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Translating Western Musicals into Chinese: Language and Cultural adaptations Stella Sorby University of Portsmouth Abstract In view of the increasing popularity of translated musicals in China, this paper considers the translation and cultural parameters for such translations using cultural adaptation, dynamic equivalence, domestication and Lows criteria for singable translations of songs with an assessment of the language treatment and adaptations involved in the translation of western musicals into Chinese. Introduction What’s on? While western musicals such as Cats, The Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia, The Lion King and 42nd Street, are steadily making their way to Chinese theatres performed in English with Mandarin surtitles, Chinese audiences are becoming more demanding: they want to see productions in Mandarin (Newsweek). Les Misérables, is scheduled to be the first for staging in Beijing. As a result, in 2007, a joint venture agreement was signed between China Arts Entertainment Group and Sir Cameron Mackintosh Limited to localise classic productions such as Les Misérables, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera. Mamma Mia! is also to be performed in Mandarin during 2009. Across the Atlantic, BAE (Broadway Asia Entertainment), which was formed in 2006, is keeping to its promise to produce and present tours of at least 12 English-version musicals, such as The King and I, 42nd Street, Cinderella, Hairspray, at more than 20 cities in China between 2006 and 2009. While touring with the English version of The Sound of Music at cities such as Chengdu, Wuhan and Shenzhen in China this