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For modern culture more in tune with Shanghai's vibe head to the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, which balances sumptuous historical epics with small, provocative plays examining burning social issues.
The city's premier theater venue and troupe, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center presents an award-winning lineup of its own original pieces, plus those of other cutting-edge groups around China. It also stages Chinese-language adaptations, sometimes very inventive, of Western works, such as a festival of Samuel Beckett works reinterpreted through Chinese opera.
Although the renovation of Shanghai's oldest theater sadly replaced the richly stained wood with glaring marble and glass, the design of the space makes for an intimate theater experience. The Lyceum regularly hosts drama and music from around China as well as smaller local plays and Chinese opera performances. On the third floor is cocktail bar and stage Candor which puts on burlesque-style shows in plush, red velvet surrounds.
This troupe performs remarkable gravity-defying stunts at the Shanghai Centre Theater, inside the Portman Ritz-Carlton.
More than a decade ago, city officials spent $6 million to move this venerable concert hall two blocks to avoid the rumble from the nearby highway. Only then did they discover that it now sat over an even more rumbling subway line. Oops. It’s known for hosting top-level classical musicians from around China and the world.
This cultural powerhouse presents traditional Chinese works as well as a superb selection of Western shows. The Royal New Zealand Ballet, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, and Netherlands Symphony Orchestra are just three among a slew of groups that have performed here.
Not only Beijing Opera but also China's other regional operas, such as Huju, Kunqu, and Yueju, are performed regularly at this theater in the heart of the city center. Considered the marquee theater for opera in Shanghai, it's just a block off People's Square.
