Rick Conant will choreograph the tap-happy production, which will boast an American cast that includes Equity and non-Equity performers.

American and British musicals have filtered into China in recent years with major Western-produced stagings of Les Miz, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, The Lion King and more getting runs in major cities there.

This is likely the first time such songs as "You're Getting to Be a Habit With Me," "I Only Have Eyes for You" and "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" will be performed live in Chinese theatres.

42nd Street, with songs by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, and a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble (drawing on the film and novel), is the backstage tale of a musical comedy in the making. When the star is injured, can a chorus girl rise to the challenge? 42nd Street was a 1980 smash that was revived on Broadway in 2001.

The Troika Entertainment tour will play Chinese cities of Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Hefei, Wuhan, Longgang and Beijing. In December, a tour in Korea begins with eight weeks in Seoul followed by four weeks in other cities before moving on to Thailand and Malaysia. Variety reported that the 42nd Street China tour producing partners are the Nederlanders, Troika Entertainment and Broadway Asia Entertainment, and the Chinese partners are Beijing Time New Century Entertainment and Shanghai Media Entertainment Group.