A series of foreign and domestic performances staged this summer will be a great feast for the eyes of viewers in Beijing and Shanghai.

The fresh, sweet voice of the Danish National Girls' Choir heralded the start of the Open Door Festival of Music in the Forbidden City Concert Hall inside the Zhongshan Park on July 15. Six series of performances launch during the festival, including the symphony series, choir series, piano and stringed instrument series, folk series, jazz and pop series and children's series.

The international puppet show season also raised its curtain on July 21 in China Puppet Art Theatre. Several world-renown puppet art troupes from Bulgaria, Russia, Belgium and Croatia will put various puppet shows until August 27. Shows include Tarzan from Sofia Puppet Theatre and Flower House from Moscow Children of Marionette Russian.

The Beijing Children's Art Theatre announced that the Beijing Olympic Committee had granted an exclusive authorization to their theatre to put on "Fuwa," which will premiere at Poly Theatre on August 5.

As the official mascots of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Fuwa (the Five Friendlies) carried a message of friendship and peace. This drama tells a fairy tale of the Five Friendlies who fight against monsters to bring peace to the world.

Kids will feel particularly happy at the coming of Midsummer Night's Fairy Dream this July. Fifty children's theatre plays will be staged consecutively during 38 days in China National Children's Art Theatre.

Both the overall duration and showing times set a new record in children's theatre in Beijing. Several classic children's plays such as Malan Flower and Happy Hans are expected to catch children's eyes.

In Shanghai, the Disney musical Lion King is one of the most eye-catching performances.

Premiered at Shanghai Grand Theatre on July 18, the production will be staged in the city until October.

Different from other musicals, the performers in "Lion King" are not limited to the stage. Actors, elephants or birds may suddenly appear beside the audience on the first floor, creating vivid and lifelike visual effects.

Some adjustments are also made in the lines from "Lion King" to adapt to the Chinese audience. The old baboon even hums the tune of? The Mouse Loves Rice (Lao Shu Ai Da Mi), a Chinese pop song.

The musical has stirred great enthusiasm among the audience in Shanghai. Some people from Jiangsu Province and Beijing even booked the tickets.

(China Daily July 27, 2006)