A scene from Love Travels Millennium Photo: Courtesy of One World

A scene from Love Travels Millennium Photo: Courtesy of One World

After making its debut on streaming platform Youku in May, Chinese musical Love Travels Millennium finally made its way to the stage at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on Friday night. 

The musical has been a symbol of hope for the performing arts industry, which has been badly hit by the deadly coronavirus. 

It managed to lift people's spirits at a time when theaters in the Chinese mainland were shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak by streaming a live performance.  

After months of waiting, audiences were finally able to watch the musical produced by the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater as it was intended, although they had to adhere to precautionary safety measures including health code and temperature checks and maintaining proper social distance while at the theater, which was kept at 50 percent seating capacity.   

Inspired by the traditional Chinese legend of Madame White Snake, the musical follows the original story narrative, presenting four key sections through singing and dancing. 

The producers noted that internet slang was cut from this version after they received complaints from viewers of the streaming version. 

After Beijing, the musical is scheduled to tour to Shanghai and Guangzhou.