The East Kowloon Cultural Centre (EKCC) — Hong Kong’s new top-notch arts and performance complex with an art-tech focus — raised its curtain on Monday, with officials and industry leaders bullish about its role to support the need of local artistic productions.

Set on the site of the former Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate in Kowloon, the 2.16-hectare center is the city’s latest major arts facility. It houses the 1,200-seat “The Hall”, Hong Kong’s first venue with a full suite of performance technology; the 536-seat “The Theatre” which boasts a three-sided stage for closer audience engagement; a venue named “The Turns” that features full-wall projection; the acoustically refined “The Beats”; and a rehearsal studio called “The Lab”, a versatile arts technology testbed studio.

Addressing Monday’s opening ceremony, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki highlighted the center’s broader importance as “a major milestone” in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s push for art and cultural development and “a crucial part” of plans to anchor the city as a global cultural exchange hub.

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Struck by the site’s transformation, Chan added a personal touch. “Having once lived nearby, I find it particularly special to be here now in such a magnificent center”, he said.

Chan went on to note the facility’s “comprehensive, state-of-the-art equipment” to fully support production needs, in a long-term bid to foster local talent, encourage the creation of more high-quality performance art, and beef up the sustainable development of the local industry.

Its launch dovetails with a wider government initiative to specialize Hong Kong’s performance venues, as pledged in the latest Policy Address. The plan draws a distinct focus for each — the Hong Kong Coliseum is expected to prioritize concerts, the EKCC is to concentrate on long-running performances and art-tech, while Sha Tin Town Hall is to become a dedicated house for Cantonese opera.

On the strength of its deep integration of art and technology, officials previously outlined the SAR government’s ambition to cement the area as a must-see destination for high-quality, long-running shows, on a par with major global theater districts like New York’s Broadway or London’s West End.

To open the season, HighLights — The Memories of Charles Kao, a new Cantonese musical honoring the late Charles Kao Kuen, the city’s preeminent Nobel Prize-winning physicist, will premiere on Nov 15, kicking off a lineup of 17 subsequent programs with over 80 shows slated through mid-February 2026.

At the same event, Erica Li, the musical’s director, said that she and her team harbored great confidence in the center’s potential to become a new world-class, pioneering theater highland.

“With perseverance, success is assured,” she said, “given time, with the right people to execute the vision and the necessary support to carry the work forward, it is absolutely achievable.”

Johnny Yim, the show’s music director, praised the venue’s audio system as “definitely top-notch”. He singled out a 170-speaker “sound-scape” system in the center for its ability to shift auditory perception. This capability, he said, is pivotal for allowing directors to realize innovative, dramatic experiments that shift the audience’s auditory perception.

The musical’s project strategist Brian Chow added that there is strong anticipation within the sector that the center will help Hong Kong productions become signature shows of greater magnitude.

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By offering dedicated, long-term spaces, the EKCC directly tackles the prohibitive venue costs and limited availability that have long hindered local theatrical works’ extended runs, he said.

Chow also revealed that during the production phase, the musical’s creative team had in mind not only stage it in Hong Kong as a draw for the public and visitors, but also take it on tour to other regions, with the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area eyed as the next stop.

Fifteen performances of the musical have been scheduled, with a decision on whether to add more showings to be made within this month, Chow noted.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com