Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 444 "Phantom of the Opera"

Fang Minghua stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Midtown Manhattan, New York, a five-star hotel located near Times Square.

He lives in a suite on the 21st floor and can see the giant digital screen of the Nasdaq stock exchange from the balcony.

"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 6th

At noon on June 6, a cultural talk show with famous New York host Macdonald: "The Round Table" (if you win the award.)
Participate in a book signing event at Noble Bookstore in New York at noon on June 6st.

June 6 at the Commonwealth Bookstore in Houston
Fang Minghua counted.

Good guys, 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 it. It doesn't matter if it's a little hard work to promote your own book.

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.

"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."

At sunset, the two of them strolled and watched the pigeons flying in the square.

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, just call me."

Emily told why.

Fang Minghua avoided the question and instead asked: "I think places like Broadway should stage plays like Moulin Rouge, Les Miserables, and Cats instead of showing these things."

Damn it.
So public?

In fact, Times Square in the United States in the 20s was not as glamorous as later generations. It was a prosperous scene that only appeared after the "big cleanup" in the 90s.

This immediately reminded Fang Minghua of the island country movies he had watched online before coming to this era.

Having said this, Evans paused and then said: "Miss Emily's room is next to yours. I hope you can have a good night."

What the hell!

The videos shown in the video studios in our country in the 1990s were not suitable for children. They usually only dared to do so in the back streets and alleys in the middle of the night.
Emily didn't seem surprised. Seeing Fang Minghua noticing this, she pursed her lips and smiled: "This is what you Chinese call the decadence of capitalism. Shouldn't your country not have it?"

After all, it’s Broadway, can you hide it a little bit?

"ok!"

What do you 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.

Fortunately, there are about five days left at your disposal.

After speaking, an ambiguous smile appeared on his face.

This question is really hard to answer.

And of course, visit Times Square.

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, our country has many dark and influential movies, such as "Midnight Cowboy" and "Taxi Driver", many of which were shot in Times Square. These vulgar movies you see now are also in New York City. One of the scenery in Times Square.”

"Of course, the plays you mentioned have been performed here." Emily continued, stroking her messy hair that was blown by the wind:
"I heard that the Lyceum Theater is currently staging a new musical, The Phantom of the Opera, which is great." "The Phantom of the Opera?"

"Yes, have you heard of this name?" Seeing Fang Minghua's somewhat surprised expression, Emily asked.

"That's based on the novel of the same name by French writer Gaston Leroux, right?" Fang Minghua replied.

"Yes, have you read this novel?"

"Yeah." Fang Minghua nodded.

"That's great!" Emily clapped her hands happily.

"The musical adapted from the novel of the same name was staged recently. It won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Director, Best Actor in a Drama, and Best Actress in a Drama. Can you watch it with me?"

The girl stamped her feet and looked at Fang Minghua.

This can be done.

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 crushed to death, and a creepy illusory male voice appeared in the theater. The voice comes from a "ghost" who lives in the theater's underground labyrinth and is in love with 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 85.

They are all based on the novel "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’s also nice to see this musical from this era.

After shopping until less than ten o'clock in the evening, the two of them hurried back to the hotel.

You can no longer wander around, Emily said that security guards are prone to trouble.

"Good night, sweet dreams!"

"Sweet 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 granite statue 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,
Those who are weary and needy,

People huddled together longing to breathe freely,

The bustling and abandoned,
Poor people.

put these homeless
troubled people

Give it to me together.

I stand at the golden gate,

Lift high the light of freedom!
Of course, Fang Minghua also saw a lot of bird droppings falling on the base of the statue.

Take photos and take souvenirs.
After playing for most of the day, the two returned to the hotel in the afternoon. After dinner, Evans showed up at the hotel on time to pick up Fang Minghua to attend the evening awards ceremony.

(End of this chapter)