Spirited Away”. The stage adaptation is among a host of blockbuster imports and ambitious original works lighting up Seoul’s theatre stages in 2026, including Frozen, Billy Elliot, Hell’s Kitchen, Lempicka, Arang and Six. Photo: courtesy of Johan Persson
Performing arts in Hong Kong

New Hong Kong street dance festival aims to change ‘troubled kid’ stereotype

Hong Kong’s Flo Fest will see performances from eight emerging local choreographers as well as from Ivan Michael Blackstock and The Ruggeds.

Chinese culture

‘I’d lie on the floor and cry’: Peking opera actress on the art’s challenges

Peking opera actress Zhang Wanting performs poses that can take months to perfect, and leave more than a few bruises.

Andy Lau Tak-wah

Hong Kong magician wants to change public perception, one trick at a time

Magic is more a performing art than entertainment, says Zenneth Kok, whose Hong Kong show, The Memory Wall, is coming to the Fringe Club.

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Zenneth Kok says magic, especially mentalism and mind-reading, is more of a performing art than pure entertainment. Photo: Zenneth Kok
What to do in Hong Kong

Coming arts events in China’s Greater Bay Area in January 2026

China’s Greater Bay Area is hosting a number of arts happenings in early 2026. Here is a selection of must-attend events.

Catch pianist Martha Argerich, among others, at the inaugural Verbier Festival in Shenzhen in January 2026. Photo: Getty Images
Books and literature

John Skelley’s Harry Potter journey from Broadway understudy to star

Every time Skelley thinks he’s done with the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, ‘opportunity kind of keeps coming back’.

Australia

6 young artists are reshaping Australia’s iconic cultural institutions

Six diverse artists, including Dylan Goh and Vivian Pham, have been appointed to director positions at Australia’s top cultural institutions.

Korea Times

Meet the Korean viral ‘dancing conductor’ who says he’s not actually dancing

Some conductors are visibly moved by the music, but Korean maestro Baek Yoon-hak takes that concept a step or two further.

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South Korea’s “dancing conductor” Baek Yoon-hak uses his energy-filled moves to get the whole audience joining in.
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Drones meet dancers in Hong Kong performance of Lucie in the Sky

The Australasian Dance Collective’s show is an imaginative combination of technology and dance but the choreography is disappointing.

A scene from Lucie in the Sky, a dance performance with drones by the Australasian Dance Collective that formed part of the opening programmes of Hong Kong’s East Kowloon Cultural Centre. Photo: David Kelly
Donald Trump

World-famous Kennedy Centre renamed to honour Trump

The US president says he was ‘surprised’ by the decision from the board, whose members he hand-picked.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Lucrezia Drei dazzles in Musica Viva’s Lucia di Lammermoor in Hong Kong

Despite amazing vocals, the opera by Gaetano Donizetti needs more space than offered by Hong Kong City Hall’s Concert Hall to truly shine.

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Music

Hong Kong classical concert to pay tribute to fallen Tai Po firefighter

Proceeds from the December 22 show, featuring some of Hong Kong’s biggest classical musicians, will go to the family of Ho Wai-ho.

The Cong Quartet are one of the big names who will perform at “Salute to the Brave, Soothing the Soul”, a charity concert co-organised by HK Phil’s first associate concertmaster Leung Kin-fung to pay tribute to Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the Tai Po fire.
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Lang Lang and Tarmo Peltokoski pack a punch alongside HK Phil

HK Phil’s music director designate expertly controlled an embellished orchestra as the Chinese piano star enchanted in a night of huge sound.

Art

Famous horse-related works of art as the Year of the Horse 2026 approaches

To celebrate the nearing Year of the Fire Horse, we look at paintings, books and plays that show how the use of horses in art has evolved.

Asia travel

New arts venues in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, including the ‘Airpod building’

The Shenzhen Bay Culture Square and Aranya Art Centre Guangzhou show the Greater Bay Area’s ongoing efforts to become a cultural destination.

Shenzhen Bay Culture Square opened in November 2025, the latest public cultural landmark to open in the Greater Bay Area (Photo: Zhu Yumeng; Courtesy of MAD Architecture Studio)
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Why it’s mission complete for Hong Kong chamber music festival founder

Premiere Performances boss Andrea Fessler opens up ahead of the 18th and final Beare’s Premiere Music Festival.

Premiere Performances founder Andrea Fessler poses at the performing arts group’s office in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The Vancouver-raised impresario started Beare’s Premiere Music Festival “to spark an interest in chamber music” in Hong Kong. After 18 years, she says that has been accomplished. Photo: Sun Yeung
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Thrilling Bruce Lee dance show explores Hong Kong star’s life and career

‘Kung Fu Artistry: Bruce Lee’s No Way as Way’ by the Hong Kong Dance Company is a powerful mix of dance and martial arts.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Violinist Midori works magic in Hong Kong concert double bill

Midori dazzled alongside pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute on November 27, two nights before sharing the stage with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.

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Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Pianist Mao Fujita delivers a technical masterclass alongside HK Phil

Fujita balanced grandiosity and introspection in an authoritative, emotionally aware performance in the wake of the Tai Po fire.

Japanese pianist Mao Fujita playing Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor” with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra on November 29, 2025 (Photo: Eric Hong)
Fame and celebrity

Lea Salonga on Disney roles, crying at KPop Demon Hunters and discrimination

Ahead of her Hong Kong Disneyland show, the Filipino singer talks about why Mulan is still so dear to her and her wish to tell Asian stories.

The Tony and Olivier award-winning singer and actress, best known for originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon and being the singing voice of Disney princesses Jasmine and Fa Mulan, will be in Hong Kong early January.
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Champion Hong Kong pianist joins Rome-based orchestra in powerful concert

The Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma, assisted by Aristo Sham, put on a strong opening night in Hong Kong.

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Hong Kong-invented electronic tap shoes take first steps in imaginative show

Time will tell if the shoes, created in Hong Kong and used in the dance performance The Next Movement, will spur a major evolution for tap.

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