Asia News: Venues Return, TV Appearances Under Scrutiny, Pink Floyd

Concert and theater venues in China and Singapore are starting to return to a semblance of normality. China Daily reports that thanks to guidelines issued last year by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, theaters and cinemas in “low risk areas” for the coronavirus were allowed to remain open but with limited capacity. Over the subsequent months these capacity limits were gradually raised, and on March 15 the ministry announced that subject venues could now operate at full capacity. 

A manager of a theater division of the prominent online ticketing platform, Mailive, told China Daily that by last October “theater audience numbers returned to 70 percent of the level [they were at] before the pandemic hit.” 

After March 30, Mailive reported that theater venues throughout China “were confident about restarting performances.”

In fact, according to surveys it carried out, Mailive believes that following the pandemic there are now “new opportunities for original Chinese shows,” and, moreover, people are willing to pay more for quality performances. 

Another industry executive reported that tickets for a historical play sold out almost immediately when a 2021 tour was recently announced. The initial run of the play at a large theater in Singapore in March was “the first theatrical production in the city to have a full house since the onset of the pandemic last year.”

As a result, Mailive has launched a new brand called Theater Rocks, which targets younger audiences. It has already introduced 21 theatrical productions, including musicals. 

A producer who works with the brand told China Daily, “Original scripts are the key for growing the market, so we will work with professional institutions to train new talent.”

Meanwhile, in Singapore, IMC Live Global announced its first concert lineup for 2021 in March, and soon after the company sold out all 11 editions of its IMC Alive series at the city’s Capitol Theater featuring various Asian artists. 

An executive of the company told Channel News Asia that there is a keen desire in the city for live entertainment. 

At the moment, there are still social distancing guidelines in place that require venues to allow no more than 250 people at a time. 

However, industry people are confident that these limits will soon be relaxed, and now that vaccinations are underway local authorities may allow vaccinated spectators to attend shows without pre-event testing, which is still in effect. 

IMC also has its own safety protocols, including compulsory check-in using a tracing app, audience zones that prevent mingling and single direction entry and exit points. 

IMC Group Asia, one of Asia’s biggest concert promoters, in January took over management of Singapore’s Capitol Theater, an iconic venue that first opened in 1929. The theater seats 977 and offers both concerts and movies. 

The Korean habit of focusing music promotion activities on TV appearances came under scrutiny recently when two members of the K-pop boy band D-Crunch exhibited flu-like symptoms following the taping of two TV music shows and then tested positive for COVID-19. 

As a result, according to the Yonhap news agency, the other members of the group, as well as their staff, immediately went into self-isolation based on South Korean guidelines. They all underwent testing as well. 

Several days prior to testing positive, the two members and their group had appeared on two television music shows, so other artists who had been on the shows as well, including current hot superstar Kang Daniel, underwent testing as well. 

Yonhap reports that TV tapings are a prime source of infection for celebrities, since social distancing is difficult and promotional activities are so vital. In one case, a stage musical star was exposed to the virus through another guest on a TV show, thus leading to a cancellation of not only his own performances, but also that of his wife’s, who is also a stage musical star.