Chapter 444 "Phantom of the Opera"
Fang Minghua stayed at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York, which is a five-star hotel located near Times Square.
He lives in a suite on the 21st floor, and standing on the balcony can see the giant digital screen of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.
"Mr. Minghua, this is your itinerary, please take a look." Evans took out a document and handed it to Fang Minghua.
Participate in this year’s National Book Critics Circle Awards at Carnegie Hall on the evening of June 19
At noon on June 20th, a cultural talk show with Macdonald, the famous New York program host: "The Round Table" (if you win the award.)
At noon on June 21st, participate in the signing sale at Noble Bookstore in New York book activities.
June 22 at Federal Bookstore in Houston
Fang Minghua counted.
Good guys, it’s almost one game a day, a total of six signings in six cities.
New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Chicago and all over the United States, Fang Minghua thought of his pitiful appearance flying in the air every day.
Damn it, free stuff is really expensive.
But take what you have come and take care of yourself. It doesn’t matter if you have to work hard to promote your book.
Fortunately, there are about five days left at your disposal.
"Please adjust the order of Chicago and Philadelphia and put Chicago last." Fang Minghua expressed his opinion. "I'm going to meet a good friend of mine in Chicago."
"ok!"
After everything was explained clearly, Evans said again: "Mr. Minghua, I'm going back. I will pick you up on time at six o'clock tomorrow afternoon to attend the ceremony. If you need anything, call me. That’s it.”
At this point, Evans paused and said, “Miss Emily’s room is next to yours. I hope you can have a good night.”
< br>After speaking, an ambiguous smile appeared on his face.
What does it mean?
However, Fang Minghua still said thank you politely.
Fang Minghua washed up, put on a T-shirt and jeans, and then knocked on Emily's door next door, and the two went to eat together.
Of course we also need to visit Times Square.
At sunset, the two of them strolled and watched the pigeons flying in the square.
In fact, Times Square in the United States in the 1980s was not as glamorous as later generations. It was a prosperous scene that only appeared after the "big cleanup" in the 1990s.
Today's Times Square, in Fang Minghua's eyes, is a mess, with all kinds of graffiti on the walls, and homeless people sitting in twos and threes in the corners. What makes Fang Minghua even more speechless is that when he was walking on Broadway, he heard the sound of a nearby movie theater. A woman's low gasping sound was heard.
Holy shit!
This immediately reminded Fang Minghua of the island country movies he had watched online before coming to this era.
Nice.
So public?
After all, it’s Broadway, can you hide it a little bit?
The videos in the video studios in our country in the 1990s were not suitable for children, and they usually only dared to do so in the back streets and alleys in the middle of the night.
Emily seemed not to be surprised, and when she saw Fang Minghua, she noticed All this, he pursed his lips and smiled: "This is what you Chinese call the decadence of capitalism. Shouldn't your country not have it?"
This question is really difficult to answer.
Fang Minghua avoided this question and asked instead: "I think places like Broadway should stage plays like "Moulin Rouge", "Les Misérables" and "Cats" instead of showing these things."
Emily told why.
All this stems from the economic recession in the United States after the 1980s, coupled with urban renewal and commercial transformation. Many theaters and shops closed down, and the unemployment rate and crime rate increased sharply.
“To tell you the truth, there are many dark and influential movies in our country, such as "Midnight Cowboy" and "Taxi Driver", in which many plots were shot in Times Square. You can watch it now These vulgar movies are also part of the scenery in Times Square, New York. "
"Of course, the plays you mentioned have been staged here," Emily continued, her hair slightly messy because of the wind. Said:
“I heard that the Lyceum Theater recently staged a new musical, The Phantom of the Opera, which was great.” “The Phantom of the Opera?”
"Yes, have you heard of this name?" Seeing Fang Minghua's somewhat surprised expression, Emily asked.
“That is adapted from the novel of the same name by French writer Gaston Leroux, right?” Fang Minghua replied.
"Yes, have you read this novel?"
"Yes." Fang Minghua nodded.
"That's great!" Emily clapped her hands happily.
“The musical adapted from the novel of the same name was staged recently, and it won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Director, Best Actor in a Drama, and Best Actress in a Drama. Do you want to watch it with me? Okay?”
The girl paused and looked at Fang Minghua.
This is possible.
Just don’t watch those R-rated movies with you.
"Okay. Let's watch it on the night of the 21st, shall we? Let's buy tickets now." Emily, a neat girl, ran towards the theater.
Hey. What an impatient girl.
"The Phantom of the Opera" is one of the masterpieces of musical theater master Andrew. It is adapted from the Gothic love novel of the same name by French writer Leroux and is also one of the classic plays performed on Broadway.
In an opera house in Paris, strange things happened frequently. The original prima donna was almost killed, and a creepy illusory male voice appeared in the theater. This voice comes from the "ghost" who lives in the underground maze of the theater. He falls in love with the actress Christine
Fang Minghua has not seen this musical, but has seen its companion piece "Midnight Song".
That's right, it was "Midnight Song" produced by my country's Shanghai Film Studio and released nationwide in 1985.
They are all based on the novel "The Phantom of the Opera" by French writer Leroux!
Of course, in terms of artistic value, musicals are much higher than movies. After the millennium, this musical was introduced to our country and opened at the Yanjing Tianqiao Art Center. It is said that it ran for 64 consecutive performances.
It feels good to watch this musical from this era.
The two of them hurried back to the hotel after shopping until less than ten o'clock in the evening.
You can no longer wander around, Emily said that security guards are prone to trouble.
"Good night, sweet dreams!"
"Good dreams!" The two said goodbye.
After breakfast the next morning, Emily rented a Beetle and took Fang Minghua to visit the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York.
Fang Minghua saw that the base of the statue made of granite was engraved with a sonnet "The New Giant" by the American poet Emmanuelle Roche: the last five lines are widely circulated in the Chinese version. ：
Welcome,
the tired and the poor,
the masses huddled together eager to breathe free,
the bustling abandoned,
< br>Poor people.
Leave these homeless
distressed people
to me together.
I stand at the golden gate,
holding high the light of freedom!
Of course, Fang Minghua also saw a lot of bird droppings falling on the base of the statue.
Photos and souvenirs.
After playing for a long time, the two returned to the hotel in the afternoon and had dinner. Evans appeared in the hotel on time to pick up Fang Minghua to attend the evening awards ceremony.
(End of this chapter)