The new show from the I Have a Date with Spring team should be equal fun, says

What is entertainment? Whatever it may have been, film director Clifton Ko Chi-sum and his partners, stage director Ko Tin-lung and playwright Raymond To Kwok-wai, are hoping to redefine it with a new $15 million stage musical.

The trio are the same team which revived I Have a Date with Spring last Christmas and made it the first long-running local stage production with more than 70 performances.

And their Yuletide present for Hong Kong this year will be a full-fledged musical called That's Entertainment with a plan for at least 50 shows.

'It will be a bit like Grease,' said Clifton Ko, who will be co-directing the musical with To. 'It has been some time since Hong Kong has had a musical. Like Grease, it will be a romantic comedy.' To, who wrote I Have a Date with Spring, is also the mastermind behind That's Entertainment. The musical will star a mix of radio, television, film and stage personalities, something which Ko is very optimistic about.

Stage director turned comedy star, Cheung Tat-ming, will play mysterious but popular radio disc jockey, Dragon. Because of his sexy voice, thousands of women listeners have a crush on him even though they have never seen him. As a weekly prize, he arranges a date with one of his listeners, but always sends his assistant, Mickey (Hung Chiu-fung), because he thinks he is not good-looking enough.

A comedy of errors occur when Dragon's mistress Pussy (Louisa So Yuk-wa) is picked as a winner and he is forced to tell her the truth. To complicate matters, Mickey is in love with Tweety (Ada To Man-wai) who has a crush on Fishball (Jordan Chan Siu-chun), who is in love with Chicky (Alice Lau Ngar-lai) . . .

'It all sounds very complicated when you tell the story but once it is performed on stage, it all makes for very comical elements,' said To, who wrote the script.

But To believes that the strength of the script will lie in the fact that the musical was cast before he even sat down to write the play. 'It was something that Clifton and I decided on. That way we know what they are good at and then write the character accordingly,' To said.

The background of broadcasting was also a return to familiar ground for To, who has had many of his plays aired both locally and on Chinese commercial radio in New York.

'I think if you see the play in a more analytical light, you will be able to tell that it isn't just a play about the broadcasting business but also the trends it has undergone from the one-man show of the past,' he said.

The three directors have also hired British set and costume designer Vikkie Le Sache, who lectures at the Academy for Performing Arts (APA), to give the musical a timeless 'Batman-look'.

The musical will feature more than 20 Western golden oldies and two new songs composed by Ada To. The golden oldies - which include There's a Kind of Hush, Stupid Cupid and Begin the Beguine - will be re-arranged for a more local feel by Lee Kai-cheong.

'They have made it so local, with all the colloquial slang,' said Alice Lau.

Ko and his team were initially toying with the idea of an original musical repertoire, similar to what Canto-pop singer Jacky Cheung Hok-yau is hoping to achieve for his March production.

'In the end, we decided that we could not introduce all new songs because by the time the audience starts to identify the song, the show would be over. Broadway musicals can get away with it because they usually plug the songs well before the musical starts the run and they can have runs that last for a few years,' Ko added.

The leading cast, who were picked by Ko last December, is a source of great satisfaction for the film director.

'The six actors are very balanced. They can sing, dance, do comedy. There are some who are stronger in certain aspects; for instance, Siu-chun can act and dance but has had no stage training, and Tat-ming is not really a singer. But together they represent every field in the business. They're young but they're very talented,' Ko said.

'When I cast them, they were not as popular as they have become now. But it's just fate with the timing. Louisa and Alice have become popular on TVB, Tat-ming and Siu-chun are in demand for film and Ada and Hung are popular radio people.

'The musical was not cast for star appeal or with strange ideas in mind. Fame is not our main requirement.' For most of the actors, the musical has meant some sacrifice on their parts, but all are relishing the challenge. Chan, who has just wrapped up production for his latest movie, The Young God of Gamblers, will be devoting time to rehearsals and start being more choosy about future roles.

'Unless the script or the role is very, very attractive, it would be highly unlikely for me to accept anything in the next two months. I see [the time] as a chance for me to brush up on my singing and dancing, and keeping fit,' Chan said.

Of the six lead actors, Chan is the only one who has had no previous experience of stage productions although he has performed song and dance. 'The feeling is actually very fresh. The first time I turned up for rehearsal, I felt like a primary student on my first day in secondary school,' he said.

'I was very surprised when they approached me and wasn't quite sure if I could do it, but they said I could. I knew I could sing and dance, and I can act a little, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not going to be in this as a way to make money.

'But the most important thing is that they have really good intentions; they want to make the stage into a proper profession and I think that's good. I have great faith in it.' Ko, who is financing the project with To and Ko Tin-lung, is quite clear about wanting the musical to break even, despite the success of I Have a Date with Spring.

'We're spending $12 million on the production and another $3 million on publicity and ticket commissions. Even if we were to sell out all the shows, we would recoup only $17 million. That's not a lot of profit,' he said.

'A lot of stage productions are subsidised by taxpayers' money. Unlike Broadway and the West End, stage is not a commercial profession here yet. But we see the potential.' Ko cites two reasons for encouraging a stage musical scene in Hong Kong.

'We can nurture this group of audience - such as those who went to Spring - until stage productions can become self-financing. Also, after 10 years, the APA has trained a core of people who can run the business. It is now maturing.

'To us, it is not just a stage production. We are trying to achieve our ideals and hoping that this can be a stepping stone and get audiences interested.' To's ambitions are equally modest even if this is his most ambitious directorial effort to date.

'I've never directed a $15 million musical and I am telling myself that since I am taking $350 from each member of the audience, what can I show them that will make them feel it is worth it,' he said.

That's Entertainment. December 21 to January 16, 1997 (no shows on Wednesday, please check matinee showing times) at the Lyric Theatre, Academy for Performing Arts. Tickets $90 to $350 from Urbtix. Telephone inquiries: 2793 1123