He wants Hong Kong to fall in love with theatre and he’s doing everything he can to make that happen
- Hong Kong theatre wunderkind Tom Chan is the youngest and only producer to stage a long-running musical show in the city. He talks to the Post about his passion
We are sitting in a darkened theatre in the midst of grey, industrial Kwai Chung in Hong Kong when our interviewee bounds in. With his casual attire, backpack and cap, he looks like a kid who has taken a wrong turn on his way to class.
And as much as Kwai Chung is an unconventional location for a theatre venue, so Tom Chan Yan-shek is not your typical theatre producer.
At only 25 years old, Chan is already a seasoned professional, a veteran even, of the theatre world. He’s been acting and singing since he was three, writing and directing musicals since he was 15, and over the past year, this young talent has made waves in the Hong Kong theatre scene with Our Journal of Springtime, a production for which he serves as scriptwriter, composer, lyricist, as well as director and producer.
The show has already amassed a staggering 360-plus performances and counting, a remarkable feat in a city where most theatrical productions struggle to survive beyond a single week due to challenges such as venue availability and financial constraints.
It is vindication for the young man who was told there was barely a market for normal theatre, never mind a long-running musical.
