Chapter 512: The Original Treatment Method
As Lin Weimin's first novel to be published in the United States, Farewell My Concubine did not cause much sensation in the first two years of its publication in the United States.
With annual sales of 200,000 to 300,000 copies, it can barely be called a bestseller, but it is still a long way from those widely known works.
Of course, if we just take a foreign novel like "Farewell My Concubine" as an example, being able to achieve such results in the US book market is already very worthy of the publisher and the author himself to be happy.
Things changed in the third year after the publication of Farewell My Concubine. It was probably because of the continuous fermentation of the novel's reputation in the first two years that the sales of this novel in the US book market began to show obvious changes.
Then, "Burning" won the National Book Critics Circle Award, "The Lover" won the Prix Goncourt, and "The Last Emperor" won an Academy Award. The continuous awards in the literary and film and television circles made Lin Weimin's name frequently appear in the eyes of the American people, making him famous.
This directly boosted the sales of his works in the United States. The sales of several works previously published in the United States continued to rise, among which "Farewell My Concubine" took the lead.
Today, "Farewell My Concubine" has been released in the United States for six or seven years, and its total sales have already exceeded 2 million copies. This number is extremely outstanding even among all the best-selling novels in the United States.
With sales of millions of copies, "Farewell My Concubine" has a very good appeal among readers in the United States.
Why are the Big Six Hollywood studios obsessed with adapting IPs in later generations?
It is simply because of the original work's inherent popularity, numerous book fans and strong appeal. These advantages can naturally be converted into profits for these production companies, and it is effortless.
"Farewell My Concubine" has created a huge readership in the United States over the years, but due to the oriental background of the novel, its popularity is relatively small compared to its sales.
If Arthur Miller had announced this news somewhere else, it might not have caused much response.
But the vast majority of the audience who came to the Netherlands Theater to watch the show today were senior drama lovers. Many of them had seen "The Intouchables" and were also familiar with Lin Weimin's other works published in the United States.
The audience was naturally very excited to hear Arthur Miller announce such good news.
The thunderous applause lasted for a long time. Arthur Miller stood on the stage, and the audience's reaction made his blood boil. He seemed to have seen the day when "Farewell My Concubine" would be successfully performed on Broadway.
Attracting everyone's attention!
After a long time, the applause in the theater finally died down. Only after Arthur Miller and Lin Weimin led the crew to take another bow did the audience leave.
"Arthur, you really gave me a surprise today!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Arthur Miller was still somewhat excited. "The work has been performed on the Broadway stage for such a long time, but you have rarely enjoyed the applause of the audience. This is a rare opportunity."
“It feels really good.”
"Lin, let's talk about "Farewell My Concubine"!" Arthur Miller said with shining eyes.
Lin Weimin smiled, "Arthur, you should look at the time now."
Broadway performances are always held in the evening. The Kite Runner ended at 11 o'clock in the evening. After all the trouble just now, the time is now close to 11:30.
Arthur Miller patted his head and said, "I was a little too excited! I forgot the time. By the way, you just came to New York, and you haven't had a good time with your wife for a few days. Then wait a few days, and let me know when you are done."
After finishing the chat with Arthur Miller, Lin Weimin and Tao Huimin prepared to leave the theater.
"Teacher Lin!"
When they reached the theater entrance, Chen Chong called him.
"What's up?"
Chen Chong looked a little hesitant and asked, "Mr. Miller just said that Farewell My Concubine will soon be staged on Broadway. I want to ask you..."
What Chen Chong wanted to ask was of course about the role. Wasn't it just for an opportunity like this that she had worked so hard on Broadway for so long?
Lin Weimin groaned and said, "Arthur and I haven't discussed this matter in detail yet. We have only confirmed the adaptation. But you performed very well in The Kite Runner. Since we have worked together before, you will definitely have more opportunities than others if we are to select actors in the future."
Chen Chong was slightly disappointed. She asked, "Will this drama be localized?"
"this……"
Chen Chong is very smart. She asked the most critical question about the adaptation of "Farewell My Concubine" in just one sentence.
It is difficult for a foreign play to be successful if it is not localized when introduced to a commercial stage like Broadway, unless the play itself has a Western cultural background.
It stands to reason that for a work with an oriental background like "Farewell My Concubine", if it is to be performed on the Broadway stage, it is natural to localize it.
A few years ago, Lin Weimin and Arthur Miller also discussed this issue when they talked about the adaptation of this play.
But many years have passed and things are different now.
The total sales of "Farewell My Concubine" in the United States have exceeded 2 million copies, and it is quite influential at least among American literature lovers.
In the past, we considered changing the cultural and historical background and doing localization to make it easier for the audience to understand the story.
But after so many years, the continued hot sales of the novel have, to some extent, created a certain soil and audience base for the drama.
Under such circumstances, the adaptation of "Farewell My Concubine" becomes more likely.
If the original flavor of "Farewell My Concubine" can be maintained to a certain extent, then the opportunities for Chinese-American actress Chen Chong will naturally be greatly increased.
Given the influence of this novel in the United States today, the performance of the drama will surely have a wide impact, and Chen Chong believes that she will benefit greatly from it.
"It's too early to talk about this now." Lin Weimin said.
Chen Chong was disappointed again, but her expression remained unchanged. "I understand. Thank you!"
Lin Weimin nodded to Chen Chong and left the Netherlands Theater with Tao Huimin.
The next night, Lin Weimin invited Tao Huimin to watch The Phantom of the Opera at the King's Theatre.
It has been more than half a year since this musical came to Broadway from London's West End, and even now it still attracts large audiences and tickets for the performances are hard to come by.
This time when he went to the King's Theatre, Lin Weimin did not see Andrew.
He is currently working on the Canadian version of The Phantom of the Opera, which will be staged in Toronto, Canada later this year.
In the next few days, Lin Weimin took Tao Huimin to tour around New York City.
Manhattan has no more room to expand, and can only grow upwards. This is the main reason for its grandeur. This is the New York in the books of American writer E.B. White.
For commuters and immigrants struggling to make a living, the city of New York is like the salesgirls in a luxury store; it’s hard to even look at them.
But for some powerful people, this salesgirl might be a little too enthusiastic.
By bringing Tao Huimin to New York for their honeymoon, Lin Weimin can fully experience the enthusiasm of this city.
After playing for several days in a row, you will eventually get tired of seeing so many attractions.
That afternoon, the two of them strolled along Broadway.
April in New York is similar to that in Yanjing. The cool breeze blows from the port to Broadway, and pedestrians on the road are in a hurry.
The two walked on the sidewalk on the west side of the road, looking down the slope of Wall Street. Next to them was a cart selling hot dogs and roasted nuts with a parasol on it.
Two people with backpacks were walking towards them, chatting in a language that Lin Weimin could not understand. They were obviously tourists visiting New York.
Tao Huimin asked, "You've been playing with me for several days, isn't it time for you to get down to business?"
"We are out here to have fun, and having fun is the main thing." Lin Weimin looked at her.
Tao Huimin laughed and said, "But it's no fun to play like this all the time."
"It's only been a few days and you've had enough fun? We're on our honeymoon!"
"I do nothing every day and just play around, spending money like water. I don't feel at ease," Tao Huimin said frankly.
Lin Weimin couldn't help laughing. Many workers in later generations had the same mentality as her.
When you are at work, you always think about taking a vacation, but once you really take a long vacation, after a few days you start to fall into a panic of having nothing to do, and you actually start looking forward to going to work.
Then after work, I look forward to vacation.
Over and over again, the cycle continues.
"Well, I'm going to do some work. You rest in the apartment for a few days, and we'll go shopping again in a couple of days."
A honeymoon should also be a combination of work and rest.
When he came to the Sanremo apartment again, Arthur Miller was extremely happy to see Lin Weimin. He did not expect that Lin Weimin had completed his honeymoon so quickly.
"It's just a halftime break. I happened to have some time, so I came to talk to you about the drama." Lin Weimin said to Arthur Miller.
Whatever the reason, Lin Weimin was very happy to come to Arthur Miller.
The two talked about the adaptation of "Farewell My Concubine", and Lin Weimin expressed his ideas to Arthur Miller.
Over the past few years, the novel "Farewell My Concubine" has sold more than two million copies in the United States and has a very large readership base. He hopes to bring the original content of this drama to the Broadway stage.
Arthur Miller was not surprised by Lin Weimin's thoughts. The influence of "Farewell My Concubine" is no longer comparable to the past.
What's more, he watched "Farewell My Concubine" in Yenching University that year, which left an indelible impression on him. If this drama is moved to the United States, it will change the cultural and historical background of the drama, which is indeed a pity.
"It's a big adventure!" said Arthur Miller.
"I think it's worth a try. Arthur, a big difference between "Farewell My Concubine" and "The Intouchables" and "The Kite Runner" is that the core of his story is too Chinese. If he rashly localizes it, it will become out of place.
Now that the novel Farewell My Concubine has such good sales in the United States, this approach is definitely worth trying.”
Lin Weimin's words made Arthur Miller nod his head, "You are right. With the influence of Farewell My Concubine in the United States today, even if this adaptation fails, there is no need to worry about losing money."
"Let's do it in this direction!" Arthur Miller made up his mind.
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "With this change, writing the script will be much faster!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
