The Metropolitan Opera House on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
After the last rehearsal in the morning, time quickly came to the evening.
The Guofeng Art Troupe's "Book of Songs" theme performance started at 7 o'clock in the evening. There were still more than ten minutes before the opening. The theater was almost full. Many viewers took advantage of the last time before the opening to browse the beautifully bound books that came with the tickets. The program manual, bilingual in Chinese and English with a Chinese-style ink background, introduces in detail the historical status of the Book of Songs in Chinese culture and the general content of the 12 dances tonight.
Michael Morton, a theater critic based in the culture section of The New York Times, sat in the center of the hall with a great view. While flipping through the program brochure in front of him, he listened to the bickering of a young couple in the back.
"I really don't understand why you came to see this, Winnie, and I've heard that the ticket price this time is much higher than before. I know it is rumored that this dance team was created by Simon Westeros himself, but, from Chinese classical dance, tsk, are they going to perform kung fu on stage?”
"Jack, besides Kung Fu, what else do you know about China?"
“Chinese food is pretty good.”
"I feel more and more now that I have been cheated by you, and I shouldn't have married you."
"Hey, it's too late."
"Well, I know Simon is enough to make all of you men feel inferior, so just shut up."
"No matter how much you like Westeros, you have no chance of becoming the second Jennifer Bray. Speaking of which, that little guy is really lucky. He has gained a net worth of more than 400 million US dollars after chasing stars. It is simply Miracle."
"Shut up!"
"OK."
Michael Morton never looked back, but after all, he was still in the media circle and was very familiar with a lot of gossip. When he heard some words from the man in the young couple behind him, he couldn't help but think that the chances were quite good, or maybe he was married. The chance is even greater, after all, Westeros's certain fetishes for women are not a secret.
This slightly joking thought only passed by for a moment, and Morton's attention was quickly focused on tonight's performance.
Compared to the young couple behind him who probably don’t often attend operas, Michael Morton feels more closely about the ticket price of this performance. It is really expensive. Compared with the previous ticket price, it is at least 50% higher. It is definitely more than the price in hand. While nice, it's nowhere near the bonus booklet that costs the extra fare.
And this time it was his own money.
If this singing and dancing team had not been created by Simon Westeros, Michael would not have come to watch this kind of Chinese classical dance, which he had no interest in at all. After all, like many Westerners, in his impression of China, apart from Kung Fu and Chinese food is probably related to poverty and backwardness.
As a fairly well-known drama critic in the circle, since this is a rare opportunity for him to dig out his own pocket, if the next performance cannot satisfy him, even if it involves Simon Westeros, he will write in his review article tomorrow There will definitely not be anything nice to say.
However, after carefully considering the details of the ticket price, Michael Morton felt that no matter how harsh his criticism was, a certain young tycoon might not care.
Thinking like this, the time quickly came to 7 o'clock.
The lights in the theater dimmed, and after a moment, the curtain rose. The stage background was a row of vertical bamboo slips, covered with beautiful ancient seal characters.
Elegant and upright music sounded.
Different from Western symphonies, it was the first time for most of the audience to hear this kind of tinkling sound like striking metal. Only the audience in the upstairs box, overlooking the orchestra pit in front of the stage, could see the actors wearing Chinese ancient costumes. oriental woman is striking a row of chimes.
Immediately, accompanied by the heavenly female singing, two rows of dignified and elegant women in ancient costumes slowly came onto the stage.
Even though they are two completely different cultures, listening to the music and singing in his ears and looking at the elegant and elegant ancient-style women on the stage, Michael Morton's most intuitive feeling is only one word: beauty.
Or, the nearly 4,000 spectators who had been curious about this performance for a long time basically felt this way.
Many years later, certain things have repeatedly proven that 'XX Without Borders' is a joke, but at this moment, even across a completely different cultural background, this kind of cultural beauty accumulated by a nation for thousands of years still touches people's hearts.
Theater backstage.
The other girls who were getting ready listened to the music coming from the front desk, their little hearts were lifted high, and they inevitably lacked a little confidence.
In fact, everyone feels that in addition to the handbook that comes with the ticket, there should be more notes for the audience. Some people suggested during the planning stage that the corresponding poem should be recited before each dance. After all, these ordinary Americans do not have a certain The man is so knowledgeable about Chinese culture, yet similar suggestions were rejected directly by someone without any explanation.
He obviously doesn't care much about the success or failure of this show.
As for the tickets this time, when they learned that someone personally increased the average theater ticket price for this performance by 50%, everyone felt even more that someone might still want them to fail.
In front of the dressing table, Wei Canzao stood obediently like a small piece of wood. He spread his hands slightly and asked Teacher Wang next to him to check his makeup. Wang Dongyue looked at the girl's nervous look and comforted her: "Relax, you are just dancing in a group later, wait for you." It’s not good to be like this when I’m just dancing “Jian Jia” solo.”
"I'm just nervous," Wei Canzai said, actively trying to avoid the topic to help himself relax, and said: "By the way, Teacher Wang, Simon said during the day that we can return to China during the New Year."
Wang Dongyue nodded slightly and hummed softly.
Wei Sanzhao, who usually got along well with several teachers, noticed that Teacher Wang became depressed after hearing his words. He roughly knew why: "Teacher Wang, isn't your green card going to be processed soon? I'll wait for you." Once you get your green card, you should be able to bring your uncle and your children to the United States, right?"
Wang Dongyue paused, looked at the girl in front of him and hesitated, then said: "Zanzhao, I think... can you help me mention it in front of Mr. Westeros?"
When Wei Cancha heard this, she immediately remembered the man's reaction when she told him about Feng Caifen in the morning. It was very cold. However, after a slight hesitation, she still said: "Okay, Teacher Wang, but I can't guarantee anything." .”
Wang Dongyue said quickly: "You just need to help me lift it."
After all, it is still a matter of immigrating abroad.
Unlike the Chinese style art troupe, which has more young girls who only need to take care of themselves, the group of female teachers who came with them half a year ago basically have families. Compared with many people who thought it was heaven before going abroad, they found it was hell after going abroad. For overseas travelers, the salary package offered by the Guofeng Art Troupe is completely in line with the expectations of Chinese people for the West in this era, and even exceeds it. Therefore, these teachers inevitably want to go one step further and let their families come with them.
However, the Guofeng Art Troupe has not yet reached this level of charity. To achieve this, they basically need to operate on their own.
It's not easy.
Changing the topic and changing his mind for a while, Wei Canze also relaxed. Hearing the end of the first "Guan Ju" at the front desk and the warm applause, Wei Canze gained a little more confidence. You know, "Guan Ju" "Guan Ju" is a relatively decent one among the 12 dances tonight. The reason why it is used as the opening chapter is just because "Guan Ju" is the beginning of "The Book of Songs", and the more exciting ones are behind.
In the words of a certain man, this is called getting better.
Now, since the first dance was met with rousing applause, the response from the audience should only be better.
The facts are also like Wei Cancha's judgment.
The final final duration of this performance is 100 minutes, with a total of 12 dances, corresponding to twelve poems in the Book of Songs.
Although the opening was quite successful, subsequent dances such as "Jianjia" performed by Wei Canzai and "Plucking Wei" choreographed by Simon himself, all aroused even warmer applause than the opening.
When the last dance ended and all members of the art troupe came on stage to take a bow, many viewers were shocked to realize that 100 minutes had gone by so quickly without even realizing it. Many viewers did not leave immediately, but tried to go backstage to have a closer look. The dancers who had just brought themselves a visual feast communicated face to face.
Although most people who try this are stopped, there are still some lucky ones with good connections who get through.
Michael Morton, the resident theater critic of The New York Times, was one of them, and it was Joseph Volpe, general manager of the Metropolitan Theater, who personally led him in with some other special guests. The young couple behind Morton, who also wanted to go backstage after the performance, felt envious.
"First of all, I want to congratulate you, Joseph. Haven't you always wanted to make some reforms in the theater? This performance will definitely be a sensation."
Everyone walked backstage together. When Joseph Volpe heard what Michael Morton said, he smiled bitterly: "You should know, Mike, this is just a special case. Frankly speaking, it was a success, and it should be the same for the next shows." It’s very popular, otherwise, well, I don’t really know what to say.”
The main reason is that a certain young tycoon is really messing around.
Joseph Volpe was very opposed to insisting on significantly increasing ticket prices. Unfortunately, he was only a professional manager after all, and his arms could not twist his thighs.
The result was good.
Even Joseph Volpe certainly hoped that this would bring about some changes.
You should know that the operas mainly staged by the Metropolitan Opera House are actually similar to China's Peking Opera. They are all at the level of 'national quintessence', but they cannot escape the fate of becoming more and more highbrow. At this stage, most of the opera audiences are not coming here except The overseas tourists who stopped by to see the show during their trip to New York were a large number of silver-haired people, with very few young people.
Tonight's performance was an exception because of a certain young tycoon.
Before the show started, Joseph Volpe quietly observed that there were nearly 4,000 spectators at the scene, and most of them were young spectators who came here for the show.
If this situation can continue, that is, if the ticket price increases by 50% and the audience group continues to grow, Joseph Volpe can laugh out of his dreams.
It's a pity that these can only be thought about in dreams.
As for this performance, the plan is to only perform a total of 9 performances in the two months from December to January next year, which is the most popular period. This is actually the Metropolitan Opera's more than 200 performances every year divided into 20 or 30 plays. The average level, but after the end, it can be said that this was a good start, but it also ended abruptly. Because Joseph Volpe could not find a program to replace him, and a certain young tycoon had no intention of keeping this team permanent, the opera house could only return to tradition.
In short, it was just a flash in the pan.
Everyone chatted and entered the backstage, and found that it was busy but not chaotic. A large number of staff were helping to remove makeup for the dancers and organize various props in an orderly manner.
Some members of the media who followed the backstage were originally very interested in the various Chinese musical instruments used in this performance, but they found that all the instruments were immediately put into professional storage boxes. It was impossible to experience them. As general manager, Joseph Volpe could only explain with a wry smile again.
The answer is simple: expensive.
Not only the musical instruments, but also the costumes and jewelry of the dancers, and even some of the props used in the dances were very expensive, so much so that the Guofeng Art Troupe did not even trust the theater staff to help them, so they arranged them themselves.
Joseph Volpe even felt a little envious and jealous of this personally.
You know, as a theater manager, Joseph is also responsible for the preparation of some operas. This season, because he invested US$190,000 in props and scenery for an original new opera, Joseph was questioned by the board of directors, thinking it was too wasteful. And the various props used by the dancers in this performance...well, just one of the guqin, which is said to be a real Chinese antique, is worth more than 300,000 US dollars.
From this alone, we can see how much manpower and material resources were spent behind this performance. They only pursued perfection regardless of cost. It is strange that the result is not sensational.
Not surprisingly, the next day, news about the Guofeng Art Troupe’s performance spread rapidly.
In his New York Times column, Michael Morton praised the performance as "a perfect, exquisite, charming and elegant visual feast."
In addition, New York's "New York Post", "New York Daily News", "Daily News" and other important newspapers around the East Coast such as the "Boston Globe" have successively reported on this performance. There is even a Broadway theater critic who has accumulated a large number of fans on Facebook and directly posted a blog post, claiming that he was 'full of jealousy that Simon Westeros can have such a team of dancers', which can be regarded as criticizing the national style art. The background of the group, and this blog post was not only not restricted, but also promoted, and the Guofeng Art Troupe became more well-known for a while.
Immediately afterwards, the news spread back to China.
The news that the Guofeng Art Troupe's "The Book of Songs" themed performance caused a sensation at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York was directly published in one of the leading newspapers and attracted the attention of CCTV. This time is different from the simple operation that Chen Qing quietly operated. In that interview with Xin and his two daughters, CCTV took the initiative to express interest and asked reporters based in New York to follow up.
As the show's reputation quickly spread, tickets for subsequent shows became even more difficult to obtain, and even became a hot commodity among Broadway ticket sellers.