The production premiered in December 2021 and starred Liu Lingfei and Bai Jugang in turn as Yozo the hero and Dazai, the author himself. Back in the 1990s, Wildhorn was a successful songwriter, and the song Where Do Broken Hearts Go that he composed for the late Whitney Houston propelled the singer to the top of the Billboard charts for seven weeks.

Last year, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra performed Wildhorn's Danube Symphony for the first time at the Vienna Musikverein in Austria.

The American, who has worked on international projects in the Czech Republic, South Korea and Japan, says the best stories can transcend culture and languages, and that being married to a Japanese wife has resulted in an Asian influence in his creations.

As a prolific artist who has to manage multiple commissions simultaneously, Wildhorn says he has to constantly reinvent himself to produce good work.

He adds that he was pleased with his maiden experience of creating an original Chinese musical, and he would consider creating more productions in Chinese in the future.

According to Wildhorn, some new ideas might come from Chinese cinema as he is a huge fan of certain Chinese films.

He says he usually adopts a hands-on approach with his creations, but the onset of the pandemic made this impossible. As such, much of the communication was done online and Sun Yuzhuo, the Chinese musical director for the production, has to be given much credit for "running the ship" well. Wildhorn also praises the Ranspace production team, saying that they are as excellent as their counterparts from Broadway.

During the salon, Wildhorn played the piano as the lead singers presented several songs from the musical. He also took time to show how he worked with his longtime collaborator Kim Scharnberg, who provided crucial input in keyboard and percussion, to forge the main melody for the production.

According to Liang, Ranspace is looking to take No Longer Human on tour in other Asian countries. The musical will next be shown in Beijing's Poly Theatre from Aug 31 to Sept 10.

If you go

No Longer Human

7:30 pm, Aug 11-12; 2 pm, Aug 13.

Shanghai Grand Theatre, 300 Renmin Avenue, Huangpu district, Shanghai.

021-6386-8686.

7:30 pm, Aug 31, Sept 1-2 and 5-9; 1:30 pm, Sept 3 and 10.

Beijing Poly Theatre, 14 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing.

010-6500-1188.

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn