SEOUL, South Korea — The packs of young women arrived 90 minutes early for the evening's show: "Murder Ballad," a rock musical that flopped off Broadway in July and then opened here four months later in an all-Korean production. They wanted time to shoot smartphone video of Seoul's newest theater, built inside a shopping mall, and start scoring autographs: of actors, sure, but lighting operators and makeup artists too.
韩国首尔——一群年轻女性提前90分钟就来到了剧院，准备观看晚间演出——《谋杀谣》(Murder Ballad)。这部摇滚音乐剧于今年7月结束了在外百老汇的演出，由韩国班底制作的版本四个月后在首尔上演。她们想利用这段时间，在商场内的这座首尔最新的剧场拍些智能手机视频，并向演员、以及灯光师和化妆师索要签名。
Or anyone, really, working on American musicals, whose head-spinning popularity here has changed the game for New York producers looking to extend the lives of their shows.
其实，任何做美国音乐剧的人，都有人会来要签名，美国音乐剧在韩国广受欢迎，这对希望将手中的戏尽可能持续演下去的纽约制作人来说，是天翻地覆的变化。
Seoul has become a boomtown for American musicals, with Korean and Broadway producers tapping into an audience of young women raised on the bombast of Korean pop and the histrionics of television soap operas. Ticket sales to American and European musicals, as well as to a sprinkling of Korean originals, have grown from $9 million in 2000 to an estimated $300 million this year, and a frenzy of licensing deals is underway.
首尔已经成为美国音乐剧的新兴市场，韩国及百老汇的制作人吸引了一批年轻的女性观众——在夸张的韩国流行音乐及肥皂剧中长大的观众。2000年，美国、欧洲音乐剧，以及少量韩国原创音乐剧的门票销售额为900万美元（约合5465万元人民币），而今年的销售额预计将达到3亿美元，此外还有一大批的授权交易。

Proven hits like "Wicked," "Mamma Mia!" and "Grease" have opened here this fall, but so, too, have Broadway failures like "Ghost" and "Bonnie & Clyde," challenging assumptions about taste, tolerance and translation. The quintessential New York story "Guys and Dolls," it turns out, works in Korean, so long as Miss Adelaide is played by an actress nearly 10 years older than her Nathan Detroit, to reflect the trend of older women dating younger men in Seoul.
今年秋季，《魔法坏女巫》(Wicked)、《妈妈咪呀！》(Mamma Mia!)、《油脂》(Grease)等广受欢迎的音乐剧已经在首尔上演，也有《人鬼情未了》(Ghost)、《邦尼和克莱德》(Bonnie & Clyde)等失败的百老汇音乐剧，对口味、容忍度及翻译质量的判断格外困难。《红男绿女》(Guys and Dolls)讲述的是典型的纽约故事，结果它在韩国收获了成功，前提是阿德莱德(Adelaide)小姐的扮演者比她的纳撒·德特鲁特(Nathan Detroit)大10岁左右，反映了首尔男女交往中女方年龄比男方大的潮流。
And even with its short Off Broadway run, the four-character "Murder Ballad" found fans far away.
包含四个角色的《谋杀谣》在外百老汇的演出档期不长，但在遥远的国度获得了大批粉丝。
"I watched the New York production on YouTube and became obsessed," said Lee Joo-young, a 30-year-old researcher, speaking through an interpreter, after a recent performance. "It's so emotional and sexy and thrilling. Americans are so great at making these shows."
“我在YouTube上看到了纽约版的音乐剧，然后便着迷了，”30岁的研究员李舟永（Lee Joo-yong，音译）最近看完演出后通过翻译说道。“它非常感人、性感、刺激。美国人真是擅长制作这类演出。”
Audiences in London; Hamburg, Germany; and S?o Paolo, Brazil, are also known for having big appetites for American musicals, but the energy and entrepreneurism in Seoul are startling. With 300 theaters already — about the same number as in New York — the city keeps building to accommodate the crush: A Methodist megachurch just built a Broadway-style house, while another 600-seat theater recently opened among barbecue restaurants. And audiences are dominated by young people, a generational contrast to the graying audiences in the West.
伦敦、德国汉堡，以及巴西圣保罗的观众也都因为喜爱美国音乐剧而闻名，但首尔地区的活力与积极推动的精神令人感到震惊。首尔已经拥有300家剧院——与纽约的剧院数量大致相当，而首尔还在不断建造剧院，以便适应这个热潮：一个卫理宗派教会刚刚建设了一座百老汇风格的剧场，而一个能够容纳600名观众的剧院最近刚刚在众多烤肉店中间开门迎客。与观众老龄化的西方不同，韩国的观众主要是年轻人。
"Seoul has become incredibly important in the lives of many musicals, something none of us would've said or predicted a decade ago," said Judy Craymer, the lead producer of "Mamma Mia!" In 2004, Ms. Craymer joined forces with a Buddhist monk and his producing partner on the first of 12 productions across South Korea, the latest opening here last month.
《妈妈咪呀》的主要制作人朱迪·克雷默(Judy Craymer)说，“首尔正在对很多音乐剧延长演出生命起到关键作用，10年前，我们当中没人会假设或预测到首尔会变得如此重要。”2004年，克雷默与一名佛教僧人及他的制作伙伴合作，在韩国推出了首部音乐剧，他们总共制作了12部音乐剧，最近一部作品于上个月在首尔开演。
"It's become this fantastic flagship for the foreign market, because Koreans travel so much to New York and London, and they care deeply about brands — like Broadway," Ms. Craymer said. "A huge amount of theater's repeat business comes from Korea; they see it on Broadway, then see it at home and so on. And, best of all, it's this huge young audience. The growth potential is enormous."
“韩国已经成为外国市场的优秀招牌，因为韩国人经常到纽约及伦敦旅游，他们非常关心品牌——比如百老汇，”克雷默说。“剧院的很多回头客都来自韩国；他们在百老汇观看演出，然后也会在韩国及其他地方观看。最棒的是这是一大批年轻观众。增长潜力非常大。”
The rewards have become significant for American producers. They typically receive 15 percent of the box office gross, as well as licensing and management fees in some cases, revenue that can total millions of dollars and offset losses on Broadway.
演出收益已经成为美国制作人的重要收入来源。他们通常会获得15%的票房收入，有时候还会获得授权及管理费用，总收入能够达到数百万美元，可以抵消百老汇的损失。
And they see South Korea as a model for eventually doing business in an even bigger future market, China.
他们把韩国当做一种模型，最终想要在更大的未来市场——中国做生意。
Ask Edward Strong, a partner in Dodger Theatricals, which is bringing another unmistakably American musical, "Jersey Boys," to Seoul for the first time in January as part of an English-language tour.
爱德华·斯特朗(Edward Strong)是道奇戏剧公司(Dodger Theatricals)的合伙人，该公司在今年1月将另一部典型的美国音乐剧——《泽西男孩》(Jersey Boys)首次带到首尔，属于一次英语版巡回演出的其中一站。
"All of Asia is a potential market for 'Jersey Boys,' " he said. "But right now, Seoul is the major market, ever since the economic recession cooled theater activity in Japan. And we want to learn from our experience in Seoul and take that knowledge elsewhere in Asia."
“整个亚洲地区都是《泽西男孩》的潜在市场，”他说。“但目前，也就是自经济衰退致使日本的剧院演出减少以来，首尔成为主要市场。我们希望从首尔市场吸取经验，然后应用到亚洲其他地区。”
The strong business from young women (and plenty of young men too) is generally attributed to the fact that Koreans in their 20s and 30s tend to earn good salaries but live with their parents until marriage. This leaves them money to spend on tickets, which cost roughly the same as in New York.
年轻女性（以及许多年轻男性）带来了巨大商机，这总的来说是因为二、三十岁的韩国人往往拿着丰厚的薪水，但结婚前要和父母一起生活。因此，她们可以将钱用于购买演出门票，这里的票价基本与纽约持平。
Ticket sales began to climb for American and British musicals after the unexpected success of a Korean-language version of "The Phantom of the Opera" in 2001, according to Korean producers. "Phantom" ran for seven months, a relatively long run here; most popular musicals run for a few months, shut down, then return a year or two later. Rotating like this allows fresh celebrities to be added to the casts, which fuels repeat business; stars from popular K-pop bands routinely sell out their performances and can earn as much as $50,000 a night in a musical.
据韩国制作人透露，韩语版《歌剧魅影》(The Phantom of the Opera)在2001年获得意想不到的成功后，美国及英国音乐剧的门票销售额开始攀升。《歌剧魅影》上演了七个月，这是相对较长的演出时间；大多数广受欢迎的音乐剧只演出几个月就会结束，然后一年或两年之后开始再度演出。这样的轮回演出让新明星可以加入到演员阵容中，带来很多回头客；有韩国流行组合的明星参加的演出，门票经常是销售一空的，他们参演音乐剧，一晚上能赚到五万美元。
As in New York, most musicals end up losing money: From 80 to 90 percent do, compared with 75 percent on Broadway. (American producers and artists are generally protected, though, as they make money from licensing fees and royalties, in addition to the box office.) But the risk has not stopped Korean producers from mounting shows in an almost harum-scarum fashion, with a "wild, wild West" mentality, in the words of the Broadway producer James Nederlander Jr. Yet worries about oversaturation loom, even as Korean producers snatch up more rights from their American counterparts.
而在纽约，大多数音乐剧都以亏损收场：百老汇有75%的音乐剧是亏损的，相比之下，其他音乐剧的亏损比例高达80%到90%。（不过，除了票房收入，美国制作人和艺术家通常是有保障的，因为他们能从版权费和版税中挣到钱）。然而在这种风险之下，韩国制作人还是在以几近不管不顾的方式上演剧目，按百老汇制作人小詹姆斯·内德兰德(James Nederlander Jr.)的话说，这是一种“西部冒险”式的心态。然而，过度饱和的困境已经若隐若现，尽管此时韩国制作人还在从他们的美国同行那里争抢更多的授权。
"There is a bubble right now — too many musicals, and people don't know what to see," said Seol Doyun, who mounted "Phantom" in 2001 and is now producing the first Korean-language production of "Wicked," which is selling strongly so far.
在2001年推出《歌剧魅影》的薛道延（Seol Doyun，音译）说，“泡沫近在眼前——音乐剧太多了，人们不知道该看什么了。”薛道延目前在制作首部韩语版的《魔法坏女巫》，到目前为止，它的销售一直相当强劲。
"The interesting thing is, in Korea most bubbles don't really burst — electronics haven't burst, K-pop hasn't burst — we just grow and grow," Mr. Seol said. "People are losing money in musicals, but enough are making money that everyone still wants to be big in the market."
薛道延说，“有意思的是，在韩国，大多数泡沫不会真的破裂——电子产品泡沫没破，韩国流行音乐泡沫也没破——我们的泡沫只是越变越大。有人在音乐剧上赔了钱，可是，还有足够多的音乐剧在挣钱，每个人都还是想着在市场里占一大块份额。”
To the surprise of some producers here, audiences rarely fuss about the Korean translation of American musicals, no matter how odd they are. In the new production of "Wicked," the Korean translation of the anthemic "Defying Gravity" changes one memorable lyric — "It's time to try defying gravity" — into "Fly high up and get out (be free) of gravity," for the Korean words to keep time with the music, Mr. Seol said.
让韩国本地一些制作人吃惊的是，对翻译成韩语的美国音乐剧，不管多么怪异，观众们都很少会表现出不满。薛道延说，在新版《魔法坏女巫》中，为了让韩语歌词与音乐配合，颂歌《冲破阻力》(Defying Gravity)的韩语翻译把一句令人难忘的歌词“是时候尝试冲破阻力”改成了“展翅高飞，摆脱阻力”。
Musical comedies like "The Producers" and "Spamalot," however, have struggled at the box office here, and "The Lion King" — the biggest moneymaker in Broadway history — was not a Korean hit, possibly because it was marketed as family fare rather than as heart-tugging drama.
然而，类似《制片人》(The Producers)和《火腿骑士》(Spamalot)这样的音乐喜剧，在韩国的票房却并不成功，百老汇历史上最挣钱的音乐剧《狮子王》(The Lion King)，在韩国也没引起太大轰动，这可能是因为，它被宣传为适合全家人一起看的大戏，而不是牵动人心的戏剧。
"More than the Japanese and Chinese, Koreans are very expressive about their feelings, and they want romance, they want to cry, they want to get very emotionally involved and root for their characters," said Park Yong-ho, a leading producer here.
本地一名主要的制作人朴永镐（Park Yong-ho，音译）说，“比起日本人和中国人，韩国人非常乐于表达他们的情感，他们想要浪漫故事、想要哭泣、想要全情地投入到角色中，为角色加油。”
Some of the young women at "Murder Ballad" said they were unfazed by the musical's sexually graphic themes and outbreak of violence, noting that Korean films and soap operas have such moments. Still, they said, there was a special thrill in seeing the seductions unfolding live. (The show places the audience in a barroom setting, where much of the action takes place.)
观看《谋杀谣》的一些年轻女性说，这部音乐剧有许多的性爱和暴力场面，但她们并不在意，并指出，韩国电影和肥皂剧也有这样的片段。不过，她们说，看到诱惑场景在眼前展开，会有一种特别的刺激感。（该剧让观众置身于一个酒吧的场景，许多表演都是在那里进行的。）
"It was a little difficult to perform, at first, because my character drinks and is very open-minded, and that is not really typical Korean," said Lee Ji-yeon, who plays Sara, a tempestuous New Yorker, in the musical. "I've never been to New York City, so creating a New York character was hard, too. But the audience is on my side, because everyone here is fascinated by American stories."
在剧中扮演情绪化的纽约人萨拉的李芝妍（Lee Ji-yeon，音译）说，“一开始，表演有点儿难，因为我扮演的人物爱喝酒，而且思想非常开放，她不太像韩国人。而且我从未去过纽约，所以，塑造一个纽约人是相当困难的。不过，观众都站在我这边，因为这里的每个人都为美国故事所着迷。”