Chapter 115 Huangmei Arena Competition
Wednesday
In the early morning, the sun shines softly on the bluestone pavement of Fanxian Ancient City. The melodious rhythm of Huangmei Opera quietly echoes over the ancient city, and the whole city seems to be given fresh life.
"These are the actors practicing their morning exercises."
In the Huangmei Opera Guild Hall next to the stage in the center of the ancient city, Li Chuyue stood in front of Shen Xingzhi and other four guests with a smile. After enthusiastically and generously introducing the historic guild hall, she talked about a series of basic skills training for opera actors in the early morning.
Everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to the Huangmei Opera actors backstage at the guild hall. The sunlight shone through the carved beams and painted pillars on the eaves, dappled onto the actors' faces, reflecting their focused and pious expressions.
"Tempering your voice? I've heard that before. We singers also have similar training."
Chen Xi smiled and said that today's schedule was very full. Everyone started gathering for recording at 6:30 in the morning, and the first item was to watch the daily life of Huangmei Opera actors.
Following Li Chuyue and Han Tai's explanations, everyone slowly moved to the outside of the guild hall, and what came into view was the large stage in the center of the ancient city's central axis.
Ren Limeng looked at the stage with red pillars and carved rafters. The position of the stage in the ancient city is just like the status of Huangmei Opera in Fan County. The inheritance of Huangmei Opera in Fan County has always been very good. This time, Ren Limeng was very happy to be able to come to Fan County through the program "Mountains and Seas" and once again immerse herself in the long ancient charm and feel the lingering echoes of the long history.
The Grand Theater in the Ancient City is like the most iconic exhibition hall of the Huangmei Opera Guild Hall. Its base is made of bluestone. After years of baptism, the stone surface has become as smooth as a mirror, and it looks solemn in the sun. On top of the base is an intricately carved mahogany building with flying eaves and pointed corners.
A colorful painting is painted on the front of the stage, with a pair of wooden couplets with elegant calligraphy on both sides, which form a sharp contrast with the plain white wall behind the stage, adding a sense of mystery and vicissitudes to the stage.
Directly in front of the stage is the ancient city square, a place for residents to relax and unwind, and also a seat for countless spectators. Rows of neatly arranged long wooden benches have been placed in the central area, and everyone can already imagine the wonderful opera performance that is about to be presented.
"What you just saw were actors from the Fan County Fanhua Huangmei Opera Troupe. Later, actors from the three major troupes that collaborate with our Meixiang Theatre, Qianfang Troupe, Yunsheng Troupe, and Chuanhua Troupe, will also come to Fan County."
Li Chuyue's eyes swept over the smiling Ren Limeng without leaving a trace, and there was a hint of inquiry in her eyes. She lowered her eyes and continued to introduce everyone's itinerary for the day.
"Today, Fan County will host a key Huangmei Festival event—the Huangmei Arena Competition. Four major troupes will perform this afternoon at four small stages in the east, south, west, and north corners of the city. Special tickets have been issued in advance to all residents and tourists. You can vote for your three favorite troupes at any time this afternoon, three votes per person."
Han Tai on the side showed the love tickets to Shen Xingzhi and other four guests, and gave three tickets to each of them.
Ren Limeng took the paper ticket with both hands, which had a similar layout to the paper ticket for the performance. In fact, she had already guessed the theme of today - the ring match.
The Huangmei Opera competition in Fan County has a long history, but in previous years, Meixiang Theater would only select some young actors from one of the three major troupes to perform in the countryside. The competition was mostly performed by folk troupes from Fan County and other places in Mei City.
Ren Limeng looked down at the Orange platform, the organizer of the Love Tickets, and found that the organizer was, as expected, Meixiang Theater.
She even had reason to suspect that today's competition was specially customized for the "Mountains and Seas" program. The program team needed to showcase traditional culture that was in line with the theme, and Meixiang Theater wanted to launch its own troupe and actors. The two sides each got what they needed and cooperated for a win-win situation.
It is no wonder that Meixiang Theater has sent out almost its strongest lineup. Ren Limeng couldn't help but think that the most important event of this year's Huangmei Week in Mei City is not the Huangmei Opera performance, but the recording of "Mountains and Seas".
Whether because of her friends and family, or her years of experience in learning opera, Ren Limeng can feel better than the program crew and other guests that Huangmei Opera urgently needs to be passed on, and can also feel the determination of Meixiang Theater to go all out and give it its all.
Just like the ancient stage in front of her now, it is ancient and beautiful, but Ren Limeng clearly remembers that when she came here many years ago, the stage was dilapidated and deserted, and few people came.
Except for major festivals, the stage would often be covered with a large white cloth, turning it into an open-air cinema for residents of the ancient city to show movies.
"...According to the program team's requirements, the four of you guests will be divided into four major troupes this afternoon to participate in their live performances. The winning troupe will perform on the grand stage before us tonight...The above is the check-in schedule for the Fanxian Ancient City stop. Thank you again for coming to Fanxian, Meishi, and I hope you will immerse yourself in the charm of Huangmei Opera!"
Li Chuyue finally finished speaking the lines she had memorized in advance with a smile on her face. She looked at the four guests, then unconsciously looked at the camera crews on both sides, and raised her head slightly.
"We haven't communicated with the troupe yet. We'll have a competition this afternoon, and we also have to livestream the quiz. Will we have enough time?"
"Yes, are the activities for the five teams set to the same difficulty? Director Dong, the production team won't favor one over the other, right?"
After listening to Li Chuyue's introduction, Chen Xingzhi frowned slightly, and Chen Xi also raised his eyebrows unconsciously, looking at Dong Zhu behind the camera crew with a smile. Although Li Chuyue and Han Tai participated in the recording, all the guests knew in their hearts that the words and deeds of these two so-called specially invited "tour guides" in front of the camera represented not only Meixiang Theater, but also the program team.
"All teams will have similar quizzes. The production team can guarantee this. While today's schedule may seem tight, it's very engaging. Everything will follow one another, and there won't be any problems. Please trust the production team's preparations, and trust yourselves. After the first half of the training broadcast, the second half will see the team's live broadcast window split into four smaller windows. Viewers can switch between different guests at any time. Please pay attention to this and take it seriously."
Dong Zhu explained with a smile that the questions from Shen Xingzhi and Chen Xi were within the expectations of the program team, and similar situations would definitely happen in other groups at this moment. Before the second public recording began, Yao Xin held a summary meeting for all staff.
Following the response to the first episode of "Mountains and Seas", the live recording of the second public performance was adjusted accordingly.
"Is the quiz an individual battle?"
After listening to Dong Zhu's explanation, Guan He raised his brows slightly, and his eyes subconsciously wandered to Shen Xingzhi and Chen Xi beside him.
It is an indisputable fact that his and Ren Limeng's fan base is not at the same level of popularity as Shen Xingzhi and Chen Xi, but the data directly presented in the live broadcast, with a sharp gap, is not a good thing even if it is expected.
"Team battle. Each teammate's live broadcast window will be considered based on a comprehensive range of factors, including the number of viewers, number of comments, and number of gifts sent. Ultimately, the program's partner platform, Orange Video, will assess each team's scores and rankings."
After Dong Zhu's explanation, the interrupted recording finally continued. Han Tai looked at the program crew and then looked towards the end of the square.
"It's finally here."
Han Tai said this, waving his hand excitedly. Ren Limeng, who had been silent all morning, also looked quietly in the same direction, looking at a group of people slowly approaching, suppressing all complicated thoughts in her eyes.
Even across the long distance of the square, Ren Limeng still recognized the familiar figure walking in front of her, slightly to the left of the center. She tried hard to raise a happy smile in front of the camera, her expression mixed with anticipation and a hint of excitement, as perfect as her meticulous bun hairstyle today.
“Theatre actors are so charming!”
Chen Xi spoke with some emotion, and everyone in the program team couldn't help but focus their attention on the actors from the three Meixiang theater troupes who were approaching them. The group had tall and straight postures, exuding an elegance and composure that was hard to conceal. They wore the same black T-shirts with the small logo of Meixiang Theater printed on the upper right corner.
Everyone's face was filled with a confident and casual smile, gentle and friendly. Their footsteps raised dust, which seemed to float into gold powder in the sunlight, shining so brightly that it was hard to ignore.
The same smile appeared on Ren Limeng's face, with some unconscious contemplation in her eyes.
No wonder Yan Fangshu asked her to wait and see in a mysterious way. Ren Limeng was sure that Meixiang Theatre must have prepared for such a dazzling appearance in uniform. In her memory, opera performances in rural areas were always busy and not as dazzling as this.
The same group of people are responsible for everything both on and off stage. With limited preparation time, everyone is busy setting up the venue and working hard on the play. Sometimes they are even busy until the last second before the curtain rises. When the opera starts, only the characters in the play are presented to the audience.
Today is different. The "Shan Hai" program team has contracted all the behind-the-scenes work on the stage. The more important goal of the actors from the three major troupes is to perform well in the play on the stage. This play is not only a Huangmei Opera, but also a recording of the "Shan Hai" program.
The person in charge of Meixiang Theater's rural performances this time was not the performance department as usual, but the director of the promotion department, Xu Kai. Xu Kai had participated in the guest recording the day before yesterday. Today, he greeted everyone warmly and directly introduced the Meixiang Theater team.
"This is Director Li of the Qianfang Troupe, Director Chen of the Yunsheng Troupe, Director Fu of the Chuanhua Troupe, and also the National First-Class Actor, Master Wu of the Qianfang Troupe... Master Zhang of the Yunsheng Troupe, and Master He of the Chuanhua Troupe..."
Xu Kai briefly introduced several important figures at the forefront of the three major theater troupes. When he mentioned "Master Wu", he couldn't help but look at Ren Limeng who had a gentle smile on her face. After a slight hesitation in his mind, he continued the introduction as if nothing had happened.
"These are the guests from the 'Mountains and Seas' program, Shen Xingzhi, Chen Xi, Guan He, and Ren Limeng. They will be joining everyone in today's arena performance. Please give them a warm round of applause! The three group leaders will stay for a moment, and the other comrades can go and prepare first."
As she got closer, she saw more familiar figures than she had imagined. Ren Limeng looked at her mother Wu Murong, and then at Yan Fangshu in the crowd of the troupe. Her sight swept around her, and former classmates, teachers, and colleagues of her parents came into view. Ren Limeng memorized these names, which seemed like they were from another world, under her tongue.
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