909 Official return
Renly returns to London again.
This is the second time in just four months. To be more precise, it was only five weeks since the completion of "Edge of Tomorrow"; however, this time, there was no news from the Hall family..
After experiencing the last tit-for-tat confrontation, it left a mess. For a long time, the Hall family became the talk of people after dinner; after experiencing the vigorous "Hypegate", the Hall family completely closed all the affairs. spoke, pretending that "Renly Hall" never existed, clearly expressing their position; and experiencing an unexpected ending to the Oscars ceremony, Renly became the British actor who won the statuette for the second consecutive year, and Hall The family is moving towards silence amid calmness.
Big winds, ups and downs, and being in the limelight. This is simply a nightmare for the aristocracy. "Only the vulgar upstarts will enjoy the effect of this spotlight." Naturally, when Renly returns to London again, George and Elizabeth pretended that this did not happen and lived in the same city, but it was as if they had never existed at all..
Arthur Hall naturally knows. Arthur, who lives by connections and information, can learn about Renly's situation without any need to inquire; but this time he honestly kept to himself and closed his door tightly. 's mouth. In Bayswater House, "Renly" was an outright taboo word..
What's more, after entering London's West End, Renly also kept a low profile and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the rehearsals of the work. No news came out..
until today.
With a flash of inspiration and an idea, Philip took out the booklet and opened the cast list. Sure enough, he saw a familiar name in the first and most prominent position, "Renly Hall"”.
A slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Philip looked at the name seriously and carefully, and a trace of relief and happiness flashed in his eyes. Renly finally succeeded. He realized his dream according to his own ideas and acted openly and honestly. As an actor, he returns to the West End stage again.
Involuntarily, his fingertips carefully rubbed the name, but the ordinary typeface seemed to have magic power. Philip, who was emotionless and indifferent, his eyes brightened slightly. At this moment, something fell out of the manual. I picked up an off-white card and dropped it on the table..
Philip picked up the card, and the vigorous, free and casual handwriting came into view. At a glance, he knew it was Renly's own handwriting..
“Dear Mr. Philippe Demba，
On May 18th, 'Les Misérables' will premiere at the Almeida Theater. You are sincerely invited to attend..
Yours, Renly Sebastian Hall.”
This is an invitation letter written specifically to Philip. Different from the printed invitation letter to George and Elizabeth, this invitation letter is handwritten, and it is an invitation sent in Renly's personal capacity. The signature also includes his full name and professor. The reputation, treatment and friendship are completely different.
However, this friendship is meaningless to George and Elizabeth. They just think "it's a waste of time"; even if they know the difference, they won't mind. Therefore, Renly is generous. Put the invitation letter in the same envelope, treating Philip as a member of the Hall family.
Renly knew this, and so did Phillip. However, Phillip could still feel Renly's mischievous thoughts, and his somewhat youthful attitude..
After confirming the source of the invitation, Philip carefully read the entire letter again. He noticed a small detail. "Premiere" is not a "preview" or an "audition", but a real performance. premiere.
After centuries of development, the West End of London has undergone earth-shaking changes. In this area, many changes have been made to keep pace with the times, but in essence, it is still the same place. Numerous traditional theater circles have been preserved, following the glorious traditions of the golden age of theater in the 1920s and 1930s..
In fact, auditions and previews are not the most traditional aspects, the premiere is.
The so-called premiere is the first performance in which a play officially appears on the West End or Broadway stage in London. It sells tickets to the public and accepts public review and judgment. It is similar to the premiere of a movie, but it is more of an upper class, top person, senior person. A star-studded occasion for artists.
It is more like an Oscar ceremony than a premiere, which is similar to the opening ceremony of Eaton Dormer's personal brand..
The premiere is a celebrity party; at the same time, it is also a watershed between victory and defeat..
However, with the progress of the times, people have more and more recreational activities, and the status of drama is gradually declining. Therefore, auditions appeared in the 1960s; and rehearsals appeared in the 1970s..
The so-called audition is literally a trial and experimental performance before the official performance. The audience is basically all senior theater enthusiasts, professional theater critics, producers, etc..
After the audition, everyone, including the director, screenwriter and actor team, will accept the opinions with an open mind and then work all night to make changes to the work. The actors will restart rehearsals as soon as possible and adapt to the content..
The most common situation is this. After the audition, modifications are made all night long, and new content is rehearsed the next morning; the matinee performance in the afternoon still retains the original content; but the night performance that night must be in accordance with New content appeared.
The so-called preview is slightly different. The cost of a play being staged in a theater in London or New York is really too high, and not every crew can afford it. Therefore, before the "premiere" in London or New York, the crew first Conducting previews in other cities for four to six weeks, hoping to receive more positive feedback and comments, and then boost the box office for the official premiere.
But the biggest problem with the preview is that a brand-new work will eventually go on stage in London and New York and undergo an almost cruel test. Many important musicals were destroyed by verbal criticism during the preview. After arriving in London and New York, , and ushered in a disintegrating defeat..
Especially with the advent of the Internet age, theater fans can share the smallest details and mistakes of each preview on the Internet, truly bringing the spirit of nitpicking to the extreme..
Auditions are a link of self-improvement and self-examination, while previews are more of a marketing and business promotion link. But whether it is an audition or a preview, in 2012, when theater was generally in a downturn, it was crucial. It’s the same idea as using internal test screenings to gather feedback before a new movie is released..
However, Philip recalled carefully that in the past two or three weeks, he had never heard of any auditions or previews of "Les Misérables". At least, he had not reported it in The Times, The Guardian, or the Financial Times. Or go to the relevant comments on "The Independent".
Before his thoughts started to surge, there was a sound from the direction of the restaurant, and Phillip immediately received the signal: George should have arrived at the restaurant..
George works at Barclays Bank and is responsible for managing trust funds. Every morning, his schedule starts with the Financial Times. After breakfast, he goes to the office to work. The same schedule, the same habit, has persisted for more than 20 years. , never changed.
Philip packed up the letters quickly, resealed the invitation, then put the newspapers and letters into the tray, and entered the restaurant calmly. He immediately saw George sitting at the dining table, with a cup of coffee on his right. Exudes a lingering aroma.
With quick but silent steps, Philip came to George's side, first handed over the "Financial Times", then spread out other newspapers in a fan shape, and finally placed the letters that needed to be processed immediately in front of him. Ended all actions After that, Phillip took half a step back, then quietly turned around and left..
Turning around, Philip saw Elizabeth walking towards him, "Madam." Philip greeted politely..
Elizabeth nodded gracefully and sat down at the other end of the dining table, "Philip, help me arrange a vehicle. I need to go to Windsor later, um... I'll leave in forty-five minutes..”
After Phillip nodded, he quickly left the restaurant, but before he could take a step forward, he saw Elf coming downstairs, "Miss Elf, is there an early shift today?"？”
“Yes, I drank a little brandy last night, and now my throat feels uncomfortable. I need to add some hot milk to the coffee for breakfast." Elf nodded gracefully, and after finishing the explanation, she walked towards the restaurant. footsteps.
Phillip stepped out of the way, watched Elf leave, and then walked towards the kitchen. It was really lively this morning..
According to usual practice, George had breakfast in the dining room and Elizabeth in her room - aristocratic couples slept in separate rooms; Elf often had to work the night shift, and the breakfast time would be delayed by one or two hours; as for Arthur, he stayed in London most of the time and never came back..
But today, George, Elizabeth and Elf all gathered together and appeared at the same time. Thinking back to the invitation letter in front of George, Philip realized that breakfast time should be extremely lively. However, the most important thing for Philip now is to instruct the kitchen , make adjustments based on today’s unexpected circumstances.
In the restaurant, after the simple greetings, the three people sat in their own seats. The distance between each person was at least six to eight meters. If they talked, they would have to speak loudly, which is detrimental to etiquette. , so they simply remained silent without any conversation or eye contact..
After briefly browsing the "Financial Times" to understand the news, the specific details would need to be carried out in the office. George temporarily put the newspaper aside, picked up the letter in front of him, and browsed all the letters in general, and then Noticing the blue envelope, he paused for a moment. After hesitation, his fingers pulled out the contents..
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