The smart group of investors, knowing of the typical corruption going on, decided to hire foreign expertise to intervene and try to get it back on track, quickly.  Enter Nederlander Worldwide…  When I arrived, the corrupt bad investors group side had spent years ripping the show to shreds creating a bunch of loose knit LED heavy scenes which had not considered, in any regard, flow of story, integration of music score, cast, costumes, lighting, sound or other elements, but individually look pretty on paper.

Worse, significant corruption was rife with local staff.  So while I was additionally trying to work out how to get the theatre built (which itself had languished for many years in a dirt pit of corruption), with pushback at every step by local and very corrupt management, I also had to work out how to assemble a commercially viable show, in Chinese, to attract group sales and Terra Cotta Warriors visitors, with a creative team who were scattered around China (and Europe), and whom had never been all together in the same room together.

Much to the chagrin of the local corrupt investor management, but with the support of smart investor group leadership, I insisted on getting the creative team assembled into a room and build out the show structure and plan accordingly.

What started as a typical, formal Chinese style meeting in the village of Lintong with my smarter half sitting on one side of the table and the corrupt half sitting on the other side of the table, along with the clearly frustrated artistic team, the meeting was railroaded at the outset to attempt to be led by the corrupt local, corrupt bad investors management’s “artistic director” (an incompetent old backstabbing woman with no understanding of theatre).

I quickly broke with all manner of Chinese formal meeting structure, interrupted her 9 page opening speech of her self congratulatory nothingness, and moved to sit next to the Director, with translators and other creative team members huddled around us, laying out the script/scene breakdown I had previously printed on oversized paper in front of him, which we together sorted into a general order, then added music, then with the designers added the settings (from a series of illustrations I had prepared), then added costumes etc….

Over the course of 3 hours with the assistance of a pair of scissors, sticky tape and creative energy, we structured the show together into a logical flow.  The creative team was very happy, and openly said this was the best and most constructive and most positive meeting they had in years. The director felt empowered for the 1st time. The blueprint for the show to eventually open had been created.

To this day, that creative team remain friends, with the director and designers especially close friends.  When drinking together in Shanghai, we love to regale stories of the madness of the corruption and idiocy of the village thinking, and fondly recall the turning point of that meeting, where for the first time, they felt empowered.

Directed & Choreographed (总导演/编导) by Zhao Ming (赵明); Set Design (舞美设计) by Li Wenxin (李文新); Costume Design (服装设计) by Li Ruiding (李锐丁); Lighting Design (灯光设计) by Sha Xiaolan (沙晓岚); Composed by Klaus Badelt; Music Production (音乐监制) by Yang Gefang (杨戈芳); Video Production manager (视频制作公司项目负责人) by Huang Yungen (黄云根); Technical Direction (舞美技术副总监) by Wan Bin (万斌) and Projections Engineering (视频师) by Qing Chengzhi (清承志).

China’s First Emperor

As Executive Producer & Senior Vice President of Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment LLC since 2000, a New York division of the Nederlander Organization charged with international development of theatrical markets, venues and shows.