Chapter 473: The Phantom of the Opera Action
Just after the Spring Festival in 1988, a sensational piece of news spread in the small county town of Rui'an.
Lin Weimin, a nationally and world-renowned writer, became the son-in-law of Ruian. When he came to Ruian to celebrate the New Year, even the county magistrate came to visit him in person.
In just two days, the news spread throughout the county and quickly spread to surrounding counties and cities.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the leaders of the WZ City Literary Association, who received the news, traveled hundreds of kilometers, asked along the way and arrived at Tao Huimin's home, but found nothing.
After asking around, I found out that he left yesterday.
Just one day passed and the meeting with Lin Weimin was missed, which made the leaders of the Municipal Association of Literary and Art Circles regretful and slapping their thighs.
Wenzhou’s local cultural context is weak, and even though we finally got a great writer, we were unable to retain him.
"Uncle, aunt!" The leader regretted for a moment and then turned his attention to Tao's father and mother.
"You have raised a good daughter. We Wenzhou people are proud of her!"
Tao's father and mother were flattered. This cultured person's words were always nice. However, the way of addressing was a little inappropriate as they were all of the same generation.
The leader flattered him for a long time, then asked, "I wonder when Teacher Tao and Teacher Lin will come back next time?"
Tao's mother said, "They are too busy with work. It takes them four or five days to go back and forth. They can only come back once during the Chinese New Year."
The leader was filled with regret. This missed opportunity lasted for a whole year. "Then we'll visit you next time we have a chance! If you call me later, please remember to mention this to Teacher Lin."
The leader politely said goodbye and left. Tao's father and mother looked at the gifts left behind and didn't know what to do.
At this time, another curious neighbor came to the door and asked, "Lao Tao, which leader is coming to visit?"
"He said he was from the WZ City Literary Association."
"From the Literary Association? No wonder. Your future son-in-law is a great writer, which is a perfect match for the Literary Association. They have to curry favor with him!"
Tao's father and mother shook their heads helplessly. There has been no peace at home since their daughter brought Lin Weimin back these few days.
After chatting with the neighbors for a while and waiting for them to leave, Tao's mother put away the gifts sent by the Literary Association.
"You should think about calling Huimin and the others when they arrive and ask them how to deal with this thing," Tao's father advised.
"knew."
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin returned to Yanjing and called home to report that they were safe. They also heard that the WZ City Literary Association had sent a gift, so Lin Weimin told Tao's mother to just keep it.
After a night's rest, Tao Huimin resumed filming. This year she has a lot of location shootings and may have to be away for most of the year.
Lin Weimin's three-month suspension for reflection is about to expire. Teacher Lin has been feeling particularly melancholy these days. Good times are always so short.
However, before going to work, Lin Weimin received good news.
Just last month, The Phantom of the Opera officially opened at Broadway's Kings Theatre.
"The Phantom of the Opera" premiered in London's West End in September 1986. In the past year and a half, it has won the love and praise of countless musical audiences. To sum up the development momentum of "The Phantom of the Opera" in the past year and more, it can only be described in one sentence.
Encore, encore, and more encore!
The 1980s was the golden age of London's West End. Although it could not be compared with the booming Broadway, countless audiences still flocked here.
"The Phantom of the Opera" required a huge investment. In order to restore the Paris Opera House as the background setting, the crew spent a huge amount of money to create a gorgeous, exquisite and complicated stage and interior.
The more than 200 costumes worn by the actors were all hand-sewn, and even the lighting fixtures used were specially made.
All the efforts were worth it. During the more than ten months of performance, "The Phantom of the Opera" was performed 516 times, breaking the record for the fastest performance to reach 500 shows in London's West End.
At the same time, the box office of the performance also achieved brilliant results. The highest box office of a single performance reached 260,000 US dollars. This record is unbreakable in London's West End, even the classic musicals "Evita" and "Cats" previously directed by Andrew cannot shake it.
Now the only advantage these two equally classic musicals have over "The Phantom of the Opera" is probably their total box office record. These two films have been performed for many years and their cumulative box office has already reached hundreds of millions.
However, it is only a matter of time before the cumulative box office record is broken. In a year and a half, the cumulative box office of "The Phantom of the Opera" has successfully exceeded 100 million yuan, which is three months faster than "Evita" and "Cats".
The great success of "The Phantom of the Opera" in London's West End gave Andrew and Cameron confidence. Half a year ago, the two decided to bring "The Phantom of the Opera" to the Broadway stage.
Although reproducing The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway still requires a considerable investment, even more expensive than in London's West End, both of them believe it is worth it and that the revenue from The Phantom of the Opera is enough to support their ambitions.
Facts proved that their decision was right. On January 26, 1989, "The Phantom of the Opera" was officially performed at the King's Theater on Broadway. The theater has more than 1,600 seats and is one of the largest theaters on Broadway.
In order to replicate its success in London's West End, the "Phantom of the Opera" crew negotiated with the King's Theatre to redecorate the theater. Adding various expenses such as stage setting, the investment was higher than the initial investment of "Phantom of the Opera".
Of course, the results were worthy of such a huge investment. The premiere was an unprecedented success, subsequent performances were sold out, tickets were hard to come by, and single-performance box office records broke one after another. All of this made Andrew and Cameron ecstatic.
This time, Andrew specially sent Lin Weimin a lot of performance materials and reports of "The Phantom of the Opera" so that they could share the joy together.
In the letter, Andrew also mentioned the Tony Awards. "The Phantom of the Opera" is coming to Broadway, and they are determined to win this year's Tony Awards.
The only regret is that due to his nationality, he may not be able to sweep the three major drama awards.
Among the three major drama awards in the United States, only the Tony Award has no requirements for the nationality of the creators. The remaining Pulitzer and New York Drama Critics Awards require that the creators must be American citizens.
Lin Weimin was also happy after reading what Andrew sent.
Over the past year, he has received box office revenue from The Phantom of the Opera in London's West End, totaling more than 18 million US dollars.
Now that "The Phantom of the Opera" is being performed simultaneously in the UK and the US, its future box office potential is limitless, and Teacher Lin is making money without doing anything.
Feeling good about the Broadway performance of "The Phantom of the Opera", Lin Weimin returned to work at the Chinese Literature Press after a three-month absence.
"Comrades, I missed you so much!"
Teacher Lin's enthusiasm was met with a perfunctory response. This guy has been having a great time for three months, and everyone else has been working so hard. It would be strange if he had a good temper.
"Teacher Lin, you are finally back!" Tong Zhonggui looked delighted.
Lin Weimin nodded with satisfaction. He was still a sensible child who had been brought up by hand.
After saying hello to his colleagues in the editorial department, Lin Weimin ran to the president's office to report.
Cheng Zaochun reminded: "Now that you are back, just focus on your work and don't make trouble all the time!"
Just as Lin Weimin was about to speak, he was interrupted by him, "I know what you are going to say, don't make excuses, don't talk nonsense, just work honestly!"
Lin Weimin said helplessly: "Leaders, you can't block the people's voice!"
Cheng Zaochun asked, "Are you considered a member of the masses?"
Lin Weimin opened his mouth but said nothing more.
After the New Year, the leadership level has improved again.
Having just resumed work, Lin Weimin spent the whole day lazily fishing and was showing signs of becoming a lazy old man.
After get off work, he went to the editorial office and invited everyone to a dinner party in the evening. There was an immediate cheer in the office, and Director Lin's prestige returned again.
The old place, Donglaishun.
The aroma of meat filled the air and people were talking in a noisy manner.
It was not long after the Chinese New Year and many people went to restaurants for gatherings.
During these three months, Lin Weimin rarely appeared in Guowen Publishing House, but the work of the "Contemporary" editorial department was proceeding in an orderly manner.
If this happened in later times, the boss would have fired him long ago if he realized that it would be the same with or without him.
It is still more comfortable to work in the public sector, Lin Weimin sighed in his heart.
At this time, I heard several colleagues talking about the recent prices, and everyone was complaining.
I received a bonus just before the New Year and thought I would have a good year. But right after the New Year, rumors were flying around saying that prices would be completely liberalized.
Before the official rumor was refuted, the prices of many daily necessities have already skyrocketed.
During the decade of the 1980s, prices changed every year, and there would be a buying spree from time to time.
In 1983, the state decided to lower the price of chemical fiber fabrics and appropriately increase the price of cotton textiles.
On the day the notice was conveyed, long queues formed in front of cotton textile counters in department stores across the country. The towel, children's clothing and other counters were also surrounded by customers, and the rush to buy continued until late at night.
Also in this year, at the end of the year, the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice that cloth coupons and cotton wadding coupons would be temporarily waived nationwide, and the supply of cotton cloth and cotton wadding would be opened up. Out of concern, large-scale panic buying of textiles occurred again in the country.
In recent years, there has been a rush to buy everything from daily necessities to furniture and home appliances.
After all, it is nothing more than the long-term shortage of supplies, coupled with the sharp rise in prices, which has made ordinary people feel insecure, leading to wave after wave of panic buying.
It is now 88 years later, and the biggest buying spree in the history of reform and opening up will occur this year.
Lin Weimin is well aware of the development trajectory of history, but he can do nothing about it. This is the pain of national development.
A few days after this dinner, news came from Shanghai.
Since March 1, Shanghai has adjusted the retail prices of 280 commodities, most of which are small commodities or daily necessities, and the price increases are between 20% and 30%.
As soon as the news came out, it caused a heated discussion among the people of Yanjing City. The skyrocketing prices directly affected the living standards of the people. No news could attract more attention from the people than this.
Shanghai is an important economic center in China and also one of the pioneers of reform.
Although there is no explicit mention of "price breakthrough", actual actions have verified it.
This year, life is not easy for ordinary people!
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
