IP MAN THE MUSICAL to Debut in Singapore in 2014?

Ip Man the Musical just completed its introductory showcase at the Kallang Theatre in Singapore on the 12th June 2013. The show has been formally approved by government agencies such as Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) with their aim to promote the Singapore musical industry, through knowledge transfer and capabilities development, ensuring the commitment to continue in growing Singapore talents as well as the Asia region.

Since gaining much awareness in the musical industry and its successful showcase at Marina Bay Sands in June 2011, Ip Man the Musical has officially announced that its production will premiere in Singapore 4th quarter next year by leveraging Singapore's performing arts capabilities and infrastructure to create, develop and premiere the world-class musical for global release.

The company behind this production, W Squared Live Entertainment, has decided to set up its headquarters in Singapore. This is due to the growth of Singapore as a lifestyle destination, maturity in theatre consumption as an Asian market and its strategic and unique Pan-Asian perspective valued by the international musical theatre community - which led to the decision to premiere a Chinese story in English for global consumption.

Mr. Robert Vicencio, Producer, said: "Singapore was an obvious choice to develop the musical as being one of the four financial dragons of Asia with enormous financial power to ensure the sucessful operations and execution of such a large-scale project. Additionally, with a high growth in tourism, Singapore has the attributes of becoming the musical centre of Asia similar to Broadway in New York and the West End in London."

"W Squared Live Entertainment's choice of Singapore for their world premiere performance speaks volumes of our robust arts infrastructure and growing reputation as a centre for world-class entertainment. As visitors to Singapore become increasingly discerning, it is vital that Singapore continues to offer original content and experiences that will resonate with them. Ip Man the Musical, with its stellar team and engaging story-line, will add significantly to Singapore's own broad and diverse entertainment calendar." said Ms. Lynette Pang, Executive Director for Arts & Entertainment and F1 & Sports, Singapore Tourism Board (STB).

"We are pleased that W Squared Live Entertainment has chosen to locate its headquarters in Singapore to create, develop and premiere a world-class musical. The international creative team will work with Singapore talent to leverage Singapore as a platform to develop and launch the musical globally. This validates Singapore's attraction as a base for lifestyle companies to develop, grow and manage their businesses. " said Ms. Kow Ree Na, Director of Lifestyle Programme Office, Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

An international creative team has been assembled to develop the musical with an aim to not only evoke but enhance local audiences' musical perception and appreciation, but to enrich audience's entertainment choices by filling a gap for Chinese content in the musical world.

Mr. John Robertson, Senior International Production Consultant, said: "The immense challenge of bringing Ip Man the Musical to life - for Singaporean audiences - and then having it transfer to other territories around the world, requires vision on an unprecedented scale. I believe we have the best writers on board for this project. Producers Robert and Hongming have assembled a great team for this journey and together, we support them in this adventure by bringing to the world, the first original new musical based on the life of a martial arts grandmaster, with a wonderful story about China and the Ip family which will thrill audiences around the world."

Co-composer, Mr. Martin Koch, who hails from London with experiences such as the London Olympics, Mamma Mia!, Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, admits it is the first time for him to compose a Chinese themed project: "I am thrilled at the prospect of working on Ip Man. The unique challenges this piece presents are both exciting and imaginative. It is a great honour to be working on what will become a culturally significant piece of theatre."

Mr. Raymond Wong, Producer of the movie series, Ip Man 1 & Ip Man 2, added: "We are proud to see a Chinese martial arts movie being adapted into a musical and shown to the whole world in English."

Finally, Ip Man's son, Ip Ching, who is unable to make it to the press event, but is delighted to be involved in this project added: "I find musicals very special and have never been involved in one before. What is important is that this production will be able to share the story of martial art form, Wing Chung, to the entire world. Hence, it is a must for me to support this rare opportunity."

From the string of movies and their various incarnations of the legendary master, the most obvious question on everybody's mind would be on who will play Ip Man in the musical production. The producers have decided to keep this piece of information strictly confidential, only revealing that the identity will soon be announced in due course.

Additionally, the press conference will introduce various strategic partners for the production, including Taiwan's Flysound-who will be supplying Audio Equipment; Japan's Lateensail multimedia support and from Singapore, local strategic partners including Lasalle College of the Arts in facilitating a student workshop of the musical, BIO channel (A+E Network) creating a 6 episode documentary, Republic Polytechnic supporting with their video production capabilities and Zaobao.com with their strategic marketing.

In line with W Squared Live's exploration with multi-platform marketing strategies, a cooperation with Nokia was formulated aiming to bring elements of the musical to a new generation of mobile-savvy consumers. "The story of Ip Man echoes Nokia's brand personality. It is an uplifting story that is both authentic and full of adventure. We are excited to work with Ip Man the Musical", says Mr. Tay Eng Wah, Head of Marketing for Nokia Singapore.

W Squared Live is managed by international & local industry experts, producing an original Chinese story-based musical for the global markets. Pioneering and leading the China musical and entertainment industry, which providing unique and professional services to our clients and creative and unparalleled ideas for our clients. W Squared Live is focusing on details, complete customer service and satisfaction. With the theatre world currently looking for new content and the already widespread phenomenon of Martial Arts through movies and schools globally, the concept of Ip Man the Musical was strategically formulated to answer these beckoning calls.