BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- China witnessed a box office revenue of musical performances totaling nearly 1.81 billion yuan (256.5 million U.S. dollars) in 2025, up 7.55 percent year on year, said an annual report on China's musical market.

According to 2025 Musical Theatre Market Report released Tuesday in Beijing, 19,700 musical performances were staged in 2025 in China, a year-on-year growth of 15.04 percent. An audience of nearly 8.19 million attended the theater to enjoy musical performances, up 10.41 percent year on year, the report said.

According to the report, original musicals introduced to the Chinese musical market accounted for over half of the box office revenue, with musical classic "The Phantom of the Opera," the 40th anniversary concert of "Les Misérables," and French rock-opera musical "Le Rouge et le Noir" topping the annual box office chart of introduced original musicals.

In 2025, the proportion of female audiences in the musical market reached 75.5 percent, marking a slight decrease compared to 2024. Correspondingly, the proportion of male audiences increased slightly and is expected to rise with more Chinese musicals themed on home and country and science fiction, which typically tend to appeal to male audiences. ■